OBTAINING DOGS. 261 



that that surprise will vanish when he recalls the 

 memorable historical parallel of Burgoyne and his 

 Hessians. 



I did not tell Kalutunah that I wished only to be- 

 stow benefits upon his people, for no one is more 

 quick to penetrate the hoUowness of such declarations 

 than the "untutored savage." He i^ not so easily 

 hoaxed with philanthropic sentiment as is generally 

 supposed, and he fully recognizes the practical fea- 

 tures of being expected to return a quid pro quo. But 

 I did venture upon a little harmless imposition of 

 another sort, giving him to understand 1^hat it was 

 useless for the Esquimaux to attempt to deceive me, 

 as I could read not only their acts but their thoughts 

 as well ; and, in proof of my powers, I performed be- 

 fore him some simple sleight-of-hand tricks, and after 

 turning up a card with much gravity told him exactly 

 what (it was not much of a venture) Ootinah and his 

 wooden-legged companion had stolen. He was much 

 astonished, said that I was quite right about the steal- 

 ing, for he had seen the stolen articles himself, and 

 evidently thought me a wonderful magician. He 

 owned to me that he did something in the jugglery 

 business himself; but when I asked him about his 

 journeys to the bottom of the sea, in his Angekok 

 capacity, to break the spell by which the evil spirit 

 Torngak holds within her anger the walrus and seal, 

 in the days of famine, he very adroitly changed the 

 subject, and began to describe a recent bear-hunt 

 which appeared to amuse him greatly. The wounded 

 animal broke away from the dogs, and, making a dive 

 at one of the hunters, knocked the wind out of the 

 unhappy man with a blow of his fore-paw. Kalutunah 

 laughed heartily while relating the story, and seemed 

 to think it a capital joke. 



