Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/320

Rh generations before them. Possibly, however, it may yet be the honour of our country, through some noble-hearted Christian philanthropist, to bring them to a knowledge of the one true God. The Innuit Bob was a man that every one of us highly esteemed. I have before alluded to him in warm terms, and I will now mention a circumstance which belonged to the romantic incidents of his life. In the winter of 1854-5, he and a companion, with some dogs, attacked a large polar bear. His companion's name was Se-nik-too—"Moose," as called by the whalers. He afterward, in 1858, died at Allen's Island, leaving a widow—the Puto whom I have frequently named. Moose fired at the bear, when it rushed toward them. Bob stood his ground until he too had fired, and then immediately turned and ran; but the next moment the bear was upon him, and, seizing his left shoulder in its jaws, threw him high over its head, as if he had been a mere bag of feathers! Bob fell about four fathoms off, and was getting up, when the bear again laid hold of him, this time by the leg, and gave him another toss. The dogs, however, now managed to keep the animal at bay; and Moose coming to Bob's aid, they bravely renewed the attack, until at length these courageous Innuits succeeded in conquering the brute. Unfortunately, they lost him after all their trouble, for the ice broke, and the tide swept their prize away. I saw the scars of the wounds inflicted by this monster. Bob taking off his reindeer dress in the main cabin to gratify me. Captain B said that the laceration was terrible, for he had seen it a few days after the occurrence, and administered such relief as was in his power. Bob was undoubtedly a powerful man, muscular, full-breasted, of great nerve, and firm as iron. When he stripped I had a good opportunity to see this, and he allowed me to take the measurement of his body. On the 10th of May Ebierbing's grandmother, the aged Ookijoxy Ninoo, arrived with him from Cornelius Grinnell