After leaving that island, we steered along the main shore to a sandy point about four miles distant, and encamped near a very recent resting place of a large party of Esquimaux, not fewer than ten fires having been made since the heavy rain of the morning. There was also vestiges of five or six winter-houses on this point. Richards' Island, which was named in honour of the Governor of the Bank of England, forms the opposite bank of the channel here, and exhibits, like the neighbouring islands, some sandy hummocks and cliffs. The length of the day's voyage was twenty-five miles, and our encampment was situated in lat. 69° 4' N., long. 134° 10' W.
Friday, 7th.We embarked on the morning on the 7th at four o'clock, in cold, hazy weather, and soon came to a point of Richards' Island, on which there were four or five Esquimaux tents, with several skin canoes, and boats lying on the beach. I had previously arranged that on our first interview with the Esquimaux, I was to land with Ooligbuck, whilst Mr. Kendall kept the boats afloat ready to lend us such aid as might be required; conceiving that this was the best way of inspiring the natives with confidence, should they be distrustful, or of securing freedom of action to our crews should they prove unfriendly. The muskets were kept in the arm-chest out of sight, but ready for instant use. As we drew near the point, two women, who were walking along the shore, looked at us with amazement for some minutes, and then ran into the tents and alarmed their inmates. Several men instantly rushed out, nearly naked, with their bows and quivers in their hands, making furious gestures and apparently much frightened. I desired Ooligbuck to speak to them, and called to them myself in their own language that we were friends; but their terror and confusion was so great, that they did not appear to comprehend us. I then took a few beads, files, and knives, in my hand, and landing with Ooligbuck, made some presents to the men, and told them I was come to trade. The moment I mentioned the word "trade" (noowœrlook), their fears subsided, and they sent away their bows, but retained their long knives; those that were clothed thrusting them into their pockets or up their sleeves. An old woman who seemed to have greater self-possession than the rest, and to understand my meaning more readily, ran and fetched some dried fish, for which I gave her beads; and the others then began to manifest an eager desire of exchanging their fish for any thing that I offered. More people coming from the tents, a crowd was formed, who obtained all the trading articles I had brought on shore. As their surprise subsided, their boldness and clamour increased, and some few of them began again to use threatening expressions and gestures, either from a dislike to strangers coming into their country, or for the purpose of intimidation and extortion. When the interview assumed this disagreeable character, Ooligbuck said that they were very bad people, and entreating me to embark, took me on his back and carried me on board. At the same time, several of the natives ran into the water and attempted to drag the boat ashore, but on my calling to them they desisted. One fellow, whose countenance, naturally disagreeable, had been rendered hideous by the insertion of a large brass thimble into a perforation in the under lip, seized upon our tea-kettle, and endeavoured to conceal it under water, but being seen from the Union, he was made to return it.
When we left the shore, all the males, twenty-one in number, embarked in their small canoes or kaiyacks and accompanied us; and in less than a quarter of an hour, the women had struck the tents and embarked them, together with their children, dogs, and luggage, in their row boats or oomiaks, and were in close pursuit. For a time we proceeded down the river together in an amicable manner, bartering beads, steels, flints, files, knives, hatchets, and kettles, for fish, adzes, spears, and arrows. The natives seemed to have a correct idea of property, and showed much tact in their commerce with us; circumstances which have been held by an eminent historian to be evidences of a considerable progress towards civilization[5]. They were particularly cautious not to glut the market by too great a display of their stock in trade; producing only one article at a time, and not attempting to out-bid each other; nor did I ever observe them endeavour to deprive one another of any thing obtained in barter or as a present. As is usual with other tribes of Esquimaux, they asked our names and told us theirs, a practice diametrically opposite to that of the Indians, who conceive it to be improper to mention a man's name in his presence, and will not, on any account, designate their near relatives, except by some indirect phrase. They showed much more curiosity respecting the construction of our boats than any of the tribes of Indians we had seen, and expressed great admiration of the rudder, soon comprehending its mode of action, although it is a contrivance of which they were previously ignorant. They were incessant in their inquiries as to the use of every thing they saw in our possession, but were sometimes content with an answer too brief to afford much explanation; as in the following instance. Ooligbuck had lighted his pipe and was puffing the smoke from his mouth, when they shouted "ookah, ookah," (fire, fire,) and demanded to be told what he was doing. He replied with the greatest gravity, "poo-yoo-al-letchee-rawmah" (I smoke); and this answer sufficed. On my referring to an Esquimaux vocabulary, Ooligbuck, in answer to their questions, told them that the book spoke to me, when they entreated me to put it away. I afterwards detected the rogue with the brass thimble endeavouring to steal this book, and placed it, as I thought, out of his reach; it was missing in the evening, but I never ascertained whether it had been purloined by the Esquimaux or had fallen overboard in moving some of the stores. Seeing me use my pocket telescope, they speedily comprehended its use, and called it "eetee-yawgah" (far eyes) the name that they give to the wooden shade which is used to protect their eyes from the glare of the snow; and which, from the smallness of its aperture, enables them to see distant objects more clearly. Of our trading articles, light copper kettles were in the greatest request, and we were often asked for the long knives which are used for flinching whales. It is creditable to the Esquimaux habits of cleanliness, that combs were in great demand, and we saw wooden ones of their own manufacture, not dissimilar to ours in form. I distributed looking-glasses to some of the young men, but they were mostly returned again, although I do not know on what account.
This party of Esquimaux, being similar in features and dress to the tribe seen by Captain Franklin, and not differing materially from the Esquimaux inhabiting Melville peninsula which have been so fully described by Captains Parry and Lyon, it is not necessary to enter into any detail here on those points. Ooligbuck's dialect and theirs differed a little, but they mutually understood one another. I observed that they invariably sounded the letter m instead of g, when in the middle of a word, calling Ooligbuck, Oolimbauk. Ooligbuck's attempts to pronounce "Doctor" were sufficiently imperfect, but to our visitors, the word seemed utterly unattainable, and they could designate me only by the term Eheumattak or chief. They succeeded better with the names of some of the men, readily naming Tysoe, and calling Gillet "Hillet." The females, as they passed in their oomiaks, bestowed on us some glances that could scarcely be misconstrued,—their manners, in this respect, differed widely from those of the Indian women, who have a modest and even shy demeanour. Some of the young girls had a considerable share of beauty, and seemed to have spared no pains in ornamenting their persons. Their hair was turned up in a neat knot, on the crown of the head, and a lock or queue, tied by a fillet of beads, hung down by the ears, on each side. Mr. Nuttall, in his account of the Quapaws or Arkansas, mentions that the unmarried women wear their hair braided into two parts, brought round to either ear in a cylindrical form and ornamented with beads; and a similar attention to head-dress is paid by some of the Indian women inhabiting the borders of the great Canada lakes, and also by the Tawcullies or Carriers of New Caledonia;[6] but the females of all the tribes of Indians that we saw in our route through the northern parts of the fur countries, suffer their hair to hang loose about their ears, and, in general, adorn their persons less than the men of the same tribes. The Esquimaux women dressing better, and being required to labour less, than the Indian females, may be considered as a proof that the former nation has made the greater progress towards civilization; and I am of opinion that the Esquimaux would adopt European habits and customs much more readily than the Indians.
Though there are many circumstances which widely distinguish the Esquimaux from their Indian neighbours, they might all, possibly, be traced to the necessity of associating in numbers for the capture of the whale, and of laying up large hoards of blubber for winter consumption. Thus have they been induced to build villages for their common residence, and from thence have originated those social habits which are incompatible with the wandering and precarious life of an Indian hunter. It would lead, however, to too long a digression, were I to enter into details on this subject, and I resume, therefore, the narrative of the voyage.[7]
In the course of the morning we came to several other encampments, one of them consisting of nine tents; and each party no sooner learnt who we were, than they embarked bag and baggage and followed us. Some of the new comers were shy, and kept aloof, but in general they were too forward. Emboldened by their increase of numbers, they gradually became more daring, and running their kaiyacks alongside, laid hold of the boat's gunwale, and attempted to steal any thing within their reach. To lessen their opportunities of annoying us, I was obliged to keep the crews constantly rowing, for when we attempted to rest, three or four fellows would instantly seize the opportunity of lifting the blades of the oars and pushing their kaiyacks alongside, whilst others would cling on by the bows and quarters, nor could they be dislodged without much trouble. They manifested great cunning and dexterity in their pilfering attempts, and frequently acted in concert. Thus, one fellow would lay hold of the boat with both his hands; and while the coxswain and I were disengaging them, his comrade on the other side would make the best use of his time in transferring some of our property into his canoe, with all the coolness of a practised thief. The smaller things being, however, put as well out of the way as possible, and a strict look-out kept, they were, in almost every instance, detected; and they restored, with the most perfect good humour, every article they had taken, as soon as it was demanded, often laughing heartily at their own want of address. They succeeded only in purloining a bag of ball, and a powder-horn, as the theft was not perceived at the time. I was unwilling to check this conduct by a display of arms, because I was desirous of gaining the natives by kindness and forbearance, the more especially, as our ignorance of the state of the ice rendered it doubtful, whether we might not be under the necessity of encamping, for some time, in their neighbourhood. Had we resented their pilfering attempts too hastily, we should have appeared the aggressors, for they expressed great good-will towards us, readily answered such questions as we were able to put to them about the course of the river, pointed out to us the deepest channels, invited us to go ashore to cook our breakfast, and even offered to provide us with wives, if we would pass the night at their tents. For very obvious reasons we declined all their invitations; but our crews being fatigued with continual rowing, and faint from want of food, we halted at one p.m., by the side of a steep bank, and breakfasted in the boats, insisting on the Esquimaux keeping aloof whilst we were so engaged.
In the afternoon we had to search for a passage amongst islands, there being no longer water enough near the main shore to float our boats. The Esquimaux undertook to guide us, but whether through accident or design, they led us, on one occasion, into a shallow channel, where we grounded on a sand-bank, over which there was a strong current setting; and we had not only much difficulty in getting afloat, but had to pull, for an hour, against the stream, to regain the passage we had left. Soon after this, one of the natives made a forcible attempt to come into the Dolphin, under the pretext of bartering two large knives which he held in his hand; and the dexterity with which he leaped from his kaiyack was remarkable. There were three other kaiyacks betwixt him and our boats, which, on his giving the signal, were, by their owners laying their broad paddles across, instantly converted into a platform, over which he ran with velocity and sprang upon the stern seat of the Dolphin, but he was immediately tumbled out again. Judging from the boldness of this fellow's behaviour, and the general tenour of the conduct of the natives, that sooner or later they might be tempted to make an attack upon us, I adopted, as a measure of precaution, the plan of purchasing their bows, which are their most powerful weapons. They were at first unwilling to part with them; but finding that we would take nothing else in exchange for the articles we had to dispose of, they ultimately let us have a good number. The Esquimaux bows are formed of spruce-fir, strengthened on the back by cords made of the sinews of the rein-deer, and would have been prized, even beyond their favourite yew, by the archers of Sherwood. They are far superior to the bows of the Indians, and are fully capable of burying "the goose-wing of a cloth-yard shaft" in the heart of a deer.
Several of the young men tried the speed of their kaiyacks against our boats, and seemed to delight in showing us how much their little vessels excelled ours in velocity. Towards evening the women's oomiaks had all gone ahead, and we were given to understand that they were about to encamp for the night. Thinking that they would choose the best route, we followed them into a channel, which proved too shallow; and when we put about to try another, the natives became more urgent than ever that we should land and encamp along with them. Just as we were about to enter a passage which the Esquimaux, doubtless, knew was deep enough, and led by the shortest route to the sea, the Union grounded upon a bank, about half a bow-shot from the shore. Seven or eight of the natives instantly jumped out of their kaiyacks, and laying hold of the boat's bow and steering-sweep, attempted to drag her ashore. They were speedily joined by others, who hurried from the beach with knives in their hands; and Mr. Kendall seeing that he would almost immediately be surrounded by a force too great to permit his men to act, called to me that he should be obliged to fire. Fully aware of the necessity of prompt measures, I answered that he was at liberty to fire if necessary. Upon which, snatching up his fowling-piece, he presented it at three of the most daring who had hold of the sweep-oar, and his crew who were now in the water endeavouring to shove the boat off, and struggling with the natives, jumped on board and seized their muskets. The crew of the Dolphin likewise displayed their arms and stood ready, but I ordered that no individual should fire until called upon by name. They were, however, the instant that a shot was fired from the Union, to lay the Dolphin aground alongside of her, that thus we might present only two assailable sides to the enemy. Happily there was no occasion to fire at all; the contests of the Esquimaux with the Indians had taught them to dread fire-arms, and on the sudden sight of every man armed with a musket, they fled to the shore. Until that moment we had kept our guns carefully concealed in the arm-chest, to prevent any of the natives from snatching them away and disarming us, and also that they might not deem our intentions to be other than pacific.
I do not believe that the natives had matured a plan of attack, but the stranding of a boat on their own shore was too great a temptation to be resisted. Some individuals had previously shown unequivocal signs of good feeling towards us, such as bringing back the Union's sweep-oar, which had slipped from the coxswain's hands; and also in pointing out the channel we afterwards pursued to the sea, as preferable to the one which the oomiaks had taken. Even the better-disposed, however, would, doubtless, have joined the others, had they began to plunder with success; for they told us in the forenoon that there was no one of their horde acknowledged as a chief. It is probable that the Esquimaux were doubtful as to the sex of some of our party, until they saw them prepare for battle. None but women row in their oomiaks, and they had asked Ooligbuck if all the white women had beards.
The crews on this occasion behaved with a coolness and resolution worthy of the utmost praise, executing without the slightest confusion the orders they received. Mr. Kendall acted with his usual judgment; and his prudence and humanity, in refraining from firing, merit the highest encomiums. The Union being speedily set afloat by her crew, we pulled together through a wide channel, three feet deep. The spot where this transaction took place has been named Point Encounter, and is in latitude 69° 16' N., and longitude 136° 20' W.