. Outing. h to recompense mefor all the danger and hardship of thejourney from Annootok. With the harpoon as a weapon, thehunters left the solid ice to spring lightlyfrom one small piece to another until apan large enough to hold them wasreached, far out in the open lake. Thepieces over which the passage was madewere often so small that they wouldhave sunk under a mans weight had hefaltered or hesitated upon them for amoment. It seemed to me that the Es-kimos were absolutely reckless in thispassage over the broken pieces and tookno account of the manner in which theyshould return. Certainly on
. Outing. h to recompense mefor all the danger and hardship of thejourney from Annootok. With the harpoon as a weapon, thehunters left the solid ice to spring lightlyfrom one small piece to another until apan large enough to hold them wasreached, far out in the open lake. Thepieces over which the passage was madewere often so small that they wouldhave sunk under a mans weight had hefaltered or hesitated upon them for amoment. It seemed to me that the Es-kimos were absolutely reckless in thispassage over the broken pieces and tookno account of the manner in which theyshould return. Certainly only a fear-less man with a clear eye and nerves ofiron could accomplish it. A large, safe pan once attained wellin the midst of the blowing walrus, astand was taken near its edge where,with harpoon poised, the hunter waiteduntil a walrus came within striking dis-tance. Then like lightning the weaponwas sunk deep into the animals body,and quick as a flash, a harpoon shaft,provided with a heavy point of iron,. Copyright, 1Q0Q, by Harry Whitney. HOW THE HUNTERS SLEPT ON THE WAY TO THE BEAR COUNTRY. was driven firmly into the ice, and sev-eral turns of the line taken around itand held taut by the Eskimo. This strong line held the walrus inspite of its struggles to free itself, andnot an inch was surrendered to it by theEskimo. As the walrus gradually tired,the line was tightened little by little,until finally the great animal was wellalongside the pan, when it was quicklydispatched with a lance. In this manner, Awhella secured alarge bull. More than an hour elapsedbetween the harpooning and the it was finally killed, slits werecut back of the victims neck throughwhich lines were passed. A double pul-ley was improvised and in a few minutesAwhella, with the aid of two others,had the carcass on the ice. Every por-tion of the walrus was utilized save onlythe blood lost in killing it, and in anincredibly short time it was skinned, andthe flesh cut in large pieces, lashed upont
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