Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/133

114 "On the return of the party, the seal which Kooperneung shot coming in was made the subject of a feast. He (Kooperneung) went around and invited all the men Innuits here, who soon came, each with seal-knife in hand. They squatted around the seal, and opened him up. A huge piece of toodnoo (tuktoo tallow) in one hand, and seal liver in the other, I did justice to the same and to myself. The Innuits and myself through, the ladies took our places. They are now feasting on the abundance left. Seal is the standing dish of provision among the Innuits. They never tire of it; while for tuktoo, Ninoo, ducks, salmon, &c. they soon find all relish gone. "Too-loo-ka-ah shot his deer with Koojesse's gun. He usually uses only bow and arrows, the same being in universal use among the Innuits on the north side of Hudson's Strait. This evening I got Toolookaah to try his skill in using these instruments—bow and arrow—in making a mark of my felt hat one hundred feet off. The arrow shot from his bow with almost the speed of a rifle-ball. The aim was a trifle under. He missed 'felt,' and lost his arrow, which is no small matter. Its force buried it in the ground, covered by the luxuriant grass, and all our long search proved unsuccessful. The arrow is made with great pains, pointed with iron, spear-shaped."