The sun., 1919-03-16

the message that II I would take
breakfast at their house tomorrow 1
should have a whole flipper. for one Of
my companions was at their house.
and had told them that considered
the flipper the best part of a seal.
Eskimo Table Customs.
AS we ate, we sat on the front edge
of the bed platform, holding each his
piece Of meat In the LEFT hand and the
knife In the right. This was my first
experience with a knife of native cop
per. I found IL more than sharp
enough and very servlceable. The
piece OF copper (float) from which the
| blade had been hammered out had
been found. they told me. on Victoria
Island to the north, In territory OF an
other tribe, from whom they hal
bought II for some good driftwood
from the mainland coast.
My hostess sat on my right In front
of the cooking lamp. her husband on
my left. AS the house was the ordi-
nary oval snow dome. abou+ seven by
nine feet in inside dimensions. there
was only free room for us three on the
front edge OF the two foot high snow
platform over which reindeer, bear
and mysk OK skins had been spread TO
make the bed. The children, there
fore, ate standing up on the small.
open floor space to the right of the
door as one enters; the lamp, and cook
, ing gear and frames for drying cloth
ing over the lamp took UP all the
| space to tho left Of tho door.
III the horseshoe shaped, three
font high doorway stood the host g
three dogs, side by side, waiting.
Whoever finished a bone would toss
it to n dog. who retired with It TO
the alleyway. and returned to his
position again as soon as he had con-
sumed 1t. When the meal was over
they all went away unbidden. to curl
up and sleep in the alleyway or out OF
doors.
Meat and blood soup.
Our meal wos of two courses: the
first, meat; the second, soup. The
soup is made by pouring cold seal
blood into the boiling broth immedi-
ately after the cooked meat has been
taken out of the pot and stirring
briskly until the whole comes nearly
(but never quite) to n boil. This
makes n soup of a thickness compar-
able to our English pea soups. but II
the pot be allowed to come to q boi
> the blood will coagulate and settle &c
the bottom. When the pot lacks q
few degrees OF boiling, the lamp above
which 1t IL swung Is extinguished and
few handfuls of snow are stirred into
the soup to bring II to temperature
at which 1t can be drunk freely. With
small dipper the housewife flls
, large musk OK horn drinking cups ant
assigns one to each person. II shor
OF cups. two or more share ono cup
or a cup may be ref1lled and passed e
1 another.
v After had eaten my I'LL of fresl
g seal meat and drunk two pint cupful.
a of blood soup, my host and 1 moved
r back on the bed platform, where w
4 could sit comfortably, propped vi
. against bundles OF soft caribou skins
while we talked. lie and his VIII,
e asked but few questions. and onl.
o such as could not be considered intru
o sive. either according to thei
standards as I learned them later, o
a according to ours. They UNDERSTOOD
d perfectly. they said, why we had lef
It the woman OF our party behind whel
h We came upon their trail. for It |
n always safest to assume that stranger
t. are going to prove hostile: but nov
q that we knew them to be harmless
n and friendly would we not allow Their
a to send n sled in the morning to brin
II her to tho village2 They had ofte
% heard that their ancestors used I
It come in contact with people to th
Il west, and now It was their good for
Il tune to have with them some me
a from the west, and they would like
It SEQ a western woman. too.
.' Tales OF Other Tribes.
nj It must be q very long way to til
e land from which We came; were W
not satiated with travelling. and di
ID we not think OF spending the summe
,r with them? OF course, the tribes VIII
" lived further east would also be gla
II to see US. and would treat us wei
p unless we went too far to tho east an
ID fell in with the Netsilik Eskimo (F<in
,r William Island). wicked. treaoherou
ID people who-strange to say-have n
Of CHRIS Beyond them, they had hear
ls lived the white men (Kablunat),
v whom, no doubt. we had never hear
10 seeing We came from the west, an
Or the white men are furthest OF a
II people 10 the east They are said
N have various physical dsfofmitiel