Red Rooney | Page 6

but we have rendered it into that kind of English
which the wrecked seaman was in the habit of using--chiefly because

by so doing we shall give the reader a more correct idea of the
character of the man.
"We are very glad to see you," returned Okiok. "We have heard of you
for many moons. We have wished for you very hard. Now you have
come, we will treat you well."
"Are your huts far off?" asked the seaman anxiously.
"Not far. They are close to the ice-mountain--on the land."
"Take me to them, then, like a good fellow, for I'm dead-beat, and stand
much in need of rest."
The poor man was so helpless that he could not walk to the sledge
when they unrolled him. It seemed as if his power of will and energy
had collapsed at the very moment of his rescue. Up to that time the fear
of death had urged him on, but now, feeling that he was, comparatively
speaking, safe, he gave way to the languor which had so long oppressed
him, and thus, the impulse of the will being removed, he suddenly
became as helpless as an infant.
Seeing his condition, the father and son lifted him on the sledge,
wrapped him in skins, and drove back to the huts at full speed.
Nuna was awaiting them outside, with eager eyes and beating heart, for
the discovery of a real live Kablunet was to her an object of as solemn
and anxious curiosity as the finding of a veritable living ghost might be
to a civilised man. But Nuna was not alone. There were two other
members of the household present, who had been absent when Okiok
first arrived, and whom we will now introduce to the reader.
One was Nuna's only daughter, an exceedingly pretty girl--according to
Eskimo notions of female beauty. She was seventeen years of age,
black-eyed, healthily-complexioned, round-faced, sweet-expressioned,
comfortably stout, and unusually graceful--for an Eskimo. Among her
other charms, modesty and good-nature shone conspicuous. She was in
all respects a superior counterpart of her mother, and her name was

Nunaga. Nuna was small, Nunaga was smaller. Nuna was
comparatively young, Nunaga was necessarily younger. The former
was kind, the latter was kinder. The mother was graceful and pretty, the
daughter was more graceful and prettier. Nuna wore her hair gathered
on the top of her head into a high top-knot, Nunaga wore a higher
top-knot. In regard to costume, Nuna wore sealskin boots the whole
length of her legs--which were not long--and a frock or skirt reaching
nearly to her knees, with a short tail in front and a long tail behind;
Nunaga, being similarly clothed, had a shorter tail in front and a longer
tail behind.
It may be interesting to note here that Eskimos are sometimes named
because of qualities possessed, or appearance, or peculiar
circumstances connected with them. The word Nuna signifies "land" in
Eskimo. We cannot tell why this particular lady was named Land,
unless it were that she was born on the land, and not on the ice; or
perhaps because she was so nice that when any man came into her
company he might have thought that he had reached the land of his
hopes, and was disposed to settle down there and remain. Certainly
many of the Eskimo young men seemed to be of that mind until Okiok
carried her off in triumph. And let us tell you, reader, that a good and
pretty woman is as much esteemed among the Eskimos as among
ourselves. We do not say that she is better treated; neither do we hint
that she is sometimes treated worse.
The Eskimo word Nunaga signifies "my land," and was bestowed by
Okiok on his eldest-born in a flood of tenderness at her birth.
Apologising for this philological digression, we proceed. Besides Nuna
and Nunaga there was a baby boy--a fat, oily, contented boy--without a
name at that time, and without a particle of clothing of any sort, his
proper condition of heat being maintained when out of doors chiefly by
being carried between his mother's dress and her shoulders; also by
being stuffed to repletion with blubber.
The whole family cried out vigorously with delight, in various keys,
when the team came yelping home with the Kablunet. Even the baby
gave a joyous crow--in Eskimo.

But the exclamations were changed to pity when the Kablunet was
assisted to rise, and staggered feebly towards the hut, even when
supported by Okiok and his sons. The sailor was not ignorant of
Eskimo ways. His residence in South Greenland had taught him many
things. He dropped, therefore, quite naturally--indeed gladly--on his
hands and knees on coming to the mouth of the tunnel, and crept slowly
into the hut, followed by the