ough of course you don't know what that
means. Then here, you see, there are two little things stuck into the
handle. One is called tweezers, an' is of no earthly use that I know of
except to pull the hairs out o' your nose, which no man in his senses
ever wants to do; and the other thing is, I suppose, for borin' small
holes in things--it's almost as useless. This thing on the back is for
pickin' stones out of horses' hoofs--but I forgot you never saw horses
or hoofs! Well, no matter; it's for pickin' things out of things,
when--when you want to pick 'em out! But below this is an uncommon
useful thing--a screw--a thing for drawin' corks out of bottles--there,
again, I'm forgettin'. You never saw corks or bottles. Happy people--
as the people who don't drink spirits would call you--and, to say truth,
I think they are right. Indeed, I've been one of them myself ever since
I came to this region. Give us another steak, Nunaga, my dear--no, not
a bear one; I like the walrus better. It's like yourself--tender."

The fair Nunaga fell into a tremendous giggle at this joke, for although
our hero's Eskimo was not very perfect, he possessed all an Irishman's
capacity for making his meaning understood, more or less; and truly it
was a sight to behold the varied expressions of face--the childlike
surprise, admiration, curiosity, and something approaching to awe--with
which those unsophisticated natives received the explanation of the
different parts of that clasp-knife!

"But what did we begin our talk about?" he continued, as he tackled the
walrus. "O yes; it was about our garments. Well, besides using
different kinds of cloths, our coats are of many different shapes: we
have short coats called jackets, and long coats, and coats with tails
behind--"

"Do your men wear tails behind?" asked Angut, in surprise.

"Yes; two tails," replied Rooney, "and two buttons above them."

"Strange," remarked Angut; "it is only our women who have tails; and
they have only one tail each, with one button in front--not behind--to
fasten the end of the tail to when on a journey."

"Women with tails look very well," remarked Okiok, "especially when they
swing them about in a neat way that I know well but cannot describe.
But men with tails must look very funny."

Here Mrs Okiok ventured to ask how the Kablunet women dressed.

"Well, it's not easy to describe that to folk who have never seen them,"
said the sailor, with a slight grin