368 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



might be found, I replied "No." All of the Eskimos 

 at once began to sulk. Kulutinguah refused to go 

 out again, declaring that all the narwhals in sight 

 were females, and the whole crowd sat idly about 

 upon the ice. They were as contrary as a* lot of 

 children. 



Finally, in view of the mood they were in, I told 

 Kulutinguah to go ahead and harpoon the first one 

 he could. He started for them at once, and in a very 

 few minutes had fastened to one. We launched the 

 boat, soon overtook him, and I had a lively experience 

 killing the narwhal, which required ten shots, though 

 there was no way of knowing how many of the 

 bullets hit. 



When it was finally dead and we hauled the body 

 alongside the boat, I saw that it was a male of fair 

 size, though with a very small horn not more than 

 three and a half feet in length. With this, however, 

 I had to be satisfied, for the boat would accommodate 

 the meat of but one animal, and to kill more until 

 this was cared for would have been wasteful. 



While pulling back to Annootok I questioned 

 Kulutinguah as to the habits of narwhals, and his re- 

 ply, when I asked him whether they would be likely 

 to remain in these waters another day, covered the 

 whole subject in a few expressive words. "I don't 

 know," said he. "Kullure [narwhals] have no igloo, 

 and never remain still in one place." 



The season was growing late, and with a great many 

 things to be transferred to Etah, and a good deal to 



