134 ROBERT E. PEARY, INDOMITABLE POLAR EXPLORER 



of a seal almost as large as himself. The creature had been "cached" 

 about two years, and was in such a state that gentles fell from it at 

 every step the man took, and, as Mrs. Peary recorded in her diary, 

 both the sight and the scent of it overpowered the white people. But 

 to Ikwa it was just in good condition for eating, and he was espe- 

 cially indignant when he was made to relinquish it. His clothes, 

 however, would not part with the odor, and for many days the mem- 

 bers of the expedition had reason to remember that Eskimo like their 

 game high. 



As the time passed, and winter approached, every one was kept 

 busy preparing for the long dark night, and for the journey over 

 the ice-cap which was to be undertaken directly spring began. Sev- 

 eral families of Eskimos were now residing near the encampment, 

 the women mostly engaged in making winter fur garments for the 

 members of the expedition, and the men in hunting. As dogs were 

 required for the sledging expedition, constant bartering went on 

 between the Eskimos and the white men, and the latter undertook 

 occasional journeys to localities where other members of the tribe 

 were encamped. 



A great deal of very interesting information was thus derived 

 about the natives, who were, so far as know r n, the most northerly! 

 living people in the world. Mrs. Peary, as the first white woman 

 they had ever seen, was a particular object of attention. As their 

 custom is for men and women to dress very much alike, they could 

 not quite understand Mrs. Peary's costume, and when the first ar- 

 rivals saw her and Lieutenant Peary together, they looked from 

 one to the other, and ultimately had to ask which of the two was the 

 white woman. 



The tribe did not number three hundred in all; they held no 

 communication with the Eskimo farther south, and, except for the 

 occasional visit of a sealer or a whaler, knew nothing of the outer 

 world. None had ever seen a tree growing, nor had they ever pene- 

 trated over the ridge of land which lay back from the coast, and over 



