Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/222

Rh therefore determined to lay the corpse out myself. Koodloo would do nothing but hold the lamp, and I had to perform the whole. I put her on a snow bed, crossed her hands upon her breast, closed her lips, and placed lumps of the pure snows of heaven upon her eyelids, with a snow pillow under her head. This done, I then left for the ship, having first taken the precaution to seal up the igloo so as to prevent the dogs from eating up her remains.

"It was three in the morning when Nukertou died, and as I left her, so did her body remain, unvisited, uncared for, within that igloo tomb." My journal continues: "It might as well be here stated what occurred in Nukertou's igloo on the arrival of my valuable and esteemed friend Tookoolito, when her husband informed her of the dying condition of Nukertou. To my mind the incident goes to show how strongly are fixed among any people customs, however absurd they may appear to others. "Tookoolito, on arriving last evening, proceeded to examine Nukertou's condition—feeling her pulse, listening to her breathings, watching her every motion. Too true, indeed, did she find what I had said. Tookoolito gently spoke words that astonished me, because they came from one who is not only conversant with my vernacular, but with the belief and practices of civilization. She said Nukertou was dying, and that we must all retire at once; that if we delayed till Nukertou's death, the skin dresses we had on would never do to be put on again. "This was spoken with an earnestness that wanted no guarantee of her firm belief in what she said. Under the circumstances, I had no hesitancy as to my course then and there. I knew she had confidence in me; that she knew I always treated her people as well as I could my own; that she knew I never endeavoured to cast a slur or make light of any of the customs of her country. Therefore I said, 'Tookoolito, listen to wong-a (me) a moment. On Christmas day I gave you a good book—the Bible. That book is the Word of God. It tells