Native Traditio7is. 87 



dustrious, especially during our stay ; when their 

 time was fully occupied in making slippers, pouches, 

 &c, from the skin of the seal. 



It is most interesting to observe the skill and 

 dexterity with which the men manage their kayaks, 

 as their swift and fairy-like canoes are called, and 

 the expert manner with which they use the harpoon. 

 I saw one transfix a loom (guillemot) after a short 

 chase, at the distance of twenty feet. 



Disco, at the south-west extremity of which is 

 situated the settlement of Godhavn, is a large island 

 separated from the mainland of Greenland by a 

 narrow passage, from three to four miles in breadth, 

 called the Way gat. The traditions of the Esqui- 

 maux go so far as to say that it had originally been 

 joined to the mainland, but that many centuries 

 ago it had been broken off and towed to its present 

 situation by a potent and influential angekok, or 

 priest. They even go so far as to assert that the 

 hole to which the tow-rope was fastened is the pre- 

 sent harbour of Lievely. It certainly has the ap- 

 pearance of a round basin, being completely land- 

 locked. Should their legends be true, it must have 

 required a very powerful priest to transport such 

 a large piece of land the distance indicated, its 

 original site, according to the tradition, being close 

 to BaaPs River, about three hundred miles to the 

 southward. 



The hills and cliffs of Disco, bold, rugged, and 



