Such trifles have no effect upon the Inuit brain, or
the entire nation would long ago have become raving maniacs.
The natives of Hudson's Strait dress very much like the others, the
difference being in the women's hoods, which, instead of being long and
narrow, are long and wide, and provided with a drawing string. Instead
of the long stockings, they wear a pair of leggings that reach about
half-way up the thigh, and trousers that are much shorter than those of
the western tribes. The Kinnepatoos are by all odds the most tasteful
in their dress, and their clothing is made of skins more carefully
prepared and better sewed than that of the others, except in occasional
instances.
The bedding of all these Esquimaux is made of reindeer-skins--thick
untanned skins of the buck forming what corresponds with the
mattresses, and a blanket to cover them is made of well-tanned
doe-skins, sewn together so as to be wide at the top and narrowing
into a bag at the feet. All sleep naked, winter and summer, a single
blanket formed of three doe-skins covering a father, mother, and all
the children.
[Illustration: ESQUIMAUX BUILDING A HUT.]
It would astonish a civilized spectator to see how many people can be
stowed away to sleep in one small igloo and under one blanket; but the
proverbial illustration of a box of sardines would almost represent a
skirmish line in comparison.
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