DOWN TO THE SEA. 179 



what to them would have been fabulous wealth, but to 

 no purpose. There they were with all their belongings 

 on their way to the westward, and westward they were 

 determined to go. 



The Eskimos in turn expressed surprise at finding 

 two solitary white men upon such a lonely, barren 

 island, and not unnaturally asked, " Nowtimee ibbee 

 kyette ? " (Where do you come from?) I replied, " Uvagut 

 kyette teliipea washigtooeloo toumonee koog-du-ak" (We 

 come from the west very far, down a great river). We 

 were then asked if we had seen any more of their 

 people, and replied, " Uvagut tacko-naTnee hipunga 

 Enuit coonetookeloo mawee tacko Enuit amasuit wash- 

 igtoo teliipea iglooa/nne attowsha sissell ungayo" (We 

 have seen no other Eskimos near here, but saw plenty 

 far to the westward beyond the first big lake). They 

 informed us that another large boat-load of their people 

 had gone up from the coast on the previous day, and 

 were surprised that we had not seen them. Though we 

 were not able to purchase or charter the boat from the 

 natives, we obtained much valuable information and a 

 sketch-map of the coast of the Bay from the mouth of 

 the Inlet down to Fort Churchill. After a brief stay 

 they returned to their boat and we to the rocky hills, 

 upon the other side of which our party awaited our re- 

 turn. The wind still continued to blow too strongly to 

 admit of travelling by canoe, so we went back again 

 and spent the rest of the day on the hills. 



Next morning we were up early. The wind had 

 fallen somewhat and the canoes were soon launched. We 

 managed to travel until after eleven o'clock, when, be- 

 cause of the high wind and rough water, we were again 



