Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/143

124 and independent people. At last, however, at 1 we left our encampment and proceeded up the west side of the bay, toward its extreme head, called by the Innuits Aggoun. I had a boat's crew of women; for Koodloo, who had frequently proved himself a lazy dog, sat in the bow with his oar peaked, leisurely reclining on his thwart. Having gone for some time in a northwesterly direction, I turned the boat toward the shore (Kingaite side), intending to land and visit a remarkable ridge of what seemed to be sand, stretching a mile or so along the coast. Before getting near the shore, though, I could see that the water was becoming very shallow, the bottom being of fine sand, and the boat soon grounded. As I could not make a landing, I concluded to push on, for I felt sure that we were very near the termination of Frobisher Bay. I reckoned without my host, however, in thinking to get on without trouble. The Innuits of my boat looked back to the craft of "Miner," and declared that the latter was making an encampment about a mile behind. I found the crew bent on going thither, but I was determined this should not be. I asked Suzhi, "Noutima Aggoun?"—where is Aggoun? She pointed to where Miner was. I knew this to be but a trick to get me back. I felt that I could manage women at least, and cried out A-choot!— pull ahead—returning a decided negative to their prayers to go back. With some difficulty I brought them to their working senses. Finally we reached the estuary of a river—Jordan's River, as I have named it—and, after crossing it, landed on its eastern side. We were then obliged to wade quite a distance to the shore proper through mud that was nearly knee deep. On a small grass-plat of Hazard's Banks we made our fifteenth encampment. Leaving the Innuits to unload the boat, I started off on a tramp of discovery, and continued my course up the river,