ivilized, for the same purpose. I have showed you already how, in our
mode of starting a fire, in our lamp, pot, and other domestic
implements; our clothing, harpoon, and the like,--we had imitated these
savages unconsciously; and the more I was with them, the more I saw how
much we were like them.

"Knowing how we killed the seals, it is not necessary to tell you how
the savages managed; and catching the walrus was just the same, only
more difficult, for a walrus is several times larger than a seal. You
know the walrus are those huge marine animals, living in the Arctic
seas, that have long white tusks, and look so fierce. They make a very
loud and very hideous noise; and in the summer, like the seals, they
come up on the ice, or on the rocks along the shore, in great numbers,
to bask and sleep in the sun.

"It is enough to say there was a great deal of sport, and a great deal
of excitement, not unmixed with danger. One of the hunters got a line
tangled about his legs, and was whipped over into the water, where he
was not noticed, except to be laughed at, while all the hunters went on
with what they were about, letting him shift for himself,--little
caring, as it appeared, whether he drowned or not; and I really believe
he would have drowned, had it not been for the assistance of the Dean
and myself. This was the first time I had observed how reckless these
people were of their lives.

"There were in the party altogether nine sledges, with one good hunter
to each sledge. Five of them were old men and four were young men,
besides which there were six boys of various ages; and these, with the
Dean and myself, made seventeen. By helping each other all round, we
caught seven seals and three walruses,--all of which we skinned and
quartered, and put on the sledges; and then we returned to the
village,--walking back, however, as the load on the sledges was too
heavy to allow us to ride.

"When we reached the village, the women came out to meet us, talking
very much, and _yeh, yeh_-ing louder than ever; and now I observed that
they took all the game we had captured, and butchered it, the men doing
nothing at all but look after their dogs. It was thought to be a
disgrace for a man to do any work about his hut.

"The Dean and I had taken our full share in the hunt, and won much
admiration. Before, they had treated us with a kind of pity, but now
they had great respect for us. Eatum said, 'Much good hunter you.'

"Seeing t