Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/194

Rh our tents from blowing away; we frequently had to secure them afresh by additional weights of stones at their base, and my readers may conceive better than I can describe the position I was in during my detention on that desolate coast.

During this trip I had opportunities for much talk with the Innuits concerning the Frobisher expedition, and also concerning some of their own traditions and superstitions. Concerning the "dreaded land," Annawa said:—

"Years ago many Innuits were carried away on the ice and never came back again. Then Innuits would not live there for a long time. Finally they began to go there again in great numbers, when once more they were all lost, but how no Innuit could tell. At last, hearing nothing from the people who had gone there, a boat's crew of Innuits went to ascertain their fate. They arrived in the region they sought, but the very first night they could not sleep, owing to a terrible noise, all the same as if Nu-na—the land—cracked, shook, and broke. There was no sea, no wind, no ice; se-lar—sky—fine, weather good, yet the dreadful noise continued. However, the searching party went on shore to examine; they looked around, and they went all over the land, but not one of their people could be found. All were gone! Some mysterious fate had overtaken them. This frightened the new visitors; they knew not what to make of it. Then, too, the dreadful noises continued; each night their sleep was troubled by a repetition of the direful sounds. The earth cracked and rumbled, and seemed as if breaking up in all directions. It was enough! Without farther delay, the visitors took to their boat and left the dreaded land. Since then no Innuits will live there." Annawa said the last catastrophe happened when he was a boy; the first was a long time before he was born. On Wednesday, October 9th, though within a mile of Lupton Channel, I determined upon returning to the ship; it was all but impossible to proceed. But here again were other disappointments; the wind changed, a heavy storm set in right against us, and, after accomplishing a short distance,