h to reach the earth a descent can be made by that means; so she
sets to work and after diligent labor the task is ultimately completed.
As she starts to lower herself, the doorkeeper tells her to keep her
eyes closed until her feet touch the ground, and following his
instructions she at last reaches the earth once more.

XVI

WOODEN FACES

Many families treasure old family portraits--paintings of ancestors who
have rendered themselves famous in one way or another. Such paintings
have their unwritten stories, repeated by word of mouth from one
generation to another, thereby preserving the family history which is
looked back upon with pride by the descendants.

Among the inhabitants of the Arctic regions the same sentiment long ago
prevailed. They had no pencils or paints, neither did they know
anything of the painter's art, so with their stone knives or other rude
tools they carved faces from driftwood, which were hung up in their
homes as mementos of former great men and ancestors. With these faces
were always associated the unwritten stories of the men they
represented, descending by word of mouth from one generation to
another, thereby preserving the family history. Sometimes the accounts
of the deeds these men performed were carved on ivory, thus aiding in
the preservation of their stories.

It is doubtful if these masks were very good likenesses of the
individuals, but they have served their purpose remarkably well. It is
also doubtful if our more civilized artists could have done much better
than these untrained sculptors with the same rude tools and materials
with which they had to work. Sometimes the untutored artist would
create an unsatisfactory face, one rather hideous in its appearance;
then he would declare that he had made the face of Toongna. At other
times faces would be created without any intention of their
representing any particular individual. Such faces were hung up in
homes for the same reason that we adorn our walls with oil paintings or
photographs, simply to look at them. Other large faces were made and
used in the festivities of a feast, but I have never learned that such
faces were looked upon with any degree of superstition, as many have
supposed.

XVII

THE EVOLUTION OF THE COOK

The Arctic cook's necessary tools are first a fire, then a pot and a
spoon or stick, and a piece of seal meat. Judging from tradition, these
must have been known to the first old woman. T