Ethnological Sketch of the Angmagsalik Eskimo. 



103 



on land, where it turned into a human being. Some time after it 

 killed the man against whom it was sent. Perkitigsak had more- 

 over collected lichens on stones, bewitched them, and mixed them 

 in the food which his nephew and foster-son were to eat. The boy 

 became emaciated and subsequently died^). 



A water-poultice which we sent Perkitigsak caused the boil to 

 open, and the fever left him. His cure was ascribed solely to his 

 confession of the crimes he had committed^). His cousin, our 

 worthy host Kutiiluk, said to us quite in earnest: "It was a good 



Fig. 41. Perkitigsak (Knutsen phot. 1885). 



thing that he confessed, else he would have gone mad". However, 

 Perkitigsak himself came and brought us a fine skin as a payment for 

 his cure, although we had refused to receive anything for it. The 

 above was confirmed by Perkitigsak himself. Later on one of his 

 pupils, Pitiga, who was in our confidence, said that Perkitigsak had 

 only confessed half of his magic arts, so that he could still carry 

 on his profession of ilisitsok to some extent. 



When Sanimuinak, the angakok of whom we have spoken so 

 much, fell ill, he sent me a message to say that he was on the 



1) Perkitigsak had in summer lived in a tent together with his brother; the 

 latter went awa3% abandoning his son. People said that as Perkitigsak thought 

 that his household was large enough without this boy, he put him to death. 



-) Similar cases are related by Petitot about the Indians. (Traditions Indiennes, 

 pp. 279 and 435). 



