MAMMALS. 55 



9. Callocephalus vitulinus, (Linn6) F. Cuv. 



"Kassigiak," Cumberlaud Eskimo. 



The so-called " fresli- water seal" of the whalemen is one of the rarer 

 si)ecies in the Cumberland Avaters. They are mostly met with far up 

 the fjords and in the fresh-water streams and ponds, where they go after 

 salmon. They are rather difiiciilt to capture, as at the season they are 

 commonlj'^ met with there is so little blubber on them that they sink 

 when shot. The skins are highly i>rized by the Eskimo women for their 

 jackets, and if they do not have enough for the entire garment will 

 use what they have, always putting it within the most convenient sight 

 of the wearer. It is said by the Eskimo that the young remain in the 

 white coat but three or four days, differing greatly in this respect from 

 Pagomys foetidus. I^Teither do they make an excavation underneath the 

 snow for the reception of the young, like the above-mentioned species, 

 but pui) later in the season, on the bare ice, fully exposed. The adult 

 males often engage in severe combats with each other. I have seen 

 skins so scratched up that they were nearly worthless ; in fact, the 

 Eskimo consider a "kassiarsoak" (a very large kassigiak) as having an 

 almost worthless skin, and seldom use it except for their skin tents. The 

 skins of the young, on the contrary, are a great acquisition. It is said, 

 possibl}^ with a shade of exaggeration, that the affections of the Eskimo 

 damsel can be secured by a present of kassigiak skins, when all ordinary 

 means of persuasion have failed to move her. 



10. Pagomys foetidus, (Fab.) Gray. 



"Netsick," adults generally; " Tigak," adult males ; "Netsiavik," young after 

 shedding and till one year old; " Ibeeu," young in Avhite coats, of the Cum- 

 berland Eskimo. *' Pickaninny pussy," young, pigeon-English of the "whalers. 



This seal is very common in all the fjords and bays from Hudson's 

 Straits northvrard along Cumberlaud Island to the extreme head of Cum- 

 berland Sound, on all the outer islands about CajDe Mercy, and on the 

 west coast of Davis Straits. I have seen skins from Lake Kennedj- 

 that I could not distinguish from those found in Cumberland Sound. 

 This seal Avas never noticed but a few miles from land; was not met with 

 in the pack-ice, nor on the Greenland coast except far up the fjords. 

 This was in July and August; but I am informed that they become more 

 comiuon toward autumn, and are found in considerable numbers some 

 distance from land; they are less common here, however, than on the 

 west coast. 



It was a source of great curiosity to the Greenlanders to see the 



