50 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



Out of doors they make miniature snow-houses , 

 slide down small inclines upon sledges, or engage 

 in their favourite game of football. This last, how- 

 ever, should more strictly be called hand-ball, for 

 the seal bladder, which takes the place of the ball, 

 is thrown from hand to hand. 



If the weather should be bad, and in consequence 

 they should be confined to the hut, they have various 

 games corresponding to our cup and ball, cat's-cradle, 

 and others which will keep them amused for hours. 

 The parents of smaller children make toy sledges, 

 bows and arrows, garments (made of wood) for the 

 dolls, and such like to keep the little ones happy. 



But amid all their play, whether it be out of 

 doors or in, the return of their father from the hunt 

 is scented long before he reaches the snow-house, 

 when, if he should have proved successful, a very 

 lively scene ensues. With shrieks of delight the 

 children yell : " Netsukpok, netsukpok ! " (He has 

 caught a seal, he has caught a seal !) 



The wives turn out and help their husbands 

 unharness the dogs. The harness is coiled up in- 

 side the house, while the sledge is often put upon 

 the top. The spoil also is hauled inside out of the 

 way of the dogs. 



The seal is then skinned and cut up, quite a 

 number of people sometimes congregating in the 

 successful hunter's house, and partaking with very 

 evident gusto of pieces of the gory meat. 



