found in considerable numbers over the most northerly districts of America, and even among the islands of the Arctic Ocean, where they arrive in spring by crossing the yet unbroken ice, offer them a delicious banquet. These animals are tracked through the snow with that zeal and perseverance which generally characterize the hunting excursions of a barbarous people; and, notwithstanding their proverbial fleetness, fall victims, in great numbers, to the sure aim of the Esquimaux archers. The musk-ox is an animal peculiar to very cold and inhospitable latitudes; and though, being sometimes of a savage temper, he needs to be approached with caution, is constantly pursued, as affording a principal article of food. At certain seasons, indeed, its flesh possesses a very strong and unpleasant flavor of that odorous production from which its name is derived; but, in general, it is highly palatable, and has often been eaten with relish by Europeans, who describe it as very similar in taste to beef. To these may be added the hare, the wolf, and the fox; the two last of which are caught in ingenious traps, baited with fish, or any sort of animal garbage, and are readily attracted to the neighborhood of the snare, by setting fire to a little rancid oil or refuse fat. The flesh of the fox, strange as it may appear, is not only much esteemed by the Esquimaux, but even by European travellers, who, when fresh provisions were scarce, have often partaken of it with relish. In addition to these quadrupeds, it need hardly be remarked, that the Esquimaux are furnished, by the hand of their bountiful Creator, with an immense and most valuable supply of fish. The enormous whale and the delicious salmon, the walrus and the seal, are all made tributary to their daily necessities. They have exerted their ingenuity in the preparation of the staves, the spears, and other instruments employed in their capture; and these, though far indeed from the perfection exhibited in the tackle of a European, manifest a greater share of the inventive faculties than we could easily have believed to belong to so rude and ungainly a people.

The immense quantity of fish taken and preserved by

them, every season, for the supply of their winter necessities, almost exceeds our belief. But the contemplation of the exuberant abundance which their stores supply, while it leads to the conclusion, that no portion of the globe is so wild or inhospitable as to be destitute of proofs of the care and rich bounty of our heavenly Father, awakens within us a sentiment of adoration, as well as of astonishment. "The earth is full of His goodness."

ELEVENTH WEEK-TUESDAY.

II. ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE POLAR REGIONS.-FOOD AND CLOTHING.

Ir is generally admitted by physiologists, that the activity of the human body, in the generation of internal heat, though dependent, in a great degree, on the original constitution, is powerfully affected by the quality, as well as the quantity, of the food consumed. It would moreover appear, that, to excite the heating powers of the living principle in man, there is nothing found by experience so valuable as an oily diet. In temperate regions, this fact is recognised by medical men, in cases of protracted rheumatism, in which the regular use of the oil extracted from the liver of the cod, is found highly beneficial in bracing the system to resist the effects of external cold, and enabling it, by an increased action, to banish the gnawing pains of that distressing complaint. Any one can tell how much, on exposure to the cold of a winter day in our own climate, hunger increases the chilly sensations of the body, and how much comfort a sufficiency of animal food is calculated to afford. meager diet is best adapted to a warm climate or season, agreeing well with the relaxed state of the body under an equinoctial sun, or the parching heats of summer; but affording no defence against the bitter effects of a severe

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frost. I believe it has been frequently remarked by persons familiar with the Polar Seas, that sailors of a full habit of body, a sanguine temperament, and a florid complexion, if in good health, are the least affected by the feeling of severe cold; and these are just the men most generally addicted to eating considerable portions of animal food. A thin and bilious person, on the other hand, who eats sparingly, and loathes a large proportion of fat or oily substances, finds it painful to be long exposed to the chilling influence of a northern sky. How remarkable an example of Providential care, then, does it appear, that, in those very regions where the internal heat of the body needs most to be excited, an inexhaustible supply exists, of the very description of food best suited to the purpose; and that, where the warmth of a summer sun never summons from the chilled and benumbed earth a vegetable provision for the calls of the human appetite, there should be found-what is far better-the oils and the fat with which the Arctic province of the animal kingdom so peculiarly abounds. Nor must it be forgotten, that with this abundance there also exists a relish, on the part of the inhabitants, for substances, the mere odor of which, in the chamber where they are to be partaken of, is sufficient to expel with disgust a native of this country. The incredible quantity of this description of food, rancid as it is, which an Esquimaux is capable of devouring at a meal, has astonished the Europeans by whom it has been witnessed. Twenty pounds of salmon, for instance, is stated as no uncommon quantity to be devoured by an individual at a single meal. Excess, indeed, is followed, among them, as well as in more civilized nations, with its own punishment; but there can be no doubt, that the cold of these regions is materially deprived of its painful effects on the human frame by eating as largely as Nature will easily permit; so that the tendency to make a full meal, which is universally exhibited among them, and is no doubt a part of their constitution, must be looked upon as a collateral provision of the same wise overruling Power, liable, indeed, to abuse, but, when rightly regulated, calculated to promote the welfare of this remote people.

2. The clothing of the Arctic tribes, and especially of the Esquimaux, is almost entirely composed of furs. Providence, which has kindly adapted the coats of the lower animals in these regions, to the rigors of their climate, has thus, at the same time, brought within the reach of man the means of a warm exterior defence from the cold to which he is exposed.

Neither the flannels of more civilized countries, nor the skins of more southern climates, are at all to be compared to the valuable clothing with which, by the same exertion and ingenuity which are requisite to procure their food, they are furnished, among the hills and islands of their icy home. The long hair, which gives to the white bear and musk-ox their shaggy aspect; the rough coat of the rein-deer, the hare, and the fox,-cover a close warm downy inner garment of fur, rendered thicker by the first severe onset of winter, which effectually preserves the animal, for which it was originally provided, from the intensity of the northern storms; and, when snatched from its first owner by the lord of the lower world, affords to him a similar protection. Clothed in a double garment of deer-skin, encircling the body, and reaching in front from the chin to the middle of the thigh, and behind to the calf of the leg, with sleeves so long as to cover the points of the fingers; with the hair of the inner garment, as a warm exciting covering, next the body, and that of the outer one, from its roughness, extremely unfavorable to the radiation of heat, in the reverse direction; his limbs protected by two pairs of boots, and, above these, trowsers of the skin of the seal or of the deer, an Esquimaux can endure, without danger or inconvenience, a degree of cold, to which we, in this temperate zone, are utter strangers. Nor are we to imagine that the piercing climate, which has imposed the necessity for such defences, has had any effect in souring the dispositions or lessening the enjoyments of this singular race. On the contrary, they have generally been found remarkable for their good-humor and easy temper. Their very dresses, frequently ornamented with fringes of leather, or tassels of bone, bear testimony that the

hardships of their lot have neither cramped their taste, nor stifled their natural love of ornament. With an air of freedom and of personal comfort that can hardly be believed, while he enjoys the protection I have just described, the hardy native courageously braves an intensity of frost sufficient to congeal mercury. He proceeds on his journey, or pursues his prey, with a hilarity and keenness which testify, that the Being who has placed him among the horrors of his icy abode, has also afforded him ample means of defence and enjoyment.

G. J. C. D.

ELEVENTH WEEK-WEDNESDAY.

III. ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE POLAR REGIONS.-DWELLINGS AND FIRE.

3. In all climates, but more especially in the extreme north, it is a matter of indispensable importance to the inhabitants, to provide for themselves shelter from the inclemency of the weather. The lengthened journeys which these tribes are compelled by their necessities to undertake, the frequency of their removals, and the obliterating effects of falling snow, all tend to render it at once inconvenient and useless for them, even were it practicable, to erect permanent dwelling-places. Had they wood, stone, and mortar at command, these materials would be to them of little avail. The villages of to-day, deserted to-morrow, and next day buried many feet beneath the snowy covering which enveloped, for so large a proportion of the year, the surface of their country, would, ere their return, be altogether useless, even if they were sure, at the end of several months, to find the spot on which they stood. But we need not say

that such appliances as these are not within their reach. The wreck left by the southern wave, when it washes