Perhaps you would like to know about the houses the Eskimos live in. They have summer houses and winter houses. The summer house is a tent made of skins. The winter house is made of stones and earth covered with snow. It is not much higher than a man. They have a strange way of getting into these houses. A long, narrow passage leads from the door on the outside. They must crawl on their hands and knees along this passage. Then they go through a small opening into the house. The long passage keeps out the cold.
[Illustration: A Winter House.]
There is only one room in the house. Everything is done in this room. They sleep and eat and cook in it. The beds are of sealskins, and are made on a bench along the wall. There are no stoves in the house. The Eskimos use lamps to keep themselves warm and to give them light. They cook their food, too, with lamps. The lamps give great heat, and the houses are quite warm.
When the men kill a bear they have a party. At the party everybody sits around the lamp The bear is cut up and every one gets a piece. Then the children sing and dance. The Eskimos eat a great deal of meat. They kill seals and bears and birds for their meat. They also eat berries and seaweed.
There are no tables in Eskimo houses. A large dish is set on the floor. The family sit round it and eat out of it. They cut their meat with knives made of bone. Their cups are made of sealskin.
Do you know what a seal is? It is an animal with thick fur. Sometimes it lives on the land and sometimes in the water. The people in the North kill it and make clothes of its skin. Its fur is very warm and makes fine jackets. The Eskimos eat the flesh of the seal. They make knives and other things of its bones.
[Illustration: Seals.]
Eskimo boys and girls have a funny kind of candy. It is the red skin of a bird's foot soaked in fat. You would not care for this. But the Eskimo children eat it and like it. The cold weather makes them like to eat fat.