The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1873-11-13
LIFE IN GRASSLAND.

"A Ball in the Arctic RegIons-HOvv the
EsqulmRux Danoe-Every Family has
a Clock.
A correspondent Of the Tribune, writ
from Greenland. gives the following ac-
count OF some of the manners and Gus
toms of the natives:
In the evening we attended a native
ball on shore. The ball-room fused as
a eaFpentersbop during the iday) is about
sixteen feet square, and there men, wo-
men, and children all congregate to
participate in the festivities of the oeea-
sion. The floor was generally crowded.
with dancers, while in the corners. ola
the carpenters bench, and in every space
three feet square, We're huddled togeth-
er groups of children, scarcely moro
than knee high, also engaged in tho
native dances, not wholly unlike the
''hoe-down" of the southern negroes.
The dancing, though peculiar, was bel :
ter than we expected to see, and in tn
intervals there was some very COOL
waltzing. pae band Consisted 81 tE7.A
ylolfns, both well played, ana a SINAI
keg with a piece of seai-slkin tightly
drawn over one end in imitation of a
drum-head. There was no opportunity
given for hirtations at these dances. for
as soon as the music stopped the girls,
without waiting for their escort, rushed
to one side of the room and huddIed to-
gether like so many bees. Nor is there
any fear of torn dresses by stepping on
trails. They escape ali such difficulties
by being clad IN their simple attire of
seal-skin jacket, breeches and boots.
On first landing on shore we were
met by the male portion of the eommu-
nifty, and few feet further on we met
the women, with their infants upon their
backs, carried in kind of pouch or
pocket. They greeted us with respect
ful bow, and with a broad grin upon
their countenances. The next thing
which attracted our attention was the
strong, disagreeable smell from the
drying slabs of seal meat, seal oil, seal
bIubber, and offal. The comforts of
Esquimaux life are numerous. A half
dozen seal skins constitute bed and bed
ing for two persons. They also have an
iron stove in which they burn peat (the
only fuel they have), two pots for boil
ing rice and other food, a rude lamp or
pan in which they burn seal oil, using
dried moss for wicking, half-dozen
dogs, and sledge, KAYAK, with two
lances and harpoons fishing-lines, ma
terial and implements for repairing
clothing, and (no matter how poor they
may seem TO be) I have never seen
family who did not possess a clock,
though very few of them are set to the
correct time.
The sledge dogs of Greenland are
driven in teams. each numbering from
foru to sixteen dogs. They always go
abreast of one another, and frequently
become entangled in their endeavors to
branch off in other directions than the
one intended by the driver. The har-
ness consists Of a single trace, made of
seal hide, which passes from the chest
over the launches to the sledge. There
are no reins used to guide them IN any
particular direction, bat they are di-
rected in their course by whip with a
lash about twenty feet long, while the
handle is only as many inches in length.
1t requires a deal of practice to use the
whip dexterously At first one is apt
to get the lash wound around his body,
or to strike himself A driver, though
his leading dog is well drilled, must
learn to hit any particular dog in his
team with this strand Of seal skin, or
he will have no control over them. The
natives make a practice of travelling in
couples, SO that they can relieve one
another in using the whip, which they
find tedious employment, and by this
means one can rest on his sledge, fol-
lowing along after the forward one.