THE ESKIMO OF STUPART BAY. 107 



In the beginning of February the Eskimo again moved their dwel- 

 lings, Ualuck, Owbrook and Cowjut building close to my house, 

 and the others at points not far distant. About the middle of the 

 month three heavily laden commatiks arrived from about 150 miles, 

 to the westward, the people wishing to trade. I told them to go to 

 Ungava as I had but little powder and tobacco ; they refused, how- 

 ever, to go, preferring rather to take small prices, and five temporary 

 igloos were in the course of an hour erected close to the obser- 

 vatory. They remained five days and then departed. 



During the winter I occasionally went seal hunting with the 

 natives. We used to start out about nine in the morning with a 

 commatik and five or six men. It was very cold work sitting round 

 a space of open water watching for the seals, the temperature per- 

 haps 25° below zero. With my little Ballard rifle I could often pick 

 off a seal at two or three hundred yards ; their guns were only good 

 at a very short range, and they thought my breech-loading rifle a 

 marvellous machine. 



As the spring advanced, seals and walrus became scarce, and by 

 the beginning of April many of the people began to show signs of 

 hunger and came begging food from me. 



On April 11th the first bird, a bunting, appeared. On April 12th 

 Ualuck, Owbi'ook and Annoushook left to hunt deer ; in nine days 

 they returned with three carcases. A few days afterwards they again 

 went away and, in a fortnight's hunting, secured six deer. During 

 May many families were thoroughly famine-stricken. On May 18th 

 a man named Narluck tried to break open the storehouse ; failing in 

 that he began rolling away a barrel of pork which had been buried 

 in the snow outside the house. Unfortunately for him one of our 

 regular observations was always taken at 3 a.m., and one of my men 

 on going out discovered what was taking place. We gave the man a 

 thrashing, and I told him that if he tried to break my storehouse- 

 lock again I would shoot him. He gave but little trouble after this, 

 but always looked ripe for mischief. About this time, also, a 

 woman and a boy arrived from the West ; they could scarcely crawl 

 along on account of weakness from starvation. They reported that 

 out of seven in their igloo five had died of stai'vation. Our neighbors 

 happened to have some venison, and the poor wanderers immediately 

 began feasting. Early on the following morning, May 24th, I think 

 it was, a man came to tell me that the boy was pu-une-i-acput, which 



