Gape Chidley — Port Bumvell. 



61 



AN ESKIMO GRAVE. 



husband. She is waiting, it is said, until the chief's son, at the cape, 

 her cousin, gets old enough to take a wife ; for it must be nicer to 

 be the wife of an Utterick than the slave of an ordinary hunter, 

 especially the first one, as the first always rules the second. 



Here I must mention that on our return, in September, we 

 learned that Mrs. Komikan 

 had died, and been buried or 

 laid away up among the cliffs 

 of Newnango. 



Turning from this wretched 

 abode of the Komikans, we 

 continued our tour of observa- 

 tion, and were richly rewarded, 

 ascending the steep acclivities 

 to a height indicated by the 

 barometer of five hundred feet, 

 on the summits of which I pro- 

 cured some interesting botani- 

 cal specimens. The scene was 



full of interest. At the foot of one of these ranges, near to the 

 channel, a curious spectacle was observed, rudely described by the 

 following impromptu lines, pencilled on the spot : — 



Upon the eternal rocks of the north, 



And close by the wild and swift tidal wroth 



In a dark sheltered cleft ; 

 Where perpetual snows arch summit and peak, 

 And the winds beat hard on the barren and bleak 



Mountainous range ; 

 Where the seal and the walrus lazily play, 

 And the grim polar bear comes up from the bay, 



Lonely and strange ; 

 Where the desolate waters from Ungava Sea 

 Meet the swift-flowing current at the Cape Chidley 



In tidal return ; 

 Where the sun circles low in the southern sky, 

 And the sea-gulls drearily scream as they fly. 



A casual glance, and, lo ! 

 Covered o'er by the hands of the tawny and brave 

 I discovered the lone and desolate grave 



Of a poor Eskimo. 



