i?iarch, 1865.J EUerUng's Niglit-Watch. 153 



to answer for a cushion and to keep the least noise made bv liis 

 moves from being communicated to the snow. Then, to keep his feet 

 warm and close together, he drew over them a short bag of reindeer- 

 skin with the fur inside, and, to prevent still further his making the 

 least noise while sitting, or when he should rise to strike, he tied his 

 legs together just below the knees and his frock-tail close around his 

 body. The last act was to place his oo-nar with harpoon and line, on 

 two pegs carefully stuck into the snow, on his right hand and on the 

 left, just so far in advance of him that when bending forward he could 

 touch the spear. All was now ready for unbroken silence. Whisper- 

 ing back and forward the word " Ter-hou-ee-tie" (Good-night,) Hall took 

 his leave ; for Nu-her-zhoo had invited him to be his companion to this 

 point only, since by his now leaving the agloo the seal would suppose 

 that no one was left behind. 



The native, however, failed to secure a captive, and returned at 

 the end of a twenty -four hours' watch only to say " no visit had been 

 made by the seal to his hole during all that time." This had been his 

 second disappointment, for on his last hunt, when he heard the blow 

 and was throwing his harpoon, a mitten fell from his belt on the roof 

 of the agloo, frightening off the wary seal. 



Hall next accompanied Ebierbing to a seal-hole which he had 

 found about three miles off, and over which he now expected to watch 

 during the night. With his knife, Ebierbing cut down into the snow- 

 covering, repeatedly smelling the snow until he satisfied himself that 

 the seal had been there within a short time. He then scraped away 

 the outside snow which was about 5 inches thick, down to the thin, 

 icy crust forming the coating to the seal's breathing-hole. Into this 

 he made a very small cut, but on looking through, he discovered that 



