THE WHITE WORLD 



sickness. The Eskimo word for paper is " muk-pa-rah'," 

 and there was a little thin doctor whom we christened 

 Muk'-pa-rati. By virtue of his paper thinness he was 

 reckoned a good doctor, for he could get into places where 

 larger men could not go, so that the " evil spirit " had a 

 hard time to conceal himself from this doctor. He was 

 very successful in driving out the devil from the innermost 

 recesses of the Eskimo heart, soul, and body. Whenever 

 our doctor made a professional call in the village, Dr. 

 Mukparah wanted to be consulted, and they used to go 

 together to heal the sick, our doctor administering the medi- 

 cine, and the other doing the howling and face-making. 

 Of course the latter made the patient well and, being the 

 native doctor, got such fees as he demanded. 



These Eskimo doctors are employed at certain seasons 

 of the year to beat the drums and howl upon other occa- 

 sions than those of sickness. In the spring they ab-ba-bah' 

 for a southeast wind to drive off the pack ice and open the 

 water lanes, so that the whales can pass up near the coast. 

 During this ceremony the men sit in a semi-circle facing 

 the ocean, the middle man or magician beating a drum 

 and singing a monotonous chant addressed to a spirit, re- 

 questing him to make the desired wind blow. While this 

 incantation is in progress, as well as during the whaling 

 season, no pounding must be done in the village for fear of 

 frightening away the whales. In the fall of the year they 

 howl for the large ice to come from the north and bring 

 with it nan-nuk' (bears). If a vessel be nipped in the ice, 

 they howl for her to be crushed so they may enrich them- 

 selves with the ship's canvas and cargo. In the summer of 

 1882. when the steam whaling ship " North Star," Captain 

 L. C. Owen, was nipped abreast of Point Barrow, the 

 Eskimo doctors kept up a continuous howl for her to be 

 crushed. For three weeks they encamped upon the ice 

 near the ship, waiting for the crisis to come. Our signal 

 glasses were constantly pointed at her, and when we saw 

 her flag at half-mast and heard the natives shout we knew 

 the ship was in trouble. The ice pressure was too great 

 for her and, strongly as she was built, she was crushed in 

 and sank within three-quarters of an hour. We saw 

 through our glasses her every movement, the crew lowering 



126 



