ty to tell a young Eskimo that it was not right for
him to exchange wives with his friend, it would be well for the explorer
to have his supporting argument well prepared beforehand, for the
censured one would probably open wide his eyes and inquire, "Why not?"

These people of the ice-land, like all intelligent savages, are
remarkably curious. If confronted, say, with a package containing
various supplies unknown to them, they will not rest until they have
examined every article of the lot, touched it, turned it over, and even
tasted it, chattering all the while like a flock of blackbirds. They
exhibit, too, in marked degree, all the Oriental capacity for imitation.
Out of walrus ivory, in some respects their substitute for steel,--and a
surprisingly good substitute it is,--they will construct amazingly good
models or copies of various objects, while it does not take them long to
master the use of such tools of civilization as may be put into their
hands. It will easily be seen how valuable and useful a quality this has
proved for the purposes of the arctic explorer. If he could not rely on
the Eskimo to do the white man's work with the white man's tools, the
labors of the arctic traveler would be tremendously increased and the
size of his expedition would have to be enlarged to limits that might be
found unwieldy in the extreme.

[Illustration: KUDLAH, ALIAS "MISFORTUNE," WITH PUPPIES]

My own observations of this interesting people have taught me to repose
no confidence whatever in the tales of barbaric craft and cruelty which
I have heard of them. On the contrary, taking into consideration their
uncivilized state, they must be ranked as a humane people. Moreover,
they have always been quick to grasp the purposes that I have had in
view and to bend their energies toward achieving the ends for which my
expeditions have been striving.

Their humanity, as has been indicated, takes a form that would delight a
socialist. They are generous and hospitable in a crude way, almost
without exception. As a general rule, good and bad fortune are shared.
The tribe shares in the proceeds of good luck on the part of the hunters
and, as their existence depends on hunting, this accounts in large
measure for the preservation of the tribe.

CHAPTER VII

ODD CUSTOMS OF AN ODD PEOPLE

Hard as is the life of the Eskimo, his end is usually as rigorous. All
his life he is engaged in constant warfare with the inhospitable
elem