Legends and Tales from Angmagsalik. 287 



up to the house they saw a hirge cleft in the rock which was full 

 of kaiaks and kaiak implements, such as Iloats, harpoons, paddles etc. 

 These were the kaiaks and implements of their murdered neighbours. 

 They now entered the house and saw that nearly all the walls were 

 covered with the skins of human faces, some with a full beard, 

 others with only a small beard on their chin. The two angakut re- 

 cognized in these faces their neighbours and also their father, who 

 had disappeared in kaiaking. 



The eldest hunter in the house had his place furthest to 

 the left on the platform, then came the eldest but one and so on, 

 so that the youngest had his place furthest to the right. Between 

 the youngest and the youngest but one, was the place of the grand- 

 mother, who sat twisting sinew-thread. The eldest called out at 

 dusk: "Our grandmother must have a drum -match with the 

 strangers!" The youngest said: "Yes, she must have a drum-match 

 with them!" and all the others joined in. The grandmother did her 

 hair, and tied it up in a top-knot. She laid a saddleback skin on the 

 floor, and took a white drum from under the platform. This drum 

 she put back again and took another — this time a black one — 

 and also a pana (large knife), which was to be used as a drum-stick. 

 The old woman now came forward and began to sing. When she 

 had finished, one of the men said that one of the strangers must 

 come forward and have a drum-match with her. One of the angakut 

 now went to one end of the house, while the grandmother went to 

 the other end and began to sing. When she had ended her song, 

 she aimed at the angakok with the pana: the angakok crouched 

 down, she took a low^er aim and made the cast; at the same instant 

 he leapt up, so that the knife passed between his legs and buried 

 itself in the wall. He stooped down to take it; but she ran up and 

 seized it. After she had sung again, she took aim again; he drew 

 himself up to his full height; she cast the knife again, but he ducked 

 down, so that the knife went into the wall above his head. He seized 

 it, and although he had never handled a drum and had never sung 

 in his life, he now began to sing. When he had ended the first 

 song he began another, which he had learnt from his mother when 

 he was quite small ; and when he had ended it he aimed at the old 

 woman, who puffed up her neck so that one could not see her. He 

 cast the knife, which pierced her neck with a crash and pinned her 

 to the wall. All her grandchildren ran up and flayed her, thinking 

 it was the stranger. When they detected their error, they said : "We have 

 made a mistake. Why, it is our grandmother we have cut to pieces!" 



The inmates now went out to fetch their weapons ; some of them 

 fastened the toggle-heads into their harpoons outside the passage-way. 



