192 VIKINGS OF TO-DAY 



as to consequences, the visit was prolonged inde- 

 finitely, and soon the whole of them were without 

 provisions. The usual course to adopt next is to 

 drive on and visit the nearest settlement, till all 

 alike are "commercial travellers" in the same line 

 of business. No wonder there is an Eskimo saying, 

 " Do not live near the komatik (or sleigh) track." 



Loyalty is said to be a marked feature in the 

 Eskimo. They fully believed at Hopedale that Her 

 Majesty the Queen sits on a rock on the look-out 

 as they do in her anxiety for the arrival of the 

 mission ship Harmony. We were charged with many 

 personal messages by them to the Queen, expressing 

 their deep sense of gratitude for sending the Albert 

 out to them. 



When they heard the English were at war in 

 Egypt, they organized an impromptu regiment, with 

 a captain in a discarded policeman's coat and one 

 odd epaulet, with which they proposed to the mis- 

 sionaries they should proceed to the seat of war. 

 Indeed, they took no denial, and continued to drill 

 till the opening of the sea turned their attention 

 once more to cod-fishing. 



I must now close my few remarks about this 

 interesting people. Some of their habits, which to 

 us are more repellant, I have purposely passed over 

 such as their predilection for their meat to be 

 " mikkiak," or partly rotten, and their uncleanliness. 

 What we saw of the Eskimo we liked : their grati- 

 tude for kindnesses done; their fortitude under the 



