Farther Examination in the Boats for the Purpose of Connecting theShores of Lyon Inlet with that of Gore Bay.—Continuity of theLand determined.—Fresh Detention by the Ice.—Boats carried overLand.—Return to the Ships.—Progress out of the Inlet preventedby the Ice.—The Fury grounds upon a Rock.—Anchor in SafetyCove.—Heavy Easterly Gales.—Proceed out of the Inlet.—Arrivalin a Bay on the south Side of Winter Island.—Ships secured inWinter-quarters.
Again leaving the ships on the 15th, we rowed before sunset between six and seven miles along the high southwestern land, passing what appeared a small harbour, with an island near the middle of the entrance, and landed on a shingly beach near a small bay or creek, extending three quarters of a mile to the W.N.W., and then terminating in a deep, broad valley. We left the shore at half past four A.M. on the 16th, and in an hour's sailing, with a fresh northwest wind, came to some loose ice, through which we continued to make our way till eleven o'clock, when it became so close that a passage could no longer be found in any direction. There was also so much young ice in every small interval between the loose masses, that the boats were much cut about the water-line in endeavouring to force through it. In order, therefore, to avoid the risk of being altogether driven from the shore, I determined to attempt a passage into the bay, which was three quarters of a mile distant; and in this, after two hours' labour, we at length succeeded. Finding that the ice was likely to prove an obstacle of which we could not calculate the extent or continuance, we began at once to reduce our daily expenditure of provisions, in order to meet any contingency.
Ascending the hill at daylight on the 17th, we were much disappointed in finding that, though the ice continued to drive a little to the S.E., it was even more compact than before, the loose masses through which we had sailed the preceding day being now closely set together.
As soon as it was light enough on the 18th to make out the situation of the ice, which had now drifted considerably to the southward, we left the bay with a fresh and favourable breeze, and at a quarter past eight A.M., after a quick run through "sailing ice," landed to breakfast on the southeast point of this shore, which afterward received the name CAPE MARTINEAU. Proceeding from hence with a strong breeze and a considerable sea ahead, but the flood tide still running slowly with us to the N.W., we rowed several miles close along the shore, and entered at dusk a little cove, where the tents were pitched and the boats moored for the night.
The night being cold, clear, and nearly calm, a quantity of "bay-ice," half an inch in thickness, had, on the morning of the 19th, formed in the cove, and for some distance outside of it, which again cut the boats' planks very much, besides occasioning great loss of time in getting through it. This symptom of approaching winter, which had now for the first time occurred to us, rendered it expedient in future to select the most open beaches for our resting-places at night. After tracing every bend of the shore which here occurred, we landed at the point called by Captain Lyon POINT FARHILL, and, ascending the hill to take angles, obtained a view of Gore Bay, easily recognising every other feature of the lands discovered by Captain Lyon. A mile or two of coast was now all that remained to be examined, in order to determine the connexion of Gore Bay with the rest of the land recently explored. Proceeding, therefore, as soon as our observations were finished, we soon after entered the bay, and in the course of an hour had satisfied ourselves on this point.
The ice remained closely packed on the 21st, as far as we could see along shore, so that we were still detained in the same place. Some snow which fell in the course of the preceding night, lightly powdering the land, had entirely disappeared before evening, except in places having a northern aspect, where it now permanently remained for the winter.
On the morning of the 22d the ice was not only as close as ever, but had forced its way much higher up towards Gore Bay. A party was therefore sent out to endeavour to procure game farther inland; and another employed in gathering ground-willow, which was here abundant and in good condition for fuel. Two bears, a female and her cub, being probably attracted by the smell of our cooking, came towards the tents upon the ice, but, upon hearing our voices, set off in the opposite direction. A good deal of snow fell in partial showers in the course of the day; it was nearly of that fine kind which usually falls during the winter of these regions, but we had flake snow and even light rain some days after this. The snow, however, now remained undissolved upon the land in all situations. Our hunting party returned late in the evening without success, having merely seen a number of reindeer, which the want of cover prevented their approaching. Seven days out of the nine for which we were victualled having now elapsed, a party was selected for walking over to the ships on the following day, should the ice still continue in its present state.
The ice continuing in the same state, we commenced our work at break of day on the 24th, and in three journeys had carried all the lighter part of our baggage over land by eleven o'clock. All hands then returned for the two boats, across the gunwales of which the masts and oars were lashed for lifting them, the ground not allowing us to drag them except for a short space here and there. By half past one the first boat had been carried over, and, by the unwearied exertions of the officers and men, we had the satisfaction of launching the second before four o'clock, the distance being a mile and a half, and chiefly over rocky and uneven ground. As soon as we had dined, the boats were reloaded; and at five o'clock we left the shore. A quantity of ice was still aground upon the shoals and islets off Cape Martineau, through which, however, we fortunately found a passage before dark, when, having cleared every obstacle, we sailed in an open sea and with a fresh breeze to the northward. Keeping close along the shore to avoid missing the ships in the dark, our first musket was immediately answered by a blue-light; and, being guided by the lights now shown by the ships, we arrived at nine P.M., where we found that our late detention had excited some alarm for our safety.
On the 1st of October some small rain fell, which, immediately freezing, made the decks and ropes as smooth and slippery as if coated with glass; the thermometer had for several days past permanently fallen below the freezing point, and sometimes as low as 20° at night; which change, together with the altered appearance of the land, and the rapid formation of young ice near the shores, gave pretty evident notice of the approach of winter. The commencement of this dreary season in these regions may, indeed, be fairly dated from the time when the earth no longer receives and radiates heat enough to melt the snow which falls upon it. When the land is once covered with this substance, so little calculated to favour the absorption of heat, the frigorific process seems to be carried on with increased vigour, defining very clearly the change from summer to winter, with little or no immediate interval to which the name of autumn can be distinctly assigned.
We passed Cape Edwards on the 6th; but on the 8th the formation of young ice upon the surface of the water began most decidedly to put a stop to the navigation of these seas, and warned us that the season of active operations was nearly at an end.
When to the ordinary difficulties which the navigation of the Polar Seas presents were superadded the disadvantages of a temperature at or nearzero, its necessary concomitant the young ice, and twelve hours of darkness daily, it was impossible any longer to entertain a doubt of the expediency of immediately placing the ships in the best security that could be found for them during the winter, rather than run the risk of being permanently detached from the land by an endeavour to regain the continent. We were in hopes of receiving effectual shelter from the numerous grounded masses, but could only find berths within one of them in five to six fathoms water. We now, for the first time,walkedon board the ships; and, before night, had them moved into their places, by sawing a canal for two or three hundred yards through the ice. The average thickness of the new floe was already three inches and a quarter; but being in some places much less, several officers and men fell in, and, from the difficulty of getting a firm place to rest on, narrowly escaped a more serious inconvenience than a thorough wetting. The whole sheet of ice, even in those parts which easily bore a man's weight, had a waving motion under the feet, like that of leather or any other tough flexible substance set afloat, a property which is, I believe, peculiar to salt-water ice.
In reviewing the events of this our first season of navigation, and considering what progress we had made towards the accomplishment of our main object, it was impossible, however trifling that progress might appear upon the chart, not to experience considerable satisfaction. Small as our actual advance had been towards Behring's Strait, the extent of coast newly discovered and minutely explored in pursuit of our object, in the course of the last eight weeks, amounted to more than two hundred leagues, nearly half of which belonged to the Continent of North America. This service, notwithstanding our constant exposure to the risks which intricate, shoal, and unknown channels, a sea loaded with ice, and a rapid tide concurred in presenting, had providentially been effected without injury to the ships, or suffering to the officers and men; and we had now once more met with tolerable security for the season. Above all, however, I derived the most sincere satisfaction from a conviction of having left no part of the coast from Repulse Bay eastward in a state of doubt as to its connexion with the continent. And as the mainland now in sight from the hills extended no farther to the eastward than about a N.N.E. bearing, we ventured to indulge a sanguine hope of our being very near the northeastern boundary of America, and that the early part of the next season would find us employing our best efforts in pushing along its northern shores.
Precautions for the Security of the Ships and their Stores—Andfor the Health and Comfort of the Crews.—Establishment ofTheatrical Entertainments and Schools.—Erection of an Observatoryand House on Shore.—State of Health at this Period.—PartialDisruption of the Ice in the Bay.—Anchors and Cables taken to theShore.—Gradual Increase of Cold, Appearance of the AuroraBorealis on several Occasions, and various other MeteorologicalPhenomena to the Close of the Year 1821.
Our operations at sea being now at an end for the season, my chief attention was directed to the security of the ships, and to the various internal arrangements which experience suggested as necessary for the preservation of cleanliness, health, and comfort during the winter, as well as for the economical expenditure of provisions, fuel, and other stores.
The situation which circumstances obliged us to put up with for our winter-quarters was by no means as secure as could have been wished. The bay, though as fine a roadstead as could have been desired if situated in a more temperate climate, was still only a roadstead; and, being entirely open to the south, was exposed to a pressure from the ice in that direction, unless the solid floe now about to be formed round the ships should shortly become sufficient to guard them from external injury. There was some reason, however, to doubt the efficacy of this protection; for, as the spring-tides approached, the numerous grounded masses around the shores of the bay began to evince symptoms of instability, one or two having fallen over, and others turned round; so that these masses might be looked upon rather as dangerous neighbours, likely to create a premature disruption of the ice, than as the means of security, which, in seas not subject to any considerable rise of tide, they had so often proved to us on former occasions. To these circumstances was added our uncertainty whether very high tides during the winter might not crack the ice, thereby exposing the ships to the double danger of being "nipped" about their water-line, and of being drifted out of the bay by northerly gales. That which was, however, perhaps the most to be apprehended, was the possibility of the ships being forced into shoal water, without detaching themselves from the mass of ice cemented to their bends, the weight of which, hanging upon the sides of a ship left aground by the tide, could not but produce very serious injury.
About the time of our arrival in the bay, when the thermometer had fallen nearly tozero, the condensation of vapour upon the beams of the lower deck, and in the cabins near the hatchways, commenced just as it had done at a similar temperature before. To remedy this evil, no time was lost in lighting a fire in the warming-stove upon the orlop-deck, everything being previously moved from its neighbourhood that was likely to create danger. The iron tanks in the main hatchway were laid bare on the top, and the interstices between them filled with sand, to form a secure platform in front of the fire; and the sailroom, bulkheads, and stancheons covered with sheet copper. Four steady men, of whom one was a petty officer, were appointed to attend the fire in regular watches, being made responsible for the due expenditure of the fuel, and for the safety of everything about the stove. They had likewise particular charge of the fire-engine, buckets, and two tanks of water, all of which were kept in the hatchway in constant readiness in case of accidents. In addition to these precautions, some general regulations were established for stationing the officers and men in the event of fire; and a hole was directed to be kept open in the ice alongside each ship, to ensure at all times a sufficient supply of water. In twelve hours after lighting the stove not a drop of moisture remained.
The regulations for the maintenance of due cleanliness among the ships' companies were principally the same as those established on the preceding voyage. As a source of rational amusement to the men, soon after our arrival I proposed to Captain Lyon and the officers of both ships once more to set on foot a series of theatrical entertainments, from which so much benefit in this way had, on a former occasion, been derived. This proposal was immediately and unanimously acquiesced in; Captain Lyon obligingly undertook to be our, manager, and, some preparation having been made for this purpose previous to leaving England, everything was soon arranged for performing a play on board the Fury once a fortnight.
To furnish rational and useful occupation to the men on the other evenings, a school was also established for the instruction of such of the men as were willing to take advantage of this opportunity of learning to read and write, or of improving in those acquirements.
While these internal arrangements were making, the interests of science were not neglected. A day or two after our arrival, Mr. Fisher and myself selected a spot for the portable observatory, which was immediately erected for the purpose of making magnetic observations; and, as soon as the carpenters could be spared from the necessary duties of the ships, a house was built for the reception of the instruments requisite in conducting the other observations and experiments.
Soon after our arrival here, Captain Lyon expressed a wish that his officers and men, with himself, should attend divine service on board the Fury during the continuance of the ships in winter-quarters. This arrangement was accordingly made, and we formed one congregation for the rest of the winter. Our lower deck afforded abundance of accommodation in this respect; some psalm tunes, which had been purposely set upon an organ, were played at the proper intervals of the service, and our little church formed a pleasing and interesting scene to such as are disposed to be interested by scenes of this nature.
I have before mentioned the myriads of small shrimps (cancer nugax) which for some weeks past had been observed near the surface of the sea. These insects were found to be still as numerous as ever in any hole we made in the ice; and such was the extreme avidity with which they immediately seized upon any meat put overboard, to thaw or soak for the sake of freshness, that Captain Lyon to-day sent me a goose to look at, belonging to the officers of the Hecla, that had been thus deposited within their reach only eight and forty hours, and from which they had eaten every ounce of meat, leaving only a skeleton most delicately cleaned. Our men had before remarked that their meat suffered unusual loss of substance by soaking, but did not know to what cause to attribute the deficiency. We took advantage, however, of the hunger of these depredators to procure complete skeletons of small animals, for preservation as anatomical specimens, enclosing them in a net or bag with holes, to which the shrimps could have access, but which prevented the loss of any of the limbs, should the cartilage of the joints be eaten. For want of this latter precaution some specimens were at first rendered imperfect.
A pair of snow-boots were now issuedgratisto each individual in the expedition, being part of a stock of extra warm clothing liberally furnished by government, to be supplied to the officers and men at my discretion, as occasion should require. These boots were made of strong drab cloth, with thick soles of cork, the slowly conducting property of which substance, together with their large size, allowing a free circulation to the blood, afforded the utmost comfort that could be desired. Boots or shoes ofleathernever retain the warmth long, under circumstances of very severe exposure.
The wind veering to the S.E. on the 24th and 25th, the thermometer gradually rose to +23°. I may possibly incur the charge of affectation in stating that this temperature was much too high to be agreeable to us; but it is nevertheless the fact, that everybody felt and complained of the change. We had often before remarked, that considerable alterations in the temperature of the atmosphere are as sensibly felt by the human frame at a very low part of the scale, as in the higher. The difference consists only in this, that a change from -40° upward to aboutzerois usually a very welcome one, while fromzeroto the freezing point, as in the instance just alluded to, it becomes, to persons in our situation, rather an inconvenience than otherwise. This may be more readily imagined by considering that our clothing, bedding, fires, and other precautions against the severity of the climate having been once adapted to a low degree of cold, an increase of temperature renders them oppressive and inconvenient; while any reduction (of the first two, at least) is impracticable with safety. To this must be added, that at this temperature the snow becomes too soft for convenient walking, and the accumulation of ice in the crevices and linings of the officers' cabins is converted into a source of extreme annoyance, which, while it continues solid, is never experienced. It is true that these inconveniences occur in a much greater degree in the spring; but being then hailed as the harbingers of the return of permanent warmth, it is easy to obviate some, and would be hard to complain of any of them.
Nov. 6.—For several days about this period the weather continued remarkably mild, the thermometer generally rising as high as from +20° to +28° in the course of the day, from the 6th to the 16th. Most of our necessary arrangements for the security of the ships and stores during the winter being now completed, the people were employed in what they called "rigging the theatre," and on the evening of the 9th the officers performed the play of the "Rivals," to the infinite amusement of both ships' companies.
On the 1st of December there was a space of many miles in which none of the "old ice" was visible. The sea was here for the most part covered with a very thin sheet of "young" ice, probably the formation of a single day, since the westerly wind had driven the 'floes' off the land. The whole of this was in motion with the tide, which, breaking the thin floes, left several spaces of clear water. It was observable that, though a considerable frost-smoke arose from the young ice, it was not so dense as that from the clear water, immediately over every pool of which a little thick cloud floated, corresponding as well in size as in situation with the pond from whence it issued. A number of dovekies were swimming about the point; and it being desirable, if possible, to obtain some of them for the sake of ascertaining their plumage at this season, we hauled the small boat over and launched her. Mr. Ross succeeded in killing one of the birds, which was preserved as a specimen, but it was with great difficulty that the boat avoided being carried away from the shore by the young ice. I was, on this account, afraid of repeating the attempt during the rest of the winter. One grouse was seen on shore; it appeared entirely white, except having its tail black near the tip.
I was this day under the necessity of closing in my stern dead-lights, and fixing cork shutters between the double window-frames of my cabin, the temperature having lately fallen rather low at night; in consequence of which, one of the chronometers had stopped on the 26th of November. We had before this time banked the snow up against the sides; but it was now thrown higher, and its thickness at the bottom increased to about four feet. Besides this, a bed of snow, three feet deep, was subsequently laid on the deck over my cabin, and also on the forecastle over the sick-bay, to assist in retaining the warmth in those parts of the ship; an office which it seemed to perform very effectually. It was impossible, however, as the cold increased, to keep up a tolerably comfortable temperature in the cabin if the fire was suffered to go out for several hours: for instance, the night after the above arrangements had been made, the fire was out for only six hours; and the consequence was, that the thermometer fell to 27°, and could be got no higher on the following day, in the after part of the cabin, though only nine feet from the stove, than 33°. This was, indeed, a most inclement day, the temperature of the atmosphere having for the first time fallen to -27°, accompanied by a fresh wind from the northward and westward.
A great squeezing of the young floes took place at the S.E. point of the island on the 12th. The noise it makes when heard at a distance very much resembles that of a heavy wagon labouring over a deep gravelly road; but, when a nearer approach is made, it is more like the growling of wild animals, for which it was in one or two instances mistaken. It was, however, rather useful than otherwise, to encourage the belief that bears were abroad, as, without some such idea, people are apt to become careless about going armed.
The thermometer rising to -5° in the course of the 17th, the weather appeared warm to our feelings. It proved favourable also for another play, which had been fixed for this night, and the "Poor Gentleman" was performed by the officers in so admirable and feeling a manner as to excite uncommon interest among the men, and to convince me more than ever of the utility of our theatrical amusements. The 18th was a remarkably clear day, without any of that cloudiness which usually hung about the southern horizon. The sun was therefore clearly visible at noon, when such was its oval shape that its horizontal diameter exceeded the vertical by 4' 07". We had light in the cabin for reading and writing for three hours and a quarter without candles, and about five hours for convenient walking.
On the evening of the 24th, being Christmas eve, the ships' companies were amused by the officers performing the two farces of "A Roland for an Oliver," and the "Mayor of Garratt." On Christmas day, divine service on board the Fury was attended by the officers and crews of both ships. A certain increase was also made in the allowance of provisions, to enable the people to partake of Christmas festivities to the utmost extent which our situation and means would allow; and the day was marked by the most cheerful hilarity, accompanied by the utmost regularity and good order. Among the luxuries which our Christmas dinner afforded was that of a joint of English roast beef, of which a few quarters had been preserved for such occasions by rubbing the outside with salt, and hanging it on deck covered with canvass. The low latitude in which our last summer's navigation was performed would have rendered its preservation doubtful without the salt.
On the arrival of the last day of the year, it was impossible not to experience very high gratification in observing the excellent health and spirits enjoyed by almost every officer and man in both ships. The only invalid in the expedition was Reid, our carpenter's mate, and even he was at this period so much improved, that very sanguine hopes were entertained of his continued amendment. In consequence of the effectual manner in which the men were clothed, particularly about the feet, not a single frostbite had occurred that required medical assistance even for a day; and, what was more important to us, not a scorbutic symptom had appeared.
To increase our ordinary issue of anti-scorbutics, liberal as it already was, we had from the commencement of the winter adopted a regular system of growing mustard and cress, which the superior warmth of the ships now enabled us to do on a larger scale than before. Each mess, both of the officers and ships' company, was for this purpose furnished with a shallow box filled with mould, in which a crop could generally be raised in from eight to ten days. The quantity thus procured on board the Fury now amounted to about fifty pounds' weight, and before the arrival of spring to nearly one hundred pounds; and, trifling as such a supply may appear to those who are in the habit of being more abundantly furnished, it will not be considered to have been without its use, when it is remembered how complete a specific for the scurvyfreshvegetable substance has invariably proved.
With respect to the occupations which engaged our time, during this season of unavoidable inactivity, I can add little or nothing to my former account of the manner in which we passed the winter at Melville Island; for the two situations were so nearly similar, and our resources necessarily so limited in this way, that it was not easy to produce much variety in the employment of them. It may be imagined, and was, indeed, anticipated by ourselves, that want of novelty was on the present occasion a disadvantage likely to render our confinement more tedious than before; but this by no means appeared to be the case: for the men, sufficient employment may always be found to prevent the possibility of their being idle; and I have already noticed the auxiliaries to which we had recourse to assist in promoting this end; while most officers have resources within themselves, of which scarcely any situation or circumstances can divest them. What with reading, writing, making and calculating observations, observing the various natural phenomena, and taking the exercise necessary to preserve our health, nobody, I believe, ever felt any symptoms ofennuiduring our continuance in winter-quarters.
Among the recreations which afforded the highest gratification to several among us, I may mention the musical parties we were enabled to muster, and which assembled on stated evenings throughout the winter, alternately in Captain Lyon's cabin and my own. More skilful amateurs in music might well have smiled at these our humble concerts; but it will not incline them to think less of the science they admire, to be assured that, in these remote and desolate regions of the globe, it has often furnished us with the most pleasurable sensations which our situation was capable of affording: for, independently of the mere gratification afforded to the ear by music, there is, perhaps, scarcely a person in the world really fond of it, in whose mind its sound is not more or less connected with "his far distant home."
With our time thus occupied, our comforts so abundant, and the prospect to seaward so enlivening, it would, indeed, have been our own faults had we felt anything but enjoyment in our present state, and the most lively hopes and expectations for the future.
Many Foxes caught.—Continued Open Water in the Offing.—PartialDisruption of the Ice in the Bay.—Meteorological Phenomena, andTemperature of Animals.—Arrival of a Tribe of Esquimaux.—FirstMeeting and subsequent Intercourse with them.—Esquimaux in Wantof Provisions.—Supplied with Bread-dust.—Some Account of aSealing Excursion with them.—Fresh Disruption of the Ice in theBay.—Closing of the Winter Theatre.—Meteorological Phenomenatill the End of February, 1822.
The first day of the new year was a very severe one in the open air, the thermometer being down to -22°, and the wind blowing strong from the northwest. The effect of a breeze upon the feelings is well known to every person, even in comparatively temperate climates, but at low temperatures it becomes painful and almost insupportable. Thus, with the thermometer at -55°, and no wind stirring, the hands may remain uncovered for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour without inconvenience; while, with a fresh breeze, and the thermometer nearly as high aszero, few people can keep them exposed so long without considerable pain.
About noon on the 2d, Captain Lyon observed a considerable body of snow taken up by the wind and whirled round in a spiral form like that of a water-spout, though with us the breeze was quite light at the time. It increased gradually in size till lost behind the southeast point. As a proof of the difficulty which the hares must find in obtaining subsistence during the winter, these animals were at this time in the habit of coming alongside the ships upon the ice to pick up what they could from our rubbish-heaps. A fox or two still entered the traps occasionally, and our gentlemen informed me that they had always been most successful in catching them after a southerly wind, which they attributed, with great probability, to the smell of the ships being thus more extensively communicated over the island. One or two of these poor creatures had been found in the traps with their tongues almost bitten in two. The traps made use of for catching these beautiful little animals were formed of a small cask, having a sliding door like that of a common mouse-trap, and were baited with oiled meat or blubber. The whole number caught during the winter was between eighty and ninety, of which more than seventy were taken before the end of December. In a single trap of Captain Lyon's, no less than fifteen were caught in the course of four hours, on the night of the 25th of November; and the people engaged in watching the trap remarked, that no sooner had one of these animals been taken out, and they themselves retired a few yards, than another entered it. So stupid, indeed, are they in this respect, that, in several instances, those which had escaped from the ships entered, and were recaught in the same traps as before.
Jan. 14.—An ermine, of which the tracks had been traced the preceding day up the Hecla's stern, and even on board her, Captain Lyon to-day succeeded in catching in a trap. This beautiful creature was entirely white, except a black brush to its tail, and a slight tinge of the usual sulphur or straw colour on the root of the tail, and also on the fore part of the fore legs. The little animal being put into a convenient cage, seemed soon to feel himself perfectly at home, eating, drinking, and sleeping without any apparent apprehension, but evincing a very decided determination to resent a too near approach to the wires of his new habitation.
Jan. 18.—At a late hour this evening the stovepipe of my cabin caught fire, which gave us a momentary alarm, but, buckets and water being at hand, it was soon extinguished. This accident was occasioned by a quantity of soot collected in the stovepipe, and yet was not altogether to be attributed to neglect in the persons appointed to sweep the whole of them twice a week. As the cause of it is such as is not likely to be anticipated by persons living in temperate climates, and as the knowledge of it may be serviceable to somebody destined for a cold one, I shall here explain it. The smoke of coals contains a certain quantity of water in the state of vapour. This, in temperate climates, and, indeed, till the thermometer falls to about 10° belowzero, is carried up the chimney and principally diffused in the atmosphere. When the cold becomes more intense, however, this is no longer the case; for the vapour is then condensed into water before it can escape from the stovepipes, within which a mass of ice is, in consequence, very speedily formed.[*] The vapour thus arrested must necessarily also detain a quantity of soot, which, being subsequently enclosed in the ice as the latter accumulates, the brush generally used to clean the pipes cannot bring it away. By any occasional increase of temperature, either in the external air or in the fire below, the ice sometimes thaws, pouring down a stream of water into the fire, and bringing with it a most pungent and oppressive smell of soot. For these reasons, as well as to avoid accidents of the nature above alluded to, it is necessary to sweep the pipes much more frequently than in warmer climates, and even occasionally to thaw the ice out of them by a fire made expressly for the purpose.
[Footnote: When the weather was not very severely cold, and a part of the vapour escaped from the pipe of the galley-fire, the fore-rigging was always coated with ice, from the smoke passing by it.]
On the morning of the 1st of February it was reported to me that a number of strange people were seen to the westward, coming towards the ships over the ice. On directing a glass towards them we found them to be Esquimaux, and also discovered some appearance of huts on shore, at the distance of two miles from the ships, in the same direction. I immediately set out, accompanied by Captain Lyon, an officer from each ship, and two of the men, to meet the natives, who, to the number of five-and-twenty, were drawn up in a line abreast, and still advanced slowly towards us. As we approached nearer they stood still, remaining, as before, in a compact line, from which they did not move for some time after we reached them. Nothing could exceed their quiet and orderly behaviour on this occasion, which presented a very striking contrast with the noisy demeanour of the natives of Hudson's Strait. They appeared at a distance to have arms in their hands; but what we had taken for bows or spears proved to be only a few blades of whalebone, which they had brought either as a peace-offering or for barter, and which we immediately purchased for a few small nails and beads. Some of the women, of whom there were three or four, as well as two children, in this party, having handsome clothes on which attracted our attention, they began, to our utter astonishment and consternation, to strip, though the thermometer stood at 23° below zero. We soon found, however, that there was nothing so dreadful in this as we at first imagined, every individual among them having on a complete double suit. The whole were of deerskin, and looked both clean and comfortable.
However quietly the Esquimaux had awaited our approach, and still continued to conduct themselves, there was as little apprehension or distrust visible in their countenances or manner as it was possible for one strange set of persons to evince on meeting another. As soon, therefore, as we had bought all that they had to sell, and made them a number of valuable presents, we expressed by signs our wish to accompany them to their huts, with which they willingly complied, and we immediately set out together. On our way the Esquimaux were much amused by our dogs, especially by a large one of the Newfoundland breed, that had been taught to fetch and carry; a qualification which seemed to excite unbounded astonishment; and the children could scarce contain themselves for joy when Captain Lyon gave them a stick to throw for the dog to bring back to them. A child of five or six years old, thus amusing itself, on such a day and in such a climate, formed by no means the least characteristic figure of our motley group. An old and infirm man, supported by a stick, which, indeed, he much needed, was soon left behind us, his companions seeming to take no notice of his infirmities, and leaving him without reluctance or apology to find his way home at his own pace. When we had approached the huts within a few hundred yards, three of the Esquimaux went on before us, having previously explained that they were going to confine their dogs, lest, being frightened at our coming, they should run away.
When it is remembered that these habitations were fully within sight of the ships, and how many eyes were continually on the look-out among us for anything that could afford variety or interest in our present situation, our surprise may in some degree be imagined at finding an establishment of five huts, with canoes, sledges, dogs, and above sixty men, women, and children, as regularly and, to all appearance, as permanently fixed as if they had occupied the same spot for the whole winter. If the first view of the exterior of this little village was such as to create astonishment, that feeling was in no small degree heightened, on accepting the invitation soon given us to enter these extraordinary houses, in the construction of which we observed that not a single material was used but snow and ice. After creeping through two low passages, having each its arched doorway, we came to a small circular apartment, of which the roof was a perfect arched dome. From this three doorways, also arched, and of larger dimensions than the outer ones, led into as many inhabited apartments, one on each side, and the other facing us as we entered. The interior of these presented a scene no less novel than interesting. The women were seated on the beds at the sides of the huts, each having her little fireplace or lamp with all her domestic utensils about her; the children crept behind their mothers, and the dogs, except the female ones, which were indulged with a part of the beds, slunk out past us in dismay. The construction of this inhabited part of the huts was similar to that of the outer apartment, being a dome formed by separate blocks of snow, laid with great regularity and no small art, each being cut into the shape requisite to form a substantial arch, from seven to eight feet high in the centre, and having no support whatever but what this principle of building supplied. I shall not here farther describe the peculiarities of these curious edifices, remarking only that a cheerful and sufficient light was admitted to them by a circular window of ice neatly fitted into the roof of each apartment.
We found our new acquaintance as desirous of pleasing us as we were ready to be pleased; so that we were soon on good terms with them all. While we were engaged in examining every part of their huts, their whole behaviour was in the highest degree orderly, respectful, and good-humoured. They eagerly received the various articles that were given them, either in exchange for their own commodities or as presents, but on no occasion importuned us for anything, nor did the well-known sound of "pilletay" once escape from them. We had also great reason to believe that these people possessed, in no ordinary degree, the quality of honesty; a quality the more desirable to us, as we had on shore, besides the house and observatory, all our boats and other articles, which, had they been disposed to pilfer, it would have required all our vigilance to guard. If we dropped a glove or a handkerchief without knowing it, they would immediately direct our attention to it by pointing; and if the owner had left the hut before they discovered it, would run out after him to return it. Numberless instances of a similar kind occurred in the course of our subsequent communication with them, some of which I shall hereafter have an opportunity of relating.
After remaining with them a couple of hours, and proposing to spend the following day among them, we set out on our return to the ships. Being desirous of trying their disposition to part with their children, I proposed to buy a fine lad, namedToolooak, for the very valuable consideration of a handsome butcher's knife. His father, apparently understanding our meaning, joyfully accepted the knife, and the boy ran into the hut to fetch his mittens, which seemed to be all that he cared for in leaving his home. He then set off with us in high spirits, and at first assisted in drawing a sledge we had purchased to carry our things; but as he began, by our additional signs, more clearly to comprehend our true meaning, he gradually relaxed in his zeal to accompany our party, and, being afterward overtaken by a number of his companions, he took an opportunity to slink off among some hummocks of ice, so that, when we arrived on board, Toolooak was missing.
On our reaching the ships, these people expressed much less surprise and curiosity than might naturally have been expected on their first visit, which may, perhaps, in some measure, be attributed to their being in reality a less noisy kind of people than most of the Esquimaux to whom we had before been accustomed. Quiet and orderly, however, as they were disposed to be, this first visit showed them to be as fond of merriment as their countrymen are usually considered; for, on Captain Lyon's ordering his fiddler up on the Hecla's deck, they danced with the men for an hour, and then returned in high glee and good-humour to their huts.
On our return on board we were informed that, during our absence in the morning, a flock of thirteen wolves, the first yet seen, crossed the ice in the bay from the direction of the huts, and passed near the ships. These animals, as we afterward learned, had accompanied or closely followed the Esquimaux on their journey to the island the preceding day, and they proved to us the most troublesome part of theirsuite. They so much resemble the Esquimaux dogs, that, had it not been for some doubt among the officers who had seen them whether they were so or not, and the consequent fear of doing these poor people an irreparable injury, we might have killed most of them the same evening, for they came boldly to look for food within a few yards of the Fury, and remained there for some time.
In order to prevent our people from occasioning the Esquimaux any disturbance or apprehension, I directed that only six from each ship should be allowed to visit the huts at one time, and that they should then be always accompanied by an officer. A strict prohibition was, at the same time, issued against the smallest article of the ships' stores being given to the people without permission, on pain of severe punishment.
At an early hour on the 2d we set out, with a large party, on our proposed excursion to the huts. The natives received us with great cordiality, though with somewhat more noisy expressions of pleasure than before; and we soon began a more minute examination of their habitations and furniture, in which they readily assisted us, except that they always sat very closely on the deerskins which composed their beds, under which were stowed such articles as they were least willing or able to dispose of. They sold, however, a great number of their things without reluctance; and it was, indeed, astonishing to see with what eagerness they would, for the mere sake of change and variety, barter some of their most indispensable articles for the veriest trifles in our possession. For instance, a single sewing-needle, of which they possessed abundance not much inferior to our own, procured from them a large, well-sharpenedp=anna, or man's knife, made of stout iron, for which, in point of absolute utility, a hundred needles would not have been a fair equivalent. Various other instances of the same kind occurred, by which, indeed, they were not ultimately losers, though they certainly would have been so had our intercourse ended here.
We dined in the huts, and the Esquimaux gladly partook of our biscuit and meat, and even of a little wine, which, however, they did not relish. We returned on board about sunset, much gratified with the interesting day we had passed; having laid the foundation of that perfect confidence and good understanding which, with little or no interruption, afterward subsisted between us and our new acquaintance.
On the morning of the 3d, a number of these people were observed to set off over the ice to the southwest, to bring, as we conjectured, either some more of their people or of their property from their last place of abode. On walking out to the huts after divine service, however, we found they had been seal-catching, and had succeeded in taking four. The very small quantity of food which they had in their huts at first coming, consisting of a little venison, and the flesh and blubber of the whale and seal, induced us to suppose they had left some of their provision behind, and that they would return for it as occasion demanded. But we now found that even at this rigorous season they were entirely dependant in this way on their daily exertions, and they had only removed into their present quarters on account of the failure of their summer's store, and of the greater facility of obtaining seals at Winter Island than where the sea was more closely and continually frozen.
On the 4th a number of Esquimaux came to the ships, and we took the opportunity of getting them to go through the process of building a snow hut for our amusement and information. From the quickness with which they completed this, our surprise at the sudden appearance of their village ceased; as we now saw that two or three hours would be more than sufficient to complete the whole establishment just as we at first found it. They were then taken on board, and derived great amusement from our organ, and from anything in the shape of music, singing, or dancing, of all which they are remarkably fond. Nor can I here omit a striking instance of the honesty of these people which occurred to-day. Some of the gentlemen of the Hecla had purchased two of their dogs, which had the preceding evening made their escape and returned to the huts. After the departure of the Esquimaux to-day, we were surprised to find that they had left two dogs carefully tied up on board the Fury, which, on inquiry, proved to be the animals in question, and which had been thus faithfully restored to their rightful owners.
On the 5th a number of the natives came on board, according to promise, to rebuild the hut in a more substantial manner, and to put a plate of ice into the roof, as a window, which they did with great quickness as well as care, several of the women cheerfully assisting in the labour. The men seemed to take no small pride in showing in how expeditious and workmanlike a manner they could perform this; and the hut, with its outer passage, was soon completed. From this time they were in the constant habit of coming freely to the ships; and such as it was not always convenient to admit usually found very profitable employment in examining the heaps of ashes, sand, and other rubbish on the outside, where their trouble was well repaid by picking up small scraps of tin or iron. All that they found in this manner we allowed them to consider as their lawful property; but were very particular in preventing their handling anything on board without permission.
The wolves had now begun to do us some damage; for not even the sails that were fastened round the house and observatory could escape their ravenous fangs, and they had thus, in the course of a single night, much injured two of our studding-sails. We set traps for them on the ice, and also large shark-hooks, secured with chains and baited with meat; but the former they entered and destroyed, and the latter was always found broken or bent, without securing the depredators. These animals were indeed so hungry and fearless as to take away some of the Esquimaux dogs in a snow-house near the Hecla's stern, though the men were at the time within a few yards of them.
From the circumstance of Captain Lyon and myself having accidentally gone into different huts on our first visits to the village (for by this name I believe we must venture to dignify the united abodes of more than sixty human beings), particular individuals among the Esquimaux had already, in a manner, attached themselves to each of us. Captain Lyon now informed me that one of his acquaintance, a remarkably fine and intelligent young man, named=Ay~ok~et, had given him to understand that he had somewhere or other seenKabloona[*] people like ourselves only a few months ago. This being the case, there seemed no reason why, if it were made worth his while, he should not be able to see them again in the course of next summer. Anxious to profit by this unexpected mode of communication, I requested Captain Lyon to endeavour to direct Ayoket's attention to the scheme of conveying a letter from us to the persons of whom he spoke.
[Footnote: European.]
On the 7th I paid another visit to the huts, where I found scarcely anybody but women and children, the whole of the men, with the exception of the two oldest, having gone on a sealing excursion to the northeastern side of the island. One of the women, namedIl=igliuk, a sister of the lad Toolooak, who favoured us with a song, struck us as having a remarkably soft voice, an excellent ear, and a great fondness for singing, for there was scarcely any stopping her when she had once begun. We had, on their first visit to the ships, remarked this trait in Iligliuk's disposition, when she was listening for the first time to the sound of the organ, of which she seemed never to have enough; and almost every day she now began to display some of that superiority of understanding for which she was so remarkably distinguished. A few of the women learned several of our names to-day, and I believe all thought us Angekoks[*] of a very superior class, when we repeated to them all round, by the assistance of our books, the names of all their husbands, obtained on board the preceding day. On our way back to the ships we saw a party of them, with their dogs, returning over the hill from the northeastward; and we afterward met another of eight or ten, who had walked round by the southeast point on the ice, all alike unsuccessful, after being out in the wind for six hours, with the thermometer from 18 to 22 degrees belowzero. Thus hardly did these people obtain their daily subsistence at this severe season of the year.
[Footnote: Sorcerers or wizards, pronounced as written above in Greenland; but at Winter IslandAng-~et-k~ook; and by the people at Igloolik,An-n~at-k~o.]
A wolf being caught in one of the traps this evening, which was so close as to be easily watched from the ship, a party of the officers ran out to secure the depredator, and fired two balls into the trap at once to despatch him. Finding, after this, that he continued to bite a sword that was thrust in, a third shot was fired at him. The trap was then sufficiently opened to get his hind legs firmly tied together, after which, being considered tolerably secure, he was pulled out of the trap, which, however, his head had scarcely cleared, when he furiously flew at Mr. Richards's throat, and would certainly have done him some serious mischief had not that gentleman, with great presence of mind, seized the animal in his turn by the throat, squeezing him with all his force between both hands. This made the wolf relinquish his first attempt, and Mr. Richards only suffered by a bite in his arm and another in his knee, which, on account of the thickness of his clothes, were happily not severe ones. As for the wolf, he prudently took to his heels, though two of them were still tied together; and, being favoured by the momentary confusion, occasioned by his late rencounter with Mr. Richards, succeeded in escaping his pursuers. He was found dead the following day at the distance of three quarters of a mile from the ships.
On the 8th we were visited by a musical party of females, consisting only of a few individuals expressly invited for this purpose. A number of the officers assembled in the cabin to hear this vocal concert, while Mr. Henderson and myself took down the notes of their songs, for which, indeed, they gave us every opportunity, for I thought they would never leave off. We afterward amused them with our little band of flutes and violins, and also by some songs, with the whole of which they were extremely well pleased. I feared several of them, and especially Iligliuk, would go into fits with delight when we introduced into our song some of their names mingled with our own. While most of us were thus employed, Captain Lyon took the opportunity of making drawings of some of the women, especially ofTogolat, the prettiest of the party, and, perhaps, of the whole village. She was about six-and-twenty years of age, with a face more oval than that of Esquimaux in general, very pretty eyes and mouth, teeth remarkably white and regular, and possessing in her carriage and manners a degree of natural gracefulness, which could not be hid even under the disguise of an Esquimaux woman's dress, and, as was usual with Togolat, the dirtiest face of her whole tribe. Her husband,Ewerat, a little ugly man of about five-and-forty, was the only individual among them laying claim to the title of Angetkook, and was, in reality, a sensible, obliging man, and a first-rate seal-catcher. They had two children, one of which, a little girl, Togolat still occasionally suckled, and, according to custom, carried in the hood behind her back; the other, a boy about eight years of age, quite an idiot, deaf and dumb from his birth, and squinting most horribly with both eyes.
Finding that these poor creatures were now really in want of food, for the men had again returned from an unsuccessful excursion, I was happy to avail myself of a hint given to me by Captain Lyon, to furnish them occasionally with a small supply of bread-dust, of which we had two or three casks in each ship. Our present party was therefore, in addition to other articles, supplied with several pounds, which they immediately expressed their intention to take home to their children. Several of them visited the ships as usual on the 9th, and among the rest Ka-oong-ut and his son Toolooak. The old gentleman was not a favourite with us, being the only one who had yet begun to tease us by constant begging. We had often expressed displeasure at this habit, which, after a day or two's acquaintance, began to be extremely troublesome; but I had to-day to take cognizance of his stealing a nail, of which I determined to take a rather serious notice, as it might otherwise lead to more extensive theft. I therefore collected all the other Esquimaux who were on board, and having in their presence expressed great indignation at this conduct, turned the offender away in disgrace. Some of those best acquainted with us were afterward taken into the cabin, where our sentiments were more fully explained to them. Among these I was not sorry to have Toolooak and Iligliuk, who would not fail to report at the huts all our proceedings, but who did not appear to consider themselves in the slightest degree implicated in their father's offence, or concerned in his disgrace. The people of the huts being much in want of food, we again distributed some bread-dust among them; taking care to send a portion to the infirm old man,Hik-k~ei-~er= a, byOk~otook, the husband of Iligliuk, a fine, active, manly fellow of about two-and-thirty, who, as we were pleased to find the next day, had punctually executed his commission.
The Esquimaux went out on the 10th to endeavour to catch seals as usual, but returned unsuccessful after several hours' labour. As it was now evident that their own exertions were not at all times sufficient to procure them food at this season, and that neither indolence nor any idea of dependance on our charity induced them to relax in those exertions, it became incumbent on us carefully to attend to their wants, and, by a timely and judicious application of the slender resources we had set aside for their use, prevent any absolute suffering among them. We therefore sent out a good meal of bread-dust for each individual, to be divided in due proportion among all the huts. The necessity of this supply appeared very strongly from the report of our people, who found some of these poor creatures actually gnawing a piece of hard sealskin with the hair on it, while few of the huts had any lamp alight. It must be remembered that the failure of their seal-fishery always involves a double calamity, for it not only deprives them of food, but of fuel for their lamps. When this is the case, not to mention the want of warmth and light in the huts, they are also destitute of the means of melting snow for water, and can therefore only quench their thirst by eating the snow, which is not only a comfortless, but an ineffectual resource. In consequence of this, it was surprising to see the quantity of water these people drank whenever they came on board; and it was often with difficulty that our coppers could answer this additional demand. I am certain that Toolooak one day drank nearly a gallon in less than two hours. Besides the bread-dust, we also supplied them to-day with a wolf's carcass, which, raw and frozen as it was, they ate with a good appetite; and, indeed, they had not the means of cooking, or even thawing it. I cannot here omit a pleasing trait in their character, observed by our people who carried out their supplies; not a morsel of which would the grown-up people touch till they had first supplied the wants of their hungry little ones.
On the morning of the 12th, Okotook and his uncleArnaneelia, a sensible and worthy man of about five-and-forty years of age, coming on board from their fishing, we showed them the stage and scenery that were just put up, and invited them and their wives to the play about to be performed this evening. They accordingly went back and brought the women, who understood they were to be present at some diversion, though they did not well know what. It was enough, however, with Iligliuk, just to make the motion of turning the handle of the organ, which, conveying to her mind the idea of music and merriment, was always sure to put her immediately into high spirits. As they came three or four hours before the performance of "John Bull" was to commence, they began to grow tired and impatient, especially when it became dusk, and candles were brought into the cabin. The men then explained that it would soon be dark, and that, in returning late to their huts, they should disturb the people who would then be fast asleep there. Finding that they grew uneasy, I made no objection to their returning, and sent them off loaded with bread-dust and some oil for each of their lamps. They remained long enough, however, to have a peep atMrs. Brulgruddery, whose dress, when they were informed it was that of akabl=o=ona nooll=e=e-~o(European wife), they were very anxious in examining, and seemed to grieve at going away without sharing the diversion which this and other preparations seemed to promise.
On the 13th, our friends at the huts were fortunate in procuring three seals, an event that created great joy at the village. Mr. Allison, who happened to be there when one of these prizes was announced, informed me that there was a general outcry of joy; all the Women hurried to the doors of the huts, and the children rushed to the beach to meet the men dragging along the prize. One of these little urchins, to complete the triumphant exultation with which this event was hailed, instantly threw himself on the animal, and clinging fast to it, was thus dragged to the huts. Each woman was observed to bring her=o=otk~oos~eek, or cooking-pot, to the hut where the seal was dissected, for the purpose of receiving a share of the meat and blubber.
On the 15th it blew a strong gale from S.W. to W.N.W., and the thermometer, either on account of the strength of the wind or its having occasionally some southing in it, rose to -4°, being the highest temperature registered in our journals since the 27th of December preceding. I had agreed with Okotook to accompany him on a sealing excursion, but the day proved too inclement, the Esquimaux not going out themselves, though it was not very often that the weather could prevent them. Considering it desirable to increase, by all the means in our power, the chances of these people giving information of us, we distributed among several of the men large round medallions of sheet copper, having these words punched through them: "H.B.M.S. Fury and Hecla, all well, A.D. 1822." These we suspended by a piece of white line round their necks, giving them to understand that they were to show them to any Kabloona people they might ever meet with in future. Similar ornaments, but of a smaller size, were subsequently presented to many of the women, having on them the words "Fury and Hecla, 1822."
Early on the morning of the 16th, observing a party of the Esquimaux, equipped with spears, passing near the ships, I joined them, accompanied by Mr. Bushnan and one or two others. Having crossed the point of the island, they walked over the ice to the eastward, where we did not overtake them till they had got above a mile and a quarter from the shore. This party consisted of eight persons, among whom we were glad to find Arnaneelia, Okotook, Toolooak,Pootooalookhis elder brother, and one or two others whom we knew. They had by this time, however, separated into two or three different parties, stationed at the distance of half a mile from each other, along the edge of the floe, beyond which, to the eastward, there was clear water as far as we could see for frost-smoke.
The party we at first joined were seated on a high hummock of ice, with their spears in their hands, looking out for seals. After we had talked to them for a few minutes, Okotook suddenly started up and set off along the edge of the ice, without giving us at his companions the least warning. The latter seemed so much accustomed to this, that they took no farther notice than by immediately following him, and we did the same; the whole party walking at a very quick rate, and the natives keeping their heads constantly turned towards the sea to look out for seals. After being thus engaged for an hour and a half, we judged, from the motions of a party at some distance beyond us, that they had game in view. As we approached them, Okotook evidently began to be apprehensive that we, who did not understand the matter, would spoil their sport. To prevent this, he did the most civil thing that could well have been devised, which was, to send his companions one by one to the spot, and to remain with us himself, keeping us at such a distance as to allow us to see their proceedings, without alarming the animal they were in pursuit of. The other seven Esquimaux, now forming one party, disposed themselves into a single line, so as to make as small an appearance as possible in the direction in which they were going, and in this manner crept very cautiously towards the margin of the floe. On a sudden they all stooped down quite low to hide themselves, and continued thus a quarter of an hour, during which time they prepared their lines and spears; and then, when the animal appeared to be intercepted from their view, again took the opportunity of gaining a few paces upon him, in the same cautious manner as before. When they had been thus occupied for a full hour, alternately creeping and stooping down, the seal, which had been lying on the ice, took the water, and they then gave up their chase. During this time, Okotook could scarcely restrain his impatience to be nearer the scene of action; and when we produced a spyglass, which appeared to bring his companions close to us, he had not words to express his surprise and satisfaction. In a short time he held it as steadily as we did, and explained by signs every motion he observed.
As soon as they had given up the seal they had been watching, the whole party seemed with one accord to turn their steps homeward, in which direction, being that of the ships also, we were by this time not sorry to accompany them. We were now between three and four miles northeast of the ships, and full a mile and a half from any part of the shore. In the open water beyond the floe, the tide was running two knots to the northward, and as the ice on which we stood had been formed only within the last fortnight, and a sheet as substantial as this had before been carried away by the stream it was impossible not to feel some apprehension lest we might thus be detached from the shore, an accident that has been known to happen to Esquimaux ere now,[*] and has probably more frequently befallen them, when none have survived to tell the tale.
[Footnote: Crantz, London edition, 1820, Appendix, p. 310.]
As we returned towards the land, we came to a small rising on the level surface of the floe not larger than a common molehill, and of much the same shape, at which one of the Esquimaux immediately stopped. His companions, still walking on, called us away, explaining that what we saw was the work of a seal, and that it was probable the animal was about to complete his hole and to come up on the ice, in which case the man would endeavour to kill him. We watched the man at the hole, however, with a glass, for more than half an hour, observing him constantly putting his head down towards the ice, as if in the act of listening for the seal, but without otherwise changing his position; after which he followed us on board without success.
If, however, a man has any reason to suppose that a seal is at work beneath, he immediately attaches himself to the place, and seldom leaves it till he has succeeded in killing the animal. For this purpose, he first builds a snow-wall about four feet in height, to shelter him from the wind, and, seating himself under the lee of it, deposites his spear, lines, and other implements upon several little forked sticks inserted into the snow, in order to prevent the smallest noise being made in moving them when wanted. But the most curious precaution to the same effect consists in tying his own knees together with a thong, so securely as to prevent any rustling of his clothes, which might otherwise alarm the animal. In this situation a man will sit quietly sometimes for hours together, attentively listening to any noise made by the seal, and sometimes using thekeip-kuttuk, an instrument hereafter described, in order to ascertain whether the animal is still at work below. When he supposes the hole to be nearly completed, he cautiously lifts his spear, to which the line has been previously attached, and, as soon as the blowing of the seal is distinctly heard, and the ice consequently very thin, he drives it into him with the force of both arms, and then cuts away with hispannathe remaining crust of ice, to enable him to repeat the wounds and get him out. Theneitiekis the only seal killed in this manner, and, being the smallest, is held while struggling either simply by hand, or by putting the line round a spear with the point stuck into the ice. For theoguke, the line is passed round the man's leg or arm; and for a walrus, round his body, his feet being at the same time firmly set against a hummock of ice, in which position these people can, from habit, hold against a very heavy strain. Boys of fourteen or fifteen years of age consider themselves equal to the killing of aneitiek, but it requires a full-grown person to master either of the larger animals.
On the 17th, a number of the Esquimaux coming before the church service, we gave them to understand, by the sun, that none could be admitted before noon, when they quietly remained outside the ships till divine service had been performed. We then endeavoured to explain to Iligliuk that every seventh day they must not come to the ships, for, without any intention of offending, they had become rather an annoyance in this way. They now brought with them a great many little canoes and paddles, sledges, figures of men and women; and other toys, most of them already bespoke by the officers and men, and the rest for sale.
Toolooak, who now considered himself as quite privileged to find his way into the cabin without a conductor, and was not backward in thus practising his newly-acquired art of opening and shutting the door, sat with me for a couple of hours on the 18th, quietly drawing faces and animals, an occupation to which he took a great fancy; and we often were reminded, by this circumstance, of a similar propensity displayed by his amiable countryman, our lamented friend John Sackhouse. We soon found that Toolooak possessed a capacity equal to anything he chose to take an interest in learning; and could he, at his present age, have been voluntarily removed from his companions, and his attention directed to the acquirement of higher branches of knowledge than that of catching seals, he would have amply repaid any pains bestowed upon his education. I had always entertained great objection to taking any such individual from his home, on the doubtful chance of benefiting himself, or of his doing any service to the public as an interpreter. My scruples on this head had hitherto been confined to the consideration due to the individual himself, and to the relatives he leaves behind. In our present case, however, not the smallest public advantage could be derived from it; for it had long ago become evident that we should soon know more of the Esquimaux language than any of them were likely to learn of English in any reasonable period of time. I was therefore far from desiring to receive from Toolooak an answer in the affirmative, when I to-day plainly put the question to him, whether he would go with me toKabloona noona(European country). Never was a more decisive negative given than Toolooak gave to this proposal. He eagerly repeated the wordna-o(no) half a dozen times, and then told me that if he went away his father would cry. This simple but irresistible appeal to paternal affection, his decisive manner of making it, and the feelings by which his reply was evidently dictated, were just what could have been wished. No more could be necessary to convince those who saw it, that these people may justly lay equal claim with ourselves to these common feelings of our nature; and, having once satisfied myself of this, I determined never again to excite in Toolooak's mind another disagreeable sensation, by talking to him on this subject.
Besides the toys and models I have mentioned above, as articles of barter with these people, we also employed them more usefully in making wooden shades for the eyes, after their own method, as the time was fast approaching when some such precaution would become necessary to guard the eyes from the excessive glare of reflected light. There was also a considerabletradeestablished in mittens, which being made of prepared sealskin, and nearly water-tight, were particularly serviceable to our men when constantly handling the leadlines in the summer. In this manner we contrived to turn our new acquaintance to some little account.
Among the natives who visited the Fury to-day was Ewerat; of whom I have already spoken asAng-et-kook, or chief sorcerer of the tribe, a distinction with which he had made some of our gentlemen acquainted at one, of their earliest visits to the huts. Being desirous of seeing him perform some of the tricks which had acquired for him this pre-eminence, I requested him to indulge me with a sight of them. After some little demur, he began to make his lips quiver, then moved his nose up and down, gradually closed his eyes, and increased the violence of his grimaces till every feature was hideously distorted; at the same time, he moved his head rapidly from side to side, uttering sometimes a snuffling sound, and at others a raving sort of cry. Having worked himself into this ridiculous kind of phrensy, which lasted, perhaps, from twenty to thirty seconds, he suddenly discontinued it, and suffered his features to relax into their natural form; but the motion of his head seemed to have so stupified him, as indeed it well might, that there remained an unusual vacancy and a drowsy stare upon his countenance for some time afterward. Being pressed to repeat this piece of buffoonery, he did so two or three times; and on one occasion Togolat asked him, in a serious tone, some questions respecting me, which he as seriously answered. In general, however, the women paid little attention to his grimaces, and the whole ended with a hearty laugh from all parties.
I had to-day some conversation with a woman named Appokiuk, whom Iligliuk had mentioned as having seen Kabloona people before us. This woman was gifted, however, with such a volubility of tongue, that speaking, as she did, in a language very imperfectly known to us, she gave no time for questions, and therefore afforded little information. All we could make out for certain was, that she had, within a year past, seen twoKabloona oomiak(whether ships or boats was still doubtful[*]), and that her husband was now far away. From all this we concluded that she had been far enough to the southward to see the Hudson's Bay ships in the course of their annual voyage; and this account gave us very sanguine hopes of being thus able to communicate with them by means of some of the Esquimaux.
[Footnote: These people apply the wordoomiakto any vessel larger than a canoe.]
On the 20th, a number of our new friends having been allowed upon the upper deck, an old woman namedAy=ug-g~a-lo~okstole our cooper's punch, which she was showing to her companions alongside the Hecla just afterward, when Lieutenant Hoppner observed it, and sent her back with an escort. It was impossible not to admit that the fault was chiefly on our side, in permitting these poor people to roam about too freely amid temptations which scarcely anything human could have withstood; but as it was necessary to take some notice of it, I went through nearly the same process as with Kaoongut, and dismissed her with great appearance of indignation to the huts. We were glad to find that their wants had there been well supplied to-day, three seals having been caught. They had lately, indeed, been tolerably successful in general, and required but little of our assistance. Mr. Elder observing one of their dogs attacked by several wolves, and hastening to the spot with his gun, found that these animals had made such quick work in the partition of their prey, that, though he reached the scene of action in a few minutes, and the dog had at first made considerable resistance, only one of its hind legs remained, each wolf having run off with its share. It is remarkable that these creatures had never entered our traps since the moon had declined to the southward, whereas not a night elapsed before that without their going to them. The Esquimaux had in theirs caught only a fox.
During the eclipse of the sun which took place to-day, the diminution, of light was very considerable, but the weather was unfavourable for observing it for any useful purpose. Captain Lyon remarked, that some of the Esquimaux, who were on alarmed at this phenomenon, which, indeed, made a general bustle among them. Two of them were found on the ice lying on their faces, but it was not ascertained whether their superstitions on this subject were the same as those of their brethren in Greenland.