wooden pins and whalebone bands. Before the Greenlanders became acquainted with Europeans this vessel was constructed with the few tools which that ingenious people then possessed.

The men perform the wood-work, but the women calk or stop the seams with grease, and cover the boat with skins. If they rip a hole in this covering they stop and patch it immediately. These boats are rowed by women, whose number is commonly four, and one steers the boat. They would think it very impertinent for a man to meddle with their navigation, unless they should be thrown into some dangerous situation.

They erect a mast in the boat, and have a sail of seal membrane, sewed like the tent curtain before mentioned. They coast all along their shores in these boats, the men attending near at hand in their kajaks, sometimes making voyages from four to eight hundred miles in extent. They perform these voyages in considerable numbers, and take with them their tents and all their substance.

At the time the Danish mission became acquainted with the Greenlanders, they were a migratory people-loving each other, families and friends wandered together. Their whole wealth was a tent and a boat. Without fields and flocks, they had no local property, and therefore no attachment to particular places; and the sea, as it afforded their livelihood, was in some sort their home.

Every night, during their voyages, they would come on shore; unload the boat; carry that light vessel overland, to some distance; pitch their tents; feed upon the fish, or seal-flesh, which they

BOATS OF THE NATIVES.

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had taken in the day; and, if they were not too weary, they would finish their feast by a dance, and on the following day renew their labours upon the

The kajak, or man's boat, is twenty or thirty feet long, and not more than one foot in depth, and one and a half in width. Like the woman's boat, it is made of laths and whalebone, and covered with skins on the outside. The top is also covered like a drum-head, except the middle, where a hole is left, surrounded with a rim or hoop, like the wooden hoop of a sieve.

The Greenlander slips into this hole with his feet, and sits down on a board which is fixed for a seat. When he is in his place he tucks his pelt, his seal-skin great-coat, all round him, so that he fits his place almost as tight as a cork in a bottle, and no water can get in to wet him. The upper cover of the boat is his table, and on it he lays his oars, and his harpoon, and lines.

The lines, thongs, and cords made use of by the Greenlanders for different purposes are filaments of leather, or sinews of animals twisted, so as to be very strong.

When the Greenlander is tossed about upon the boisterous waves in one of these cockle-shells, as

they appear to be, darting along with the speed of an arrow, sitting erect and without fear in his frail vessel, he is looked upon by the European from some stately ship with mingled admiration and terror, for, notwithstanding the wonderful nautical skill of these northern seamen, many lose their lives in their venturesome excursions.

A single Greenlander rarely attacks, a seal. They assist one another; for when struck with the harpoon, though the seal generally dives into the water, he may turn upon his enemy, wound him, or overset his kajak. Seals are often approached by the Greenlanders while they are asleep, and are killed then by the dart.

When the sea is frozen over, and a hole is left in the ice, the seals go thither to breathe the upper air, and the Greenlander, watching his opportunity, kills them as they come up. The Esquimaux do

the same.

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Among the animals at once dangerous and in some respects useful to the Greenlander is the great white bear, sometimes called the polar bear. This animal's flesh is palatable, and the Greenlanders like it, and make use of it. Bear's grease is useful also. This white bear is larger and more ferocious than the black sort. They feed upon seals and dead whales. They often attack the morse, or sea-lion, and that animal defends itself courageously.

The white bears swim from one mass of ice to another, and when they are attacked, and wish to escape, dive under the water, and swim off. On land they live upon birds and their eggs, and when impelled by severe hunger they will devour men, and drag dead bodies from the grave.

In winter they immure themselves in holes between the rocks, or bury themselves in the snow, till the sun allures them abroad again. They sometimes enter the Greenland houses, which they break into and plunder. The Greenlanders set up a great cry at the appearance of these formidable animals, surround them with their dogs, and strike at them with darts and harpoons. The bear some

times has the advantage of the Greenlanders in these contests, some of whom are often killed in them. The number of the bears diminishes as the Greenlanders become stationary.

The only animal domesticated by the Greenlanders is the dog. These dogs look more like the wolf than like our dogs. They are used instead of horses. From four to ten dogs are harnessed to a sled, or sledge, and they convey persons or burdens from place to place.

CHAPTER IX.

THE domestic manners of the Greenlanders were in many respects very commendable. The marriage of one man to one woman was general, though it was not prohibited that he should have more than one wife. Parents were fond of their children, treating them with much tenderness and gentleness. The children on their part were docile and quiet.

When a young man chose a girl for his wife, some old women, his relatives, would make application to the parents of the favourite, and they would communicate the proposal to the female thus honoured. The damsel on this occasion had a part to act which was not very natural. She would run away, hide herself, tear her hair, and refuse food.

After she had been indulged a proper time in this real or affected opposition, the old women who were the first solicitors were permitted by the parents to look for the diffident, maiden, and when she was found they compelled her to receive her suitor. Her dowry, or marriage portion, was her clothes, a knife, a lamp, and a stone boiler. The good qualities of a wife among the Greenlanders are skill in housewifery and in sewing.

The virtues of a good husband, or provider, as they call the man of a house, are activity, boldness, and skill in the management of the boat, in the