The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-10-13

up WIN hNlultJ. lnlB ATrlFAl We
with sight ofsome OF their distinctive character
lsuf,s, in dress and otherwise. The dress OF
ma fried lady ID composed OF pair OF short seal
~ in pants, iur outside, extending nearly to the
F-nee joint, where ii meets the legs OF the boots,
made of the same material, Of deerskin. The
upper part Of the person is covered with 'Jump
err" or a kind Of sack with hood for the head,
aud sleeyes made whole with the exception OF
place for the face and arms This also is made of
sealskin or deerskin, and in tho warmer weather
10 covered with fancy coored cotton-cloth sack.
In the coldest and wet weather the cloth sack ID
moved and sealskin covering, without fur placed
IN its stead. This composes their whole drcss The
dress OF an unmarried lady ID distinguished by a
broad band made of fancy figured webbing about
two and half inches wide sewed on each side
OF the front of their pants, extending nearly the
whole length OF them A married woman can
also be distinguished from an unmarried one by
The hair which III both cases Is tied upon the top of
the head, and the ends of that of the married are
'colored blue and of the unmarried red. This
ables gallant to act the amiabe without danger
'of making advances 10 some already married,
and getting stray shot from injured husband.
The boots are made very neatly, slender and we'll
proportioned The upper leather is cOlored. They
tan deerskins with urine, and their seal-kns
dressed in a beautiful manner, simply by drying
and rubbing them with a smooth stone. pair OF
clippers completes the wardrobe of lady in the
Esquunaux country; these are made Of deerskin,
and neatly fringed round the tops with white rab-
bits iur. The clothing which was shown
made In vary tasty and strong manner, every
thread used being made of the sinews of the deer,
males very similar to the married ladies, with
the exception that they longer and rather
heavier. The Danes scattered about among
the Esquimaux, and furnish them with what few
foreign articles they may want, which are limited
20 steel for their spears, and some few ornaments
for their dresses and cooring for their hair and la
dies boots. The seal furnishes them with almost
every thing they seem to require-food, clothing,
and even fuel.
"'Kyacs' are kind of boat used by this people,
and arc certainly very curious affairs, four of
ich xaArn hrpt, arbt II t,a
make by stretching seaskips light frame
work OF wood shaped very much like fattcned
cigar, both ends being very sharp, with hole in
the top about fourteen inches in diameter. The
whole length of boat is about twelve feet, by four
teen inches in width, and eight inches deep at the
centre. The boatman slides his legs and hips
through the aperture in The top of the boat, extend
ing his legs lengthways, while from his hips up
are outside. This part of the body is covered with
sealskn, made the jumper and
iashed, with drawing strings at the bottom, to
a rim round the aperture in the boat. The boat
man propels his craft with double bladed paddle,
about seven feet in length, made Of light wood and
slightly made, the main part but about one and
half two inches in diameter, and the blades four
inches wide and ornamented with ivory. With
this he moves his boat through the water at very
rapid rate. BY dexterous movement with his
oar an expert boatman will completely turn his
boat over and come up on the other side, still
retaining his accustomed situation. In this fra
glc vessel he pursues his avocation ofspearng seals
in the toughest weather, foe which purpose he has
u spear SeVerai long, maze OF steel,
and very sharp, which is attached TO ivory point
about eight inches in length, the whole to a staff
seven or eight feet in length and two and a-balf
inches In diameter to the steel is attached line,
forty feet in length, made of the hide of the wal
rus, and this is fastened to bladder made Of the
skin of the seal and filled with air, laying the
after part of the boat. When the spear enters the
sealitis arranged so that it disengages itself from
the ivory point, by the point slipping at the
same instant from the stafs, but is attached
by string and floats with it, while at the same
fifnn ha Mad 80 .,,I,,n h. E.a,z ohnI
is thrown overheard, preventing the seal from
sinking any farther than the length of the line;
the staf and seal then recovered at his leisure.
For killing water fowl of which there are but few,
sharp round spear is used attached to staff
seven feet in length. These spears thrown
with astonishing accuracy, rarely, if ever, miss
ing their mark, Another manner, and the easiest
by far OF spcarlng the SEAL is by doing it through
a hole In the ice where they up to breathe
they will frequently scratch holes through the ice
from the under side where it several feet thick to
get fresh air; the natives accustomed TO the
noise made by scratching, and will hear them
long distance and watch for them, and as soon
they make their appearance they at once killed
and secured The officers OF the Advance also
brought with them several Esquimaux dogs. These
animals are very doce and peaceable in their dis
position, allowing any to handle them famil-
,arly, but they may have changed somewhat in
their disposition by being confined long on
board vessel filled with civilized people; their APP
pettes are very voracious, eating at one meal as
much as would satisfy three common American
boBe- appearance at 1lrHt Slgnt REMINDS one
OF the WOLF having similar head, mouth and
ears; their feet and tail also similar to prairie
wolf, but the eyes are brighter and have more in
telhgcnt expression (if the term may be used)
than The wolf or any other animal of the kind
linear size is nearer that Of SMALL we'll set bull
dog, and very heavy. One of them on board the
Advance "a female) has long straight hair, Of a
brownsh white, tail the same; another (male) on
the back and sides, and head, is black, and the
other parts the the female, but the hair is
shorter. They are very streng, and we witnessed
one OF them break good -sizcd cord which he was
tied with, without appearing to exert himself
anuch in the effort.
A horn Of north whale presents quite a novel
feature in the collection. These whales have
horn extending from the top of their heads forward
varying in length from to trslue feet, very
straight, and grooved if by art in spiral form.
The groove is raised about the eighth of an inch,
winding towards the point, and il is very formi-
dabe means OF defence. The one brought home is
about five feet in length and two inches in diane
ter at the butt end, and running to point at the
other. These whales, which very plenty,
spotted. and about the size of hunpbacked whale.
white whale with green back were in large
numbers, thousands in a school. Many whaling
Iships Mevillc's Bay. In this bay
many whale-ships nro wrecked every season. One
captain was seen who had been wrecked three times
an one day, 750 80 north latitude; in the first place
losing his own vessel, and barely escaping with
his Lille to another, and another, which were sue
cessively wrecked the same day.
Snow wATER.--This remarkable production
actually discovered on Grimson's Cliffs, Beverley,
Greenland, lat. 1852 81 At distance, the tops of
the cliffs appeared to be deep red color, as though
the whole surface of the snow was the same, but
upon nearer approach it was discovered TO be
scattered about in small spots, from ten feet square
down to mere drops, and was only light scum.
When melted il still retained its color, as it does
at the present time. There to be no ac-
counting for this singular phenomenon.
An iceberg was assembled, and the height mea
sured by the dropping of a lead ball, (not very
accurate way, however,) which timed, and
the height Judged to be three hundred feet above
water. If this is correct, it must have extended
under water great distance. II ascendcd
with great difficulty beng very steep, and ncces-
sary to cut ioothold for every step. In the
cent Lieut.. Lowell Slid down, caused by mshap,
about one hundred feet, and when ne picked him
self up found that he was considerably bruised by
the operation.
During the.hme that the Advance was frozen up
In the ice, the men and officers prSctised every
day in drawing the sledgcs, as they were expect
ing every hour almost to have their weasel crushed
and their only means or escape was TO travel by