141 



He took out his knife and said an incantation over it. Then 

 he began skinning the animal, roHing back the hide. During 

 all this time his assistant remained perfectly motionless, 



Simon continued his flensing, crooning to himself his great 

 joy at his good fortune in catching so valuable a skin, and began 

 to speculate on the sensation which his return would cause in 

 his village. He kept rolling back the skin with each cut of the 

 knife. The spectators watched him closely, but ventured no 

 remarks until he was done. 



As Simon made the last cut and rolled the skin oflF the 

 "animal," it suddenly came to life, jumped up, and ran oflF, 

 leaving Simon with the skin in his hand, much chagrined. Simon 

 on further examination of the skin, found that it was worthless. 

 He cast it from him in disgust, stood for some time scratching 

 his head in perplexity, much to the enjoyment of the audience, 

 and finally walked away, apparently deeply disappointed. 



MYTHOLOGY. 



The mythology of the Labrador Eskimo exhibits those inter- 

 esting complications of motives which might be expected of a 

 people bordering on other tribes. We find the old stories of 

 the original Eskimo stock in fragmentary or abbreviated form, 

 as in the tales of "The Girl who Married a Whale," the "Story 

 of the Sun and Moon," the "Story of the Narwhal," and "The 

 Orphan Boy and the Moon Man." 



Little anecdotes of animal life, which may reflect Indian 

 influence, are told to amuse the children. Such stories are 

 quite plentiful in Labrador, as the "Origin of the Sea-Pigeons," 

 "Origin of the Walrus and Caribou," the "Story of the Owl and 

 the Raven," and "How the Caribou Lost their Large Eyes." 

 The story of the "Quarrel of the Gull and the Raven," on which 

 the future of the white and Eskimo race depended, is modern, 

 but well known, both in Labrador and Baffin island. 



Stories which show the strong belief of the Labrador Eskimo 

 in their Tornait, or spirit helpers are the "Story of the Lame 

 Hunter," "The Place where the Caribou Live," "How the Trout 

 were made," and "How the Caribou Lost their Large Eyes." 



