I had to-day a visit from Okotook and Iligliuk, who, with their son, came in upon their sledge from the distant huts. Being desirous of entertaining them well, in return for their late hospitality, we provided abundance to eat, and showed them everything about the ship that we thought likely to amuse them. Of all the wonders they had ever seen on board, there was nothing which seemed to impress them so strongly with a sense of our superiority as the forge, and the work which the armourer performed with it. The welding of two pieces of iron especially excited their admiration, and I never saw Iligliuk express so much astonishment at anything before. Even in this her superior good sense was observable, for it was evident that the utility of what she saw going on was what forced itself upon her mind; and she watched every stroke of the hammer and each blast of the bellows with extreme eagerness, while numbers of the other Esquimaux looked stupidly on, without expressing the smallest curiosity or interest in the operation, except by desiring to have some spear-heads fashioned out by this means. Iligliuk was always very much entertained also by pictures having any relation to the Esquimaux in other parts, and derived great entertainment from a description of any difference in their clothes, utensils, or weapons. Of these the sail in an Esquimaux boat seemed particularly to attract her notice; but, in general, she had no inclination to admit the inferiority of her, own tribe to any other. She was always extremely inquisitive about her own sex, whether Innuees[*] or Kabloonas, listening with eager attention to any account of their dress or occupations, and in common, I believe, with all the rest of the Esquimaux, wondered how we came to travel to their country without our wives. The assurance that many among us were not married, they received with evident incredulity.
[Footnote: Esquimaux.]
On the 13th, a number of the natives from the Winter Island huts formed a second detachment, and set off for the other village. They carried their goods on sledges as before, even to the exclusion of poor old Hikkeiera, whom some of our gentlemen overtook crawling after his companions with a stick, and who, but for their remonstrances, might that day have finished his pilgrimage on earth. They insisted, however, on his being placed on one of the sledges, which was accordingly complied with; but, on their arrival at the village, his companions left him lying there till their huts were built. All the Esquimaux pressed our gentlemen very strongly to sleep at the village; but one of the women gave Mr. Bird an indifferent specimen of her hospitality, by picking his pocket of a handkerchief, though not so dexterously as to escape detection. The few who visited the ships to-day told us that they were all about to leave Winter Island on the morrow; and Okotook and Iligliuk, who had not yet returned, came on board among the rest to pay a last visit. I gave the former a large piece of oak wood for a bow and two arrows, a second iron spear-head, and various other articles, to add to the stock of wealth he had from time to time received from us. As these good folks found themselves perfectly at home in my cabin, I was usually in the habit of continuing my occupations when they were there, without being disturbed by them. Being now engaged in writing, my attention was unexpectedly directed towards them by Iligliuk's suddenly starting from her seat, moving quickly towards the door, and, without saying a word either to me or any of the officers present, hastening directly on deck. Okotook, indeed, as he followed her out of the cabin, turned round and said "Good-by," of which expression he had learned the meaning, and then, without giving us time to return the compliment, they both hurried out of the ship, leaving us in some astonishment at this singular leave-taking, which we then supposed to be the last.
We could now begin to perceive, from day to day, that the snow on shore was diminishing. How slow this process was, may, however, be understood by the fact, that it was necessary to make a mark on some stone to be assured it was thus receding. Our snow-wall had indeed settled down nearly a foot by the gradual diminution of the blocks of which it was composed; but the thawing had been artificially assisted by the black cloth hung against it. Five ravens were seen to-day, all quite black; four of them were flying in pairs.
On the 22d a number of the Esquimaux came to the ships with a sledge, and among the rest my late host Arnaneelia and his wife, the latter having the front of her jacket adorned with numberless strings of beads that we had given her, arranged with exact uniformity, to which, in the fashion of their dresses and the disposition of their ornaments, these people always rigidly adhere. Aneekta had scarcely reached the cabin when she produced a little ivory comb and a pair of handsome mittens, which she presented to Mr. Edwards, at the same time thanking him for the attention he had shown her on an occasion when she had been taken in a fit alongside the Fury, from which she was recovered by bleeding. This expression of gratitude, in which she was heartily joined by her husband, was extremely gratifying to us; as it served, in some degree, to redeem these people in our estimation from the imputation of ingratitude, which is, indeed, one of their greatest failings. They stated having seen two reindeer the preceding day going over the ice to the main land. They spoke of this with great pleasure: and we were ourselves not displeased with the prospect of changing our diet for a little venison. They now became extremely urgent with us for wood to make bows and arrows, most of their own having, with the childishness that accompanied their first barterings, been parted with to our officers and men. Having several broken oars which could be turned to little or no account on board, we were enabled, at a small expense of useful stores, to furnish them very abundantly with wood for this purpose. Arnaneelia also informed us that Okotook, who had been unwell for some days, was now much worse, and seemed, as he described it, to be labouring under a violent pulmonary complaint. On the circumstance being mentioned to Mr. Skeoch, he kindly volunteered to go to the village, and accordingly took his seat on the sledge, accompanied also by Mr. Sherer. They carried with them a quantity of bread-dust to be distributed among the Esquimaux at the huts, their success in seal-catching having lately been indifferent.
A number of Esquimaux came to the ships on the 25th, notwithstanding a strong breeze from the S.W.b.W., with a considerable snowdrift. From these people we learned that Okotook's complaint had increased since Mr. Skeoch's visit, and that he was now extremely ill. Mr. Bushnan immediately offered to go to the huts for the purpose of bringing him on board, where, by Mr. Edwards's kind attentions, and the enjoyment of warmth and dryness, we hoped soon to recover him. Mr. Bushnan, therefore, without waiting for the return of the sledges, set out for the village at an early hour in the forenoon, accompanied by the sergeant of marines. At eleven at night our party returned on board, bringing on a sledge Okotook, Iligliuk, and their son. That Iligliuk would accompany her husband, I, of course, took for granted and wished; but as the boy could do us no good, and was, moreover, a desperate eater, I had desired Mr. Bushnan to try whether a slight objection to his being of the party would induce Okotook to leave him with his other relations. This he had cautiously done; but, the instant the proposal was made, Okotook, without any remark, began to take off the clothes he had himself just dressed in to set out. No farther objection being made, however, he again prepared for the journey, Iligliuk assisting him with the most attentive solicitude. Before the invalid was suffered to leave his apartment, some of the by-standers sent for Ewerat, now better known to our people by the undignified appellation of the "conjuror." Ewerat, on this occasion, maintained a degree of gravity and reserve calculated to inspire somewhat more respect than we had hitherto been disposed to entertain for him in that capacity. Placing himself at the door of the apartment opposite Okotook, who was still seated on the bed, he held both his thumbs in his mouth, keeping up a silent but solemn converse with his toorngow,[*] the object of which was, as Mr. Bushnan presently afterward found, to inquire into the efficacy and propriety of the sick man's removal. Presently he began to utter a variety of confused and inarticulate sounds; and it being at length understood that a favourable answer had been given, Okotook was carried out and placed on the sledge, Ewerat still mumbling his thumbs and muttering his incantations as before. When the party took their leave, there were a great many doleful faces among those that remained behind; and Mr. Bushnan said that the whole scene more resembled the preparations for a funeral than the mere removal of a sick man. When the sledge moved on, Ewerat was the only one who had not a "Good-by!" ready, he being as seriously engaged as at first, and continuing so as long as our people could observe him.
[Footnote: Familiar spirit.]
Okotook was extremely ill on his arrival, having been three hours on the sledge, and Iligliuk, who, as Mr. Bushnan told me, had scarcely taken her eyes off her husband's face the whole time, seemed almost worn out with fatigue and anxiety. A bed of wolf skins being prepared for him, Okotook was soon placed upon it, and such remedies applied as Mr. Edwards judged necessary for his complaint, which was inflammation of the lungs to a degree that, if left to itself, or even to Ewerat, would soon have proved fatal, or, at best, have terminated in consumption.
On the 26th, a southeast wind brought a heavy fall of snow in flakes much larger than before. The thermometers on the ice at noon stood at 23° in both aspects. We heard from Illumea, who came to see her son Okotook, that a part of the natives had gone still farther to the westward upon the ice, one spot not affording sufficient subsistence for the whole of them. Our patient felt much the better for a comfortable night's lodging, and now submitted with great patience to the application of a blister, though I believe his confidence in our mode of cure was afterward shaken for a time by the pain which it occasioned. Both he and Iligliuk, however, seemed very sensibly to feel the comforts and advantages of their present quarters; and a "coyenna" (thanks) now and then fell from their lips. Nothing could exceed the attention which the latter paid to her husband; she kept her eyes almost constantly fixed upon him, and seemed anxious to anticipate every want.
One of Okotook's brothers had arrived from the huts, bringing with him some walrus-flesh to tempt the appetite of the invalid, whose stomach, however, very fortunately for his complaint, was not disposed to this kind of delicacy. When his brother was about to return, Okotook took it into his head to send his son away with him, probably because he heard they had the day before killed two seals, which afforded better feeding than we had to give him; be this as it may, we were not sorry that he went, and the boy himself seemed no less pleased; for, without playfellows or amusement of any kind, his time hung very heavily on his hands while he remained on board. It was amusing to see Okotook take a dose of physic for the first time in his life to-day. He knew its taste was not pleasant, but this was certainly not all that he dreaded; for, before he put the cup to his lips with one hand, he held on by his wife with the other, and she by him with both hers, as though they expected an explosion, or some such catastrophe, as the immediate effect of the potion; nor did he venture to relinquish his hold till the taste began to leave his mouth. The quantity of water which he drank in the course of the four-and-twenty hours is beyond conception; and the cabin fire could scarcely, by the melting of snow, furnish enough for their consumption. These people are extremely particular as to the purity of the water they drink. Some that had been melted in our steamer, and which I thought very good, neither of them would touch, or, at least, always spat out again. If the water was much above the temperature of 32°, they also disliked it, and immediately put snow into it to cool it down. Iligliuk, who came on board with one side of her hair loose, loosened the other also to-day, in consequence of her fancying Okotook worse, though it was only the annoyance of the blister that made him uneasy; for even in this sequestered corner of the globe dishevelled locks bespeak mourning. It was not, however, with her the mere semblance of grief, for she was really much distressed throughout the day, all our endeavours not availing to make her understand how one pain was to be removed by inflicting another.