Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-11-05
| A VISIT TO LABRADOR.
Life Among the Esquimaux
OF that Country.
Houses of the Natives, their Customs, Ian
guago and Methods of Living

Houses of the Natives their Customs, Ian
guage and Methods of Living
A correspondent of tho Toront
Mail says in a letter from Labrador;
All the lumber used at Main, Labrador,
for the building of houses, boats, etc, is
hauled from four or five miles inland
by dog teams, and sawn into boards
by hand. The building even Of the
smallest boat is therefore an undertake
ing of considerable Importance The
wood principally used for saving into
boards is spruce. Some of the logs L
measured were ten inches in diameter
but from six to eight seemed to be the
average. They were filled with knots
from one end to the other | believe 1T
would be next to impossible to get u
board in this neighborhood more than
two feet in length without one or
more knots, Leaving the quarters
occupied by the missionaries, we next
visited those of the natives. The
houses have no more than one room,
where they sleep, eat, cook and do
everything else. Their bedding con-
Sists principally Of the skins of the
reindeer and seals, and they change
them when they wear out. The intes-
tines of the seal supply the place Of
glass, while the flesh Of this valuable
animal is dried and used for food.
The hinges of the doors are of seal
skin, their boats and boots are of seal
skin, and if they don't always eat it
they chew it. 1t is no unusual thing,
on entering an Esquimau's tent, for
one of the females to come forward
and request the pleasure of chewing
your mocasins II is considered a
breach of etiquette to refuse this mod
est request, and after half in hours
chewing the mocasns are both warm,
pliable and ready for the snow again,
Once a year the mission ship calls
here with supplies, carries back to
England the skins and oil collected by
the missionaries for be it remembered
they are traders us well as preachers
during the year. The missionaries
say that this mission is not self.sup-
porting, and but for kind friends in
England it would have to be given
up. The natives here can all read and
write Esquimau, but they consider 1t
degrading to learn to speak English 1t
is hard to get even those who do I'M
derstand English to speak it, and it
was only when trade commenced that
they thaNed out to let us see that they
were not as l. norant as we took them
to be.
Winter is the great time for travel
ing along the coast and for journeys
inland. Reindeer are found in vast
herds inland, and are hunted by the
EsquimauX who go in with their dog
sleigls and return laden with the spoils
of the chase. Our pilot, who is the
happy possessor of Il brecch-loading
rifle, assured me that he killed twenty
one reindeer in single day, and only
stopped because he had no means of
taking them home. Our boys were
considerably surprised at the prices
asked here for furs. One of the party
paid 81 for a sealSkin, only to find ont
an hour later that he could have
bought it from the storekeepof for 40
cents another paid s. for pair of
snow-shOes, while a third-the lucky
one--securcd pair of sealsliin slip
pcrs for half a plug of "navy' tobacco,
worth about eight cents. After some
hard bargaining, Mr., Gordon bought
five sealskin suits from the stOrekcep-
ers, for the use of the Observers, at a
price.
As a sample CT Esquimaux, which
the missionaries say is very easy Ian
guage, send you the Lords prayer in
that tongue. 1t is as follows:
Nalezak guide atatanut Kiilanyme
|. Attt ncrtortantc.
2. Nalegaunlt nailaule. Aijomajat
piniartante humane sorio Killangme.
3. Uyome pikSaptingnik tunitsiyi-
gitigut.
4. Idluinivut issumagijungnaikit,
sorio uvagut idluitulIiniyit issumagi-
jungnal vigiyaptigit
5. OktortanlungDcrmut pittinata.
6. Pinlitigullo ajoitomit. Nalegan-
ney. pitSaitunalo inanauner!o pigigang-