The Inuits
who were with us evinced a most remarkable interest in our labors, and
with their eagle eyes were ever finding things that would have escaped
our attention. Everything they did not fully understand they brought to
us, and though many of such things were of no account they were not
discouraged. Since Toolooah had found the inscription scratched on a
clay stone on the monument erected by Captain Hall over the remains
near Pfeffer River, he had always been watchful, and often, while away
from camp hunting, he has come upon a stone near a demolished cairn, or
on some conspicuous place which had marks on that he thought might be
writing. These he invariably brought into camp, though often compelled
to carry them a long distance, in addition to a load of meat. We always
praised his efforts in that line, and were pleased to notice that he
did not get discouraged by repeated failures to discover something of
interest. He is as untiring in his efforts to aid us in our search as
in securing food, and there is always a degree of intelligence
displayed in whatever he undertakes that is wholly foreign to the Inuit
character. Even the stones that he brought into camp bore marks that
were most astonishingly like writing. You could almost read them. If we
had not been so straitened for transportation we would have brought
some of these remarkable specimens home.
Pages:
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146