398 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



At the end of five hours the wind moderated, and 

 though a heavy swell was rolling in we launched, and 

 made a good run down to Etah, where I was very 

 glad to go to bed and get the first comfortable sleep 

 I had enjoyed for many days. 



Aside from little auks the Eskimos had but small 

 store of meat or food at Etah, and they devoted every 

 opportunity when not otherwise employed, to netting 

 the birds. The young birds were now coming out of 

 the nests between the rocks, and were the funniest, 

 downiest little things I ever saw. They were cov- 

 ered with an outer down that one could readily rub 

 off, disclosing a thick coat of feathers beneath. The 

 little auk has a small pouch, its upper end just under 

 the beak, and expanding a short distance along the 

 throat. In this pouch the old bird carries food to the 

 young, going far out to sea for something that re- 

 sembles a very small red shrimp. The young half- 

 grown birds were fat and delicious. 



Great quantities of little auks were cached, though 

 considerable numbers were required to supply the 

 daily ration. Without exaggeration I may say that 

 on more than one occasion I saw Kulutinguah eat, at 

 a single meal, the breasts of twenty -five full-grown 

 birds, and then complete his repast with generous 

 slices of walrus meat. The tremendous appetite of 

 Eskimos in times of plenty is beyond belief. 



While Eskimos are inherently kind and sympa- 

 thetic to all people, they appear to be wholly void of 

 any appreciation of the suffering dumb creatures. 

 At this season, when life was plentiful, the men and 



