The officers purchased whatever things these people had to dispose of, and, in exchange for them, gave knives, axes, brass kettles, needles, and other articles; and then added such presents as they considered might be further serviceable to them. Though they appeared anxious to possess whatever the visitors had to give they did not exhibit any disposition to pilfer. And, in some of the bargains, particularly for a sledge and a dog, the articles, though previously paid for, were all punctually delivered.
In stature these Indians, like the Esquimaux in general, are much below the usual standard. The height of the men is from four feet and a half to five feet and a half, and of the women about four feet ten inches. Their faces, in the younger individuals, are round and plump: their skin is smooth, and their complexion not very dark: their teeth are very white, and their eyes small; their nose is small, and their hair black, straight, and glossy. All the women, except one, had their faces tatooed; and two of them had their hands tatooed also. The children were, in general, good-looking; and one of them, a boy about twelve years of age, was a remarkably fine, and even handsome lad.
The dress of the men consists of a seal-skin jacket, with a hood, which is occasionally drawn over the head. The breeches are also, generally, of seal-skin; and the boots, which are formed so as to meet the breeches, are of the same material. In the dress of the women, the drawers cover the middle part of the body, from the hips to one-third down the thighs; the rest of which, as far as the knees, is naked. The children are all remarkably well clad; their dress, both in the males and females, being, in every respect, similar to that of the men.
The tents which constitute the summer habitations of these Esquimaux, are principally supported by a pole of whalebone, about fourteen feet high. This pole stands perpendicularly, and has four or five feet of it projecting above the skins which form the roof and sides. The length of the tent is about seventeen feet, and the breadth from seven to nine; and the bed occupies nearly one-third of the whole apartment. The covering of the tent is fastened to the ground by curved pieces of bone.
Captain Parry, after taking leave of these his new acquaintance, directed his course towards England; and arrived in the river Thames about the middle of November.
With regard to the probable existence and accomplishment of a north-west passage into the Pacific Ocean, this indefatigable and accomplished officer remarks, that, as to the existence of such a passage, he does not entertain a doubt; but that he is not sanguine as to its ever being accomplished. The difficulties that are presented by the increasing breadth and thickness of the ice to the westward, after passing Barrow's Strait, added to the excessive severity of the climate, and the shortness of the season in which the Polar Sea can be navigated; these are circumstances which render almost hopeless any attempt to pass from the Atlantic westward. Captain Parry seems inclined to think that there is more probability of being able to effect the passage, by sailing from Behring's Strait, eastward, than from Baffin's Bay towards the west. But, in this case, it would be an impracticable passage for British ships. The great length of the voyage, the impossibility of taking out a sufficiency of provisions and fuel, and the severe trial to which the health of the crews would be subjected, by suddenly passing from the heat of the torrid zone, into the intense cold of a long winter, seem to render hopeless all our efforts to effect the voyage in this direction.