THE SPRING AWAKENING 331 



that could be done with them, however, while the wet 

 weather continued, and that all attempts to clean them 

 then were quite useless. I therefore decided to salt 

 them, unless the weather cleared within a day or two, 

 as there seemed no other way to preserve them. 



The tupeks were in a terrible condition, and I car- 

 ried one of my oil stoves over to Tongwe that she 

 might endeavor with its heat to dry her tupek out. 

 How people can exist for long under these conditions 

 and avoid attacks of rheumatism or pneumonia I can- 

 not understand. Certainly people in a civilized coun- 

 try cannot long escape illness who live in surroundings 

 much less unsanitary. 



An amusing incident occurred at this time indica- 

 tive of the resourcefulness of the Eskimos. Ilab- 

 rado's kooner was visiting at one of the other tupeks, 

 when her children set up a cry which took her back 

 to her own tupek on a run. Presently I learned the 

 cause of the commotion. Upon my arrival at Etah 

 I had presented each of the Eskimo women with some 

 musk-ox meat and fat and one of Ilabrado's dogs 

 a fine big fellow had raided her tupek in the 

 kooner's absence and devoured the greater part of her 

 share. The children entering in time to catch the 

 dog in the act, raised the alarm. These food deli- 

 cacies the kooner had no intention of losing. By way 

 of punishment to this particular dog, and as an ex- 

 ample to the canine population of Etah in general, 

 she beat the animal soundly with a barrel stave, first 

 securing him with a rope tied in a slip knot around 

 his neck. Then it was that, the dog taught his lesson 



