On the slope, fifty yards from the beach, in the midst of rocks and
boulders, stood the settlement--two stone huts, twenty yards apart!
These huts were in shape much like an old-fashioned country clay oven,
square in front, and sloping back into the hill, now covered with snow,
and, until after entering, I could not discover of what material they
were made. To get inside, I was obliged to crawl on my hands and knees
through a covered passage about twelve feet long. The chief, upon
hearing my footsteps, came out to welcome me, which he did by patting me
on the back and grinning in my face. Preceding me with a smoking torch,
which was a piece of burning moss saturated with fat, he advanced
through these low, narrow passages, tramping over several snarling dogs
and half-grown puppies.
After making two or three turns, I observed at last a bright light
streaming down through a hole, into which my guide elevated his body;
and then, moving to one side, he made room for his guest. I found myself
in a den in which I could not stand upright, but which was crowded with
human beings of all ages and sizes. I was received with a hilarious
shout which assured me of welcome. Like a flock of sheep crowding into a
pen, they packed themselves in the corners to make room for me on the
only seat which I could discover. I had come to gratify my own
curiosity, but theirs was even more rapacious than mine, and must be
first satisfied. Everything I had on and about me underwent the closest
examination.
My long beard greatly excited their interest and admiration. Being
themselves without beards, or at most having only a few stiff hairs upon
the upper lip and the point of the chin, I could readily appreciate
their curiosity. They touched it and stroked it, patting me all the
while on the back, and hanging on my arms, legs, and shoulders. They
were greatly puzzled over my woollen clothing, and could not comprehend
of what kind of skins it was made. The nearest that I could approach to
a description was that it grew on an animal looking like a hare. That it
was not skin, I could not make them understand.
During these incidents I found leisure to examine the hut. The whole
interior was about ten feet in diameter and five and a half feet high.
The walls were made of stones, moss, and the bones of whale, narwhal,
and other animals. They were not arched, but drawn in gradually from the
foundation, and capped by long slabs of slate-stone, stretching from
side to side.
The floor was covered with thin, flat stones. Half of this floor, at the
back part of the hut, was elevated a foot. This elevation served both as
bed and seat, being covered with dry grass, over which were spread bear
and dog skins. At the corners in front were similar elevations, under
one of which lay a number of pups, with their mother, and under the
other was stowed a joint of meat. The front of the hut was square, and
through it, above the passageway, opened a window; a square sheet of
strips of dried intestine, sewed together, admitted the light.
The hole of entrance in the floor was close to the front wall, and was
covered with a piece of sealskin. The walls were lined with seal or fox
skins, stretched to dry. In the cracks between the stones were thrust
whipstocks, and bone pegs on which hung coils of harpoon lines. On one
side of me sat an old woman, and on the other side a young one, each
busily engaged in attending to a smoky, greasy lamp. A third woman sat
in a corner, similarly occupied.
The lamps were made of soapstone, and in shape much resembled a
clam-shell, being about eight inches in diameter. The cavity was filled
with oil, and on the straight edge a flame was burning quite
brilliantly. The wick which supplied fuel to the flame was of moss. The
only business of the women seemed to be to prevent the lamps from
smoking, and to keep them supplied with blubber, large pieces of which
were placed in them, the heat of the flame trying out the oil. About
three inches above this flame, hung, suspended from the ceiling, an
oblong square pot of the same material as the lamp, in which something
was slowly simmering. Over this was suspended a rack made of bear-rib
bones lashed together crosswise, on which were placed to dry, stockings,
mittens, and other articles of clothing.
The inmates had no other fire than was supplied by the lamps, nor did
they need any. The hut was absolutely hot. So many persons crowded into
so small a space would, of themselves, keep the place warm. I counted
eighteen, and may, very probably, have missed two or three small ones.
Centring each around its own particular lamp and pot were three
families, one of which was represented by three generations. These three
families numbered, in all, thirteen individuals; but besides these there
were some visitors from the other hut.
The air of the place was insufferable, except for a short time. There
may have been a vent-hole, but I did not see any. I perspired as if in
the tropics. Perceiving this, the company invited me to dispense with
part of my clothing. I declined, however, the intended courtesy, telling
them that I must go back to my people.
First, however, I must have something to eat. This was an invitation
which I feared; and now that it had come, I knew that it would be unwise
to decline it. They laughed heartily when I thanked them in their own
language in reply to their invitation to eat; and immediately a not very
beautiful young damsel poured some of the contents of one of the
before-mentioned pots into a skin dish, and after sipping it, to make
sure, as I supposed, that it was not too hot, she passed it to me over a
group of heads. At first my courage forsook me; but all eyes were fixed
upon me, and it would have been highly impolitic to shrink. I therefore
shut my eyes, swallowed the dose, and retired. I was afterwards told
that it was their great delicacy, which had been proffered to me; but,
even then, it was well that I was ignorant of what it was
composed.--ISAAC HAYES.