Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/58

 carried in their boots, and lances, which were lashed on their sledges. They had no wood for the handles of these weapons, because no trees grow in this cold country. All of the handles were made of bone. You would have thought these natives very rude indeed, could you have seen how they behaved on Dr. Kane's ship. They opened all the doors and rummaged around in the dark corners. They opened boxes, handling everything they saw, and putting all they could inside their jumpers and boots. In fact, they stole so much that Dr. Kane and his companions had to follow them continually and take the things out of their hands.

At last the Eskimos became tired, and when the white men spread a buffalo skin on the floor near the fire, they threw themselves upon it. For supper each man had a large piece of raw walrus meat, from which he ate until he was tired. Then he went to sleep with the raw meat lying beside him. When he awoke he would seize his meat, eat more of it, then drop off to sleep again. Many slept in a sitting position, with their heads falling forward low on their breasts.

Dr. Kane made a treaty with these people. He bought all the walrus meat they had, giving them needles, beads, and old cask staves for it. They promised to bring Kane more food very soon, and also to lend him their dogs for his journey to the north. Then Metek said they must go, and it did not take them long to get ready. They harnessed the dogs to the sledges quickly, jumped on, cracked their long sealskin whips, and off they went, dashing over the ice at a speed of twenty miles an hour.

Some time later Metek again visited Rensselaer Harbor. This time Dr. Kane decided to go with him to his hut, and bring back a load of walrus meat. Kane and Metek