232 LIFE AMONG THE ESKIMOS 



was much struck with their intelligence, and their well-clad, comfortable, and 

 healthy appearance. This, I learned, was in a great measure due to the benevo- 

 lent interest of the Danish government in their behalf. There is not a station, 

 I was given to understand, along the whole coast of Greenland, which has not 

 its missionary and its schoolmaster for the instruction of the natives; and, 

 judging from what we saw and learned at Upernavik, the Danish exchequer 

 is not without material and substantial proofs of the gratitude of the poor 

 'Inmiit.' Thus instructed, cared for, and their energies disciplined and 

 directed, the Esquimos of Greenland give employment to six ships annually, in 

 carrying the produce of their hunts and fisheries to Denmark." 



Eskimos are, of course, among the most skilful big-game hunters of the 

 world. 



They are especially wary in stalking the walrus. An Eskimo hunter will 

 approach as near as possible on a sledge and then leave vehicle and dogs 

 behind and continue on foot. 



Describing what follows, Astrup (one of Peary's men) writes: "Soon there 

 seems to be a singing and cracking in the ice ; then there is a break into many 

 pieces, and up through the opening thus formed a bearded walrus quietly and 

 majestically lifts its large head and grinning face. You hear its deep breath- 

 ing, which in the twilight of the forenoon seems to resemble a slow snoring, 

 and you see its breath like a cloud of vapor, which in the very low temperature 

 that prevails looks as white and shining as the steam from an engine. A 

 moment afterward the animal slowly disappears in the deep. It is usually 

 while the walrus is engaged in breaking the thin ice in order to form a breath- 

 ing-hole that the Esquimo rushes to the attack, though sometimes, in spite of 

 the cold, one is found that has crept upon the ice where it is strong enough to 

 bear the weight." 



Capt. Hall once harpooned a seal according to the Eskimo method. He was 

 watched by a number of Innuits (natives) as he took his seat by a seal-hole, 

 which is an excavation under the ice where the animal dwells below the frozen 

 surface. Hall at length heard breathing^nd scratching at the spot. He jabbed 

 his harpoon down and in a moment the line was jerked from his hand, but, 

 "quick as a flash," he says, "I seized it again, or I would have lost my prize, as 

 well as the harpoon and line. The sealers far and near saw that I was fast 

 to a seal, and although I called to Nu-ker-zhoo, 'kiete! kiete!' — come here! 

 come here ! — there was no necessity for it, for before I uttered a word he and 

 all the others were making their way to me. Had I caught a whale there could 



