XX 



THE SPRING AWAKENING 



THE smaller of the musk-ox skins were with- 

 out heads, and these the women cleaned very 

 quickly, and then pegged out, fur side down, 

 where it was intended they should remain exposed to 

 the sun until perfectly dry. Some of the skins were 

 thus exposed when snow began falling in large soft 

 flakes which melted as soon as they touched the earth. 

 I covered the skins at once with everything water- 

 proof I could find, for green skins will be very 

 quickly ruined by exposure to water, particularly if 

 permitted to remain damp for any length of time. 

 How to keep them dry until properly cured I realized 

 was a serious problem under existing weather condi- 

 tions. The stone igloos, the tupeks in which the peo- 

 ple lived, the shack and everything around Etah 

 dripped with moisture. A small stream of water ran 

 under my bunk in the shack into a hole dug in the 

 middle of the floor, from which it was necessary to 

 bale the water at frequent intervals. 



Late in the afternoon after my arrival I visited 

 the igloos and tupeks and found the skins all in a 

 nasty wet mess, and so heavy with water I could 

 scarcely lift one. Tongwe told me there was nothing 



