SOME OF MY ESKIMOS LOSE THEIR NERVE The protracted delay, hard as it was upon all the members of the expedition, had a demoralizing psychological effect upon some of my Eskimos.

Toward the end of the period of waiting I began to notice that some of them were getting nervous.

I would see them talking together in twos and threes, just out of earshot.

Finally two of the older men, who had been with me for years and whom I had trusted, came to me pretending to be sick.

I have had sufficient experience to know a sick Eskimo when I see one, and the excuses of Poodloonah and Panikpah did not convince me.