246 HUNTERS OF THE GREAT NORTH 



that white men had gifts of a certain kind entirely above 

 the comprehension of an Eskimo, but that in such every- 

 day matters as getting back safely to camp when it is 

 dark and when you are ten miles away from home they 

 are hopelessly incompetent. To illustrate their incom- 

 petence in caribou hunting, he told stories of the adven- 

 tures of sailors he had hunted with. We all had to join 

 in the laughter. Ilavinirk was forced to admit the truth 

 of the particular stories told by Kunaluak but he stoutly 

 maintained that a few white men were exceptions to the 

 rule. 



Privately Ilavinirk told me that I must not be too much 

 impressed with what Kunaluak and all the rest were say- 

 ing. He gave me careful instructions in all the laws of 

 caribou hunting and encouraged me as best he could to 

 think that I would be able to make a good showing when 

 the time came. 



The time came just east of the Colville River. Kuna- 

 luak was walking ahead of our caravan of sleds when 

 suddenly he brought us to a halt. I had been watching 

 the land no less carefully than he and I found later that 

 my eyes were just as good, but I then lacked the exper- 

 ience needed for identifying what I saw. I had seen a 

 group of little specks on the hillside, but there were so 

 many other specks elsewhere that I had given these no 

 attention. Kunaluak's practiced eye recognized them as 

 caribou, and when we stopped our field glasses confirmed 

 him. There were nine animals, one a bull with spreading 

 antlers, and the others of all sizes from yearlings up. 



It was important for us to get these caribou. We were 

 not short of fond for we had been killing seals, but we 

 were inadequately dressed for the enming winter. Stork- 

 erson's woolens and mine did very well for September, but 



