These people had heard of the teachings of the Labrador missionaries (Moravians), all of whom are Germans, and as the Eskimo of that coast use the German numerals in preference to their own, the natives of that region have at some time repeated the names of those numerals to certain of the Hudson strait people and they have taught each other.
The names of the German numerals as sounded by the Koksoagmyut are as follows. The numbers are one to fifteen, consecutively:
Ái i; chu vái i; ta lái i; pi û´ la; pi li pi; tsék si; tsé pa; ák ta; nái na; tsé na; ái lu pûk; chu vái lu puk; ta lak si na; pi ûk´ si na, and pi lip´ si na.
I have already referred to the game of football as played by these people.
[Illustration: FIG. 76.--Football and driver. Koksoagmyut.]
Fig. 76 represents the football (No. 3070) and the whip for driving it. The Eskimo are very fond of this game. All the people of every age, from the toddling infant to the aged female with bended back, love to urge the aí uk toúk, as the ball is termed. The size of the ball varies from 3 to 7 inches in diameter. They have not yet arrived at perfection in making a spherical form for the ball, but it is often an apple shape. It is made by taking a piece of buckskin, or sealskin, and cutting it into a circular form, then gathering the edges and stuffing the cavity with dry moss or feathers. A circular piece of skin is then inserted to fill the space which is left by the incomplete gatherings. This ball is very light and is driven either by a blow from the foot or else by a whip of peculiar construction. This whip consists of a handle of wood 8 to 12 inches in length. To prevent it from slipping out of the hand when the blow is struck, a stout thong of sealskin is made into the form of a long loop which is passed over the hand and tightens around the wrist. To the farther end of the whip handle are attached a number of stout thongs of heavy sealskin. These thongs have their ends tied around the handle and thus form a number of loops of 12 to 20 inches in length. These are then tied together at the bottom in order to give them greater weight when the ball is struck by them. A lusty Eskimo will often send the ball over a hundred yards through the air with such force as to knock a person down.