NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 133 



and beasts of prey had nearly or quite completed 

 the work of destroying every vestige of the body. 

 Thus, in a very short time, nothing remained but 

 here and there a bone mingled indiscriminately 

 with others in the place of the dead. 



The company then returned to the hut, and 

 another scene of wailing and mourning ensued. 

 During this last act, the hut was surrounded by 

 the relatives of the deceased ; and all at once, at 

 a given signal, the whole company rose up, and 

 pulled the hut down, and removed it to another 

 place. Before it was erected again, however, the 

 second dog was killed, and its blood sprinkled 

 over the newly-selected spot. 



With the change in the locality of the hut a 

 new order of things took place. The husband 

 assumed his former relations to the family, and 

 ceremonies were at an end respecting the de- 

 ceased. 



From what could be learned from the natives, 

 they supposed that, in leaving the face of the 

 deceased uncovered, the crows would pick out 

 her eyes, and then she would be unable to find 

 her way back to the hut. The opening made in 

 the side of the hut, through which to carry the 

 corpse, was another superstitious idea. They 

 believed she would not enter the hut again, if 

 she was not carried out by the door. The re- 



