Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/56

Rh was loaded with the spoils of a successful reindeer hunt, and, in addition, had killed a white whale in Cornelius Grinnel Bay. He and several more Innuits went off to the whale dépôt to see what prospects existed there for hunting or fishing, but he did not remain long. Upon his return he determined to revisit the place he had lately left. Ugarng had great influence among his people, and I have often thought he was not a man to be wholly trusted. Indeed, I sometimes felt that nothing ever done for him would cause a grateful return. He was a bold, successful, and experienced hunter, and, as such, was frequently engaged by the whalers he encountered; but little dependence could be placed upon him. The strongest agreement would be instantly set at naught whenever he saw anything more likely to conduce to his own interest. In the present case Ugarng was using all his powers of persuasion to induce every Innuit to leave our locality and go with him. What his real motive was I cannot say; but it is probable that now, when there was abundance to be had by hunting and sealing, he—who disliked the restraints of civilisation—wanted to go farther away, and to take along all his friends, relatives, and acquaintances, so as to be perfectly and absolutely free. He tried every means to induce Ebierbing and Tookoolito to go with him, and for a time there was some hesitation on their part about it; but their attachment to me prevailed, and neither of them would consent to go. A general migration, however, did take place. Many of the Innuits accompanied Ugarng; and I afterward heard that several others, as Annawa, Artarkparu, and all belonging and known to them, went away about the same time from the whaling dépôt (where a few of the ships' crews still remained to look for whales), taking their course up Frobisher Bay. Ugarng's party consisted of his two wives, Kunniu and Punnie; infant, Me-noun; nephew, Eterloong; and his aged mother, Ookijoxy Ninoo, besides Johnny Bull and his wife Kokerzhun, Bob and his wife Polly, Blind George and his daughter Kookooyer, and, lastly, E-tu the wifeless.