24th of July, Hall accompanying. Three days after, they encountered a violent snow-storm, and were beset by icebergs. On the 8th of August they anchored in a bay in latitude 63° 20', called by the natives Ookoolear, but by Hall named Cornelius Grinnell Bay. Here and hereabouts the whalers went to work, and Hall began his acquaintance with the Esquimaux at home.

Among these was Kookerjabin, the widow of Kudlago, and of three others. "The Innuits," writes Hall," are a happy people. As they crowded our decks,

FESTIVAL OF THE BIRTHDAY OF THE KING OF DENMARK.

I one day noticed about a dozen women seated, and busily engaged at their work. Two were mending one of the boat's sails, some were chewing seal-skins for

C

boot-soles, others were sewing, while one was tending a cross baby. It is rare to find an Innuit child who is not very quiet, but this little fellow had eaten a piece of raw blubber, which had disordered him. Some of the amusing tricks played by these Esquimaux women are especially deserving of notice. The variety of games performed by a string tied at the ends, similar to a cat's cradle,' completely throws into the shade our adepts at home. I never before witnessed such a number of intricate ways in which a simple string could be used. One arrangement represented a deer; another, a whale; a third, the walrus; a fourth, the seal; and so on without end."

The short Arctic summer soon came to a close. On the morning of the 26th of September came light winds from the north-west; by noon it began to snow, the wind increasing to a gale. The whaling-boats all came in, and preparations were made for bad weather. During the night the storm grew hourly fiercer. The "Rescue" dragged her anchor, and was dashed upon the rocks an utter wreck. Hall's little boat, upon which he had so much relied, was torn from its moorings and lost, "dooming me," says Hall, "to a wreck of disappointment in the hopes I had cherished concerning her. The George Henry' was also in imminent peril, but outrode the tempest; but on her next voyage, eighteen months later, was lost at a point hardly a hundred miles distant."

6

The "George Henry" was soon after laid up in winter-quarters, fairly blocked in by ice. Hall in the mean time had made himself acquainted with the Es

quimaux of the region. Prominent among these were a couple-husband and wife-whose history is worthy of record.

One day-it was November 2-while Hall was writing in his cabin, he heard a low, sweet voice saying, "Good-morning, Sir." Looking up, he saw a comely woman, dressed in very good imitation of civilized costume. He had heard of

her before. Her name was Tookoolito. She was the wife of Ebierbing, a rather famous seal-hunter and pilot. Seven years before a British whaler had taken them to England, where they were received as the lions of the day. They dined with Prince Albert, and were introduced to the Queen. Ebierbing thought that the Queen was "very pretty;" indeed she bore no very distant likeness to his own wife. Tookoolito thought Prince Albert was a "very kind, good man." Both agreed that the Queen had "a very fine place." Tookoolito, as many thousands in the United States afterwards had occasion to know, spoke English almost perfectly. Her husband was less fluent, but still quite intelligible. This pair became Hall's constant companions in the Arctic regions ; came with him upon his return to the States, remained there with him for two years, and went back with him upon his second expedition, which now (September, 1869) is not completed.

Early in January Hall resolved to make an exploring expedition with the dog-team which he had bought at Holsteinborg. The party consisted of himself, Ebierbing, Tookoolito, and another Esquimaux, named Koodloo. The sledge was drawn by ten dogs-five of which belonged to Hall, and five to Ebierbing. They relied for food mainly upon the proceeds of their hunting, taking with them only a pound and a half of preserved mutton, three pounds of salt pork, fifteen pounds of sea-bread, three pounds of pork scraps for soup, and a little coffee, pepper, and molasses. The trip lasted nearly a month and a half, during which time Hall learned to live like the Esquimaux in their snow cabins, and subsisted mainly upon raw seal flesh. When he returned to the ship it was hard for him to accustom himself to the change from the pure atmosphere of a snow-house to the confined air of a small cabin.