266 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



the message carries a suitable present to 

 induce his attendance. Upon his arrival he 

 encloses himself in the tent with the sick 

 man, and sings over him for days together 

 without tasting food ; but Augustus, as well 

 as the rest of the uninitiated, are ignorant 

 of the purport of his songs, and of the 

 nature of the Being to whom they are 

 addressed. The conjurers practise a good 

 deal of jugglery in swallowing knives, firing 

 bullets through their bodies, &c. but they 

 are at these times generally secluded from 

 view, and the bystanders believe their 

 assertions, without requiring to be eye- 

 witnesses of the fact. Sixteen men and 

 three women amongst Augustus's tribe are 

 acquainted with the mysteries of the art. 

 The skill of the latter is exerted only on 

 their own sex. 



Upon the map being spread before Au- 

 gustus, he soon comprehended it, and re- 

 cognized Chesterfield Inlet to be " the 

 opening into which salt waters enter at 

 spring tides, and which receives a river at 

 its upper end." He termed it Kannceuch 



