C56 THE ARCTIC FOX. 



we p!*it any animal on the top of a high post in the 

 air ; they either dug up the earth at the bottom, 

 and thus tumbled the whole down, or one of thern 

 climbed up, and with incredible artifice and dex- 

 terity threw down what was upon it. 



** They watched all our mptions, and accompa- 

 nied us in whatever w^ were about to do. If the 

 sea threw up an animal of any kind, they devoured 

 it before we could arrive to rescue it from them ; 

 and if they could not consume the whole of it at 

 once, they trailed it in portions to the mountains ; 

 where they buried it under stones before our eyes, 

 running to and fro so long as any thing remained 

 to be conveyed away. While this was doing, others 

 stood on guard, and watched us. If they saw any 

 one coming at a distance, the whole troop wouM 

 combine at once and begin digging altogether in the 

 sand, till even a Beaver or Sea-bear in their pos- 

 session would be so completely buried under the 

 surface, that not a trace of it could be seen. In 

 the night-time, when we slept in the field, they 

 came and pulled off our night-caps, and stole our 

 gloves from under our heads, with the beaver-co- 

 verings, and the skins that we lay upon. In conse- 

 quence of this, w^e alwa^^s sle])t with our clubs in 

 our hands, that if they awoke us we might drive 

 them away or knock them down. 



" When wc made a halt to rest by the way, they 

 gathered around us, and played a thousand tricks in 

 our view ; and when we sat still, they approached 

 us so near that they gnawed the thongs of our shoes. 

 U wc lay down as if intending to sleep, they came 



