Ungava

“ Then with her customary promptness of action, standing before Ungava Bob, she announced:
"Manikawan will now return to the lodge of Sishetakushin, her father, and wait for White Brother of the Snow. He is safe from the Matchi Manitu. She will wait and be contented. She will know that he is in the country of her people. She will wait for him till the sun grows timid and afraid, till the Spirit of the Frost grows bold and strong. Then White Brother of the Snow will come to the lodge of Sishetakushin, and there he will rest. ”

“ When it is sufficiently done, that is, according the Ungava custom, when half warm, the women take it out of the pot, and serve it up on a piece of stone, if on shore, and on a piece of board, if at sea. Then the person, who has caught the seal or game, proclaims with great vociferation, that the men may come and sit down to eat. Such exertion of voice, however, seems hardly necessary, as the Esquimaux are very acute at hearing, when they are invited to dinner. When the men have done, the women sit down, having taken good care, beforehand, that their share is secured. ”

“ The small portion of dried caribou meat doled out to each was far from satisfying. Some of the tea which Ungava Bob had given the Indians still remained. A kettle of this was brewed, and it served to stimulate and warm them. Then they lighted their pipes and for a time smoked in silence.
At length Sishetakushin, turning to Mookoomahn, began:
"On the Lake of the Beaver to the northward we have a small store of atuk weas (deer's meat) . We also have there the cover of a lodge. Three suns will pass before we can reach this store of food. On the Great Lake we have another store. ”

“ At all times the entrance of a ship into port is a noble sight, and one which touches the heart and evokes the enthusiasm of almost every human being; but when the ship arriving is almost essential to the existence of those who watch her snowy sails swelling out as they urge her to the land—when her keel is the first that has ever ploughed the waters of their distant bay—and when her departure will lock them up in solitude for a long, long year—such feelings are roused to their utmost pitch of intensity.
Cheer upon cheer rose and fell, and rose again, among the mountains of Ungava. ”

“ The Eskimos of Ungava bay and the south shore of Hudson strait are still without knowledge of Christianity, beyond what has been spread by the southern Christian natives. The Eskimos as a rule take kindly to Christianity, and follow its precepts in a manner which shames the average white Christian. ”

“ It is midsummer of 1610 when Hudson enters Hudson Straits. The ice jam of Ungava Bay, Labrador, has almost torn his ships' timbers apart and has set fear shivering like an aspen leaf among the crew. Old Juett, the mate, rages openly at Hudson for venturing such a frail ship on such a sea; but when the ship anchors at the west end of Hudson Straits, five hundred miles from the Atlantic, there opens to view another sea,—a sea large as the Mediterranean, that, like the Mediterranean, may lead to another world. It is as dangerous to go back as forward ”

“ Jonathan and Jonas also bore ample testimony to the truth of what we had spoken, and their words seemed to make a deep impression on all their countrymen. Uttakiyok was above others eager to express his wish that we might soon make a settlement in the Ungava country. Five of the fourteen families who mean to reside here next winter, are from Eivektok.
Farther inland, the river Koksoak widens considerably, but consequently grows more shallow. The country is pleasant, with wood, grassy plains, and gentle hills. ”

“ PORT BURWELL TO FULLERTON AND BACK. Having crossed the mouth of Ungava bay, a strong headwind greatly delaying the ship, we put into Wakeham bay on the south side of the strait, to test its capabilities as a harbour. A fine clear passage was found into the bay on a line from the east end of Prince of Wales island to the centre of the inlet; there are a few low shoals on both sides of this line, but all are well beyond the course. A high, rounded point connected by a sandy neck to the south side of the bay forms an excellent protected anchorage just inside the heads. ”

“ Père Breton's laugh interrupted Jean's reply. "Yes, my son. Julie is right. You are too young, you two, to think of anything but your souls."
"Some day, Julie, I will be a Company man and then you will listen to Jean Marcel," and the lad who had cherished the memory of the girl's oval face through the long winter and taken it with him into the dim, blue Ungava hills, left the Mission with head erect and swinging stride.
"Jean, when are you going back to the bush?" inquired Gillies, as Marcel entered the trade-house. ”

“ With his feet entangled in rod cases Professor Hooker wondered for a moment what on earth he was there for, landing on this inhospitable coast. Then his eyes sought the genial face of Malcolm Holliday and hope sprang up anew. For there is that about this genial frontiersman that draws all men to him alike, be they Scotch or English, Canadian habitans or Montagnais, and he is the king of the coast, as his father was before him, or as was old Peter McKenzie, the head factor, who incidentally cast the best salmon fly ever thrown east of Montreal or south of Ungava. ”

“ The northern boundary of the province of Quebec follows the East Main river to its source in Patamisk lake, thence by a line due east to the Ashuanipi branch of the Hamilton river; it then follows that river and Hamilton Inlet to the coast area under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The remainder of the peninsula, north of the province of Quebec, by order in council dated the 18th of December 1897, was constituted Ungava District, an unorganized territory under the jurisdiction of the government of the Dominion of Canada. ”

“ Mungavan, “you’re wrong all the while. Our cock always crows at twelve o’clock, and it’s not one at present; but my husband has a great tooth-ache, and he says he’d be the better for a smoke, and I just came in for a red coal, and I’d advise you to go to bed again.”
“So I will, ma’am, by and bye; but as I’m up at all, I’ll wait until he’s done smokin’, and when I’ve got a puff of the pipe myself, I’ll go to bed.”
“O, wisha, wisha!” thought she, “what’ll I do? I’ll be kilt both ways. I’d be ashamed to take up the cake, and it’ll be burned entirely—and what’ll he say?” ”

“ I trust indeed, Lady, that your heart is not given to that Madman!"
"Ah," said Uma, sighing gently, "you speak thus because you do not understand! The actions of the great are often unaccountable to the common mind. The ways of Mahadeva may well be beyond your ken!"
"But," he persisted, "believe that I speak wisdom! Spend your life no longer in a vain effort to reach One who is not worthy of your love. Give up the thought of Siva. Even if He be what you say, He does not deserve——"
"Stop!" said Uma, "I have let you speak too long. I cannot listen to one word more," and she turned to go. ”

“ Thou shouldst not have left us at all, for thou didst first belong to us. Did not Denewulf find thee in the forest? Now thou shalt remain always.”
“But the king?” said Egwina, bending low over her work. “Doth he not visit thee, Adiva—he or some of his family?”
“Well-a-day, yes,” answered Adiva. “What of it, child? Couldst thou not stay out of the way until they had departed? ’Tis not as in the forest. Then there was but the two rooms. Wottest thou not that the manor of the bishop hath more?” ”

“ I noted naught,” returned the stranger.
“Good mother, be wroth with him no longer,” cried Egwina entering. “His mind is full of graver matters than woman’s work.”
“Graver matters!” echoed Adiva, who was evidently in a bad way. “Graver matters! I wot that they fall not heavily upon him at meal time. ’Tis pity that a body can’t leave the house for a minute without a wite’s letting the loaves burn.”
“Thou speakest truly,” said the stranger humbly. “He who eats should also work. That I have not done, but I will mend my ways, good dame.” ”

“ Everything in the world save only themselves seemed to have been frozen into oblivion. There was no sound, save the monotonous swish, swish of their own snowshoes, to disturb the silence--a silence otherwise as absolute and vast as the uttermost depths of the grave. ”

“ Sringa-Bhuja's very first act was to plead for his mother to be set free. He would not tell any of his adventures, he said, till she could hear them too; and the king, full of remorse for the way he had treated her, went with him to the prison in which she had been shut up all this time. What was poor Guna-Vara's joy, when the two entered the place in which she had shed so many tears! She could not at first believe her eyes or ears, but soon she realised that her sufferings were indeed over. She could not be quite happy till her beloved husband said he knew she had never loved any one but him. ”

“ Then a certain Gandharva, of the name of Vínádatta, saw Naraváhanadatta in that well. Truly if there were not great souls in this world, born for the benefit of others, relieving distress as wayside trees heat, the world would be a withered forest. Thus the good Gandharva, as soon as he saw Naraváhanadatta, asked him his name and lineage, and supporting him with his hand, drew him out of that well, and said to him,1 “If you are a man and not a god, how did you reach this city of the Gandharvas inaccessible to man? ”

“ And the man clad in black was Rain, and the horse on which he rode was Fire; for only when heat is controlled by water is the world of the serpents ever in contentment. "And well is it for thee, my child," said his master to Utanka, "that thou hadst eaten and drunk of the divine nectar, for without this spell of immortality, know that no mortal ever before emerged alive from the realms of Takshaka." And the heart of Utanka rejoiced greatly, and also he desired much to find some means to put an end to the race of serpents, so full of mysterious danger to the sons of men. ”

“ Ghamba then looked at Langley, who repeated the words.
“I will tell you,” said Ghamba, “all I can remember, and you can ask questions, which I shall answer truly. You have heard of Umdava, who used to eat men in Natal long ago, after the wars of Tshaka—well, he was my uncle. After Umdava had been killed and his people scattered, my father, with a few followers, came to live among these mountains. But we found that after having eaten human flesh we could enjoy no other food, so we caught people and ate them. These two men lying dead are my sons, and that woman is my daughter. ”

“ I have seen the Ungka, when pursued, continue to maintain the erect position for some time, until through fatigue, or more probably from terror, he would fall to the ground, becoming [173] an easy capture; but let the ropes of a ship, or any trees, be within reach, he would then avail himself of the powerful, prehensile, and muscular power bestowed upon him by nature, and whether over the rigging of the ship, or the branches of the trees, he would then have sufficient strength and agility to defy pursuit, although he could not effect it on a level surface. ”

“ Gunga, O chief of men! is the eldest daughter of Himuvut. With her sacred stream, O valiant one! perform the funeral ceremonies for thine ancestors. If the purifier of the world flow on them, reduced to a heap of ashes, these ashes, being wetted by Gunga, the illuminator of the world, the sixty thousand sons of thy grandfather will be received into heaven. May success attend thee! Bring Gunga to the earth from the residence of the gods. If thou art able, O chief of men! possessor of the ample share, let the descent of Gunga be accomplished by thee. Take the horse, and go forth. ”

“ But Urvaśí, remaining in the country of the Gandharvas, afflicted at her separation, was as void of sense as if she had been dead, asleep, or a mere picture. She kept herself alive with hoping for the end of the curse, but it is wonderful that she did not lose her hold on life, while she remained like the female chákraváka during the night, the appointed time of her separation from the male bird. And Purúravas propitiated Vishnu by that penance, and, owing to Vishnu's having been gratified, the Gandharvas surrendered Urvaśí to him. ”

“ There's no more unreal to Adresol than there is to the hell fires raging away out there in the heart of Unaga, where the whole place is white like a lake of pure milk with the bloom of the plant that breathes certain death, but which holds in its heart the greatest benefit the world's ever known. ”

“ Of course there are poor, wretchedly poor, people in Ourga, who live, or, rather, manage to exist, in the most awful hovels. But still, during the whole month I spent in the sacred city, I was never once pestered by a beggar; indeed, I never saw one. Ourga, in this respect, offered an agreeable contrast to most of the Siberian towns I was in, where one could never leave one’s hotel or lodgings without finding quite a little crowd of them lying in wait. ”

“ Gweva grew up exactly like what his father had been—tall and strong, brave as a lion, and with eyes and voice that commanded the obedience of men, even against their will. When hardly more than a lad he could fling an assegai or a knobbed stick farther, and as true, as any man in the tribe. But for the madness that fell on him he would have been chief in the room of Pahlo, who was only of the right-hand house, the only son of the ‘great house,’ into which Gweva had been legally adopted, having died young, through being bitten by a snake. ”