F 



XVIII 



"OMINGMONG!" THE MUSK-OX! 



WE had halted to make camp after many 

 hours of tiresome toil, when Eiseeyou 

 called me to him and pointing to what 

 appeared to be two large rocks at the foot of a moun- 

 tain, a half mile or so distant, said laconically, "Om- 

 ingmong!" [musk-ox]. All of the Eskimos broke at 

 once into an excited babble, and set to work with 

 feverish haste to straighten out the dogs' traces pre- 

 paratory to a long run at high speed. 



I could make little of what they said, for it re- 

 quires, not one, but several years of constant resi- 

 dence among the Eskimos for a white man to obtain 

 sufficient grasp of their language to understand a 

 running conversation among themselves, and one 

 must be an exceptional linguist indeed ever to be 

 able to grasp their idioms. But when I saw them 

 remove their guns from the cases, I knew they were 

 preparing for the chase. This was to be my hunt. 

 I had employed them with the distinct understanding 

 that I was to do all musk-ox or bear shooting that 

 took place on the trip, unless I chose to give them 

 the privilege. My previous experiences had taught 

 me that if I were to kill musk-ox or bear myself this 



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