Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/172

Rh glance at the red, white, and blue cheered me onward in the work of ripping up the mysteries of three centuries. That symbol was my constant, cheering, helping companion night and day. In about an hour we arrived at the cape of land called Tikkoon, and, upon landing, I proceeded to a small plain about a quarter of a mile from the cape. The Innuits went on before me, I having my compass and tripod in hand to take bearings. All at once—to quote from my diary—

"My attention was drawn to the extreme of the plain, facing Kodlunarn, by the beach, where I saw Koo-ter-e-nier (Miner) calling by shouts to the other Innuits and myself, holding up his arms and hands. The Innuits started on a run, and so did I, for I was sure something of interest had been found. Arriving at the spot, what was before me? A relic of three centuries! Iron—time-eaten, with ragged teeth! "This iron, weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds, was on the top of a granite rock, just within reach of high tide at full and change of moon. The iron stain from this specimen was in the rock; otherwise its top was cleanly washed.

"This was just what I wanted to find—some of the heavy stone which the venerable Innuit woman, Ookijoxy Ninoo, had told me about the previous winter. Of course my heart was a happy one in finding this iron, brought here only eighty-six years after the discovery of America by Columbus. "The Innuit circles of stones at Tikkoon, indicating this to be a place for the summer residences of the Innuits, were very numerous. I know not where I have seen more numerous signs of Innuits than on the plain a little distant from the cape. Between the plain and the extremity of the cape the usual rough old rocks are the nature of the land. The north side is flanked by high, bold mountains, a bay extending back for a mile or so on the west side. On the east side extends the bay, one branch of which leads toward Field Bay. The plain extends across the cape from one bay to the other, the distance being less than one-eighth of a mile. The "heavy