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houses, which held more tlian "/srds of the whole tribe. The 

 open Nortli Water lay about 20 to 50 km, west or south-west 

 of the settlement, "and its edge shifts like the fringe of a 

 waving curtain. Two or three days of heavy wind will eat into 

 the ice and bring the water several miles nearer the shore. Then 

 during the following calm, the fierce temperatures of February 

 and March, the lowest of the year, bind the motionless water 

 with a zone of young ice, which in twenty-four hours will 

 support a sledge and team of dogs. Then is the hunter's time; 

 leaving the village at earliest daybreak he drives out to the 

 edge of the old ice where the dogs are fastened, and then on 

 foot with his harpoon, line and lance, he starts out upon the 

 black mirror of the new ice". 



it is important for the hunter to be able to reckon where 

 the walrus will rise to breathe. Usually he waits for it at a 

 hole already formed in the ice, but sometimes the animal 

 comes up at a new place , breaking through the ice. The 

 hunter then hastens quickly to the spot with the harpoon in the 

 right hand and the ca. 40 meter long line of seal-skin in the 

 left. The harpoon is not thrown , owing to the thickness of 

 the walrus hide, but is thrust in, and the pole hastily with- 

 drawn. The spike — formerly of bone, now usually of iron — 

 which is at the end of the pole and has served as base for 

 the loose point of the harpoon, is now planted in the ice, the 

 line is given a turn as far down as possible and the knee and 

 shoulder are brought strongly to bear as counterpoise. When 

 the line again slackens, it is fastened as quickly as possible 

 through two holes in the ice, and the animal as it reappears 

 is met with the lance of the hunter and his comrades, who 

 have hastened to his help. When the animal is dead, it is 

 lifted right up by a kind of tackle, formed by lines of seal's 

 skin passed through two holes in the ice and a couple of holes 

 cut in the skin, and as the heavy animal, which may weigh up 

 to 1000 kg, is gradually lifted up over the water, pieces are 



