she darted out of the hut and quickly brought every female that was
left at the village, not excepting even the oldest of them, who joined
in the performance with the same alacrity as the rest. I could, however,
only persuade them to go through a tedious song we had often before
heard, which was now indeed somewhat modified by their insisting on our
taking turns in the performance, all which did not fail to create among
them never-ceasing merriment and laughter. Neither their want of food
and fuel, nor the uncertain prospect of obtaining any that night, were
sufficient to deprive these poor creatures of that cheerfulness and good
humor which it seems at all times their peculiar happiness to enjoy.

The night proved very thick with small snow, and as disagreeable and
dangerous for people adrift upon floating ice as can well be imagined.
If the women, however, gave their husbands a thought or spoke of them to
us, it was only to express a very sincere hope that some good news might
shortly arrive of their success. Our singing party had not long been
broken up when it was suddenly announced by one of the children, the
usual heralds on such occasions, that the men had killed something on
the ice. The only two men who were at home instantly scrambled on their
outer jackets, harnessed their dogs, and set off to assist their
companions in bringing home the game, while the women remained for an
hour in anxious suspense as to the extent of their husbands' success. At
length one of the men arrived with the positive intelligence of two
walruses having been taken, and brought with him a portion of these huge
animals as large as he could drag over the snow.

If the women were only cheerful before, they were now absolutely
frantic. A general shout of joy instantly re-echoed through the village;
they ran into each other's huts to communicate the welcome intelligence,
and actually hugged one another in an ecstasy of delight by way of
congratulation. One of them, Arnalooa, a pretty young woman of
nineteen or twenty, knowing that a dog belonging to her husband was
still at the huts, and that there was no man to take him down on the
ice, ran out instantly to perform that office; and, with a hardiness not
to be surpassed by any of the men, returned after two hours' absence,
with her load of walrus-flesh, and without even the hood thrown over her
head to protect her from the inclemency of the weather.

When the first burst of joy had at len