364 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 



sbine the climb up the hill made us both pant and per- 

 spire, but, realizing that these would probably be our 

 last musk-oxen of the trip, we were not averse to the 

 exertion. We let our dogs go when we were over a 

 quarter-mile away from our quarry. Contrary to their 

 usual custom of grouping in a square to fight off the 

 dogs, these musk-oxen started to run up to the crest. 

 Fearing that we should lose them, Esayoo said we must 

 shoot at once. With his big .35 Winchester he dropped 

 the foremost just as the big fellow passed a gap in 

 the rocks; with my .32 high-power Remington I got 

 the next; Esayoo took the third; I the fourth; and 

 shooting alternately, we killed the whole herd of eleven, 

 including three yearlings. 



E-took-a-shoo, when he heard the firing, let slip the 

 dogs we had left behind, and soon they appeared on the 

 scene, hot and tired, but ready for a good feed. Not 

 long after, E-took-a-shoo came, too. W^e fed our dogs 

 the meat of three animals and then cut up the rest, 

 taking out all the bones. Since we were quite certain 

 we should find no more musk-oxen, we reserved all the 

 tenderloins, the porterhouses, the hearts, and some of 

 the other choice pieces for our own food for the rest of 

 the trail. Esayoo cracked all the marrow-bones and 

 kept the marrow, a most highly esteemed delicacy among 

 the Eskimos, to take home to Anowee, his wife. Anxious 

 to get as much of the remaining meat as possible down 

 to our sledges, we lashed it into the three biggest of 

 the musk-ox skins, hitched our teams to them, and 

 skidded down the mountain-side. Needless to say it 

 was a unique ride. The improvised toboggans rolled 

 and twisted and turned, so that we kept our seats on 

 them only by hanging on for dear life. The dogs did 



