446 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



THROUGH THE SNOW. 



hold what I saw these men and women devour. When the feast was ended, 

 the company dispersed. TookooHto then sent around bountiful gifts of seal- 

 blubber for fire-lamps, also some seal-meat and blood. This is the usual cus- 

 tom among the Innuits. They share each other's success, and bear each oth- 

 er's wants. Generally if it is found that one is short of provisions, it may be 

 known that all are so." 



The manner in which Ebierbing secured that precious seal is a striking ex- 

 ample of Innuit patience. On his way to the* ship the dogs discovered a seal- 

 hole. He marked the spot by making a small pile of snow close by, and squirt- 

 ing a mouthful of tobacco-juice upon it by way of mark. On his return he 

 found the hole, and determined to try to secure the animal. So wrapping his 

 feet and legs in furs taken from the sledge, he took his position, spear in hand, 

 over the seal-hole. It was buried two feet deep under the snow. He thrust 

 his spear through the snow again and again until he found the little aperture 

 leading through the ice; then in the dark night he seated himself close by, 

 waiting to hear the blowing of the seal. Towards morning the welcome sound 

 was heard. One well-aimed thrust of the spear secured the prize. Ebierbing 

 was nearly frozen, his nose being frostbitten ; but he suffered more from thirst 

 than from cold. There was indeed snow all around, but in that intense cold 

 the mouth does not retain sufiicient caloric to melt a piece of snow placed in it. 

 His first call when he reached the igloo was for water. To watch all night at 

 a seal-hole would seem to be a sufiicient trial of patience and endurance ; but 

 Hall notes another time when Ebierbing passed two whole days and nights 

 without food by a hole, and then failed to secure the seal. 



To the Innuit the seal is, in the broadest sense, the staff of life. It is to 

 them all that flocks and herds, grain-fields, forests, coal mines, and petroleum 

 wells are to dwellers in more favored lands. It furnishes to them food, fuel, 

 and clothing. The seal is the most wary and suspicious of creatures ; to cap- 

 ture him demands a patience and dexterity which throws into the shade all the 

 exploits of deer-stalkers and lion-hunters. " Nutchook," for so the Innuits nam^ 

 the seal, has good reason for wariness, for his chief enemy, " Ninoo,'^ the bear, 



