IV 

 KALOPALING 



KA-LO-PA-LING is a strange being who lives in 

 the northern seas. His body is like that of a man 

 except that his feet are very large and look like 

 sealskin muffs. His clothing is made of the skins 

 of eider ducks and, as their bellies are white and 

 their backs are black, his clothes are spotted all 

 over. He cannot speak, but cries all the time, 

 "Be, be! Be, be!" 



His jacket has an enormous hood which is an 

 object of fear to the Inuit, for if a kayak upsets 

 and the boatman is drowned, Ka-lo-pa-ling grabs 

 him and puts him into the hood. 



The Inuit say that in olden times there were a 

 great many of these creatures, and they often sat 

 in a row along the ice floes, like a flock of pen- 

 guins. Their numbers have become less and less, 

 till now there are but a few left. 



Anyone standing on shore may see them swim- 

 ming under water very rapidly, and occasionally 

 they rise to the surface as if to get air. They 

 make a great noise by splashing with their feet 



14 



