366 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



the moment the boat's prow touched the shore ice 

 each grabbed for a piece of the narwhal meat, and 

 cut from it strips of skin, which they ravenously 

 chewed. 



With instructions to call me at once, should more 

 narwhals be sighted, I left the overjoyed and ex- 

 cited people for a good meal, for I was half famished 

 for cooked food, be it said and much in need of 

 rest. 



How the human body can withstand the tax of en- 

 durance that the Eskimos constantly subject them- 

 selves to is beyond my understanding. I am sure 

 that on many occasions while I was with them they 

 passed through periods exceeding three days and 

 three nights without sleep, when waiting for oppor- 

 tunities to kill walrus and narwhals. Constant watch- 

 fulness is of course with them the price of life. 

 They must take advantage of every opportunity to 

 kill game, for this is their only means of obtaining 

 a livelihood. They cannot lean upon others for sup- 

 port, and none among them is so poor that charity 

 comes his way. He must work if he is to live, and 

 no man in the world works so hard as the Eskimo, 

 or enjoys so little of life's comforts or luxuries. 



The hunters were now keeping unremittent watch 

 for narwhals, and Kulutinguah called me out of my 

 first sound sleep to say that the weather and condi- 

 tions were fine for a hunt. I lost no time in prep- 

 aration, and in a little while we were pulling down 

 along the edge of the main ice in the whale-boat, and 

 had gone but a short distance when a school of blow- 



