DEATH OF NUK-ER-TOU. 



189 



Esquimaux dress, it was with difficulty I could keep my blood 

 from congealing. There I was, the lone, silent watcher of a dy- 

 ing Esquimaux, encircled within snow walls that were soon to be- 

 come her tomb. Thank God I was there ! It did my soul good 

 to hold communion with high heaven at such a time. It did 

 me good to be where angels, just from heaven, came to greet and 

 bear away a soul precious to God. What a scene ! Indeed, to 

 me it was one that has become ineffaceably fixed on memory's 

 tablet. 



' ' About twelve, midnight, I heard footsteps approaching. Soon 

 the sound as if the entrance was being closed up again. I thought, 

 Can it be that I am to be imprisoned here, doomed to have this 

 my living tomb ? I listened a while. I found it true that I was 

 being shut up as though dead. Of course those who were doing 

 this knew not I was there. At length I cried out ' Turbar ! tur- 

 bar !' Stop ! stop ! At this, all was again silent as the grave for a 

 moment. I then said, ' Ki-ete' — come in ; and in came the two 

 who were performing the last sad act of respect to the dead. But 

 what shall I say of their last act to the living ? The two proved to 

 be Koodloo and a woman called Koo-ou-le-arng, or Suzhi, as we 

 named her. Here they remained half an hour with me, then de- 

 parted. I was again alone with the dying Esquimaux. Nearer 

 and nearer drew her end. Coldness was creeping over her. In- 

 deed, I found the cold taking hold of me. The native lamp, 

 which serves for light and fire, had ceased from want of blubber 

 or oil. There was only my lantern-lamp to give light, and the 

 oil of this was kept fluid by the caloric of my encircling hands. 



" During the day my fur stockings had become damp from per- 

 spiration, therefore my feet were nearly frozen. Every few min- 

 utes I was . necessitated to jump and thrash myself — to do any 

 thing I could to keep my limbs from frostbites. 



"How intently I watched each change in Nukertou! One, 

 two, three, four, five, six, seven did I slowly count in the inter- 

 vals of her breathing, and these' increasing to even double that 

 number. At last I could count nineteen between her inspirations, 

 but her respirations were short and prolonged — irregular. At 

 length Nukertou ceased to live. I exclaimed, 1 She's dead ! Ee- 

 ceive back her spirit, I pray thee, 0 God, for she is Thine.' 



" I placed the lamp before her face. She breathed not. And 

 there I sat on the platform of snow by her side, her disheveled 

 locks matted and tangled with reindeer hair, falling in wild disor- 



