We now tied up all the dogs, as
Takkeelikkeeta had desired, and took the child about a quarter of a
mile astern of the ships, to bury it in the snow; for the father
assured me that her mother would cry in her grave if any weight of
stones or earth pressed on her infant. She herself, he feared, had
already felt pain from the monument of stones which we had laid
upon her. The snow in which we dug the child's grave was not above
a foot deep, yet we were not allowed to cut into the ice, or even
use any slabs of it in constructing the little tomb. The body,
wrapped in a blanket, and having the face uncovered, being placed,
the father put the slings by which its deceased mother had carried
it on the right side, and, in compliance with the Esquimaux custom
of burying toys and presents with their dead, I threw in some
beads. A few loose slabs of snow were now placed so as to cover,
without touching, the body, and with this very slight sepulchre the
father was contented, although a fox could have dug through it in
half a minute. We, however, added more snow, and cemented all by
pouring about twenty buckets of water, which were brought from the
ship, on every part of the mound. I remarked that, before our task
was completed, the man turned and walked quietly to the ships.

"During the last two days I obtained some information with respect
to mourning ceremonies, or, at all events, such as related to the
loss of a mother of a family; three days were to be passed by the
survivors without their walking on the ice, performing any kind of
work, or even having anything made for them. Washing is out of the
question with Esquimaux at most times, but now I was not allowed to
perform the necessary ablutions of their hands and faces, however
greasy or dirty they might be made by their food; the girl's hair
was not to be put into pig-tails, and everything was neglected;
Takkeelikkeeta was not to go sealing until the summer. With the
exception of an occasional sigh from the man, there were no more
signs of grief; our mourners ate, drank, and were merry, and no one
would have supposed they ever had wife, mother, or sister. When the
three days (and it is singular that such should be the time) were
expired, the man was to visit the grave; and, having talked with
his wife, a