

XII 



HUNTING WALRUS IN THE NIGHT 



TUKSHU had not responded to Sipsu's call, 

 but we hoped he would join us, and turned 

 at once to our work. Without hesitation, 

 Sipsu tied one end of a harpoon line around his waist, 

 as a life line, and while Oxpuddyshou and I held 

 the other end, the venturesome Eskimo landed safely 

 upon the first pan with a running jump. Thus he 

 passed from pan to pan, finally reaching the main 

 ice with no other mishap than wet feet. 



Now it was a question how to induce the dogs to 

 cross. It is difficult to force an Eskimo dog into a 

 place where he will get his feet wet. Among ani- 

 mals he is the greatest coward in this respect I have 

 ever seen. Where one or two dogs go, however, the 

 others will usually follow like a flock of sheep, and 

 the problem therefore was to get some of them 

 started. 



Sipsu's dogs would not respond to his call. Their 

 dread of the water was greater than their fear of 

 punishment for disobedience. It became necessary 

 at length to tie three of them securely to one end of 

 a harpoon line, on the other end of which Sipsu 

 hauled, while we on the ice floe pushed the unwilling 



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