264- 



A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



Augustus has no other idea of a Deity than some confused notions 

 which he has obtained at Churchill. 



When any of the tribe is dangerously ill, a conjurer is sent for, 

 and the bearer of 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 generally secluded from view, and the by- 

 standers believe their assertions, without requiring to be eye-wit- 

 nesses of the fact. Six teen men and three women amongst Au- 

 gustus' 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 Augustus, he soon compre- 

 hended it, and recognised Chesterfield Inlet to be " the opening 

 into which salt water enters at spring tides, and which receives a 

 river at its upper end." He termed it Kannceuck Kkenceuck. He 

 has never been farther north himself than Marble Island, which he 

 distinguishes as being the spot where the large ships were wrecked, 

 alluding to the disastrous termination of Barlow and Knight's 

 Voyage of Discovery # . He says, however, that Esquimaux of three 

 different tribes have traded with his countrymen, and that they de- 

 scribed themselves as having come across land from a northern sea. 

 One tribe, who named themselves Ahwhacknanhelett, he supposes 

 may come from Repulse Bay ; another, designated Ootkooseek-ka- 

 lingmosoot, or Stone-Kettle Esquimaux, reside more to the west- 

 ward ; and the third, the Kang-orr-mceoot, or White Goose Esqui- 

 maux, describe themselves as coming from a great distance, and 

 mentioned that a party of Indians had killed several of their tribe 



* See Introduction to Hearne's Journey, page xxiv. 



