174 THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



dawned on me that they were protecting their young 

 behind their own bodies. A volley of shot-guns and 

 Winchesters and one noble head fell flat on the water, 

 another volley and the gander fell, then a wild skurry- 

 ing, yelling, and shooting for some minutes resulted in 

 the death of the two downlings. 



"I could do nothing to stop them. I have trouble 

 enough in matters that are my business and this they 

 consider solely their own. It is nothing but kill, kill, 

 kill every living thing they meet. One cannot blame 

 them in general, since they live by hunting, and in this 

 case they certainly did eat every bit of all four birds, 

 even to their digestive organs with contents; but it 

 seemed hard to have the devotion of the parents made 

 their death trap when, after all, we were not in need of 

 meat. 



"July 20. — Rose at 4; had trouble on my hands at 

 once. The Indians would not get up till 5, so we did 

 not get away till 6.20. BeauUeu was evidently in- 

 structing the crew, for at the third breakfast all to- 

 gether (but perhaps 2) shouted out in Enghsh, 'Grub 

 no good.' 



"I walked over to them, asked who spoke; no one 

 answered; so I reviewed the bargain, pointed out 

 that I had given more than agreed, and added: 'I 

 did not promise you beans, but will say now that if 

 you work well I'll give you a bean feast once in a 

 while.' 



"They all said in various tongues and ways, 'That's 

 all ri.' Beaulieu said it several times, and smiled 

 and smiled. 



