solitary polar bear. Gemini they
describe as two stones in the entrance of an igloo. The moon and the sun
represent to the Eskimo, as to some of our North American Indian tribes,
a fleeing maiden and her pursuing admirer.

Time is, of course, of small value to the Eskimo, so far as he is
himself personally concerned, yet after the Eskimo has been trained to
the ways of the white man he seems to absorb an excellent notion of the
value of punctuality and will carry out orders with a surprising degree
of promptness and despatch.

The strength and capacity for enduring hardships exhibited by this
people is extraordinary and is not, I believe, exceeded by that shown by
any other aboriginal race now in existence. It is true that the average
size of the Eskimo is, judged by our own standards, small; but I could
give the names of several of them who stand five feet ten inches and
weigh 185 pounds. The popular idea that they are clumsily fashioned is
not correct. That notion is merely another case of judging a man by the
clothes he wears, and an Eskimo's garments are not precisely what we
should call of fashionable cut.

To my mind, the skin canoe of these Northern aborigines is, with its
hunting implements, one of the most complete and ingenious
manifestations of intelligence to be found in any aboriginal tribe. Over
a light framework, an almost infinite number of small pieces of wood
deftly lashed together with sealskin thongs, is stretched the tanned
skin of seals, the seams being neatly sewed by the women, and then
rendered water-tight by an application of seal oil and soot from the
native lamps. The result is a craft of great buoyancy, some grace, and
especial fitness and effectiveness for the purposes for which it is
intended, that is, to enable the hunter to creep softly and noiselessly
upon seal, walrus, or white whale. This canoe, while varying somewhat
with the size of the owner and maker, will average between twenty and
twenty-four inches in width by sixteen or eighteen feet in length. It
carries one man only. I may have helped the Eskimos a little in
perfecting it, by giving them more suitable material for the framework,
but the canoe is original with them.

It will scarcely be considered strange that I have grown to love this
childlike, simple people, as well as to value their many admirable and
useful qualities. For it must be borne in mind that for nearly a quarter
of a century they have been more thoroughly k