64 G. Holm. 



caught thirty seals, the first one at the age of ten, and most of 

 them in the spring, when the small ringed seals have crawled up 

 on the ice, where they lie basking in the sun. His father, Utuak, 

 was no longer a good hunter, but he had a large family to support, 

 two wives and seven children, of which this boy was the eldest. 

 He procured a kaiak for his son by stealing one from a boy who 

 lived in another settlement. 



The children go about quite naked in the houses and tents 

 and continue to do so till they are almost grown-up. They do not 

 put on the natit till they are about sixteen, 'for then they are 

 ashamed of going quite naked'. As soon as the youth has put on 

 his natit the women 'begin to smile at him and he is ready for 

 marriage'. The young girls go with their hair down, but shortly 

 after they have begun to wear natit in the house, they put up their 

 hair in a top-knot, a sign that they are ready for marriage. 



The grown-up children cherish great affection for their old 

 parents, and often display great thoughtfulness and self-sacrifice. 

 The following account will serve as an instance of filial affection for 

 an unworthy mother. 



Maratuk's mother, Angmalilik, a w^man of about fifty, was 

 married to a man from Kumarmiut, who was a good deal younger 

 than herself. As she was often unfaithful to her husband, and, 

 moreover, was very remiss in the performance of her household 

 duties, he often used to beat her. In order to avenge his mother, 

 Maratuk murdered his step-father one day when they were out in 

 their kaiaks. Not long after this Angmalilik seduced Avgo, a great 

 angakok, who had had at least six wives, into marrying her, al- 

 though he was already married to her daughter. The daughter was 

 so mortified over this that she went out and drowned herself. At 

 the end of February Angmalilik, together with her husband, his 

 new second wife, and several others, determined to undertake the 

 long expedition over the ice from Sermiligak to our winter quarters, 

 because they had a longing to see us and our house, The expedi- 

 tion was most laborious, as they had to go long distances with the 

 snow up to their waists. When they reached Amagak in the Ang- 

 magsalik fjord Angmalilik was unable to walk any longer; she was 

 so exhausted that she could hardly breathe. The others had to 

 leave her there, and brought the news to Kumarmiut, from whence 

 she was fetched in a sledge, almost frozen to death. At Kumarmiut 

 she now had to remain a month and a half amongst enemies, 

 with both legs and thighs frost-bitten, so that she was unable to 

 move. Her sister Nakitilik told me that even if Angmalilik died, as 

 everyone expected her to do, she (Nakitilik) would not mourn her, 



