In summer the running vines point
to the salt water, they say, which, in going around Hudson's Bay, would
indicate the south. And then there are certain species of moss that are
only found in the vicinity of salt water. In winter they notice the
ridges of snow along the ice, or the land spots on the highlands, and
can keep their course by them with surprising accuracy.
The Esquimaux, however, are not a people given to exploration. They are
not curious concerning unknown territory. What they are chiefly
interested in is, "what they shall eat and drink, and wherewithal they
shall be clothed." Certain districts within their knowledge furnish the
different kinds of game, and these they visit at the accustomed
seasons. Occasionally they will visit neighboring tribes, and sometimes
settle down in the new country, depending upon their skill in the chase
for the support of their families. But this country, new to them, is
well known to those whom they visit, and they have the benefit of
competent guides until such time as they are sufficiently acquainted
with the country themselves. Though they are constantly moving in
summer and winter, their journeys are seldom extended. They will
sometimes go from the mouth of Chesterfield Inlet to the Wager River or
Repulse Bay, and occasionally to the tribes at the north part of
Melville Peninsula, but generally spend one year at least at some
intermediate point.
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