ne day after a big hunt, as Mrs. Oo-vai-oo-ak placed before her lord
the matutinal mess of whale-skin boiled to that particular rubber-boot
consistency which was his taste, she said, "I'm not as young as I was,
you entertain much, the household cares are heavy, I'd like you to get
another wife to help me with the work." Chief Oo-vai-oo-ak chewed upon
the whale-skin and the suggestion of his spouse. Out in his kayak,
dodging the icebergs, he turned it over in his mind for half a day; and
as the outcome of his cogitations Mrs. Oo-vai-oo-ak the Younger, a
rollicking and comely maiden, joined the family circle.

How does it work out? For ten days I sat round their hospitable fire
trying hard for the viewpoint of each member of this Farthest North
family of fellow-Canadians. I have lived under many roof-trees, but
never have I seen a more harmonious family, nor a menage of nicer
adjustment. Mrs. Oo-vai-oo-ak the Elder, full of the mellow juice of
life, waggish and keen, "quick at the uptak'," as the Scotch say,
presides over her household with dignity, never for a moment relaxing
her hold on the situation. Chief Oo-vai-oo-ak wisely leaves the interior
economy of the household in the hands of the women. He is the quiet,
dignified gentleman with an easy manner that courtiers and
plenipotentiaries extraordinary might envy. His six feet two inches of
height, magnificent physique and superb carriage would mark him out as a
man of distinction at any race-course, polo-meet, or political reception
where men of the world forgather.

Observing the small, strong, exquisitely-formed hands and feet of the
Oo-vai-oo-aks, the almost-white complexions dashed with ruddy scarlet,
the easy grace that even the children have, and, above all, the simple
dignity which compels respect, one recognizes here an ancestry harking
back to Old World culture and distinction.

[Illustration: Roxi and the Oo-vai-oo-ak Family]

How does the young wife fit in? No suffragette need break a lance for
her, demanding a ballot, dower-rights, and the rest of it. She is happy
and busy. All day long she sings and laughs as she prepares the family
fish and feast of fat things, she pays deference to her co-wife, romps
with the children, and expands like an anemone under the ardent smile of
her lord. When the grave question was under discussion regarding the
exchange of her pendant bead-and-shell ear-rings for a pair we had
brought from the shops of the white men, the