Plum-pudding with brandy sauce.
Apricot pie.
Pears.
Candy, nuts, raisins.
Coffee.
Christmas Dinner to the Natives.
We arose from the table at half-past seven, all voting this to have been the jolliest Christmas dinner ever eaten in the Arctic regions. After Matt had cleared everything away, the table was set again, and the Eskimos were called in. Ikwa and his family sent regrets, as they had just returned from a visit to Keati, and were too tired to put on “full dress” for a dinner-party. We therefore had only two of our seamstresses, M’gipsu and Inaloo, with us; in place of Ikwa and his wife we invited two visitors, Kudlah and Myah. We had nicknames for all the natives. Ahngodegipsah we called the “Villain” on account of the similarity of his expression, when he laughed, to that of the villain on the stage. His wife, Inaloo, talked so incessantly that she at once received from the boys the nickname of the “Tiresome.” M’gipsu was called the “Daisy” because she could do anything she was asked to do. Her husband, Annowkah, we knew as the “Young Husband”; Kudlah was called “Misfortune”; and Myah was known as the “White Man.” The “Villain” was put at the head of the table and told that he must serve the company just as he had seen Mr. Peary serve us. The “Daisy” took my place at the foot of the table, her duty being to pour the tea. The “Young Husband” and “Misfortune” sat on one side, while “Tiresome” and the “White Man” sat opposite. Their bill of fare was as follows:
Milk-punch.
Venison-stew, corn-bread.