It is certain death to see an Incanti, and no one
but the magicians sees them except in dreams, and in that case the
magicians are consulted, and advise and direct what is to be done."[D]
[Footnote A: Grimm ap. Keightley, p. 261.]
[Footnote B: Villemarque, ibid., 431.]
[Footnote C: Tregear, _ut supra._]
[Footnote D: _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, xx. 124.]
Dr. Nansen, speaking of the Ignerssuit (plural of Ignersuak, which means
"great fire"), says that they are for the most part good spirits, inclined
to help men. The entrance to their dwellings is on the sea-shore.
According to the Eskimo legend, "The first earth which came into existence
had neither seas nor mountains, but was quite smooth. When the One above
was displeased with the people upon it, He destroyed the world. It burst
open, and the people fell down into the rifts and became Ignerssuit and
the water poured over everything."[A] The spirits here alluded to appear
to be the same as those described by Mr. Boas as Uissuit in his monograph
on the Central Eskimo.
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