THE RETURN OF THE SUN 241 



mounting, and a pair of large walrus tusks these 

 last in return for some cartridges I had given Eisee- 

 you. A portion of the meat was for us, and it was 

 very acceptable indeed, as our stock of fresh meat 

 was nearly exhausted. Eiseeyou took possession of 

 Kulutinguah's old igloo, and here I spent an hour 

 chatting, while I watched them clean deer and seal- 

 skins. This was always exceedingly interesting to 

 me, for I never ceased to marvel at the dexterity 

 with which they removed fat and grease without soil- 

 ing the hair side of skins. 



The following day was snowy and all the Eskimos 

 spent the hours of daylight in the shack with Billy 

 and me. We had the place well warmed and they 

 perspired like folk in the hot room of a Turkish bath ; 

 moisture oozed out of their pores and ran off their 

 faces in rivulets, and the odor was anything but 

 pleasant, for sealskin clothing has a very strong 

 smell when heated. 



The sky remained overcast for several days after 

 Billy and I made our trip out on the ice of Smith 

 Sound in vain endeavor to see the sun, and every 

 day it snowed; sometimes mildly with little wind, 

 sometimes in a raging blizzard. The three families 

 of Eskimos now at Annootok were preparing to 

 leave us on the first fair day that came; even Ilab- 

 rado was now to move south. Annootok was to be 

 deserted indeed, with no other human life there than 

 Billy and me. In prospect of their going I spent 

 a good deal of my time in the igloos with them. 

 While I was there one evening Anahway and Ar- 



