1915] WAITING FOR THE SHIP 183 



and when she will revenge herself upon the boates or make resistance 

 against them, then she casts her young from her againe, and with 

 all her force goeth toward the boate (whereby our men were once in 

 no small danger, for that the sea-horse had almost stricken her 

 teeth into the sterne of their boate) thinking to overtlirow it, but by 

 means of the great cry which the men made, she was afraide, and 

 swomme away againe and took her young ones againe in her arms. 

 They have two teeth sticking out of their mouthes, on each side one, 

 each being about halfe an ell long, and are esteemed to be as good 

 as any ivarie or elephant's teeth. 



Their belligerent qualities, as here described, have not 

 deteriorated through the centuries. They are, as I have 

 said, pre-eminently the fighters of the North. No white 

 man, however strong, should intrust himself to a com- 

 bat with such a monster in a twenty-inch wide, nine- 

 inch deep, paper-thin Eskimo kayak; but man in this, 

 as in other things, often rashly and confidently attempts 

 the seemingly impossible. My failure on two former 

 occasions under perfect conditions but seemed to whet 

 my appetite for success. In front of our tent at Sul- 

 wuddy a large herd was feeding, rising to the surface 

 to breathe about every nine minutes. Hunt, E-say-oo, 

 and myself, all in kayaks some twenty yards away, 

 watched them quietly, studying their actions and noting 

 the comparative number of bulls and cows. Two or 

 three big black heads with glistening white tusks de- 

 manded peremptorily that the greatest caution should 

 be exercised in dealing with their families. 



Noting that one remained about ten yards apart 

 and frequently returned to the same position to breathe, 

 I placed my kayak so that upon coming to the surface 

 he would be headed away from me. He soon arose, 

 breathing heavily, and in a perfect position. I dug the 

 paddle deep into the water and jumped the kayak ahead 



