ffunting- Afusi-Ox witJi tJie Dbg- Ri&s 



dangerous. Four years ago a man was 

 lost and never seen again, and each year 

 one or more hunters are stricken with 

 paralysis resulting from the hardship and 

 exposure. 



There was no alternative but to wait 

 until spring, when the longer days and 

 milder weather would permit us to travel. 



Another, quite unexpected, obstacle was 

 the superstition of the Indians, which man- 

 ifested itself when I attempted to make 

 a summer trip into the Barren Ground. 

 They firmly believed that the animals 

 which I sent down to be mounted would 

 live forever, and would be in such a 

 happy state that they would induce all 

 the vast herds of musk-ox and reindeer 

 of the Barrens to migrate, and join them 

 in the mysterious " Mollah Endah," or 

 white man's country. 



Although they looked upon any white 

 man not connected with the Company as 

 lawful prey, who was to pay exorbitant 

 prices for their services because " you are 

 rich and we are poor," their superstition 

 was stronger than their cupidity. On the 

 fourth of March I told a party of four, 

 who had come to the fort for ammunition 

 for the hunt,' that I was going with them 

 whether they wanted me to do so or not. 

 303 



