MARTIN'S FIRST SEAL 



without further question, and watched the little 

 procession make its way to the Mission house. 

 During the evening I saw his father again, and 

 broached the subject of Martin's sealskin. 



Lukas's eyes brightened. " Ilia, ilia," he said, 

 "Martin angusimavok" (Martin has quite caught a 

 seal) as much as to say, " My son is a grown-up 

 hunter now : he is a man." 



"And what was he doing with the sealskin?" 

 said I. 



" Issumaminik " (his own idea), answered Lukas ; 

 and he wandered off into a long story of the catching 

 of the seal. " I took him to the sina yesterday, to 

 look after my dogs; but there came a seal very 

 close, and I lent Martin my gun, and he shot it. 



" Kuvianarmek (what rejoicing there was) there 

 were many people there, and Martin cried ' Anguvara, 

 anguvara,' and they all came running to see. He 

 knows how to skin a seal and cut it up, because he 

 has often seen his mother do it. Ilia, he is a man 

 now, ernera-una (that son of mine). We all drank 

 its blood, and Martin drank too his first seal and 

 he cut the skin and blubber off, for they are his own. 

 He caught the seal himself, with his own hand. 

 Nakomek (how thankful). And he cut the seal in 

 pieces, and gave everybody a piece, for that is a 

 custom of the people when a boy kills his first seal. 

 He saved the liver for his father and mother, as 

 is right to do ; and he put a big special lump of the 

 best meat on the sledge because his mother told him 

 to do so, and we brought it home. 



"What shall we do with it? Ilia "--with a 

 twinkle "that is for old Henrietta. She was the 

 helper when he was born ; she it was who saw him 



