'Shoo Innuits pil-e-tay nu-na Innuit ar-ting-a nar-me?'[1] (Why did not the Innuits give to that island an Innuit name?) 'Shoo Innuits pil-e-tay kod-lu-narn ar-ting-a?' (Why did Innuits give white man's name to it?) Old Petato proceeded to answer these two questions thus:—
"'Am-a-su-it oo-mi-ark-chu-a ki-ete wich-ou! wich-ou! wich-ou! Wong-nuk ki-ete sal-e-koo oo-mi-ark-chu-a' (A long, long, long, long time ago, a great many ships came here. A northerly gale prevailed, and broke—or smashed—some of the ships). That is, then it was that the island was given the name 'Kodlunarn.'
"Following this, I asked the question, 'Ka-chin-ning oo-mi-ark-chu-a sal-e-koo?' (How many ships were destroyed?) Petato answered, 'Shev-e-ming' (She did not know).
"When Petato was attempting to convey to me the many years ago that a great many ships came into this bay, she was truly eloquent. When pronouncing the word 'wich-ou' and repeating it, which she did the several times indicated, she lifted her hands to each side of her head, raising in them handfuls of her gray locks. At the same instant Kooksmith, standing by her side, having caught the spirit of her inspiring thought and eloquence, seized another handful of her venerable hairs, lifting them up too. Then, with increasing emphasis, Petato proceeded, pronouncing wich-ou at first with strong voice, then with louder and louder voice, till the final pronunciation of the word, when her whole soul seemed on fire, her face glorified by the spirit of her earnestness, and, as if attempting to measure infinity, she looked wildly to the right, to the left, then turned her head behind, while her voice burst forth as a thunderbolt, leaving the word wich-ou ringing in my ears still.
"The word 'wich-ou,' in Innuit, has two significations. For
- ↑ It should be said, with reference to the Esquimaux language as introduced in the text, that, though it could be easily and perfectly comprehended by the Innuits when spoken, and though it can be understood when read to them in its present form by the natives with me in this country, it is nevertheless what we may call "broken," being such as a person would naturally use whose acquaintance with the language is imperfect, as mine necessarily was.
