IV 



BUFFETED BY STORM AND ICE 



THE day following our arrival at Etah, Sipsu, 

 Kulutinguah, Kudlar, and two boys of the 

 tribe, departed in the large boat and some 

 kayaks 1 for a walrus hunt. I was invited to ac- 

 company them, but preferred to remain behind and 

 get some of my things in readiness for transhipment. 

 Besides, I was very tired. My night's rest had been 

 broken by howling dogs. Unaccustomed as I was 

 to this characteristic of an Eskimo settlement, I had 

 been unable to sleep. Several times I arose and 

 stoned the brutes into silence, but each time I was 

 scarcely back in bed again when the howls were re- 

 newed, with increased vigor, if that were possible. 



When the hunting party returned, I noticed that 

 Sipsu did not get out of the boat with the others. 

 His companions hurried to me at once and though 

 as yet I had not acquired sufficient knowledge of 

 the language to understand them readily, little by 

 little I grasped the import of what they were saying. 

 It appeared that Sipsu while in his kayak had har- 

 pooned a cow walrus that had young. He did not 



i Native boats. 



61 



