oward the back, thus
offering the least possible resistance to the wind, the edges held down
with stones. The earth floor of these tents is six or eight feet wide
and eight or ten feet long, according to the size of the family.

In recent years my Eskimos have adopted an improvement upon the building
customs of the west coast natives, and many of them have an entrance
extension to their tents made of transparent tanned sealskins, thick
enough to keep out the rain but not the light. This adds to the
roominess and comfort of their summer dwellings. A usual practice among
the better class of Eskimos is to use the old tupik of the previous
summer for a rain or weather-guard to the new tent. In heavy winds or
heavy summer rains, the old tupik is simply spread over the new one,
thus giving a double thickness and protection to the owners.

The bed platform in the tupik is now generally made of lumber, which I
have furnished, raised on stones, and in pleasant weather the cooking is
done outside. Oil is the only fuel for heat, light, and cooking. The
Eskimo women trim the lamps so well that there is no smoke from them,
unless there is a draft in the tent or igloo. They cut small pieces of
blubber, which they lay on moss and ignite, and the heat from the moss
dries out the oil, making a surprisingly hot flame. Until I gave them
matches, they had only the primitive means of ignition by flint and
steel, which they obtained from a vein of pyrites. When I first went up
there, all their lamps and rectangular pots were made of soapstone, two
or three veins of which are found in that country. Their ability to
utilize the soapstone and pyrites is an illustration of their
intelligence and ingenuity.

As a rule little clothing is worn in the tupiks in warm weather, as the
normal summer temperature is around fifty degrees Fahrenheit, and in the
strong sunlight may go as high as eighty-five or even ninety-five.

The trial marriage is an ineradicable custom among the Eskimos. If a
young man and woman are not suited with each other, they try again, and
sometimes several times; but when they find mates to whom they are
adapted, the arrangement is generally permanent. If two men want to
marry the same woman, they settle the question by a trial of strength,
and the better man has his way. These struggles are not fights, as the
disputants are amiable; they are simply tests of wrestling, or sometimes
of pounding each other on the arm to see whic