124 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 



to camp, and many pressing invitations were extended 

 to us to spend the night at the village, it was thought 

 wisest for the moral well-being of our party not to do 

 so. Besides this, the surface of the country in the 

 neighborhood of the village was exceedingly rough, 

 being formed entirely of boulders. The Eskimo topicks 

 were pitched upon the rocky shore, and it was thought 

 we might find smoother ground. Before leaving the 

 village one old Eskimo surprised us very much by 

 making a remark in English. I said to him, " Oh ! 

 you understand English," whereat he made the amusing 

 reply, " No, me no understand English." I tried then 

 to find out from the old man where he had learned to 

 speak our language, but the only reply I could get 

 from him was that he had always been able to speak it. 

 It may be that he had accompanied Sir George Back, 

 Sir John Richardson, or Dr. Ray, on one of their Frank- 

 lin search expeditions, or perhaps he had come from 

 Hudson Bay, where he had been associated with some of 

 the American whalers who frequent its waters. 



Followed by many hearty cheers and " tabowetees " 

 (farewells), we parted from our new but warm-hearted 

 friends. As before, we were accompanied by an escort 

 of kyacks, but after a time they fell behind and returned 

 to the village. 



As we had been informed by the natives, so we soon 

 found, we were at last at the mouth of the great Telzoa, 

 and gradually as we passed out into the broad shallow 

 delta and gazed over the deep blue limitless waters be- 

 yond, the gratifying fact forced itself upon us that we 

 had accomplished what we had started out to do, viz., to 

 explore a route through the heart of the Barren Lands, 



