HAULING THE NETS 



rather than have them up a day too soon ; and every 

 year they have the awkward job of hacking them 

 out. They waste no time, for every minute the ice 

 is getting thicker. As soon as morning comes, and 

 they see the " sikko " (ice) that covers their bay, they 

 trot along with axes to tackle one of the coldest bits 

 of work that it is possible to imagine. 



They only need to free the ropes where they dip 

 below the surface, for the net is at the sea bottom, 

 and once freed with the axes there is nothing to do 

 but haul. But the hauling ! In my eagerness to 

 have every possible experience I lent a hand at the 

 rope, but my fingers stiffened round it, and I suffered 

 all the agony of gripping a red-hot poker. My poor 

 hands ached for hours. And the Eskimos tugged at 

 the rope, and gathered up the meshes all stiffening 

 in the wind and dripping with icicles, and piled the 

 net on the rocks above high-water mark, and rubbed 

 their hands indifferently, and ambled off to get their 

 sledges ready. "Home for Christmas" was the 

 word ; and in a few days the sledges came racing 

 round the bend into Okak Bay, bringing the families 

 back to their winter homes at the Mission village. 



214 



