Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/100

Rh to-day, exceeds 800 pounds. Every one of my company participates in my joy in making the discovery I have to-day. "A heavy sea has been rolling in all day from the south. We have had a hard tug to-night drawing up the boat above the reach of the tide. "Now we have a Ninoo, of course the Innuits will inflate the bladder, and attach it, with several peculiar charms, to a staff, which must be kept in a prominent position—in the boat while we are voyaging, and on the tupic while encamped. In accordance with Innuit custom, it must be thus exposed for three days and three nights. "We leave a considerable portion of the Ninoo here on deposit against our return. The bear's length was eight feet; it was not of the largest size; its condition was fine, very fat, and its meat as tender and palatable as any beefsteak I ever ate. The liver of the polar bear is never eaten by the Innuits. Of course they know the general effect of eating this part to be as if one were poisoned. They say it makes them feel very sick, especially in the head, the hair dropping off, and the skin peeling from their faces and bodies. They do not allow the dogs to eat it, because it makes them also sick, and causes all their hair to come off. They either bury the liver or cast it into the sea. Even after this precaution, dogs sometimes succeed in getting hold of it, and it really poisons them."