SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ESKIMO 



sure future luck and success. The necessary fresh water 

 for this purpose is carried on the whaling expedition in 

 bags made from seal flippers. To prevent it from freezing, 

 these bags are placed between the outside and inner jack- 

 ets of the men above the belt, and near the small of the 

 back. Every seal taken on the ice, whether by spearing, 

 shooting, or netting, must be sprinkled with fresh water 

 before it is taken to the land. If a wife should happen to 

 see her husband coming across the ice with a seal from 

 the hunt, she would immediately run with a cup of fresh 

 water in order to pour it on the seal's nose, before it is 

 brought upon the land. After the seal is cut up and eaten, 

 its bones, no matter how hungry the dogs may be, even if 

 they are on the verge of starvation, must all be returned to 

 the sea, or ill-luck will surely follow. 



When the Eskimo goes to the banks of the river in the 

 interior to hunt caribou and net fish he makes an offering 

 of a little tobacco to the " tunah," or spirit of the dead, for 

 good luck, and then sets his nets and awaits results. His 

 superstition will not permit his hunting the same day he 

 sets his nets, nor allow him to remove the fish from the net 

 the day he hunts. Upon such an occasion his wife only 

 can fish the net. 



While I was stationed at Point Barrow, Captain Heren- 

 deen, interpreter and storekeeper of our expedition, once 

 made a three weeks' trip into the interior of the country, 

 for the purpose of hunting and fishing. When he returned 

 he told the incidents of his trip, one of which furnishes a 

 good illustration of the kindliness and loyalty so generously 

 exhibited by the Eskimo attendants. The captain had gone, 

 in the excitement of the deer chase, so far from his camping 

 ground that night overtook him many miles from his tent. 

 On account of the darkness and the level character of the 

 country it would have been folly for him to attempt to find 

 his way back, for the chances were that the more he would 

 walk, the farther he would stray away from the tent, or 

 else that he would describe a wanderer's circle about it. 

 He wisely concluded to wait for daylight, whereby he might 

 be safely guided tentward. The night was cold and windy 

 and he was obliged during the entire night to keep up a 

 brisk walk within a limited area, in order to avoid being 



