56 TRIBES OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 



It so happened that the Eskimo, led by Itit, had 

 killed a whale, and all except the wife of Itit were 

 busy carrying the meat and blubber to their huts. 

 When the lazy wife was called, she answered : &quot;I 

 do not like food from the sea, I want all my food 

 from the land. I will not eat the meat of a whale, 

 and I will not help.&quot; She came down to the beach 

 leading her young son by the hand, and after finding 

 some feathers, she placed them between her fingers 

 and those of her son, both twirled their hands 

 quickly, and on whispering some magic words were 

 changed into geese, which flew away, leaving Itit to 

 carry out a sorrowful search for his wife and child. 



After many weary months of travel he came to 

 the bank of a swiftly flowing river, where an old 

 man was striking off chips of wood, which, when 

 polished between his hands, turned into little 

 salmon, that leaped into the water and began to 

 swim towards a large lake. Itit at once asked 

 questions concerning his wife and child, and to his 

 great surprise learned that they were dwelling on a 

 small island in the lake. He was furious on hearing 

 that his wife had taken another husband, and now 

 he loved her no more, but sought only for revenge. 

 There was no canoe, but the clever old man, who 

 could make salmon from chips of wood, took the 

 backbone of a fish, and after vigorously polishing 

 this for a time, it turned into a small boat which the 

 Eskimo calls a &quot; kayak.&quot; This the old man pre 

 sented to Itit, who immediately pushed off from 

 the shore in the direction of the island where his 

 wife was hiding. 



Very soon a small hut came into view, and there 



