There are towns near the sea and by the rivers and lakes.  In these towns they have schools and churches.

GREENLAND.

Very strange people live in Greenland.  They are called Eskimos.  Greenland is a country very far north.  It is always cold there.  So the children need warm clothing.  Their stockings are made of birdskin.  The soft feathers keep their little feet very warm.  Their shoes are made of sealskin.

An Eskimo girl does not wear skirts.  Her clothes are like her brother’s.  Her trousers are made of white bearskin.  Her jacket is made of fur.  When she goes out sleigh riding, she puts on fur mittens.  Do you know what a fur boa is?  This little girl wears one around her neck.  It is made of the tail of a fox.  The strings to it are made of long pieces of skin.

[Illustration:  An Eskimo Girl.]

Perhaps you think the Eskimo children are white.  No, they are brown. 
Their faces are round and fat.

Our babies ride in carriages, but an Eskimo baby rides on its mother’s back.  The mother wears a coat with a pocket on the back of it.  The pocket is lined inside with soft reindeer skin.  This makes a nice warm nest for baby.

[Illustration:  Eskimo Mother and Baby.]

In Greenland all the boys and girls have sleds.  The runners of the sled are made of bone.  The top is made of strips of sealskin.  It has a back for the boy or girl to lean against.  Dogs draw the sled across the snow.  But the Eskimos also have sleds made of ice.  I think you would like an ice sled.  Oh, how fast it runs over the snow!  The boys and girls have fine fun with these sleds!

They play a nice game in the snow with their sleds.  I will tell you about it.  Do you know what a reindeer is?  It is like a deer, but it has long, branching horns.  The horns are called antlers.  When the Eskimos kill a reindeer for meat, the boys and girls get the antlers.  They set these antlers up in the snow on a hillside.  They leave spaces between the antlers.  Then the boys and girls get on their sleds and slide down the hill.  They must go between the antlers, but must not touch them.  Sometimes the boys and girls have bows and arrows.  They try to hit the antlers with their arrows.  This is very hard, but it is great fun.  Do you think you could do this?

The boys have boats made of long, thin bones covered with skins.  These sail very well on the water.  The boys use paddles to move the boats.  A paddle is like an oar.  The boys sometimes go in their boats to help their fathers catch fish.

Eskimo children cannot read or write.  They do not go to school, for the Eskimos have no schools.  They are very fond of stories, but they cannot read them in books.  So their mothers tell them stories.  The mothers cannot read, either.  The stories they tell are what they heard from their mothers.  Are you not happy that you can read stories for yourself?