296 AN ESKIMO VILLAGE.

 

AN ESKIMO VILLAGE.

Of O.NIGHT we will talk further of my
| travels in the north, with your con-
sent,” said Uncle Ned. “Go on,”

said the children, and Uncle Ned began.
“ Most of us pity those poor people of the
north, whose hard fate has placed them in
one of the dreariest parts of the earth, where
only a few mosses are in the vegetable world;
where it would be almost impossible for
human beings to live were it not for the
food and clothing which the ocean waters
yield so freely. But this land is their own,
the land of their fathers, and they would
not exchange it for our more fertile and
warmer one. In fact, all of these people
who have been brought here by explorers
have been uneasy until they could return
to their own country and their own people.
The Eskimo who live in this cold region
are short of stature, but strong, broad-shoul-
dered men. They have narrow foreheads,
broad, flat noses, with little or no beards.
The hair on the head is long, straight,
coarse and black. Both men and women
possess hands and feet wonderfully small
and well formed. The dress of both sexes
is very much alike, the object being in that
severe climate to keep warm and to have
the clothing as light as possible. They
wear two pairs of trousers, the inner one of

reindeer skin, with the soft fur next the

 

flesh, and the outer pair of sealskin. They
also wear two jackets made of the same ma-
terial. The outer one has a large hood
which, when drawn up, completely covers
the head, and some times the entire face,
except the eyes. Their hoods are made of
sealskin, lined with reindeer fur,-or the soft,
downy coats of birds. The outer jacket of
the women is usually a little larger than
that of the men, and is provided with an
extra hood in which to carry the babies
when on a journey. In the summer, one of
the first suits is laid aside. Some of the
Eskimo women braid their black, glossy
They tat-

too their foreheads, cheeks and chins, which

hair with much care and taste.

does not add to their beauty.
The Eskimo’s igloo, or house, is built of
The word

means either house or room, but as their

snow and ice, moss and stones.

houses never contain but one apartment,
the word applies equally to both. They are
a wandering people, but during the winter
months occupy their igloo, built of stones,
with moss piled up around and over them,
so that when covered with snow they make
avery comfortable dwelling-place. At other
times the houses are made of blocks of snow,
cut out in regular form with a snow-knife,
which is made of reindeer or musk-ox bones.

The builder first clears the snow away from