VIII. THE ESKIMOS
1854
One morning in the spring, the deck watch ran into Dr. Kane’s cabin, crying, “People hallooing ashore!” Dr. Kane hurried to the deck, and through the gloom saw strange figures all around the harbor. Though it was April, the sun had not yet risen high in the sky, and in the twilight these odd figures seemed to be waving weapons.
Kane soon found that these people were the native Eskimos, and that they were tossing their arms wildly about, as if in great excitement. It is no wonder that they were excited, for they had never seen a white man before; yet they showed no fear, and one of them came close to Kane.
This Eskimo was named Metek. He stood a head taller than Dr. Kane, and was well built and strong, with a dark skin and black, piercing eyes.
Metek wore booted trousers of white bearskin. At the toe the boot ended with the claw of the animal. His coat, or jumper, was of white and blue fox fur, and a hood of the same fur was on his head. Around his neck was tied a dirty, greasy strip of deerskin. At first the white men thought this an ornament, Metek was so careful of it. Later, Dr. Kane found that it was tied closely around his neck to keep out the air.
When an Eskimo is fully dressed in his furs, and his deerskin is tied closely around the neck so that no air can enter, he is, as it were, in a bag of fur. The heat from his body keeps him warm. As long as he is incased in air-tight clothing, he is safe from the most severe weather.
All of the Eskimo party were invited to come aboard the Advance. They were large, strong men, and many of them could hunt the white bear and the walrus single-handed.
The Eskimos had with them fifty-six fine dogs, tied by deerskin traces to their sledges, which were made of bone and lashed together by leather strips. The runners were of polished ivory, from the tusks of the walrus, and glistened like steel. The Eskimos’ weapons were knives, which they carried in their boots, and lances, which were lashed on their sledges. They had no wood for the handles of these weapons, because no trees grow in this cold country. All of the handles were made of bone. You would have thought these natives very rude indeed, could you have seen how they behaved on Dr. Kane’s ship. They opened all the doors and rummaged around in the dark corners. They opened boxes, handling everything they saw, and putting all they could inside their jumpers and boots. In fact, they stole so much that Dr. Kane and his companions had to follow them continually and take the things out of their hands.
