AND KAYAK 65 



rest of the population gathered on the slope 

 in front of the village to watch. 



From our point of view it was a relief to 

 see the houses among the snow and rocks after 

 our cold day s travelling ; and to them it was 

 the biggest excitement of the winter. You 

 can imagine how they would shout when they 

 first saw our sled ; the big team of dogs and 

 the three men on the sled would be enough 

 to tell them at once that it was a European. 

 Presently we got within sound of their shout 

 ing : &quot; Kablunak, Kablunak &quot; (European), 

 they yelled, and their outbursts came boom 

 ing over the ice in the still evening air. &quot; Amalo, 

 amalo &quot; (another) they roared, as each sled 

 came round the point ; and by the time we 

 reached them and looked back along the track 

 the thirteenth sled was just in sight, with its 

 trotting little mannikin driver and its bunch 

 of little black dots of dogs, and the excite 

 ment was at fever pitch. There had never 

 been anything like this before. Such a pro 

 cession ! It was a sight to remember ; a long, 

 dull streak across the clean, bright snow, alive 

 with a series of crawling dots, the nearest 

 easily distinguishable as men and dogs, shout 

 ing and yelping and racing towards us, the 

 furthest mere black specks almost seeming to 

 stand still. There was no mistake about the 



