316 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



were caught. When the boats returned from a successful hunt 

 the whole population would be astir. The women ran for meat 

 or blubber, and the dogs near at hand would howl with joy, a 

 howl which would soon resound from every part of the village. 

 In a surprisingly short time the whale would be cut into pieces 



and distributed all 

 over the island, while 

 the skin was stretched 

 out to dry. 



And then there 

 would be great feast- 

 ing. Large open fires 

 would be built on the 

 beach, huge pots hung 

 over them, with 

 people squatting 

 round them on the 

 ground, talking and 

 laughing and waiting 

 for the meat to boil. 



Another excite- 

 ment was when a 

 seal was discovered 

 inside the sand-spit. 

 Then the rifles would 



PURSUING SEAL IN A KAYAK. CI " aCk frOm OnG 6Ild 



of the beach to 



another, the bullets would strike all round the seal, while 

 some more enterprising Eskimos would pursue the seal in a 

 kayak, keeping close in the animal's wake, and dodging the 

 bullets, Heaven knows how. But as a rule the people only 

 drifted about amongst each other, paying visits, and doing 

 absolutely nothing all day. They would sit for hours on the 

 sunny side of the tent, smoking their pipes in high contentment, 

 and only moving out of the cold shadows into the sun again. 

 And when night fell, the fires over which they were cooking their 

 meals would light up the scene around, throwing a ruddy glow 

 on the faces of the surrounding Eskimos, waiting for the pot to 

 boil ; and when the happy moment comes, then a shout from 

 the cook calls forth other Eskimos from neighbouring tents, and 





