But it was the best-tempered crowd I ever 

 faced. Their broad smiles were something never 

 to be forgotten. Koogak had bidden them all 

 hold their tongues, and they were trying hard to 

 keep still, but looked ready to burst into a roar. 

 Numbers of babies were gurgling and chuckling. 



I felt we must do something to catch their at- 

 tention, so I asked Mrs. Gambell, who is clever 

 at sketching, to take a piece of chalk and draw 

 a walrus on the blackboard behind us. She did 

 so in some trepidation, but so well that before 

 she had added the tail-flippers I saw a gleam of 

 recognition in the faces around us. 



When I pointed and asked, " What is that?" 

 there was a shout of " Aabwook!" and they all — 

 men, women and children — kept repeating the 

 word until Koogak had to tell them to hold their 

 tongues. 



When silence prevailed again, I said, "Yes, 

 aabwook ; " and Mrs. Gambell then printed that 

 word in English letters. 



I then said, ''Aabwook, English Walrus;" and 

 Mrs. Gambell then printed that word beside the 

 first. I then pronounced it three or four times 

 and singling out first one, then another, begin- 

 ning with Koogak, bade each repeat it after 

 me. They did so with great gusto, but their Es- 

 kimo tongues made a bad job of walrus — it was 

 volvus and olvus and wolwus and I know not what 

 else. I kept them at the word, however, par- 

 ticularly the boys, till each one could pronounce 

 it passably well. This was not accomplished 



without prodigious contortions of their thick lips. 



Then I had Moosu stand on a box at the board 

 and print the words, which, with Mrs. Gambell 

 showing him how and guiding his fingers some- 

 what, he did pretty well. To see Moosu print 

 "book-talk" pleased them all very much; they 

 seemed to think he was on the highroad to eru- 

 dition, and even the old shaman grinned fright- 

 fully. All sat breathlessly watching the print- 

 ing, but when Mrs. Gambell rubbed it out they 

 laughed uproariously. To see the words disap- 

 pear was to them very funny. 



After walrus we took up, in the same way, 

 oomiak, meaning boat; pussy, meaning seal; 

 parka, meaning coat, and ten other words. That 

 was the first day's lesson, and gave us two hours 

 of the hardest work. At the end of that time 

 the state of the small room, packed so full of 

 these uncleanly people, was such that an inter- 

 mission was highly desirable. 



We had but one session that day, but that was 

 enough to rob my wife of all appetite for dinner. 

 But in undertaking to teach and civilize barba- 

 rous people, one must not be squeamish. It is 

 no holiday task. If one is not sustained by a 

 high purpose he will soon be very homesick. 



On the next day not quite so many came, and 

 we began to get to work in a more orderly man- 

 ner. I felt sure that the old people would soon 

 go about the ordinary business of their lives, and 

 so, indeed, it happened. Bvit the young folk 

 continued to come with considerable regularity. 



