56 A Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



you— I want to show my gratitude." Bruin believed him and said, "Oh, very 

 well, we'll burn the skins." So they carried them outside and made a great 

 pile of them, and set them on fire. They burnt fiercely and the flames mounted 

 into the sky. Then the youth said, "Come here and lie down while I search 

 your head." So Bruin lay down with her head in his lap and he began to scratch 

 it very gently. Soon she fell asleep and began to snore, whereupon the youth 

 quietly slipped away and went to take up his bow and arrow, which he had 

 hidden near the door. But before he could string it, Bruin woke up and saw him. 

 Immediately she rushed at him, saying, "So you thought you could fool me as 

 you did before? You have been visiting your people down on the beach. I 

 killed your mother, and now I'm going to kill you too, and afterwards I'll eat 

 you." The youth ran round the fire with Bruin close on his heels. She was 

 almost on top of him when he jumped right through the fire out to the other 

 side. Bruin jumped too, but she fell into the midst of the flames and was burnt 

 to death. 



After this the youth went to live with his grandfather, but he was un- 

 accustomed to the smell and heat of an Eskimo house, and could never endure 

 to stay indoors for any length of time; so soon afterwards he built a house of 

 his own. One of his aunts made him a flne set of deerskin clothes, but he found 

 them very uncomfortable, for he could not move his limbs freely in them. So 

 she made him another set of thin clothes with very little hair on them. These 

 were very stiff too, but he grew accustomed to them in time. He lived a long 

 time after this and became a very famous hunter, but he never married. 



26. The Caribou Woman 

 (Told by Jennie Thomsen) 



There once Uved at Tapqaq a man and his wife who got on very badly 

 together. He used to beat her continually and maltreat her in every way. At 

 last she decided to run away to the mountains. One day her husband went 

 hunting out on the ice. She waited until he was out of sight, then wen^ inside, 

 put on her best clothes and started out, carrying a little food on her back. She 

 walked on and on, day after day, sleeping at night upon the ground. Winter 

 was drawing near, and she found little to eat, only a few roots and berries. 

 Gradually her strength failed her, and at last one day she sank down in the midst 

 of a clump of grass, saying to herself, "I can't go any farther; I may as well 

 lie down here." But what was her surprise when the earth gave way beneath 

 her; unconsciously she had lain on a door that opened on to the underground 

 passage of a house. She hesitated a moment before entering, but thought, 

 "Well, my husband would only have killed me if I had stayed at home; whoever 

 it is that lives here can't do any worse." Inside she found abundance of every- 

 thing, skins to sleep on, meat to eat, everything that could be desired. She was 

 very faint and hungry, but was careful not to touch any of the food. After a 

 time she heard someone outside, and a voice called down, "Who has broken in 

 my door? Who is it inside there? If it is a man I shall kill him, but if it is a 

 woman I shall let her live." Then the man came in and found the woman 

 sitting in a corner. "What are you sitting over there for?" he said. "Why don't 

 you take and eat something? You are thin and starved. Eat something." 

 So the woman took courage and ate. Then the man said to her "Where have you 

 come from?" "From down by the sea," she replied. "Well, stay here and cook 

 and sew for me. ■ I'll provide for you, and see that you have plenty of food and 

 everything that you need; you'll soon be fat and strong again." So the woman 

 stayed there and became his wife. 



In time she bore him a son, and not long afterwards another. Her husband 

 frequently warned her before he went out hunting that she was not to wander 

 about outside, and if any visitors came she was not to take any notice of what 

 they might say. One day an old woman came to the house while the man was 



