Seal-skin bags, inflated and fastened to walrus lines, are used in
hunting walrus and whales, and finally, the summer dwelling of the
Esquimau is a tent made of seal-skin. A single tent, or tupic, as it
is called by them, is composed of from five to ten skins, which are
split--that is, the mumme is split off and dried separately from the
skin. The rear portion of the tent is made of the skins with the hairy
side out, while the front is made of the transparent mumme, which
admits the light almost as freely as if made of ground glass. The skin
portion is impervious to water, but the mumme admits the rain about as
readily as it does the sunlight. This is no objection, in the mind of
the Esquimau, for it is something he is thoroughly accustomed to. In the
summer his tent is wet with rain, and in the winter, whenever the air
in the igloo is raised to an endurable temperature, the roof melts and
is constantly dripping ice-water down his back or upon his blankets.
CHAPTER XII.
WALRUS DIET.
The staple food of the Esquimaux of North Hudson's Bay and Melville
Peninsula is "ivick" (walrus). The season for killing the walrus
lasts nearly all the year--that is, all the time when the natives are
not inland hunting reindeer, in order to secure sufficient skins to
make their winter clothing and sleeping blankets.
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