IDEAS RESPECTING MOON AND STARS. 271 



concerning this northern expedition except that each man wore out 

 three pair of mocassin soles in the journey ; and since then there 

 has heen no communication with the Ig'-lun Nu'-na, but they 

 believe some others who have been carried away on the ice may 

 have reached it in safety. 



"We could never find any who remembered having seen Euro- 

 peans before Mr. J. Simpson's visit in 1837, but had heard of 

 them as Ka-blu'-nan from their eastern friends ; more recently they 

 heard a good deal of them from the inland tribes as Tan-ning or 

 Tan'-gin. This probably refers to the Russians, who have regular 

 bath days at their posts, and is derived from tan-ni'kh-lu-go, 

 to wash or cleanse the person. They also apply other names to us, 

 apparently of their own invention ; one is E-ma'kh-lin, sea men 

 (this is the name of the largest of the Diomede Islands) ; another 

 is Sha-ke-na-ta'-na-meun, people from beneath the sun (en'-gu-in 

 a-ta'-ne Sha-ke'-nik) ; but the most common one is Nel-lu-an'g- 

 meun, unknown people (nel-lu-a'-ga, I do not know). 



To themselves they apply the w T ord En-yu-in, people, the plural 

 of e-nyu'k, a person of any nation, prefixing, when necessary, the 

 name of their nu-na or country, as, Nu-wu'ng-meun, that is, 

 Ku-wu'k En'-yu-in, Noo-wook or Point Barrow people; Ing-ga-lan'- 

 da-meun, Englishmen. Lately those met with in Grantley Harbour 

 and Port Clarence have adopted the epithet Es-ki-mo'. 



In addition to the notice of the phases of the moon, they possess 

 sufficient knowledge of the stars to point out their position in the 

 heavens at particular seasons, and we believe use them as guides 

 sometimes in travelling. They look upon them as fiery bodies, 

 as proved in their estimation by the shooting stars, which they 

 look upon as portions thrown off by the fixed ones. They form 

 them into groups, and give them names, many of which they 

 explain. The star Aldebaran, with the cluster of the Hyades, 

 and other smaller ones around, are called Pa-ehukh-lu-rin, " the 

 sharing-out " of food, the chief star representing a polar bear just 

 killed, and the others the hunters around, preparing to cut up their 

 prize, and give each hunter his portion. The three stars in Orion's 

 Belt are three men who were carried away on the ice to the south- 

 ward in the dark winter. They were for a long time covered with 

 snow, but at length perceiving an opening above them, they 

 ascended farther and farther until they became fixed among tho 

 stars. Another group is called the " house building," and represents 

 a few people engaged in constructing an ig-lu, or winter hut. 

 But perhaps their most complete myth refers to tho sun and moon, 

 who, they say, are sister and brother. Given as wo received it, 



