United States or New Zealand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
He was clad in a smock, or jacket, of sea-parrot feathers, which came down to his seal-skin boots. In one hand he held a short spear, in the other several thongs to which were attached bits of ivory. He seemed not in the least alarmed, but, on the contrary, much disposed to be friendly. "Karosha!" called out John to him. "All right, all right, all right!"
"Karosha," said the older of the two men; by which they later learned he meant to say, "All right." The two natives were well used to making a landing through the surf.
As he hesitated the chief turned away from the door, and the Aleuts now began to jabber among themselves. They pointed to the meat, and made signs that they were hungry. "Da, karosha!" assented Rob, who was beginning to learn Aleut from his friend John. He motioned them to help themselves.
He got a little red in the face as he admitted this. "Here, you mans," he said. "You got-ums salt?" The chief shook his head. "Salt! Salt-ums! Heap salt!" went on John, frowning. He made a motion as of sprinkling something on the meat, then touched his fingers to his mouth, smacking his lips. The chief grinned broadly. "Da! Karosha!"
Soon, with a heave, he got it inboard a small hair seal not much more than three feet in length. "Karosha!" exclaimed the Aleut, with a grin. "He means that it's good that it's all right," explained John, who seemed to be the official interpreter. "Well, I don't believe that I care to eat seal meat," said Rob; "but maybe Jimmy knows what he can do with the hide, or something else. We'll skin Mr.
A few minutes later he appeared with his hands full of coarse green leaves with slender, lance-shaped tips, the name of which none of the boys ever knew. "Karosha," he said "all right, all right," and so proceeded to bind these on Rob's wounded fingers.
By this time they were nearly worn out, their arms trembling, and their faces pale from over-exertion, but they dared not stop, and so pulled on as best they could. All at once Skookie spoke. "Karosha!" he exclaimed. "Pretty soon all light, all light! I hear-um water over dar." He meant that he now could hear the surf breaking along the beach on their side of the bay.
"Karosha!" said he, at length, holding up several long, white bulbs about as thick as his finger; and he made a motion as though to eat them. "Ah, ha!" said Rob. "This is an Aleut potato-patch, it seems. All right, we'll just gather some of these and use them for vegetables. They'll help out the meat and fish, perhaps."
Word Of The Day