240 SMITH SOUND 



up the cliffs he crouched behind a rock and invited the 

 doctor to follow his example. The slope on which the 

 birds were congregated was about a mile long, and in 

 vast flocks they were sweeping over it a few feet above 

 the stones down the whole length of the hill, returning 

 higher in the air, and so round and round in a complete 

 circuit. Occasionally a few hundreds or thousands 

 would drop down as if following some leader, and in 

 an instant the rocks, for some distance, would swarm 

 with them as they speckled the hill with their black 

 backs and white breasts. The doctor was told to lie 

 lower, as the birds noticed him and were flying too 

 far overhead. Having placed himself as Kalutunah 

 approved, the birds began to sweep lower and lower 

 in their flight until their track came well within reach. 

 Then, as a dense portion of the crowd approached, up 

 went the net, and half a dozen birds flew into it, and, 

 stunned by the blow, could not recover before the 

 Eskimo had slipped the staff through his hands and 

 seized the net. With his left hand he pressed down 

 the birds, while with the right he drew them out one 

 by one, and, for want of a third hand, used his teeth to 

 crush their heads. The wings were then locked across 

 each other ; and with an air of triumph the old chief 

 looked around, spat the blood and feathers from his 

 mouth, and went on with the sport, tossing up his net 

 and hauling it in with much rapidity until he had 

 caught about a hundred, and wanted no more. 



Hayes did his best to disparage both Kalutunah and 

 Hans, to whom he was not quite so much indebted as 

 Kane, owing to his having given himself a better chance 

 of retreat by not taking the schooner out of Smith 



