Animals, and even lifeless things, are thought to have a spirit which goes to some sort of heaven, so we understand why a hunter’s property is buried with him; his relations think he will need it in the next world. A very wonderful man among the Eskimo is a person whom they call “angakok,” a priest or “medicine man,” who goes through some very strange performances, during which he claims to have a talk with ghosts who tell him how to cure diseases, or in what way some misfortune can be averted. Dr. Boas tells us that: “The lamps being lowered, the ‘angakok’ strips off his outer jacket, places the hood over his head, and sits down in the back part of the hut, facing the wall. He claps his hands, which are covered with mittens, and shaking his whole body utters sounds which one would scarcely recognise as human.” After this performance he pretends to summon to his aid the spirit of an animal which is supposed to be his particular helper and guardian. Then all in the hut join in a chorus, following which the patient is questioned: “Did you eat when it was forbidden?” “Did you work when it was forbidden?” and perhaps the sick man is obliged to admit that he has broken some tribal law. The “angakok” may impose some rules on the whole community; perhaps he forbids every one to eat the flesh of the deer, or he may command a general cleansing of the hut; some orders are very sensible, others just foolish and superstitious. Perhaps the efforts of the medicine man are all in vain, and when death seems certain the patient is carried to a small skin tent or snow hut, where he is left alone to die; for if death should occur in the ordinary dwelling, everything within would have to be broken and thrown away. The Eskimo are terrified of a dead body, but the dying person is said to be very courageous, and not at all unwilling to leave this world; one young girl asked for some tobacco and meat which she wished to take to her mother, who had died a few weeks before. The body, wrapped in deer skin, is buried at once, and if the season is summer, a pile of stones is erected, great care being taken that these do not rest over the body, for their weight would be thought to hinder the journey of a soul in the next world. Evidently the Eskimo believes that life in the next world is very like existence here, for with a man is buried a variety of hunting implements; a dead woman requires pots, lamps, and knives; while toys are always placed with the body of a little child. The nearest relatives always pull the body to the burial-ground; dogs may not be used on such solemn occasions, and the sledge used must always be left by the grave. Silently the friends return to their hut, where for three days and nights they mourn for the dead person.