124 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANAD 
to camp, and many pressing invitations were extended 
to us to spend the night at the village, it was thought 
wisest for the moral well-being of our party not to do 
so. Besides this, the surface of the country in the 
neighborhood of the village was exceedingly rough, 
being formed entirely of boulders. The Eskimo topicks 
were pitched upon the rocky shore, and it was thought 
we might find smoother ground. Before leaving the 
village one old Eskimo surprised us very much by 
making a remark in English. I said to him, “ Oh! 
you understand English,” whereat he made the amusing 
reply, “No, me no understand English.” I tried then 
to find out from the old man where he had learned to 
speak our language, but the only reply I could get 
from him was that he had always been able to speak it. 
It may be that he had accompanied Sir George Back, 
Sir John Richardson, or Dr. Ray, on one of their Frank- 
lin search expeditions, or perhaps he had come from 
Hudson Bay, where he had been associated with some of 
the American whalers who frequent its waters. 
Followed by many hearty cheers and “ tabowetees ” 
(farewells), we parted from our new but warm-hearted 
friends. As before, we were accompanied by an escort 
of kyacks, but after a time they fell behind and returned 
to the village. 
As we had been informed by the natives, so we soon 
found, we were at last at the mouth of the great Telzoa, 
and gradually as we passed out into the broad shallow 
delta and gazed over the deep blue limitless waters be- 
yond, the gratifying fact forced itself upon us that we 
had accomplished what we had started out to do, viz., to 
explore a route through the heart of the Barren Lands, 
