278 



AKCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



a few broken pieces of sea-bread which Tookoolito had saved for 

 her. There was, besides, abundance of walrus blubber and skin 

 for her to eat when hungry. 



During the time I was in her tupic and listening to her words, 

 a favorite grandchild of hers, E-ter-loong, was just outside, fre- 

 quently crying for food. The old lady gave the child a part of 

 the beans and biscuit ; but his noise was a great interruption. 



The weather was very cold — bitterly so ; and I often requested 

 Tookoolito to take my place inside, but she preferred my retain- 

 ing " the seat of honor." 



The following is the substance of her statements to me respect- 

 ing the objects of my inquiry. 



Placing before her the sketch-chart formerly drawn by Koo- 

 jesse, and showing her Cornelius Grinnell Bay, Sin gey er, Field 

 Bay, tracing along down through Bear Sound to Cape True, 

 thence to Oopungnewing, I asked her if she recognized those par- 

 ticular parts. Her reply was that she did ; and immediately ask- 

 ed, "What is the name of the island where Koochooarchu (Samp- 

 son) was?" meaning the island where myself, with Sterry and 

 Kokerjabin, visited Sampson on the previous April 27th. I re- 

 plied, " Ah-Tcoo-wie-shut-too-pingP 



11 That," said she, "is where I have spent much of my life — many 

 of my best days. But the place where the kodlunas (white peo- 

 ple) of the ships landed is called Niountelik, an island near Oo- 

 pungnewing." 



She then proceeded to say that upon Mountelik she had seen 

 bricks, and coal, and pieces of timber of various sizes. She had 

 also heard from old Innuits that, many years before, ships had 

 landed there with a great number of people. She remembered, 

 when a little girl, hearing Innuits tell about these people hav- 

 ing killed several Innuits ; also that farther down, or on Kingaite 

 side, as the old lady spoke it, they took away two Innuit women, 

 who never came back again. 



I asked her if she knew how many ships had come there ? Her 

 reply was, They came every year ; first two, then three, then 

 am-a-su-ad-lo oo-moo-arch-chu-a (many — a great many ships). 

 " Five Innuits were also killed by the kodlunas" (white people). 

 Not feeling quite certain of the meaning of her answer, I repeated 

 the question, How many ships came here ? Tookoolito, on receiv- 

 ing the answer, gave it to me in this way : " She said ' they came 

 every year,'" and then ceased from repeating more of the old 



