Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/95

76 wished. Thence we commenced to make a circuit of the island, moving along as near the coast as the bluff rocks would permit, keeping the main island at our right—that is, continuing northwest, then around to the north, thence northeast and east. At the northwest end of the island we found abundance of evidence that Innuits had made Niountelik a stopping-place. There we saw the usual circles of stones, always to be seen where Innuits have had their tupics (summer tents). We saw seal, walrus, tuktoo (reindeer), meituk (duck), and various other bones in abundance, some moss-aged, and some nearly fresh, of not more than two or three years' exposure. Here we found also pieces of wood, some with the ends charred, small pieces of tuktoo skins, and one relic of civilization—a piece of an old calico dress! This did not excite me as a matter extraordinary, as I knew that the whalers now visit every year the inlet at the north, called 'Northumberland Inlet' (the 'Cumberland Straits' of Davis), and distribute freely among the Innuits various articles of civilization, especially cast-off calico dresses that they have brought from the States or from England, which are highly prized by the Innuit women. It is rare to find, at the present day, a native family that does not possess something of the kind. "We continued on around the island, finding, every few fathoms in our progress, numerous Innuit relics. At length we arrived at a plain that extended back a considerable distance from the coast. Here we recognised, at our right, about sixty rods distant, the point to which we first directed our steps on reaching the high bank after leaving the boat. "I was several fathoms in advance of Koo-ou-le-arng, hastening on, being desirous to make as extended a search as the brief remaining daylight would allow, when, lifting my eyes from the ground near me, I discovered, a considerable distance ahead, an object of unusual appearance. But a second look satisfied me that what I saw were simply stones scattered about and covered with black moss. I continued my course, keeping as near the coast as possible. I was now nearing the