Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-12-11

wrapped around him. His head Is coz
cred with q cap and his legs are tired to-
gether with q fox skin If one Of his
ancestors persisted IN his KAYAK, which Is
almost certain to have been the case, the
body is thrown into the sea, or placed
on the beach where the rising tide win
carry 1t of. 1t is frequently the case
that the body viii be seen distinctly at
the bottom Of the sea, not far from the
hut Of the deceased person, long time
after his death But the ancient way Of
disposing Of the dead is to lay them on
the ground and cover them with stones,
and this is still done TO q considerable
extent To economic stones, which are
not very abundant, the body is doubled
up so that a smaller number of them will
cover it. Strange to say, it is "a rule
among people that the name Of q dead
person must never be pronounced If q
man happens to have the name Of dead
man, he changes it at once, so that the
dead mans name may never be pro-
nounced. Even If the dead man bore
the name Of an animal, as soon as he
dies the name Of the animals species
must be changed by the whole tribe.
The consequence is that the language is
in a constant state of change.
The natives Of Angmagsalik are great
| astronomers in their way. They have
definitely determined, to their own entire
satisfaction, that the stars are of tho
size Of fox-skfn- They have wit enough
to observe that the moon governs the
tides, and the fact comes in for FREQUENT
mention in their legends. They know
just where the sun is at any hour of the
day and at any time of the year. They
/ have great talent for geography and a
remarkable memory for places. They
can describe accurately places they have
not seen for twenty years, and even
draw pretty good map Of them. They
can also tell exactly how long it takes to
go from one place to another.
The legends Of this strange people
afford singular confirmation of the
Old Testament history. They teach
that the world was at first without sea
or mountains, and that the Great Spirit,
not liking the men who then inhabited
it, destroyed it. He opened caves, into
which men fell, and then water covered
the face Of the earth, filed the caves.
and drowned them. When the earth
| glaciers. These glaciers melted in large
parts, and there fell from heaven two
beings who repeopled the earth.
The people OF Angmagsalik are
sprightly and intelligent. They are
persevering and intrepid hunters. They
are polite, hospitable, and obliging one
to another, and yet reserved, suspicious,
and deceitfuL Such sentiments as love,
friendship, and devotion are rarely met
among them
Miss Krarer says that in her country
the days and the nights are of the same
length. For four long months the peo-
pie sit in darkness, with only the light
of the moon and stars. Then for two
months there is a period, which is the
pleasantest of the year. Then for six
months the sun is seen above the hori-
zon. Sunrise to the poor Esquimaux is
a jubilee something like Christmas in
other countries. 1t is the only thing
that he can measure time by. He takes
no reckoning of any period shorter than
| a year. The east coast of Greenland,
she says. is the coolest and most dismal
spot in the Arctic regions. Her first
recollections are of the snow-hut which
was her home, and the bitter cold and
| frequent hunger from which she and
every one about her suffered. Fuel,
properly speaking, there was none, as
there was no vegetation, and what feeble
| fires her race could afford were fed with
the flesh Of reindeer, and the bones Of
! fish and of the walrus. These fires were
kfndled by a flint, but even flints were
| scarce
An Esquimaux mother who tells her
child that she will punish it always
keeps her word, even if she is not in a
Ah4Ag oOOu1 III hH0 WHICH, SAO SOSS 4OeSNg
| her penalty is as barbarOus as it is
| unique. Her threat is that she will burn
her little daughter with bone, and sure
enough she takes a great bone and heats
it at the fire, and then presses it on
some part of the little girls body until
| there is an excruciating burn. The scar
is long reminder to the little one of the
danger of filial disobedience, but the
mother must draw the line somewhere,
so she never burns the child's face. AS
may readily be judged from this fact,