ACKOSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA 



The Eskimos in turn expressed surprise at finding two 

 solitary white men upon such a lonely, barren island, and 

 not unnaturally asked, " Nowtimee ibbee kyette?" (Where 

 do you come from ?) I replied, " Uvagut kyette tellipea 

 washigtooeloo townonee koog-du-ak " (We come from the west, 

 very far, down a great river). We were then asked if we had 

 seen any more of their people, and replied, " Uvagut tacko- 

 namee hipunga Innuit coonetookeloo manee tacko Innuit 

 amasuit washigtoo tellipea iglooanne attowsha sissell ungayo " 

 (We have seen no other Eskimos near here, but saw plenty 

 far to the westward beyond the first big lake). They in- 

 formed us that another large boat-load of their people had 

 gone up from the coast on the previous day, and were sur- 

 prised that we had not seen them. Though we were not 

 able to purchase or charter the boat from the natives, we 

 obtained much valuable information and a sketch-map of the 

 coast of the bay from the mouth of the inlet down to Fort 

 Churchill. After a brief stay they returned to their boat, 

 and we to the rocky hills, upon the other side of which our 

 party awaited our return. The wind still continued to blow 

 too strongly to admit of travelling by canoe, so we went back 

 again and spent the rest of the day on the hills. 



ISText morning "we were up early. The wind had fallen 

 somewhat and the canoes were soon launched. We managed 

 to travel until after eleven o'clock, when, because of the high 

 wind and rough water, we were again obliged to make for 

 the shore, and in order to do so had to pull through a heavy 

 surf, breaking over the low, sandy beach. During the after- 

 noon at this point observations for longitude were obtained, 

 and close by upon a prominent hill a large cairn of rocks was 

 erected to mark the spot for the benefit of future explorers. 



The two following days were marked by rough weather 

 and little progress, but finally we reached the mouth of the 

 great inlet through which for several days we had been 

 paddling. 



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