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spears were put in order, at the head of our couch, for immediate use, if occasion should require it. As I needed an explanation of some of these movements of my Innuit companions, so my readers may require one of me. I thus give it. The reason of going to "such a distance from the scene of the bear-hunt before making our encampment has already been given. The sharp turn-nearly reversing our course-was designed, as the Esquimaux explained it, "for a safeguard against pursuit by the enraged old bear. If she "should attempt to pursue on our sledge track, her movements "would be rapid; and, finding the track nearly in a straight line "for so long a distance, she would become somewhat confident, "thinking' that the same undeviating course had been kept till the "end: therefore, on her reaching the place of the sharp turn, it "might be unnoticed and unscented, and she would continue her "course sometime longer before discovering her mistake. But in case she should track us to our igloo (our sixteenth, seventeenth, "and eighteenth encampments were igloos or snowhouses), then the "first thing she would do would be to throw down the sledge (one "of many things that Polar bears do not like to see standing), and "thus we should be awakened and put on our guard against the "ferocious beast."

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Next to the walrus and the seals, the bear is the animal of greatest importance to the northern Esquimaux. Its fur is largely used for clothing, and the flesh, with the exception of the liver, which they regard, and apparently with reason, as poisonous, is a staple article of diet. It is surprising indeed, according to our notions, how largely carnivora are used as food by different nations. The dog was kept for the purposes of the table by many of the South Sea Islanders, and was even preferred to pork by our early voyagers. But, as in this instance, the animals were fed entirely on vegetable food, it is perhaps hardly a case in point. Among the northern travellers, however, the fox seems to have been quite a favourite article of food. Ross found it a very good dish. McClintock preferred it to preserved meat, and Lyon thought it very good eating. So again, as regards the bear, Capt. Hall assures us, though we confess that in the matter of food we should not ourselves be much guided by his opinion, that its flesh is excellent, "appearing and tasting like veal." Kane became quite a connoisseur in bears. Those in a "lean condition," he says, are much the most palatable "food. The impregnation of fatty oil through the cellular tissue

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“makes a well fed bear nearly uneatable. The flesh of a famished beast, although less nutritious as a fuel diet,* is rather sweet and "tender than otherwise."

Like other Arctic travellers, Capt. Hall frequently mentions the quantity of bones which were to be seen lying about upon the surface of the ground. Those who are surprised by the absence of human remains in the drift-gravels, might turn with advantage to those passages (for instance, Vol. ii. pp. 83, 90, and 154) in which he mentions numerous bones of reindeer, walrus, seals, and other animals, without any belonging to man. In our own country, and still more in hotter regions, any bones which are occasionally left upon the surface of the ground soon perish. A hundred different kinds of animals, and the action of our comparatively rapid vegetation, combine to ensure their destruction; but in the frozen regions of the North, these influences are absent, or at least, highly inefficient. It has often been a matter of surprise that our bonecaves appear to belong almost exclusively to the glacial epoch. On the other hand, it has been also difficult to understand how it should come to pass that, in those caves which appear to have received their stores of bones from the action of floods, in opposition to those which were evidently the dens of wild beasts, the bones bear so large a proportion to the inorganic materials. May we not find, in the accounts given by Arctic travellers, an explanation, perhaps, of these two phenomena ? Bones in the far north, are, as we have seen, far more frequent than in our temperate clime. They lie, not upon the soil, but in many cases, at least, upon ice. The caves would be filled up, not by bones with sand, and gravel or loam, but by bones and ice. The ice, gradually melting away, would continually make room for fresh accumulations of bones. In his description of a glacier in North Greenland, Dr. Kane expresses himself as follows:-"Within the area of a few acres + we found

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seven skeletons, and numerous skulls: these all occupied the snow "streams, or gullies, that led to a gorge opening on to the ice belt, "and might thus be gathered in time to one spot, by the simple "action of the watershed."

The abundance of life in the far north, is indeed surprising. No better evidence of this can be given than the fact that the northern Esquimaux are entirely carnivorous; the only vegetable food they

* Arctic Explorations, vol. I., p. 360.

† Kane, 1. c. p. 95.

ever taste being that which they obtain in a digested state from the inside of the reindeer, and which is regarded by them as a great delicacy. Nevertheless, we must remember that by the conditions of the case, the life which does exist there is not uniformly spread over the whole area, but is confined to certain limited oases. Thus, it has occasionally happened, that our countrymen have been reduced almost to the verge of starvation, or have suffered terribly from scurvy, and from the want of fresh meat, while the Esquimaux, at a distance of perhaps not more than thirty or forty miles, have been luxuriating in the abundance of wholesome food. We have been too apt to judge of the real, from the apparent, profusion of life in different countries. South America, for instance, has been described as singularly deficient in this respect. Yet it is surely, à priori, very improbable that this should be the case, in a country with a vegetation so luxuriant. And we should remember that the Brazilian forests, while they could feed an almost unlimited number of animals, must tend to conceal them in a manner almost as complete. It is mentioned in Mr. Bates's excellent work upon the Amazons, that on one occasion, when he had shot a parrot, suddenly, and although up to that moment the forest had been silent, and apparently deserted, he was surrounded by a large flock of parrots, belonging to the same species, not one of which had at the previous moment been in sight.

It is customary, on the other hand, to quote Southern Africa, as a striking instance of the marvellous development of animal life. If, however, we judge by the ear, rather than the eye, and compare the nocturnal chorus of a South American forest with the comparative silence of the African desert, broken only by the occasional roar of the lion, or the scream of its terrified victim, we should probably come to a very different conclusion as to the relative fertility of these two continents in animal life. Moreover, we must remember that in Africa, not only can the eye often range at once over a large extent of ground, but also that, owing to the scarcity and partial distribution of water, the sportsman may often take up his position at the side of some piece of water, confident that, during the night, every animal for miles round must come under his observation.

Something of the same kind happens in the far north. Deserts of ice take the place of those of sand, and the herds of seals and walrus are driven to the pools of open water, not indeed to

drink, but to breathe. The bear follows the seals; the Arctic fox follows the bear almost as the jackal the lion; and where blubber is, there will the Esquimaux be gathered together. Thus we find oases of animal life, if we may use the expression, here and there enlivening the frozen deserts of snow and ice.

Of the Esquimaux themselves, Capt. Hall speaks very favourably. They are, indeed, a singular people, and in one sense any thing but savages. Their implements are made with the greatest skill and ingenuity; their clothes would pass muster, even with the Ladies' Dressmaking Association. Yet they have no chief, no laws, no government, and no form of religion. Although with a vague belief in the immortality of the soul they have no idea of prayer; yet they are dimly apprehensive of sorcery, and are conscious apparently that there is some such thing as supernatural power. This feeling is worked upon by a class of conjurors, who take advantage of it to secure more food, more clothes, and more wives, than would otherwise fall to their lot. Tattooing, among the Esquimaux, as among the Fijians, is regarded as a religious ceremony, a kind of baptism; nor do they believe that any one will be happy in the next world who has not been tattooed in the orthodox manner in this. As, however, many of the Esquimaux are untattooed, this belief cannot be general amongst them, or must be as little realized as some which are generally professed in civilized countries. Capt. Hall, moreover, speaks of course only of those who inhabit the neighbourhood of Frobisher Bay.

They have many other curious customs, and prejudices. Like all savages, they are anything but free, being slaves to superstition and to habit-which we call precedent. A woman must not eat by herself for a year after the birth of a child. At certain periods the women are compelled to live by themselves. At certain times again, certain food is forbidden to them. After walrus-hunting has begun, no one may work on reindeer skins. Women are not allowed to taste the first seal of the season. Many other similar prohibitions might be mentioned, most of which, as usual, apply to women.

In hunting, the Esquimaux are very skilful. With their bone and stone weapons they kill seals, walrus, and reindeer, where, even with the assistance of the rifle, we should fail utterly. In fact, most of our northern expeditions have derived large supplies of fresh meat from the natives.

War is entirely unknown among the Esquimaux. Capt. Hall does

not allude to the subject, but other travellers have tried in vain to make the natives comprehend the idea of war. Nor does crime appear to prevail among them. Polygamy is permitted, but even their best hunters cannot obtain and retain more than two or three wives.

In the far north boats are unknown, but the Southern Esquimaux show wonderful ingenuity in the construction and management of their boats or kayacks. Some of them are even able to turn, boat and all, head over heels in the water.

Capt. Hall found them " a kind, generous people," and to some of them, indeed, he seems to have been sincerely attached. Too Koolito was a special favourite. Capt. Hall "could not help admiring the "exceeding gracefulness and modesty of her demeanour. Simple "and gentle in her way, there was a degree of calm intellectual “power about her that more and more astonished me." Still, he condemns strongly their inattention to the sick and dead. No kind friends and affectionate relations soothe the last moments of the dying Innuit. When life is despaired of, they are left alone, the snow hut or the tent is closed up, a few simple implements and a small store of food are placed by their side, and thus they are left to their fate. At first sight this certainly appears to say little in their favour. Nevertheless, if the picture which has been drawn of them, both by Capt. Hall and by previous observers,-their strong affection for one another, their readiness to share the last piece of meat, the last drop of oil, be not very inaccurate, we should be disposed to look for some explanation of the apparently heartless custom to which we have alluded. Among the many Esquimaux observed by Capt. Hall, one was a blind man, who must have been dependent upon the affections of his relatives. Another was a very old woman, who could certainly have done but little to supply herself with food. Among a small community who were often on the very verge of starvation, the presence of such individuals as these is incompatible with the cold selfishness which the custom of leaving the dying to their fate would appear to indicate. I should, therefore, almost be disposed to account for this, in our eyes, unnatural practice by the existence of some curious superstition; and this is certainly encouraged by the idea that no implements nor dresses which are present in a dwelling which has been the scene of death ought ever to be used again. Thus, their inutility to the living, rather than any notion that they could be useful to the dead, accounts for the various objects generally found in an Esquimaux grave.

N.H.R.-1865.