442 



THE GEORGE HENRY LAID UP FOR THE WINTER. 



her before. Her name was Tookoolito. She was the wife of Ebierbing, a 

 rather famous seal-hunter and pilot. Seven years before a British whaler had 

 taken them to England, where they were received as the lions of the day. 

 They dined with Prince Albert, and were introduced to the Queen. Ebierbing 

 thought that the Queen was " very pretty ;" indeed she bore no very distant 

 likeness to his own wife. Tookoolito thought Prince Albert was a "very kind, 

 good man." Both agreed that the Queen had " a very fine place." Tookoolito, 

 as many thousands in the United States afterwards had occasion to know, 

 spoke English almost perfectly. Her husband was less fluent, but still quite in- 

 telligible. This pair became Hall's constant companions in the Arctic regions ; 

 came with him upon his return to the States, remained there with him for two 

 years, and went back with him upon his second expedition, which now (Septem- 

 ber, 1869) is not completed. 



Early in January Hall resolved to make an exploring expedition with the 

 dog-team which he had bought at Holsteinborg. The party consisted of him- 

 s'elf, Ebierbing, Tookoolito, and another Esquimaux, named Koodloo. The 

 sledge was drawn by ten dogs five of which belonged to Hall, and five to 

 Ebierbing. They relied for food mainly upon the proceeds of their hunt- 

 ing, taking with them only a pound and a half of preserved mutton, three 

 pounds of salt pork, fifteen pounds of sea-bread, three pounds of pork scraps 

 for soup, and a little coffee, pepper, and molasses. The trip lasted nearly a 

 month and a half, during which time Hall learned to live like the Esquimaux 

 in their snow cabins, and subsisted mainly upon raw seal flesh. When he re- 

 turned to the ship it was hard for him to accustom himself to the change from 

 the pure atmosphere of a snow-house to the confined air of a small cabin. 



