"I will tell you of the perils of a fearful journey which I
undertook for your sakes. Then you will see what you owe to the
skill and faithfulness of your Angakok!"

All the people looked very solemn, and nodded their heads. The
Angakok went on.

"You must know that in the depths of the underworld, far beyond
the beautiful abode of the Spirits of the Dead, lives the Old
Woman of the Sea!

"There she sits forever and forever beside a monstrous lamp.
Underneath the lamp is a great saucer to catch the oil which
drips from it.

"In that saucer there are whole flocks of sea-birds swimming
about! All the animals that live in the sea -the whales and
walruses, the codfish and the seals- swarm in the saucer of the
Old Woman of the Sea. That is where they all come from. Sometimes
the Old Woman of the Sea keeps all the creatures in the saucer.
Then there are no seal or fish or walrus along our coasts, and
there is hunger among the innuit (human beings).

"At the time of my journey she had kept all the creatures for so
long a time in her saucer that you and many others were nearly
dead for lack of food."

"It was then that I prepared myself for the perils of this
journey to the underworld. I called my Tornak, or guiding spirit,