Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/303

282 which rested quietly unconscious of his presence. As Miner approached, he kept up a loud, peculiar noise, a mixture of Innuit singing and bellowing, which seemed to work as a charm upon the seal. Every few moments he would lay down his gun and make a stroke or two with his long, double-bladed oar; then the seal, as if alarmed, would seem about to depart. As soon as the slightest motion indicative of this appeared. Miner would again seize his gun and aim, at the same time vehemently increasing the tones of his seal-song. The seal, thus again charmed, kept quiet, and Miner would once more take to his oars, thus endeavouring gradually to decrease the distance between them. So it occurred for several times, and evidently Miner had great hope of securing a good prize, but suddenly, and when the hunter was almost as near as he desired to be, the seal broke away from the "soothing voice of the charmer," raised its head, made a plunge, and, before Miner could fire, disappeared. Then came upon our ears, as we looked and listened, the loud, peculiar ejaculation of disappointment, E-e-e-ŭk! and no wonder, for the poor hunter lost by it about half a ton of fresh provisions. I, too, owing to the interest I felt, was also nigh having a loss, which, though not so important as his, was one which I did not then wish to experience. A meridional observation on the ice with my pocket sextant was secured only just in time to save it.

I continued my walk, and ascended a mountain close by, picking up fossil stones on its summit, and enjoying the view around me. Soon I was joined by the Innuits Kokerjabin (Kudlago's widow) and Neitch-ee-yong, both of whom were born on the shores of the great bay before us. Kokerjabin pointed out to me the place of her nativity, on the opposite side of the bay, called by her Kar-mo-wong, an inlet which makes its way up into the interior of Kingaite (Meta Incognita). She said that from a high point at the termination of that inlet she had often seen the oomiens of kodlunas (ships of the white men) pass up, and then, at a later time, down the waters which were on the other side of Kingaite. This