Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-10
AN EsQUIMAU BABY.

How the Little Fellow Enjoys Himself In
a Temperature q Little Below the Freez-
ing Point.
When a baby E%squimau's mother
makes the hood for her reindeer suit, she
| stretches it into a long sack or bag, that
hangs down behind and is supported by
her shoulders, and this bag of RENDERS
skin is his cradle and home, where he
lives until he knows how to walk,
when he gets his own first suit of cloth
ing.
This, however, is while the baby
Esquimau is out-of-doors or his mother
is making a social visit. When at his
own home, in order not to trouble his
mother while she is sewing or cooking
or doing such other work, the little
baby is allowed to roll around almost
without clothing, among the reindeer
skins that make the bed, where it
amuses itself with anything it can lay
it's hands on, from a Ratchet to a snow.
stick.
You doubtless think little Boreas
should have a nice time rolling around
w Ills l1CtlU , COllUCLlU OA UlC SOAGS
skins. but when l tell you more about
his little home, you may not then think
so. For his wsnter home is built of
SnOW.
"But won't the snow melt and the
house tumble in?" you will ask. OF
course it will, if you get it warmer than
just the GOODNESS at which water freezes;
but during the greater part of the year
it is so cold that the 10y will not melt,
even when the Esqui1naux burn fires in
their stone lamps inside these snow
houses; so by closely regulating the
amount of the fire, they can just keep
the snow from melting. In short. it
must always be cold enough in their
home to freeze.
So you can see that the little Esqui-
mauXc can not have such a very nice
time, and you can't see how in tho
world he can be almost naked nearly all
day long when it is so cold. But such
is the fact.
Yet, in spite of all this, the little fell
low really enjoys himself. He gets used
to the cold, and has great fun frolick-
ing around on the reindeer skins and
playing with his toys; and when I have
told you some other stories about the
cold these little folks can endure, YOU
a understand how they can enjoy
themselves in the snow huts. or igzoos,
as they call them, when it is only a lit
tie colder than freezing.
At times, the fire will get too warm
in the snow house, and then the ceiling
will commence melting-fory YOU all per-
haps have learned at school that when
a room becomes warmed it is warmer
at the ceiling and coler near the floor.
So with the hut of snow: it commences
melting a, the top because it is warmer
there-and when two or three drops of
cold water have fallen on the baby's
bare shoulders, his father or mother
finds that it is getting too warm, and
cuts down the fire.
When the water commences drop
ping, the mother will often take a
SNOWFALL from the floor, where it is
colder than freezing, aud stick it
against the point where the water is
dripping. There it freezes fast and
soaks up the water just like a sponge
until it becomes full; and then she re-
moves It and puts on another, as soon
as 1t commences to drip again. Some
times she will forget to remove it, and
When 1t gets soaked and heavy with
water and warm enough to lose its
freezing hold. down it comes! perhaps
right on the baby's bare back, where it
hattens out like a slushy pancake-or
into his face, as it once served me-
Lieut. Frederick Schwatka, IN st. Mich
0lQs.