e instantly and rambled away in opposite directions, absorbed in
contemplation--the one of the earth, and the other of the sky.

Three days after that, Captain Vane and his party approached the shores
of _Great Isle_. It was low like the other islands of Flatland, but of
greater extent, insomuch that its entire circumference could not be seen
from its highest central point. Like the other islands it was quite
destitute of trees, but the low bush was luxuriantly dense, and filled,
they were told, with herds of reindeer and musk-oxen. Myriads of
wild-fowl--from the lordly swan to the twittering sandpiper--swarmed
among its sedgy lakelets, while grouse and ptarmigan were to be seen in
large flocks on its uplands. The land was clothed in mosses and grasses
of the richest green, and decked with variegated wild-flowers and
berries.

The voyagers were received with deep interest and great hospitality by
the inhabitants of the coast, who, it seemed, never quarrelled with the
neighbouring islanders or went to war.

Makitok dwelt in the centre of the island. Thither they therefore went
the following day.

It was afternoon when they came to the valley in which dwelt the
angekok, or, as Red Indians would have styled him, the medicine-man.

It was a peculiar valley. Unlike other vales it had neither outlet or
inlet, but was a mere circular basin or depression of vast extent, the
lowest part of which was in its centre. The slope towards the centre
was so gradual that the descent was hardly perceived, yet Captain Vane
could not resist the conviction that the lowest part of the vale must be
lower than the surface of the sea.

The rich luxuriance of herbage in Great Isle seemed to culminate in this
lovely vale. At the centre and lowest part of the valley, Makitok, or
rather Makitok's forefathers, had built their dwelling. It was a hut,
resembling the huts of the Eskimos. No other hut was to be seen. The
angekok loved solitude.

Beside the hut there stood a small truncated cone about fifteen feet
high, on the summit of which sat an old white-bearded man, who intently
watched the approaching travellers.

"Behold--Makitok!" said Teyma as they drew near.

The old man did not move. He appeared to be over eighty years of age,
and, unlike Eskimos in general, had a bushy snow-white beard. The thin
hair on his head was also white, and his features were good.

Our travellers were not disappointed with this strange recluse,