GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



the hands, led them towards the piles of meat which we had 

 just collected from his depots. Here we then partook of a 

 brilliant feast. 



Although the proceedings amused them, the Eskimos re- 

 garded the performance merely as a series of mad antics, and 

 the actors did not seem to put great trust in Ajako, who, during 

 his visit to Denmark in 1914, had seen similar things, and now 

 told them that the pictures would at some time become alive. 

 They listened to his explanations but paid only slight attention 

 to such postulates, as they did not wish to accuse Ajako of a 

 loose connection with the truth. 



Wulff handled the camera, and he did it in such a way that 

 their spirits were further raised by the shouts with which he 

 stimulated the actors. Unfortunately, a year and a half was to 

 elapse before the result could be shown. 



After this mimic feast we started a real feast on rotten meat 

 of bearded seal. The bearded seal is usually divided among the 

 hunters, the most coveted parts being those from which the 

 indispensable seal straps are taken. But Majaq had already cut 

 out so many straps from his great catch that the last bearded 

 seals he caught were cut up without separating the skin and 

 blubber from the meat. The result of this mode of preserva- 

 tion is that the big flensing pieces which are put down during 

 early spring in stone mounds, far down in the cold soil, get only 

 the slightest touch of decay. No ray of sun must reach the 

 flesh which, when the sparing warmth of summer has gone, 

 looks like half-dried, smoked meat, and tastes excellently. One 

 very seldom sees bearded seal served in this way, and our 

 appetites were voracious. Our dogs also were given their share, 

 and although they numbered 185, they had as much as one 

 dared to stuff into them without danger of bursting their in- 

 ternal organs. After the meat coffee was served, succeeded by 

 an exhibition on ski which furthered digestion of the solid meal 

 by much laughter. Very few Eskimos have any practice in 

 ski-ing down the hills, and as most of their efforts resulted in 

 somersaults, we had plenty of opportunity for the exercise of 

 our diaphragms. 

 52 



