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6. Table of Contents
Go: Building Web Applications
Go: Building Web Applications
Credits
Preface
What this learning path covers
What you need for this learning path
Who this learning path is for
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example code
Errata
Piracy
Questions
1. Module 1
1. Introducing and Setting Up Go
Installing Go
Structuring a project
Code conventions
Importing packages
Handling private repositories
Dealing with versioning
Introducing the net package
Hello, Web
Summary
2. Serving and Routing
Serving files directly
Basic routing
Using more complex routing with Gorilla
Redirecting requests
Serving basic errors
Summary
3. Connecting to Data
Connecting to a database
7. Creating a MySQL database
Using GUID for prettier URLs
Handling 404s
Summary
4. Using Templates
Introducing templates, context, and visibility
HTML templates and text templates
Displaying variables and security
Using logic and control structures
Summary
5. Frontend Integration with RESTful APIs
Setting up the basic API endpoint
RESTful architecture and best practices
Creating our first API endpoint
Implementing security
Creating data with POST
Modifying data with PUT
Summary
6. Sessions and Cookies
Setting cookies
Capturing user information
Creating users
Enabling sessions
Letting users register
Letting users log in
Initiating a server-side session
Creating a store
Utilizing flash messages
Summary
7. Microservices and Communication
Introducing the microservice approach
Pros and cons of utilizing microservices
Understanding the heart of microservices
Communicating between microservices
Putting a message on the wire
Reading from another service
Summary
8. 8. Logging and Testing
Introducing logging in Go
Logging to IO
Multiple loggers
Formatting your output
Using panics and fatal errors
Introducing testing in Go
Summary
9. Security
HTTPS everywhere – implementing TLS
Preventing SQL injection
Protecting against XSS
Preventing cross-site request forgery (CSRF)
Securing cookies
Using the secure middleware
Summary
10. Caching, Proxies and Improved Performance
Identifying bottlenecks
Implementing reverse proxies
Implementing caching strategies
Using Least Recently Used
Caching by file
Caching in memory
Implementing HTTP/2
Summary
2. Module 2
1. Chat Application with Web Sockets
A simple web server
Templates
Doing things once
Using your own handlers
Properly building and executing Go programs
Modeling a chat room and clients on the server
Modeling the client
Modeling a room
Concurrency programming using idiomatic Go
Turning a room into an HTTP handler
9. Use helper functions to remove complexity
Creating and using rooms
Building an HTML and JavaScript chat client
Getting more out of templates
Tracing code to get a look under the hood
Writing a package using TDD
Interfaces
Unit tests
Red-green testing
Implementing the interface
Unexported types being returned to users
Using our new trace package
Making tracing optional
Clean package APIs
Summary
2. Adding Authentication
Handlers all the way down
Making a pretty social sign-in page
Endpoints with dynamic paths
OAuth2
Open source OAuth2 packages
Tell the authentication providers about your app
Implementing external logging in
Logging in
Handling the response from the provider
Presenting the user data
Augmenting messages with additional data
Summary
3. Three Ways to Implement Profile Pictures
Avatars from the authentication server
Getting the avatar URL
Transmitting the avatar URL
Adding the avatar to the user interface
Logging out
Making things prettier
Implementing Gravatar
Abstracting the avatar URL process
10. The authentication service and avatar's implementation
Using an implementation
Gravatar implementation
Uploading an avatar picture
User identification
An upload form
Handling the upload
Serving the images
The Avatar implementation for local files
Supporting different file types
Refactoring and optimizing our code
Replacing concrete types with interfaces
Changing interfaces in a test-driven way
Fixing existing implementations
Global variables versus fields
Implementing our new design
Tidying up and testing
Combining all three implementations
Summary
4. Command-line Tools to Find Domain Names
Pipe design for command-line tools
Five simple programs
Sprinkle
Exercise – configurable transformations
Domainify
Exercise – making top-level domains configurable
Coolify
Synonyms
Using environment variables for configuration
Consuming a web API
Getting domain suggestions
Available
Composing all five programs
One program to rule them all
Summary
5. Building Distributed Systems and Working with Flexible Data
System design
11. Database design
Installing the environment
NSQ
NSQ driver for Go
MongoDB
MongoDB driver for Go
Starting the environment
Votes from Twitter
Authorization with Twitter
Extracting the connection
Reading environment variables
Reading from MongoDB
Reading from Twitter
Signal channels
Publishing to NSQ
Gracefully starting and stopping
Testing
Counting votes
Connecting to the database
Consuming messages in NSQ
Keeping the database updated
Responding to Ctrl + C
Running our solution
Summary
6. Exposing Data and Functionality through a RESTful Data Web
Service API
RESTful API design
Sharing data between handlers
Wrapping handler functions
API key
Database session
Per request variables
Cross-browser resource sharing
Responding
Understanding the request
A simple main function to serve our API
Using handler function wrappers
12. Handling endpoints
Using tags to add metadata to structs
Many operations with a single handler
Reading polls
Creating a poll
Deleting a poll
CORS support
Testing our API using curl
A web client that consumes the API
An index page showing a list of polls
A page to create a new poll
A page to show details of the poll
Running the solution
Summary
7. Random Recommendations Web Service
Project overview
Project design specifics
Representing data in code
Public views of Go structs
Generating random recommendations
Google Places API key
Enumerators in Go
Test-driven enumerator
Querying the Google Places API
Building recommendations
Handlers that use query parameters
CORS
Testing our API
Web application
Summary
8. Filesystem Backup
Solution design
Project structure
Backup package
Obvious interfaces?
Implementing ZIP
Has the filesystem changed?
13. Checking for changes and initiating a backup
Hardcoding is OK for a short while
The user command-line tool
Persisting small data
Parsing arguments
Listing the paths
String representations for your own types
Adding paths
Removing paths
Using our new tool
The daemon backup tool
Duplicated structures
Caching data
Infinite loops
Updating filedb records
Testing our solution
Summary
3. Module 3
1. An Introduction to Concurrency in Go
Introducing goroutines
A patient goroutine
Implementing the defer control mechanism
Using Go's scheduler
Using system variables
Understanding goroutines versus coroutines
Implementing channels
Channel-based sorting at the letter capitalization factory
Cleaning up our goroutines
Buffered or unbuffered channels
Using the select statement
Closures and goroutines
Building a web spider using goroutines and channels
Summary
2. Understanding the Concurrency Model
Understanding the working of goroutines
Synchronous versus asynchronous goroutines
Designing the web server plan
14. Visualizing concurrency
RSS in action
An RSS reader with self diagnostics
Imposing a timeout
A little bit about CSP
The dining philosophers problem
Go and the actor model
Object orientation
Demonstrating simple polymorphism in Go
Using concurrency
Managing threads
Using sync and mutexes to lock data
Summary
3. Developing a Concurrent Strategy
Applying efficiency in complex concurrency
Identifying race conditions with race detection
Using mutual exclusions
Exploring timeouts
Importance of consistency
Synchronizing our concurrent operations
The project – multiuser appointment calendar
Visualizing a concurrent pattern
Developing our server requirements
Web server
The Gorilla toolkit
Using templates
Time
Endpoints
Custom structs
A multiuser Appointments Calendar
A note on style
A note on immutability
Summary
4. Data Integrity in an Application
Getting deeper with mutexes and sync
The cost of goroutines
Working with files
15. Getting low – implementing C
Touching memory in cgo
The structure of cgo
The other way around
Getting even lower – assembly in Go
Distributed Go
Some common consistency models
Distributed shared memory
First-in-first-out – PRAM
Looking at the master-slave model
The producer-consumer problem
Looking at the leader-follower model
Atomic consistency / mutual exclusion
Release consistency
Using memcached
Circuit
Summary
5. Locks, Blocks, and Better Channels
Understanding blocking methods in Go
Blocking method 1 – a listening, waiting channel
Sending more data types via channels
Creating a function channel
Using an interface channel
Using structs, interfaces, and more complex channels
The net package – a chat server with interfaced channels
Handling direct messages
Examining our client
Blocking method 2 – the select statement in a loop
Cleaning up goroutines
Blocking method 3 – network connections and reads
Creating channels of channels
Pprof – yet another awesome tool
Handling deadlocks and errors
Summary
6. C10K – A Non-blocking Web Server in Go
Attacking the C10K problem
Failing of servers at 10,000 concurrent connections
16. Using concurrency to attack C10K
Taking another approach
Building our C10K web server
Benchmarking against a blocking web server
Handling requests
Routing requests
Serving pages
Parsing our template
External dependencies
Connecting to MySQL
Multithreading and leveraging multiple cores
Exploring our web server
Timing out and moving on
Summary
7. Performance and Scalability
High performance in Go
Getting deeper into pprof
Parallelism's and concurrency's impact on I/O pprof
Using the App Engine
Distributed Go
Types of topologies
Type 1 – star
Type 2 – mesh
The Publish and Subscribe model
Serialized data
Remote code execution
Other topologies
Message Passing Interface
Some helpful libraries
Nitro profiler
Heka
GoFlow
Memory preservation
Garbage collection in Go
Summary
8. Concurrent Application Architecture
Designing our concurrent application
17. Identifying our requirements
Using NoSQL as a data store in Go
MongoDB
Redis
Tiedot
CouchDB
Cassandra
Couchbase
Setting up our data store
Monitoring filesystem changes
Managing logfiles
Handling configuration files
Detecting file changes
Sending changes to clients
Checking records against Couchbase
Backing up our files
Designing our web interface
Reverting a file's history – command line
Using Go in daemons and as a service
Checking the health of our server
Summary
9. Logging and Testing Concurrency in Go
Handling errors and logging
Breaking out goroutine logs
Using the LiteIDE for richer and easier debugging
Sending errors to screen
Logging errors to file
Logging errors to memory
Using the log4go package for robust logging
Panicking
Recovering
Logging our panics
Catching stack traces with concurrent code
Using the runtime package for granular stack traces
Summary
10. Advanced Concurrency and Best Practices
Going beyond the basics with channels
18. Building workers
Implementing nil channel blocks
Using nil channels
Implementing more granular control over goroutines with tomb
Timing out with channels
Building a load balancer with concurrent patterns
Choosing unidirectional and bidirectional channels
Using receive-only or send-only channels
Using an indeterminate channel type
Using Go with unit testing
GoCheck
Ginkgo and Gomega
Using Google App Engine
Utilizing best practices
Structuring your code
Documenting your code
Making your code available via go get
Keeping concurrency out of your packages
Summary
A. Bibliography
Index
21. Snow had been falling heavily all night, and there seemed no
sign of its ceasing. All marks of the road were completely
obliterated, and it would evidently test to the utmost his knowledge
of woodcraft to keep in the right track.
Such was the condition of affairs that called forth the
exclamation reported at the beginning of this story.
However, there was nothing to gain by delay, so hardly waiting
to snatch a bite of food and to allow their horses to finish their
portion of oats, they harnessed up and drove forth into the storm.
Even had the track been easily distinguishable, they could not
have made rapid progress, for the snow came in big, blinding flakes
that were very bewildering, and had already covered the ground to a
depth of nearly a foot.
By the aid of familiar landmarks, Mr. Maynard was able for a
time to direct their course accurately enough; but about mid-day
they reached a wide lake which they had to cross, and here their
real difficulties began.
The broad expanse of Loon Lake had presented a fine
playground for the wind, and upon it the snow was heaped in vast
drifts, far surpassing anything met with in the woods, where the
trees afforded protection.
In these drifts the horses and sleigh soon stuck so fast that their
extrication was evidently quite beyond the power of the passengers.
There seemed no alternative but to abandon them to their fate,
and to continue the journey on snow-shoes, which, fortunately, were
lashed to the back of the sleigh.
Mr. Maynard felt sorely reluctant to desert his faithful horses,
but no time could be spared for unavailing regrets.
22. "There's no help for it, Harry," he said resolutely. "We'll have to
leave them where they are. We cannot get them out, and we've
enough to do to look after ourselves."
The poor creatures whinnied appealingly as their human
companions moved off, and made frantic efforts to follow, but the
remorseless snow-drift held them fast.
23. "THE POOR CREATURES WHINNIED
APPEALINGLY."
It was certainly a pity to leave two such fine animals to perish,
but yet what could be done?
Striding along on the snow-shoes, in the use of which they were
both expert, the superintendent and Harry made better progress
than they had been doing in the sleigh, and now the chief anxiety
was to hit the right spot on the other side of the lake, where the
road continued through the woods.
On a clear day Mr. Maynard would have found little difficulty in
doing this, but in the midst of a blinding snowstorm it was no easy
task; yet their very lives depended upon its successful
accomplishment.
When they reached the middle of the lake they were dismayed
to discover that the heavily-falling snow shrouded not only the shore
for which they were making, but the one which they had left. They
were absolutely without a mark to guide them.
Here was an unexpected peril. Mr. Maynard halted and strove to
peer through the ominous obscurity of white, but on every side it
was the same.
"What are we to do now, Harry?" he cried in a tone of deep
concern. "I can't make out our way at all."
By this time Harry's spirits, which had hitherto been keeping up
bravely, were beginning to fall, for he was growing weary of the long
struggle with the storm.
24. "I'm sure I don't know," he responded ruefully. "I suppose there
is nothing else to do but to push ahead and take our chances of
hitting the shore somewhere."
"That's about all, Harry," was the superintendent's reply. "Just
rest a minute to get your breath, and then we'll make a dash for it."
For a little space they stood still and silent, the mind of each
absorbed in anxious thought, and then Mr. Maynard called out,—
"Come along now, Harry. Keep right in my tracks, and I'll see if I
can't make the shore all right."
For half-an-hour they toiled steadily onward, and well it was for
both that they had such skill in the use of snow-shoes. Without them
they could not have made a hundred yards' headway, so heavy was
the snow. Even as it was, the hard work told upon Harry, and
presently he had to call to his companion,—
"Hold on a minute, Mr. Maynard; I'm out of breath."
The superintendent stopped short and came back to him.
"Not played out already, are you, Harry?" he asked, peering
anxiously into his face.
"Oh, no!" and the boy made a gallant effort at a reassuring
smile. "I just want to get my wind; that's all. This abominable storm
nearly suffocates me."
As they rested again for a few minutes, the wind suddenly
shifted, parting the whirling snow to right and left, and through the
rift thus made, Mr. Maynard's keen eyes caught a glimpse of a dark
mass rising dimly into the air a little more than a mile away.
With a shout of joy he slapped his companion upon the back,
crying,—
25. "Eagle Rock, Harry. See!" and he pointed with a quivering finger
to the spectral appearance. "Once we make that, I can find the road
all right enough. Come along!"
Cheered by the sight, which the next moment the snow-curtain
again hid from them, they pushed forward with renewed energy.
It was terribly hard walking. Their snow-shoes sank deep into
the drifts at every step, and it was an effort each time to release
them. The afternoon was also waning fast, and they had not more
than an hour of daylight left at best. Truly they were in desperate
straits.
On they went over the drifts that seemed to be determined to
bar their way, the superintendent straining his eyes for another
glimpse of Eagle Rock. At last, as Harry was about once more to cry
halt, his companion exclaimed joyfully,—
"There's Eagle Rock, Harry! I see it. We're making straight for it.
A few minutes more will take us there."
The cheering announcement revived the boy's failing energies
for another effort. He shut his lips upon the request for a rest, and
doggedly tramped on after his guide.
Ten minutes more and they were at the foot of the lofty crag
called Eagle Rock, in a friendly recess of which they found welcome
shelter from the furious wind.
"Thank goodness!" ejaculated Harry, throwing himself wearily
down upon a snow-bank, "we've got thus far anyway. How many
miles more, Mr. Maynard?"
"About ten, Harry," was the answer, given in quite a matter-of-
fact tone.
26. "Ten!" echoed Harry in dismay. "I hoped it would only be about
five. I'll never do it in the world."
"Oh yes, you will, my boy!" replied Mr. Maynard. "I'll help you
you know."
To their vast relief the snow now began to abate, and presently
ceased falling altogether.
"That's something to be thankful for," said the superintendent.
"Are you ready to start again?"
"Go ahead," was the response.
But no sooner had one danger passed than another presented
itself. The light began to fail, for night was at hand.
A ten-mile tramp on snow-shoes through a desolate forest was
not much to be desired under any circumstances. To accomplish it in
the dark, tired as they both felt already, was a feat the achieving of
which seemed more than doubtful.
Mr. Maynard had his misgivings, but he carefully concealed them
from his companion, and even started whistling a lively march as he
led the way along the faintly discernible road.
Never will either of them ever forget that awful tramp.
The night soon enfolded them, leaving only the scant light of
the glimmering stars for guidance. Every step they took had to be
carefully considered, lest they should stray from the track and be
hopelessly lost.
Again and again the silence through which they marched was
broken by the blood-curdling cry of the lynx or the dismal howl of
the wolf, seeking what they might devour.
The superintendent's rifle hung at his back, and Harry had a
good revolver; but they prayed in their hearts that they might have
27. no occasion to use them.
Every little while they had to pause that the boy might take a
brief rest. Then on they went again.
Mile after mile of the dreary, toilsome way was slowly yet
steadily overcome, each one adding to poor Harry's weariness, until
he felt as if he must give up the struggle and throw himself down in
the snow to die.
But Mr. Maynard cheered him up and helped him, and kept him
going, knowing well that to give up really meant death.
At last the exhausted boy sank down with a piteous wail,—
"It's no use, Mr. Maynard, I can't take another step."
"Oh yes, you can, Harry!" said the superintendent soothingly;
"just take a little rest, and then you'll be all right."
While Harry rested he went on ahead a short distance, for it
seemed to him that they could not be very far from the depot.
Presently there came from him a glad hurrah, and running back
he put his arm around his companion, and helped him to his feet,
exclaiming joyfully,—
"I can see a light, Harry. We're safe now. It's the depot."
And he was right. They were within half a mile of their haven.
Forgetting all their weariness, they put on a gallant spurt, and in less
than ten minutes were in the midst of their friends, telling the story
of their thrilling experience.
All's well that ends well. The superintendent kept his
appointments in the city; Harry had a royal Christmas time with the
clerks in the depot; and, happy to relate, the horses were not lost,
for a relief party that went out the following morning with a big
sledge found them still alive, and brought them and the sleigh back
28. to the depot, little the worse for the long imprisonment in the snow-
drift.
A STRANGE HELPER.
"There's nothing for it, Maggie, but to let the place go. I've tried my
best to raise the money, but those that are willing to help a fellow
haven't it to lend, and those that have it ain't willing to help. It's
mighty hard lines, I tell you," and, with a groan of despair, Alec
M'Leod buried his head in his hands, as he leaned heavily upon the
table.
Hard lines it was, indeed, as no one knew better than Moses
Shearer, the money-lender, to whose conduct was due Alec the
miller's anguish of mind. He had chosen that particular time for
enforcing satisfaction of his claim, because he understood that it
could not be done without a sale of the mill property; and this was
just what he desired, as he intended to bid it in for himself.
It did seem a cruel thing for Mr. M'Leod to be sold out of the
snug, well-equipped mill that represented his whole fortune; and all
for a debt of one hundred pounds, incurred under special
circumstances for which he was in no wise to blame.
No wonder that he was sorely cast down, and that gloom
reigned in his household, which consisted of a devoted wife and two
children—Robert, the elder, a sturdy, enterprising lad of fourteen,
and Jessie, a sweet, fair-haired lassie two years younger. They were
all in the room when the miller gave voice to his despair, and Rob,
29. full of sympathy, hastened to say something comforting, with all the
hopefulness of youth.
"Don't give up yet, father," said he. "The sale is more than a
week off, and you may be able to get the money somehow before
then."
Mr. M'Leod shook his head without raising it from his hands. He
had exhausted every available resource, and saw no way in which
help could come. He was not a religious man, although of
unblemished integrity of character, and had no faith to sustain him in
his grievous trial; nor did his wife know how to lay hold upon God,
and claim the fulfilment of his promises.
In this they both had much to learn from their own children, for,
thanks to sound teaching in Sunday school, Rob and Jessie believed
in the prayer of faith. They believed God was always ready and
willing to respond in his wisdom to the petitions of his children, and
when they learned of their father's trouble, their thoughts took the
same direction.
That night, when Rob went up to his room, he found Jessie
there.
"O Rob!" she hastened to say, "I've been waiting for you to
come."
"What do you want to do, Jessie?" inquired Rob.
"Why, Rob, you know when father told us of his trouble, I made
up my mind to ask God to help him out of it. What is that in the
Bible about God doing anything that two of his people agree to ask
for?"
Proud of his memory, Rob promptly repeated the verse: "If two
of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask,
30. it shall be done for them."
"Yes, that's it!" exclaimed Jessie. "Now then, Rob, can't we
agree to ask God to help father to pay off that dreadful Mr.
Shearer?"
"Of course we can," responded Rob heartily; "and we'll do it
right away."
So down on their knees they went, and each in turn presented
an earnest, simple petition to God that aid should be granted their
father in the present emergency. When they rose their faces were
radiant.
"It will be all right now, won't it, Rob?" said Jessie, as she went
to her own room.
The following day passed without any sign of an answer, and so
did the next. Rob, boy-like, began to grow impatient, but Jessie was
more trustful. Each night they renewed their united requests.
On the third night Rob, the window of whose room overlooked
the mill-pond, happening to awake about midnight, thought he
heard a most unusual splashing noise coming from the pond. Sitting
up in bed, and listening attentively, he asked himself:—
"What can it be? Has somebody fallen into the pond? No, it
can't be that, or there would be cries for help. Oh! it's only some old
cow that's fooling around."
He was about to accept this explanation and settle down to
sleep again, when there was added to the frantic splashing a hoarse
bellow such as no domestic animal ever uttered.
"I must see what that is," said he to himself. So out of bed he
jumped, hurried on his clothes, and slipping quietly out of the house,
31. hastened across the yard to the mill-platform, from which he could
command a view of the whole pond.
It was a bright, clear night, with the moon at the full, and the
still waters of the pond reflected its silver rays like a huge mirror. At
first the boy could see nothing to account for the strange noises he
had heard, but presently he discovered a big creature, whose exact
nature he could not make out, in the deepest part of the pond,
where, surrounded by the floating logs which had rendered futile all
its efforts to extricate itself, it was, for the moment, resting quietly
as though exhausted.
Rob's appearance upon the platform evidently aroused the
creature to fresh exertions, and it proceeded to fling itself about with
reckless fury, in the course of which its head emerged from the
shadow into a broad band of light, and with a cry of astonishment
Rob, who had been bending over the edge of the platform, sprang to
his feet.
"Why, it's a moose!" he exclaimed; "and a monster one, too.
And I'm going to catch him." Then looking down at the imprisoned
animal, he added: "Just stay there, my beauty; I'll be back in a jiffy
to look after you."
Darting over to the house he quickly aroused his father, who, as
soon as he had assured himself that his son's story was correct,
hastened to call up some of the neighbours. He did not stop to think
what he would do with the moose when he had him safely secured.
He was merely glad of a diversion that would help him to forget his
troubles for a while.
But Rob already had a scheme worked out in his mind, of which,
however, he intended to say nothing until the capture had been
32. successfully accomplished. Then he would let it be known.
The neighbours responded readily to Mr. M'Leod's summons,
and in a quarter of an hour half-a-dozen men were upon the scene,
some armed with pitchforks, others with stakes, and all eager to
have a share in the honours of the capture.
Many and various were the suggestions as to the best plan for
getting the animal out of the pond uninjured, but no sooner had Mr.
M'Leod offered his than it was unanimously adopted as the best.
By pushing away the logs a clear space could be made leading
to the incline up which the logs were drawn to meet their fate at the
saw's teeth, and the miller's idea was to lasso the moose by the
antlers, drag the creature through the water to the foot of the
incline, then attach the rope to the chain for drawing up the logs,
and turn on the water-power.
The strongest animal that ever stood on four legs could not
resist the tug of the chain, and thus the moose would be drawn up
on the platform, and kept there, a safe prisoner, until he could be
removed to the barn.
Mr. M'Leod had little difficulty in getting the rope fastened to the
big branching antlers, and not much more in towing his captive
around to the foot of the incline. But then came the rub. The
monarch of the forest fought frantically against being drawn out of
the water, and it seemed as if he might kill himself in his desperate
efforts for freedom.
33. CAPTURING THE MOOSE.
There was no resisting the inexorable strain of the log-chain,
however, and foot by foot he was compelled to ascend the incline
until he reached the platform. Then the power was shut off, and Mr.
M'Leod decided that it was best to allow the great creature to stay
where he was until daylight.
The men all went back to their beds, but Rob remained. He did
not want to leave the prize which had thus strangely fallen into his
hands, and which he hoped to make signally helpful in his father's
trouble. So he chose a corner of the platform where he could keep
34. the moose in full view, and composed himself to wait for the
morning.
As he sat there his heart went up in gratitude to God, for right
before him had he not the answer to the prayer he and Jessie had
united in offering?
With the dawn Mr. M'Leod and the other men returned, and by
dint of much shouting, flourishing of pitchforks, and tugging of
ropes, the moose, after many furious attempts at breaking away,
was at length safely conveyed to the barn, and securely fastened up
in such a manner that he could do himself no hurt, struggle and kick
as he might.
"Hip, hip, hurrah!" shouted Rob as the big door closed with a
bang, and he flung himself against it to make sure that it was shut
tight. "We've got him all right enough. He can't get out of there until
we want him."
"And now that you have got him, Robby," said the miller, laying
his hand affectionately on the boy's shoulder. "perhaps you'll tell us
what you are going to do with him."
Up to this point Rob had kept his own counsel, because his
Scotch shrewdness told him it would be best to do so until the
capture was successfully effected. But now there was no longer need
for reserve.
"You remember that gentleman who was here hunting last
winter, don't you, father?" said he, looking up eagerly into Mr.
M'Leod's face.
"You mean Professor Owen from New York."
"Yes. Well, you know he said he'd give a hundred pounds for a
full-grown moose alive; and now you must write and tell him you've
35. got a beauty for him, and to come along and get it."
The miller's face became radiant as his son spoke. He now
understood what had been in Rob's mind, and why he had shown
such intense anxiety to secure the moose uninjured.
"God bless you, my boy!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms
around his neck, for the revulsion of feeling broke down his
characteristic reserve. "I see what you've been driving at. You
always were a bright lad, and now, maybe, you're going to save me
from ruin. I won't wait to write Professor Owen; I'll telegraph him.
He left me his address so that I might let him know when the
hunting was good."
Mounting his best horse, Mr. M'Leod hastened to the village, and
sent this despatch to the professor: "Have a splendid live moose in
my barn. Do you want him?"
Before many hours the reply came: "Am coming for him by first
train."
The following evening Professor Owen appeared. When he saw
the moose he fairly shouted with delight.
"A perfect specimen, and in the very prime of life," he cried. "I'll
give you a hundred pounds for him on the spot. Will that be right?"
The offer was gladly accepted; and as soon as the necessary
arrangements could be made, the moose was taken away to become
the chief attraction in a famous zoological garden.
On the day before the sheriff's sale Mr. M'Leod, greatly to the
money-lender's chagrin, paid his claim in full, and cleared his
property from all encumbrance.
That night they had a praise-meeting at the mill; for when Mr.
M'Leod was told about Rob and Jessie praying together for his
36. deliverance from the grasp of Moses Shearer his heart was deeply
stirred, and he joined in thanking God who had thus signally
answered the children's petitions. Not only so, but both he and his
wife were moved to withhold no longer from God's service, and they
became active, happy members of the church.
As for Rob and Jessie, their faith was wonderfully strengthened,
and often afterwards the recollection of this incident helped them to
be trustful in the midst of many difficulties.
FORTY MILES OF MAELSTROM.
The Canadian Pacific train, speeding swiftly on toward Winnipeg, had
just dashed over an iron bridge which threw its audacious spider-
web across a foaming torrent. Pointing down at the tumbling water
beneath, one of the men in the smoking compartment of a palace
car exclaimed,—
"I'd like to try that rapid in my Rice Lake."
"Are you so fond of a wetting as all that?" asked Charlie Hall
with a smile.
"Oh, I'd risk the wetting. I've been through worse rapids than
that without so much as being sprinkled." He proceeded to support
his assertion by relating some of his adventures.
When Jack Fleming came to the end of his tether, the others
had their say, for they had not been without experiences of a similar
nature. Meanwhile, the fourth member of the group had been
listening with interested attention, as if their stories were so novel
37. that he did not wish to lose a word of them. He was merely a chance
acquaintance, who had fallen into conversation with his fellow-
travellers through the freemasonry of the pipe. They knew his name;
Ronald Cameron, but they knew nothing more about him.
It was more for the sake of saying something courteous than
with any idea of drawing the stranger out that Fleming turned to him
and said, "Perhaps you know something about running rapids too?"
The stranger's bronzed face broke out into a smile, which meant
unmistakably, "As well ask Grant if he knew something about
fighting battles;" but there was not the faintest trace of boastfulness
in his tone as he replied, "I have run a few rapids in my time."
"Well, it's your turn now; tell us your experience," said Fleming,
and without much urging Cameron began.
"I must explain that I am in the employ of the Hudson Bay
Company, and have spent many years in the North-west districts. My
duties have required frequent long trips by York boat and bark
canoe, in the course of which I have had my full share of tussles
with rapids of all kinds. I could tell you half-a-dozen rather exciting
little episodes, but I'll give you only one just now, namely, my
passage of the Long Cañon of the Liard in a canvas boat."
"In a canvas boat?" broke out Fleming, half incredulously.
"Yes, in a canvas boat," repeated Cameron. "Not a particularly
seaworthy craft, I must confess. But it was a notion of my own in
order to get over the difficulty in which I was placed. I had been
over in British Columbia, and was on my way back to Athabasca. The
season was growing late, and I had only two men with me—an
Indian and a half-breed. The Indian was a splendid canoe-man, but
the half-breed was not of much account. The first part of the journey
38. could be made by boat easily enough, but for us three men to drag
a heavy boat over Grizzly Portage, which is about six miles long, and
has a portage-path that climbs a thousand feet up the mountain
side, was quite out of the question.
"So before I started I had a boat made out of tent canvas,
which would be no trouble to carry. The wooden boat was to be left
at the head of Grizzly Portage to take care of itself.
"Well, we got on smoothly until we passed the portage, and the
Long Cañon opened out before us. As I looked at its wild rush of
water, and realized that this was only the beginning, and far from
the worst of it, I confess I felt tempted to turn back. But my pride
soon banished that thought, and I set about getting my frail craft
ready for the trip. Dennazee, the Indian, did not show the slightest
concern; but Machard, the half-breed, was evidently much
frightened.
"Assuming a cheery indifference I by no means felt, I went
about the work in the most matter-of-fact way, and, with Dennazee
helping heartily, the canvas boat was put together and set afloat.
"But it became evident immediately that she was not minded to
stay afloat long. Although I had taken the precaution to give the
canvas a good coat of oil, no sooner were we on board than, the
treacherous stuff leaked through every pore. Clearly this must be
remedied before we could attempt the passage.
"Bidding the men gather all the gum and balsam they could
find, I put the whole of our bacon, some ten pounds at least, half-a-
dozen candles, and the gum and balsam into our pot, set it over a
brisk fire, and produced the most extraordinary compound you can
imagine.
39. "With this we thickly daubed the outside of the boat from stem
to stern, and then left her for the night. The next morning she was
as tight as a drum, and we started off, the poor half-breed muttering
prayers in full expectation of a watery grave, the Indian as stolid as
a statue, and myself much more anxious at heart than I cared to
have either man know.
"The cañon is about forty miles long, and in that distance the
river falls quite five hundred feet. Old Lepine, who has piloted boats
up and down the Liard for thirty years or more, asserts that once,
when the water was unusually high, he went through the whole
length of the cañon in a York boat in two hours. The old man may
be a few minutes short of the record, but there is no doubt that in
the spring, when the snow is melting on the mountain slopes, the
river runs at a fearful rate. I had hoped for low water, but, as luck
would have it, a sudden spell of intensely hot weather had set the
snow going, and the Liard was just high enough to be a very ugly
customer.
"Well, we paddled out into the current, and then there was
nothing to do but steer. I had the stern, and Dennazee the bow,
while Machard clung tightly to the centre thwart, and was useful
only as ballast. Like an arrow our little boat sped down stream,
darting this way and that, dipping and dancing about like a cork,
doing exactly what the water willed.
"At the very first swirl I found out something that gave me an
additional shiver. This was that the boat could bear very little
pressure from the paddle. If the water pulled one way and the
paddle the other, the frail thing squirmed and twisted like a snake
instead of obeying the steersman, so that it was quite impossible to
40. make her respond readily or to effect a sharp turn. No doubt
Dennazee discovered this as soon as I did, but he gave no hint of it,
as with intent face and skilful arm he did his part of the work to
perfection.
"The first few miles were not very bad, but we soon came to a
place where whirlpool followed whirlpool in fearfully quick
succession, and I no sooner caught my breath after escaping one
than we were struggling with another. Our canvas cockle-shell
appeared to undulate over the frothing waves rather than cut
through them. I seemed to feel every motion of the water through
her thin skin. In the very thick of it I could not help admiring the
wonderful skill of the Indian in the bow. Again and again he saved
us from dashing against a rock, or whirling around broadside to the
current.
"For mile after mile we were tumbled about, and tossed from
wave to wave like a chip of bark. My heart was in my mouth. I could
scarcely breathe. My knees quaked, though my hand was firm, as,
with eyes fixed upon Dennazee, I instantly obeyed every motion of
his paddle.
"In this fashion, one hairbreadth escape succeeding another, we
did half the distance unscathed, and made the shore by the aid of
an eddy at the head of the Rapids of the Drowned. These rapids got
their forbidding name from the fate of eight voyagers, who lost their
lives while attempting to run them in a large canoe. Being studded
with rocks, these rapids are extremely dangerous. As the cañon
widens out sufficiently to leave a narrow beach at this point, we
preferred portaging our canvas boat to impaling her on one of the
rocks.
41. "It was a strange thing that our sudden appearance should have
so startled two moose who were standing on the shore that, instead
of retreating up the hill, they plunged boldly into the river, of whose
pitiless power they evidently knew nothing, and were borne
helplessly away to destruction. A little later we saw their bodies
stranded on a shoal, and the sight gave me a chill as I thought that
that perhaps would be our fate, too, before we escaped from the
Long Cañon.
"We had hard work getting the boat and ourselves over the
broken, boulder-strown beach beside the Rapids of the Drowned,
and the boat had more than one 'close call' as we slipped and
stumbled about. I've no doubt Machard would have been glad to see
it perforated with a hole beyond repair. But by dint of great care and
hard work we did manage to bring it through uninjured, and then we
halted for a rest and a bit of dinner.
"When it came to starting again, Machard vowed he would not
get aboard. He pleaded to be allowed to follow us on foot; but I
would not listen to him. I needed him for ballast in the first place,
and moreover, if we did get through alive, I could not afford to
waste half a day waiting for him to overtake us. Drawing my
revolver, I ordered him to get on board. He obeyed, trembling, and
we started again, Dennazee as imperturbable as ever.
42. SHOOTING A FALL.
"We had the worst part of the passage still before us. The sides
of the cañon drew close together until they became lofty walls,
between which the river shot downward like a mill-race. The great
black cliffs to right and left frowned upon us as if indignantly, and at
every turn in the cañon a whirlpool yawned, ready to engulf us.
Again and again I thought we were caught in a whirl, but in some
marvellous manner Dennazee extricated us, and we darted on to try
our fate with another.
"Extreme as our peril was, it had a wonderful thrill and
excitement about it, and in the midst of it I found myself thinking
43. that were I only in a big York boat I would be shouting for joy
instead of filled with apprehension.
"The great difficulty was to keep our boat straight with the
stream, for, as I have already told you, she was so pliant that she
bent and twisted instead of keeping stiff, and more than once I felt
sure she would cave in under the tremendous pressure upon her
thin sides. To make matters worse she began to leak again, and
although I commanded Machard to bail her out with a pannikin, he
did it so clumsily in his terror that I was afraid he would upset us,
and had to order him to stop.
"We must have had an hour or more of this, when for the first
time Dennazee spoke. Turning round just for a moment he pointed
ahead, and exclaimed, 'Hell Gate!'
"I knew at once what he meant. We had almost reached the
end of the cañon. There remained only Hell Gate, and our perils
would be over. Only Hell Gate! I've not been much of a hand at
praying, but I'm not ashamed to confess that I imitated poor
Machard's example then. As for him, the moment he heard what
Dennazee said, he fell on his knees in the bottom, and, clinging to
the thwart, set to praying with all his might and main.
"With a thrilling rush we swept around the curve and plunged
into Hell Gate. It is an awful place. The walls of the cañon are two
hundred feet high, and not more than a hundred feet apart. The
deep water spins along at the rate of twenty miles an hour, while at
the end is a sort of drop into a black, dreadful pool, where the whirls
are the worst of all.
"We got through the narrow passage all right, and then, with a
dive that made my heart stand still, entered the whirlpools. There
44. were three of them, and we struck the centre one. In spite of our
desperate efforts, it got its grip full upon us, and round and round
we went like a teetotum.
"It is not at all likely that I shall ever forget that experience. Our
flimsy craft seemed to be trying to collapse every moment. It
writhed and squirmed like a living thing, and at every turn of the
awful circle we drew nearer to its centre, which yawned to engulf us.
"I had given up all hope, and was about to throw away my
paddle and prepare for the last struggle, when suddenly there came
a great rush of water down the cañon. The whirlpools all filled up
and levelled over; for one brief minute the river was on our side.
"With a whoop of delight Dennazee dug his paddle deep into
the water, and put all his strength upon it. I seconded his efforts as
well as I could. The boat hesitated, then obeyed, and moved slowly
but surely forward; and after some moments of harrowing suspense
we found ourselves floating swiftly but safely onward, with no more
dangers ahead."
Cameron ceased speaking, and picked up his pipe. There was a
moment of silence, and then Fleming, drawing a deep breath, said
with a quizzical smile, "Perhaps you do know something about
running rapids."
45. ESKIMO WOMAN WITH TAIL AND
AMOOK, OR HOOD.
THE CANADIAN CHILDREN OF THE COLD.
After centuries of seclusion and neglect, broken only by the
infrequent visits of ambitious seekers for the north pole, or
mercenary hunters for the right whale, and by the semi-religious,
semi-commercial ministrations of the Moravian missionaries, the
46. Eskimos of the Labrador and Hudson Bay region suddenly had the
eyes of the world turned inquiringly upon them.
The shocking story was published far and wide that a winter
that did not change to spring in the usual way had cut off their
supply of food, and that in consequence they were devouring one
another with the ghastly relish of a Fiji cannibal. Although this report
proved untrue, happily, the Eskimos are sufficiently interesting to
attract attention at all times, and are little enough known to furnish
an adequate excuse at this time for a brief paper upon them.
I.
To aid me in presenting the earliest glimpses of the Eskimos, I am
fortunate in having before me a manuscript prepared by the late
Robert Morrow of Halifax, Nova Scotia, an accomplished student of
the literatures of Iceland and Denmark.
That to the Norsemen and not to the Spaniards rightfully
belongs the credit of first discovering America is now settled, and
that when the Norsemen first touched American soil they found the
Eskimos already in possession is also certain. Yet it was not these
bold adventurers that gave these curious people the name by which
they are most commonly known. In the expressive Norse tongue
they were described as "Skraelings"—that is, the "chips, parings."
The intention was not, of course, to convey the idea that they were
cordially accepted as "chips of the old block," but, on the contrary, to
show that they were regarded by their handsome and stalwart
discoverers as little better than mere fragments of humanity—a view
47. which, however unflattering, their squat stature, ugly countenances,
and filthy habits went far to justify.
The name "Eskimo" was given to them by the Abenaki, a tribe
of Indians in southern Labrador. It is an abbreviation of
"Eskimautsik," which means "eating raw fish," in allusion to their
repulsive custom of eating both fish and flesh without taking the
preliminary trouble of cooking it. The Eskimos themselves assert
very emphatically that they are "Innuit"—that is, "the people"—just
as though they were the only people in the world (and, by the way,
it is worth noticing that each particular tribe of these "Huskies"
thinks itself the entire population of the globe until undeceived by
the advent of visitors). Their national name, if they have one at all,
is "Karalit," the plural of "Karalik," meaning "those that stayed
behind."
With reference to this latter title, Mr. Morrow points out a
curious fact, which is suggestive. Strahlenburg, in his description of
the northern part of Asia, states, on the authority of the Tartar writer
Abulgazi Chan, that Og, or Ogus Chan, who reigned in Tartary long
before the birth of Christ, made an inroad into the southern Asiatic
countries, and as some of his tribes stayed behind, they were called
in reproach "Kall-atzi," and also "Karalik." Now this "Karalik," with its
plural "Karalit," is the very name that the Eskimos give themselves.
So striking a resemblance, amounting in fact to identity, can surely
be accounted for in no other way (and for this suggestion I must
assume all responsibility) than that those who stayed behind in
Tartary subsequently moved over to the American continent.
When Eric the Red sailed across from Iceland to Greenland
(somewhere about the year 985), he found many traces of the
48. Eskimos there: and when Thorvald, some twenty years later,
ventured as far south as Vinland, identified as the present Martha's
Vineyard (with which he was so delighted that he exclaimed, "Here
is a beautiful land, and here I wish to raise my dwelling"), the
unexpected discovery of three skin boats upon the beach affected
him and his followers much as the imprint of a human foot did
Robinson Crusoe. They found more than the boats, however, for
each boat held three men, all but one of whom they caught and
summarily despatched, for reasons that the saga discreetly forbears
to state.
But retribution followed fast. No sooner had the invaders
returned to their ships than the Skraelings attacked them in great
force, and although the Norsemen came out best in the fighting,
their leader, Thorvald, received a mortal wound. He charged his men
to bury him upon the cape "at which he had thought it best to
dwell;" for, as he pathetically added, "it may happen that it was a
true word that fell from my mouth that I should dwell here for a
time." His men did as they were bid. They set up two crosses over
his grave, whose site is now known as Summit Point. They then
hastened homeward.
After the lapse of two years, one Thorfinn Karlsifori, fired by
what he heard in Iceland of the wonderful discoveries made by the
hardy sons of Eric the Red, fitted out an imposing expedition, his
boats carrying one hundred and sixty men, besides women, cattle,
etc., and set sail for Vinland. He reached his destination in safety,
and remaining there for some time, improved upon his predecessor's
method of treating the Skraelings. Instead of aimlessly killing them,
he cheerfully cheated them, getting huge packs of furs in exchange
49. for bits of red cloth. He has thus described his customers' chief
characteristics: "These men were black and ill-favoured, and had
straight hair on their heads. They had large eyes and broad cheeks."
All of which shows that although the Eskimos have changed their
habitat since then, they have not altered much in their appearance.
After two years of prosperous trading, the relations between the
Norsemen and the Skraelings became strained from a cause too
amusing not to be related. As already stated, the visitors brought a
few of their cattle with them, and it happened one day that a huge
bull had his feelings excited some way or other, perhaps by a piece
of red cloth thoughtlessly paraded in his view; at all events he
bellowed very loud, and charging upon the terrified Eskimos, tossed
them about in the most lively fashion. They incontinently tumbled
into their boats, and, without a word of farewell, rowed off, to the
vast amusement of the bull's owners. But the latter's laughter
vanished when presently the runaways returned "in whole ranks, like
a rushing stream," and began an attack in which the Norsemen were
vanquished by sheer force of numbers, and deemed it prudent to
make off without standing upon the order of their going.
II.
With the departure of the Norsemen, the curtain of obscurity falls
upon the Eskimos, and is not lifted again until we find them, not
luxuriating amid the vine-entangled forests of Vinland, but scattered
far and wide over the hideous desolation of the far north, and
engaged in a ceaseless struggle with hunger and cold. Just when
50. they thus moved northward, and why, does not yet appear. If their
innate and intense hatred of the Red Indian be of any service as a
clue, it is, however, within the bounds of reason to believe that they
were driven from their comfortable quarters by their more active and
warlike fellow-aborigines, and given no rest until they found it
amidst the icebergs and glaciers of Labrador and Hudson Bay, where
they may now be met with in bands numbering from a dozen to a
hundred or more. Throughout the whole of this Arctic region they
fearlessly range in search of food.
The Eskimos are, in fact, the only inhabitants of a vast territory,
which includes the shores of Arctic America, the whole of Greenland,
and a tract about four hundred miles long on the Asiatic coast
beyond Behring Strait, thus extending over a distance of five
thousand miles from east to west, and three thousand two hundred
miles from north to south. Notwithstanding this wide distribution,
there is a remarkable uniformity, not only in the physical features of
the Eskimos, but also in their manners, traditions, and language.
Consequently very much that may be said of the Canadian Children
of the Cold (that is, the Eskimos of Labrador and Hudson Bay) would
be equally true of the other branches of the race.
For a great deal of interesting information concerning them we
are indebted to the writings of such men as Ribbach and Herzeburg,
Moravian missionaries, who, with a heroic zeal that only those
familiar with their lot can adequately appreciate, have devoted
themselves to "the cure of souls" among the Eskimos. There are six
of these Moravian missions scattered along the eastern coast of
Labrador. Nain, the chief one, was established as far back as 1771,
51. Okkak in 1776, Hopedale in 1782, and Hebron, Zoar, and Ramah
more recently.
The bestowal of so attractive Biblical names helps very little,
however, to mitigate the unfavourable impression produced by the
forbidding surroundings of these tiny oases almost lost in a
seemingly illimitable desert. Sheer from the sea, except where
broken by frequent gulf and fiord, the coast line towers up in
tremendous and unpitying sternness, and at its base the breakers
thunder with a force and fury that knows little pause throughout the
year. From end to end the shore is jagged like a gigantic saw with
innumerable bays and inlets, sprinkled thick with islands and
underlaid with hidden reefs, which makes these waters difficult to
find and dangerous to navigate.
The interior of the country is equally repellent. Although toward
the west it becomes less mountainous and slightly undulating, like
the American prairie, it presents nothing but an inhospitable and
savage wilderness, covered with immense forests, broken by
numerous swamps and lakes, and untouched by human foot, save
when now and then a band of Red Indians venture thither, lured by
the hope of food and fur.
The Eskimos upon the eastern coast of Labrador are, as a rule,
small of stature, not much exceeding five feet. Those upon the
western shore, however, are taller and more robust; they are quite
strongly built, with hair and beard sweeping down over the
shoulders and chest. When the good seed sown by the patient
missionary finds lodging in a Husky's heart, he usually signalizes his
adoption of Christianity by indulging in a clean shave, or at least by
cutting his beard short with a pair of scissors, in deference perhaps
52. to the judgment of St. Paul that "if a man have long hair, it is a
shame unto him."
They have small, soft hands, broad shoulders, big flat faces,
large, round heads, and short, stubby noses,
"Tip-tilted, like the petals of a flower,"
and very generous mouths, which, being nearly always on the broad
grin, make free display of fine rows of sharp, white teeth. In
complexion they are tawny and ruddy, and the face is of a much
darker shade than the body. At spring-time, when the sun's burning
rays are reflected from glistening banks of snow, they become
almost as black in the face as negroes; but new-born babes may be
seen as fair as any English child. Their eyes are small and almost
uniformly black, and peep brightly out at you from underneath a
perfect forest of brow and lash. Their hair is black, also, and very
thick and coarse.
Their ordinary food is the flesh of the seal, with its attendant
blubber, and the fish that abound along the shore. They are not
particular whether their dinner is cooked or not, and I seriously
question whether a professional pugilist in the height of his training
could swallow his beef-steak as "rare" as the Eskimos will their seal
cutlets. They are also very partial to tallow, soap, fish oil, and such
things, which they look upon as great delicacies, a big tallow candle
being rather more of a treat to an Eskimo youngster than a stick of
candy to a civilized small boy.
That these peculiar and decidedly repulsive tastes are, after all,
bottomed on the laws of nature, is clearly shown by the fact that
53. when the natives around a mission station adopt a European diet
(and they soon become passionately fond of bread and biscuits)
they inevitably grow weak and incapable of standing the intense
cold. When Joe, that heroic Eskimo who supported Hall's expedition
by his hunting, after Hall himself had died, was transplanted to
America and thence to England, he soon languished and grew
consumptive, despite every effort to preserve his health. On joining
Captain Young in the Pandora, his only remark, uttered with a depth
of eager, confident hope that was very touching, was, "By-and-by
get little seal meat; then all right,"—a prediction that was fulfilled to
the very letter when he regained his native ice. As soon as they
killed their first seal Joe was given free rein, and he began to revive
at once. His hollow cheeks resumed their old-time chubbiness (and
smeariness too, no doubt), his languor left him, and he was, in
short, another man.
The seal is, in fact, everything to the Eskimo. What the buffalo
was to the American Indian, what the reindeer is to the European
Laplander, all that, and still more, is the seal to these Children of the
Cold. Upon its meat and blubber they feed. With its fur they are
clothed. By its oil they are warmed and lighted. Stretched upon
appropriate framework, its skin makes them sea-worthy boats and
weather-proof tents. While, unkindest use of all, with its bladder
they float the fatal harpoon that wrought its own undoing. To sum it
all up in one sentence, take away the seal, and the Eskimo could not
exist for a month.
There is not much room for fashion's imperious sway in
Labrador. Seal-skin from scalp to toe is the invariable rule; and there
would be no small difficulty in distinguishing between the sexes, if
54. the women did not indulge in a certain amount of ornamentation,
upon their garments, and further indicate their femininity by
appending to their sacques a curious tail reaching almost to the
ground, which they renew whenever it becomes so dirty as to shock
even their sluggish sensibilities. Still another distinguishing mark,
permissible, however, only to those who have attained the dignity of
motherhood, is the amook, a capacious hood hung between the
shoulders, which forms the safest and snuggest of all carrying places
for babies that otherwise would be "in arms."
SEAL-HUNTING.