SUPERSTITIONS 



finished). I tried to coax him. Would he have it 

 done if there were other Eskimos with him ? He 

 hesitated. " Imakka " (perhaps), he said. " Then go 

 and fetch that group of men to stand with you." 



Off he trotted, and I saw him palavering with the 

 men. Presently he started back ; but stopped at a 

 fair distance and shouted " They cannot come : the 

 lady has their ghosts in her box," pointing to a lady 

 who was wandering on the beach with a kodak, and 

 who had apparently just photographed the group. 

 Then he fled to his tent on the hillside ! 



Children do not seem to mind : you may photo- 

 graph them over and over again. 



I had glimpses, too, in my talks with Bob and 

 others of the people of Killinek, of the religious 

 beliefs of the ancient Eskimo race as they were in 

 the old heathen days. The idea of a good Spirit did 

 not enter their minds : the Spirit of their heathen 

 life was ill-disposed and apt to sulk. He must be 

 appeased, lest he hinder their hunting and cast an 

 evil spell over them. It was an awful thing to 

 approach his dwelling in the hills ; only certain men 

 could venture, men who understood his ways and 

 knew how to ward off his wrath. And so the chosen 

 men used to go to the gloomy heights where 

 Torngak seemed to dwell, taking with them offerings 

 in order that his anger, ever ready to bubble over 

 and destroy them, might be quenched at least for a 

 time. This was the Power in whom the heathen 

 Eskimos believed ; a mighty Ill-will, a Being of 

 malice and cruelty. Verily, a hopeless creed ; a 

 pitiful thing in comparison with the Gospel of Love 

 in whose bounty they are now sharing. 



Their belief in the Spirit of the Sea is less terrible ; 



