Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-10-01
ESKIMO DIET.
1t Is Calculated to Produce Dyspepsia in
Any Other Human Being.

Any Other Human Being.
/ had read about Eskimo eating
habits-how once upon a time, for
instance, an Arctic explorer offered
some Eskimo girls some sweetmeats
which were rejected, while tallow
candles were eagerly accepted and
eaten. Now [ wish to see an Eskimo
eat. With many smiles, Peter en-
tered the cabin and sat down at the
table. l should have apoplogized to
him on account of the scantiness of
our fare, for we had no candles and
there wasn't a bit of tallow on deck
even, let alone in the cabin. but [
noticed that the butter plate was
heaping full the sight of which made
me wish for some of my friends so
that we could make pool on the
number of bites he would take in
swallowing the roll Then Peter sat
down and without ceremony helped
himself to lot of baked beans, d
piece of dry bread and large piece
of very lean, salt beef all of which he
bit into and swallowed as a hungry
1ongshoreman might have done.
Then he took more beans and more
bread and more lean beef, and with
them several cups of coffee with a
great deal of sugar to each cup. He
was long time getting to it, but he
finally began on the butter. He had
poured his last cup of coffee and was
looking about for something to eat
with it, when his eyes fell on a plate
of cake. Taking a small piece he put
small lump of butter on it and
slowly ate the combination with the
coffee. To the reader of a geographi-
cal magazine it may seem strange,
but the fact is, until / saw this man
at the table, l had really expected to
find the ErkimoS of South Greenland
showing the habits and tastes of those
living thousand miles further up the
coast. L had not quite expected to
find them living in snow houses, but
had misty idea that an Eskimo
was little black Indian whose chief
delight among the things brought
from civilized country was the tai
low candle. The staple food is seal
meat and blubber Next to that is
the little fish taken in the ford and
dried for winter use. known to them
as the augmatfat and to the learned
as satln0 riNos,ts. a fayorite way of
eating the dried augmatfat is to take
it by the tale, poke it into the oily
blubber for a while, and then chew it
down. Awful, isn't it? 1t is almost
as bad as eating sardines. There is Il
deal in name. Blubber is disgust
ing; oil, if for use on a salad is de-
licious and indispensable. l have
eaten seal oil and found it (very un-
expectedly) good. l had supposed it
would have flavor of fish oil. There
is no such flavor about it. 1t is equa
to the best extract of cotton seed
that quality sold as olive oil in al
American groceries. Augmatfat an(
blubber, under Il French label, would
be esteemed a luxury in New York a.
in Arsuk, For the rest, the Eskimo
trade seal oil and skins to their GOV
ernor for three kinds of hard tack
for coffee, sugar and tea. They catcl
Arctic Goldfish (misarkornak in Eskimo
and gddltS ndcdga in the books ant
salmon in the seasons; they shoot NJ
end of gulls, ducks, ptarmigans, an(
the Arctic hare; they have eggs il
endless quantity in the season, anC
very many foxes are trapped. Tho
fox is to the Eskimo what the pos
sum is to the plantation darkey. He
likes to smoke and, under favorng
circumstances, will swap anything
he's got, including his wife, for rum.
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