740 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



he does with a vengeance. The two then kiss each other, the 

 ceremony is over, and due hospitality is shown to the stranger 

 by all." 



PARENTS HUNG BY THEIR CHILDREN. 



HALL had some wonderful experiences with his Pelly Bay men, 

 whose superstitious natures almost surpass belief. On his return 

 from Cape Beaufort, the child of a woman belonging to his party 

 died. A short time after its burial Hall was accused of causing 

 its death by laying his hand on the child's head. An old chief, 

 more sensible than the others, did not unite Avith his people ii? 

 this accusation, but rather showed his faith in Hall by taking 

 some medicine which had been prescribed for himself and chil- 

 dren. This act so incensed the chief's wife that she hung herself, 

 and not long after the chief himself was hung by his own son, 

 and further serious trouble was averted only by the intercession 

 of Repulse Bay natives. The editor of Hall's Journal appends 

 the following foot note with reference to the reported suicide of 

 the chief and his wife : " The circumstances of these deaths are 

 not, however, given by Hall with his usual clearness. At a later 

 date he says that the son of the chief told him, with tears in 

 his eyes, ' He was very sorry he had no father or mother living 

 with him, but that it had been his duty to hang them, as it was 

 at their request, and that by their dying thus they would be sure 

 to go to that happy place where all good Innuits go.' See-puny- 

 er, it was well known, had hung his grandfather when he had 

 become feeble. Too-koo-li-too said that these Pelly Bay natives, 

 as well as the Neitchilles, believed in Kud-lec-pur-me-an and Ad- 

 lee-pur-me-an (a good and a bad place) ; but she thought the 

 Iwillik people believed in nothing of the kind." Subsequently 

 it was claimed that the old woman was hung as a peace-offering. 



The account is somewhat confused, it must be admitted, and 

 no doubt from the fact that it is a common custom among several 

 Esquimau tribes to hang, or otherwise kill, their infirm, to pre- 

 vent them from becoming a burden upon the people, as previously 

 mentioned. As such a brutal custom was vigorously condemned 

 by Hall, it may be supposed that the old chief and his wife were 



