Legends and Tales from Angmagsalik. 255 



When they drew near the kaiak the steering-oar broke, because 

 the son-in-law put a heavy strain on it. The father-in-law handed 

 him another; but before it was in order, the kaiak was far away. 

 When they again approached it, the son-in-law again put a stram 

 on the oar, which broke as before. The father-in-law once 

 more handed him a new oar, saying it was the last one. The 

 kaiak had again got a start; but they soon overtook it, and again 

 the oar broke with a loud crash. "I believe you break the 

 oars on purpose!" said the old man. "No, it is only my eagerness 

 to get to him that I may kill him", returned the son-in-law. 

 The latter and the son now tried to wrestle with each other, 

 but the old fjord-dweller kept them apart, and in the meantime 

 they lost sight of the cousin. 



When' the latter came home, he related how his cousin had 

 been carried away by the fjord-dweller and was now married to 

 his daughter. He also showed them his cousin's anorak. 



The people determined to go and kill the fjord-dweller, and so 

 they set to work to make bows. An orphan boy, who was a dwarf, 

 made an arrow of his grandmother's 'meat-jack'^), which was made 

 of seal-bone. "What are you going to do with that arrow? Why,, 

 it is quite crooked !" said the others mockingly. They now went 

 up the fjord with two umiaks. When they had come up it, they 

 killed the fjord-dwellers with their bows. The cousin's wife began 

 to cry, when they were about to shoot the old man; but he flew 

 up into the air in the form of a raven , so that the arrows could 

 not reach him. They shot arrow^ after arrow; he flew with out- 

 stretched wings, but no one hit him. 



When they found that no one could hit him, they told the 

 orphan boy to shoot. He began to search for a hole to place him- 

 self in, and fell down into one the dogs had dug. When he came 

 up again, he set his back and legs against the sides of the hole, 

 aimed side-ways and shot the arrow which was made of the 'meat- 

 jack'. It gave forth a cracking sound, and the arrow hit the old 

 fjord-dweller in the belly. As he fell, all the others shot at him, 

 so that he received so many arrows in his body that it never 

 reached the ground, being propped up on the arrows. They now 

 told the cousin's wife, who had run away into the interior, that 

 she was to come down to them, and, when she came, she went 

 along with them to their dwelling-place. 



^) A bone stick or bone ladle for turning the meat in the pot when it is being 

 boiled. 



