62 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



observe that three other walrus were near at the 

 time. These three charged his kayak and turned 

 him out into the water, and in their rage would have 

 killed him with their tusks or drowned him but for 

 the fact that the other Eskimos, who were not far 

 away with the large boat, came to his rescue, and 

 saved him from the infuriated animals. He was 

 now in the boat, the Eskimos said, and they requested 

 me to go to his assistance. Eskimos have an ex- 

 cellent opinion of the white man's skill as surgeon 

 or physician, and it was up to me, inexperienced lay- 

 man though I was, to prove that this faith was well 

 founded. 



Upon examination I found that Sipsu had suf- 

 fered two severe gashes in his left cheek, his right 

 ear was badly cut, and a tusk had made a large hole 

 in his right hip. So far as I could discover, how- 

 ever, there were no broken bones, and for this I was 

 profoundly thankful. I cleansed the wounds as 

 thoroughly as possible, using a solution of bichloride 

 of mercury, bandaged them to the best of my ability, 

 and put him to bed. The cuts in his cheek should 

 have been sewed up, but I feared to attempt it with 

 the crude materials at hand. 



With approaching signs of winter the Eskimos, 

 as well as myself, were anxious to get into winter 

 headquarters at Annootok. The boatswain and 

 Billy had come down to Etah, and they too wished 

 to return. In this connection it may be well to ex- 

 plain that the boatswain was engaged in trading with 

 the Eskimos, collecting furs and ivory. In the 



