EBIERBING SICK.— THE FEMALE ANGEKO. 



345 



In the evening Sharkey and ten more Innuits returned with- 

 out any success in procuring food. Thus we had a large com- 

 pany now here, and nothing to eat except the two ducks. True, 

 I had a barrel of sea-bread, about twenty pounds of salt pork, a 

 ninety-pound can of pemmican, ten pounds of coffee, two gallons 

 of molasses, one pound of tea, and half a pound of pepper, all of 

 which, excepting the pemmican, I procured at the ship by ex- 

 change. But this stock was for my Frobisher Bay expedition, 

 not for consumption here. Unfortunately, my right-hand man 

 Ebierbing was now very sick, but I was in hopes I should bring 

 him round again in two or three days. I had taken from the ves- 

 sel my case of medicines, and with these I hoped to do him some 

 good. I took one more look at the ship. There she was, still en- 

 deavoring to get out of the bay, but with no wind to help her. I 

 thought she would, perhaps, be out of sight before the morning. 

 Farewell, then, I said in my heart, gallant ship, and may good luck 

 attend you. Good-night to all. I then retired to my Innuit bed, 

 among my honest, kind-hearted Innuit friends. 



On Wednesday, July 31st, hardly awake, and still on my sleep- 

 ing-couch, I heard an exclamation of surprise from Tookoolito, 

 who had gone outside the tupic. The wind was blowing a gale, 

 with rain. Tookoolito's cry was, " Ship coming back !" Up I 

 got, and, on rushing to the skin doorway, true enough, there was 

 the George Henry nearly up the bay. I watched her. She ad- 

 vanced still higher up, and presently dropped anchor northwest 

 of us, some two or three miles off. The return of the George Hen- 

 ry was wise, for the gale had become furious, and, had she contin- 

 ued on, it might have driven her on shore lower down the bay. 

 Once more, then, the ship and her company were near me. Lit- 

 tle had I expected this when looking at her the evening before. 



I may here as well relate something very curious, which I have 

 recorded under this date as having occurred during the previous 

 night. Ebierbing was very ill, and both his wife and his aunt 

 were alarmed. The latter went out at midnight, and brought in 

 Jennie, wife of Koodloo, who is a female angeko, to practise on 

 the sufferer. She took her position at once, sitting, Innuit fash- 

 ion, in a corner of the tupic, facing from us, and proceeded with 

 her incantations, while deep seriousness fell on all around. As 

 she went on, ejaculatory expressions of approbation were occasion- 

 ally uttered by the persons present, as also by the patient. Pres- 

 ently Ebierbing became more calm, his pains seemed to decrease, 



