December, 1SG4.1 FolloWUKJ Up the WttlniS. 103 



their hunts, ahhough lie had been several thnes confined to his i/jloo 

 by a sore throat and by bruises received on his rough sledge-journeys. 

 He endeavored to supply the loss of the walrus-lines by loaning the 

 sheets of his boat Sylvia. A bear and a number of walruses were 

 secured ; others which were only struck on the ice were lost during the 

 nightSj when they escaped by the tide setting the floe back to the land. 

 But the condition of the ice was fine for hunting, and the promise for 

 the season was good. Hall notices that on each morning, after the 

 men had gone off to hunt, their women took each a cup down to the 

 shore and left it there ; probably under the idea that this would bring 

 success. 



On the Gth of the month following, Ou-e-la and Ebierbing found 

 a walrus of a large size butting his head through the ice, which was 

 4 inches thick, with a force sufiicient to throw masses of it several 

 feet into the air. On a signal to the other hunters they scattered 

 themselves, watching for another appearance. The animal burst 

 through the ice six times before he was harpooned Generally, when 

 pursued, he moves in a direct line, and the natives are accustomed 

 to calculate where he will probably make his second or third rise. 

 The holes which he works up through the ice are sometimes as far 

 apart as 100 rods, but the distances decrease in proportion to the 

 length of the pursuit, during which the animal is often drowned. The 

 Innuits sometimes follow nearly the same plan in drowning ducks, 

 though this is done when there is no ice to cover them. A flock 

 which is swimming is approached by the hunter in a ky-alc^ when most 

 of them take alarm and fly away, but some dive down. The hunter 

 rapidly follows in the probable direction in which the now submarine 

 ducks are swimming, and the instant that one appears above water, it 



