124 THE LAST CKUISE OF THE MIKANDA. 



and retired. All of a sudden there arose a sound like the 

 stampede of a herd of frightened cattle, and as it proceeded 

 from a house in the dim distance, we knew that here must be 

 the dance, and so made for it. After scaling rocks and crawling 

 up and down wet and mossy side-hills, we at length found 

 ourselves directly under the house, which was built on piles, 

 and by crawling through a hole in the floor we made our en- 

 trance into one corner of the ball-room. This novel mode 

 of entering did not appear to occasion any surprise, and 

 indeed we were lucky to enter thus unharmed among the 

 agile and vigorous dancers; for the floor creaked and groaned, 

 and the entire house appeared to rock and sway, with the sur- 

 prising vigor of the dance. The men . wore heavy-soled 

 boots, and every now and then as they jigged about they 

 would whirl their fair partners fairly off their feet. It was a 

 native Labrador dance — a combination of a round and square 

 dance — and the most uproarious and deafening, in its effects 

 upon the hearing, of any that I have ever attended, though 

 we had some lively dances among the Eskimos. The orchestra 

 was composed of a fiddler and a performer on a mouth-organ 

 who blew loudly, fiercely, and somewhat independently of 

 his coadjutor. The room was bare of any furniture, and a 

 few lanterns hung from the ceiling ; there were only three or 

 four of the fair sex present, and these, of course, were in great 

 demand. The room was mainly filled with sailors, fisher- 

 men, and tobacco smoke — a very motley group indeed ; but 

 as neither dance nor music varied much, we soon grew tired 

 and made our way back to the schooner. 



Next morning, September 2, the breeze was fair — at last — 

 and we got off at about six o'clock. Shortly after our start 

 we counted about twenty icebergs within sight. All day long 

 the breeze freshened, until by night we had a regular gale, and 

 for several hours we were obliged to lay to under a triple- 

 reefed forsesail and forestay sail. The hatchways had to be 



