432 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



handle on one side, and is beaten with a small strip of 

 whalebone. This drumming never ceases from the moment 

 the lights are out until the concert is over, which is gener- 

 ally after about two hours and a half. 



We had a concert the first night at Ynedlin, and during 

 the performance I heard Constantine breathing heavily and 

 gasping, and occasionally breaking out into groans and 

 tears. This attracted the attention of the performer, who 

 stopped and asked if he were sick. He groaned a 'Yes,' 

 and I thought I would have to resort to my medical stores, 

 consisting of pills and bandages ; but I did not know which 

 to use, for upon inquiry it transpired that he had only a 

 broken heart. He wanted to return to Tiapka, the village 

 near Eeteetlan, where was an old woman named At-tung-er, 

 who had grown up children and grandchildren, and with 

 whom he, a lad of nineteen years, had fallen in love. When 

 asked what he was grieving for, he said 'At-tung-er;' and 

 after that I felt relieved, for I did not believe he would die 

 of his broken heart. During the entire journey this same 

 scene was repeated every time the yarar was brought out, 

 and as soon as the lights were restored he appeared just as 

 cheerful as if nothing disagreeable had ever occurred to 

 him. 



There were two girls about fifteen years of age in this 

 household, one the daughter of my host and the other some 

 relation, but I could never make out exactly what. The 

 old man often tried to explain it to me by using the fingers 

 of one hand, which he named, and showed that Tay-tin- 

 con-ne was the same relation to his daughter, Mdm-mak, 

 that his thumb was to his middle finger ; but there is where 

 I always fell out. I never could satisfy myself as to the 

 kinship of his fingers. Occasionally during the day or even- 

 ing these girls used to dance, taking their places side by side 

 as if on the stage for a double clog, and, accompanying 

 themselves with guttural sounds that it is impossible to 

 describe, executed in unison fantastic contortions and gyra- 

 tions somewhat similar to the Indians of North America. 



