t
slow to repeat the process. Other Eskimos rushed in, hovered round, and
acted their part, so that finally the whale was killed and hauled nearly
out of the water by the united exertion of the entire population of the
land.

Then succeeded the distribution of the prize.

Eskimos have peculiar and not unreasonable laws on such matters. If two
hunters strike a seal at the same time, they divide it. The same holds
in regard to wild-fowl or deer. If a dead seal is found with a harpoon
sticking in it, the finder keeps the seal, but restores the harpoon to
the owner. The harpooner of a walrus claims the head and tail, while
any one may take away as much as he can carry of the carcass. But when
a whale is captured, the harpooners have no special advantage. There is
such a superabundance of wealth that all--even spectators--may cut and
come again as often and as long as they please.

When, therefore, the whale whose capture we have described was dead,
hundreds of men and boys mounted at once, knife in hand, on the carcass,
and the scene of blood and confusion that ensued baffles description.

"Won't we stuff to-night!" remarked Kabelaw to her sister, as they went
home bending under a weight of blubber.

"Ay--and to-morrow," replied Sigokow.

"And some days beyond to-morrow," observed old Kannoa, who staggered
after them under a lighter load of the spoil.

But it was not the Eskimos alone who derived benefit from this
unexpected prize. The captain of the English ship also got some barrels
of oil and a large quantity of whalebone to fill up his cargo, and the
bright shawls and real _iron_ knives that were given in exchange soon
graced the shoulders of the native women and the belts of the men.

It was indeed a time of immense jubilation--for every one was gratified
more or less--from the chief of the Moravian Brethren down to Tumbler
and Pussi, who absolutely wallowed in fun and unctuous food, while Angut
and Nunaga were of course supremely happy.

The wedding ceremony, performed by Hans Egede, we need hardly say, was
simple, and the festivities which followed were not complex. The game
at kick-ball which preceded the wedding was admittedly one of the best
that had ever been played at that station, partly, no doubt, because the
captain and crew of the English ship, headed by Red Rooney, took part in
it.

Strange to say, the only man who seemed to be at all cast down on that
occasion was Ippegoo. He was foun