cranky craft in the hands of a novice, it is used in perfect safety, even in very rough water, by an expert. Indeed the Eskimos have an arrangement by which they can travel while almost submerged in the water. They have a thin waterproof parchment coat which they pull on over their heads in rough weather. This they place on the outside of the rim at the opening of the kyack, and tie securely, so that if the boat were to turn upside down the water could not rush in.
An Eskimo in his kyack can travel much faster than two men can paddle an ordinary canoe. I have known them to make six miles an hour in dead water, whereas four miles would be good going for a canoe.
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ESKIMO OOMIACK.
The "oomiack," or woman's boat, is a flat-bottomed affair of large carrying capacity. Like the kyack it is a skin-covered frame, the many pieces of which are lashed together with thongs of skin or whalebone; but instead of being covered on top it is open, and is of a much broader model, and not so sharp at the ends. It is chiefly used by the women for moving camp from place to place, but is never used in the hunt. It is essentially a freighting craft, whereas the kyack is used only for hunting or speedy travel. Oomiacks are often made large enough to carry thirty or forty people. They are propelled by ordinary paddles, not by the long double-bladed ones used with the kyacks.
The komitick is a sled of rather peculiar design, consisting simply of two parallel runners, twelve or four-
