e bear gets tired and cannot run,
_Amna, amna aya_.

"He turns around to charge Karsuk,
_Amna aya_;
Karsuk jumps off and runs away,
_Amna, amna aya_,

"He runs away all full of fright,
_Amna aya_;
So full of fright he tumbles down,
_Amna, amna aya_,

"Bear kills the dogs and breaks the sledge,
_Amna aya_;
What girl will marry such a man?
_Amna, amna aya_."

and so on, after that, they keep _aya_-ing, _aya_-ing, and
_amna-aya_-ing uproariously, until they are entirely broken down with
shouting and laughing, in the midst of which Karsuk is pretty sure to
run away.

"In the same manner I have heard the story of Metak's love adventure
sung, or rather recited, or _amna-aya_-ed as one might say.

"They use the same _amna-aya_ chorus when they sing over the dead, or
sing praises of the dead, only instead of being lively, then it is sung
in a solemn tone. I will repeat one called

"THE GRAVE-SONG OF MERAKUT.

"Merakut, Merakut, Merakut dead!
_Amna aya_;

Merakut dead, her lamp is smoking,
_Amna, amna aya_.

Her children are crying, her baby is freezing,
_Amna aya_;

O, her hut and our hearts are all cold!
_Amna, amna aya_."

and after that, as in the other song, they keep on _amna-aya_-ing for a
long while, but with a very doleful voice and manner. Indeed, it is
quite as distressing to hear them _amna-aya_ the dead as it is amusing
to hear them _amna-aya_ the living.

"The Dean and I very much wanted to go on another bear-hunt, but the
savages said it was too late in the season for that, as the ice had many
cracks in it, and there was no use chasing a bear, as he would jump into
the first crack he came to, and swim over it to the other side, and
there he would be safe enough. And, indeed, when I climbed one day to
the top of a tall iceberg, and looked out in the direction of our
solitary island, I could see several cracks from a yard to a hundred
yards wide, so that it was very fortunate we escaped from the island
when we did.

"The savages now said it was time to be moving, or a crack might come
between us and the shore. Indeed, the season was getting well advanced;
the snow was melting a little, and in places it was quite sloppy; so
everything in and about the snow huts was packed upon the sledges, and
we went then to the main-land, which was not more than ten miles
distant. Here we came