PAINTINGS OF GREENLAND ESKIMO 11 



Armed with a stout harpoon and plenty of walrus-hide line, the Innuit 

 crawls over the ice toward the animals. He conceals himself behind 

 ice blocks or hummocks until the distance between him and the animals 

 is short, then suddenly leaps to his feet, singles out a big bull (as in the 

 painting) and strikes — usually with unerring aim. The whole herd, 

 barking furiously, rushes for the sea. The stricken bull dives, and the 

 walrus-hide line pays out rapidly, but not before the Innuit has deftly 

 thrust his lance, which he carries in his free hand, firmly into the ice. 

 With knee and shoulder braced against the shaft of the lance, he obtains 

 sufficient purchase to play the walrus until the big fellow is so weakened 

 by loss of blood that the hunter can leave his lance to cut two holes in the 

 ice close to the spot where he is standing. Now, whenever the line is 

 slack, he hauls in a few fathoms, and running the noose a couple of times 

 down through one hole and across through the other, obtains a more 

 reliable hold. With the lance now free, he stands over the breathing 

 hole, striking the walrus each time that it rises. When it is finally 

 despatched, he cuts off piece after piece of the meat and seeks his sledge 

 and dogs to carry the spoil home. 



Walrus are huge ungainly creatures, weighing upwards of three 

 thousand pounds, but to the nimble Innuit hunter there is usually no 

 difficulty in getting out of harm's way on the ice after he has struck the 

 blow. If, however, the iron point slips, or the ice gives way, or if, as the 

 coils of the line are running out, the hunter's legs become entangled, he 

 is quickly dragged down beneath the water to speedy death. 



The Third or Southern Panel. Peteraivik in Moonlight. 



The third panel represents a winter scene at Peterawik on the shore 

 of Smith Sound. In the foreground at the extreme left is a hunter with 

 sledge and dogs, bringing a load of walrus meat. His snow igloo is at the 

 right, where his wife, carrying a child in her hood, and accompanied 

 by an Eskimo woman, is waiting to welcome him. The sea-ice of Smith 

 Sound stretches far to the horizon at the north; the head-line of Cape 

 Alexander is visible in the distance. The rocks at the right are charac- 

 teristic of the west coast of Greenland at this latitude, 76° N. 



In the spring before the ice breaks up, the Innuit congregate at 

 Peterawik for walrus hunting. They build their snow igloos on the ice 

 foot, that portion of the sea-ice bordering the land. Here they remain 



