thus the Angekok declared that he would not exchange the spirit's gifts, one of the stripes of fur, for any thing that could be offered to him; and it was with much difficulty that Capt. Parry did prevail upon him to barter one for some highly coveted article; nor would he part with any more. From the length of time during which the natives were daily with them, our people were enabled to pick up a rather copious vocabulary of their language. Some of the journals contain from 500 to a larger number of words. Their knowledge of figures is very limited-five and ten being their *most obvious enumerations. When they wish to express the former, one hand is held up; the latter, of course, requires both but when the sum exceeds that number, the Esquimaux calls on a neighbour to help him out, by holding up one or two hands as the occasion requires. One of our friends related a whimsical anecdote with this sort of dumb show. He was conversing with a native alone, who wanted to make the large and unusual sign of thirty. He accordingly held up both hands, and was then sadly puzzled how to go farther. It never occurred to him to break off and repeat the signal in any way; but at length he happily struck upon ten more by getting the officer to raise his digitals. Here were twenty; but the ten to be added was the grand pons asinorum of Esquimaux numerals! The difficulty seemed insuperable, but again his genius befriended the calculator; he held up one of his feet,-twenty-five! What was to be done? like one of the wise men of Gotham, our clever native tried to hold up the other foot at the same time, and his efforts to have all his limbs simultaneously in the air were the most ludicrous that can be imagined. But it could not be managed; and it was not without an immensity of trouble that the proposed number was finally expressed by the four hands and one foot each of the conversing parties. Other characteristic traits of these simple people may be told in this place. The wives of two of them, one 31 ATHENEUM VOL. 14. with a baby suckling (which nutriment they supply for several years,) were taken on board the vessels for medical treatment, both being in the last stages of disease. It was indeed too late to save them, and they died. The husband of the mother evinced some distress, and howled a little when she expired; but very soon seemed to forget his loss. Yet he attended very sedulously to the proceedings of the Cablunæ. They enveloped the body decently, as is done with sailors, in a hammock, and dug a grave for its reception. To this it was borne, accompanied by the husband, who evinced much uneasiness. At last he made himself understood that he was afflicted by the confinement of the corpse. Having obtained a knife, he was permitted to gratify his own feelings, and he cut all the stitches which held the hammock together down the front, so as to give a kind of liberty to the dead form. The covering in of the grave with earth and stones seemed also to give him pain; but he asked leave to bury the living child with its dead mother. The reason assigned for this horrid proposal was, that being a female no woman would take the trouble to nurse it, as that was never done among them. If it had been a boy, perhaps some one might have adopted and reared it. In fact, the infant, without sustenance, did die on the ensuing day, and was placed at the disposal of its parent, who drew it away in his sledge to a short distance, and raised a small mound of snow over its lifeless corpse. It is curious to remark, that while they dislike the idea of hurting the dead by putting any thing heavy upon them, they feel no regret at the consequence of their own insufficient mode of sepulture-the dragging of the bodies from their slight snow-tombs to be torn to pieces and devoured by dogs and wolves, as was frequently witnessed by our men, who, when the spring dissolved the snow, had to dig graves for the mutilated remains of several of the native corpses thus exposed to view. There was a considerable mortality among them; no fewer than six teen, old and young, dying within the few months they spent near the Expedition in its second winter. In the management of the canoe, the Esquimaux are very expert. They are amazingly light, and formed of skin over whalebone. The largest which Capt. P. obtained is 26 feet in length; and we observed another between decks in the Hecla, which is 10 feet long and only 10 inches in width, half of which are in the depth. In these the Native pursues his marine chase, and spears the fish and fowl. The spear is double-pointed with bone, about 6 or 7 inches in length and barbed. The shaft is of very light wood, 5 or 6 feet long, and below the handle, or part by which it is thrown, are three other barbed bones, standing out a few inches from the wood, and calculated to strike the prey, should the bi-forked point miss. They kill at 20 yards distance. The bow and arrow is also employed in killing game and wild animals. The arrows are pointed with stone, smoothed into a lance-head shape by friction against other stones. A method of catching seals (and, if we remember correctly, fish also,) through a hole in the ice, is one of the most dexterous of Esquimaux contrivances: a line is let down, at the end of which is fastened a small piece of white bone or tooth, above an inch long, cut into a rude fish-form, and having two morsels of pyrites stuck into it to resemble eyes. This bait is drawn through the water, and when seals or other prey approach to examine it, the watchful native spears them from a bove. The knives used by the women are curiously constructed, and as cleverly employed in skinning animals and carving victuals as the instruments of hunting are by the men. They resembled a small cheese or saddler's knife; Spectacles are another of their articles which struck us as curious and well contrived. They consist of a piece of wood scraped thin like a bandage, and perforated with two narrow horizontal slits, something like pig's eyes, where we would have glasses; a rim about an inch broad projects in the same direction as that of a hat would; and this simple mechanical process, tied about the head, protects the eyes from the drifting snows and spicule, and improves the sharpness of the sight. Having already stated the longitudes, latitudes, and periods of sailing and wintering, we shall not deem it necessary to go much into the details of the Expedition, which has in fact neither added much to geography, nor been able to explore farther than was done by Middleton and preceding navigators. The last year seems to have been so unproductive, that the ships might as well have returned home in the autumn of 1822; but it is not the character of British seamen to desist while the slightest prospect of success can be entertained. Our own opinion is, that there may be many openings into the Polar sea, and that probably the best, after all, is in Lancaster Sound, and where Capt. Ross showed the way, but did not pursue it. Certainly the course taken upon the present occasion does not appear to have answered the expectations formed, or to promise any advantageous results for future attempts, should such be persevered in. The Inlet where the second winter was spent, presented a solid mass of everlasting ice. It is about ten miles in breadth; its length (of course, not having been traversed) uncertain. The ebb tide is from the South-west, and the flood from South-east; small channels run through it, but not wide enough to work a ship. While they lay here, and indeed during the voyage, the vessels do not seem to have encountered much danger from the ice; at any rate they have pitched and painted them in coming home, so as to make them look fresh and well in the Thames. About the bows we noticed some rather sharp grazing, and the bolt-heads sticking out a few inches from the wood. In one instance, we were informed, a field of ice, coming down at the rate of about two miles an hour, almost lifted the Hecla out of the water, and snapped five of the strongest cables and ropes by which she was moored. journey to the north-east, where the wrecks still remained. The truth of this report was confirmed by the staves, cask-heads, and iron in their possession. They represented that the crews had gone away in boats; whither, no one could tell. To ascertain who the sufferers were, Lieut. Hoppner and his The absence of the sun was experienced for about a month. In July (the 9th) the first flower was seen: a small but richly coloured blue of the Saxi-party set out, accompanied by the nafrage genus. To beguile the tedious time, our Countrymen occasionally lived in tents on shore, and hunted, shot, and fished for the general consumption. Reindeer were sometimes killed; the carcass of the largest weighed (without offal) 150 lbs. These were very acceptable to the ships' companies; but their fresh provisions were not always so dainty as venison. The hearts, livers, and kidneys of whales and walrusses (brought by the Esquimaux) were not irreconcileable to European palates; and many a hearty meal was made on these, not very delicate, dishes. According to the report of the natives, there were rein-deer on the large island towards the north. No musk oxen were seen in any part; and from the same authority it was gathered that they only appeared to the westward of of the longitude to which the Expedition penetrated. Of birds there were prodigious numbers; but their flesh was of a fishy and unpleasant taste; it was made nevertheless to serve at times, to vary the Arctic cuisine. Mustard and cress were grown as on the preceding voyage, and served out to the men in considerable quantities, to the great benefit of their health. Indeed the looks of the crews bear testimony to their careful treatment in this respect; for we never saw a set of more healthy well conditioned fellows set out on, still less return from, a long seatrip. Their loss amounted to five men in the two years and a half. It does not appear that any far excursions were attempted from the ships on land, in any direction. The chief journey was performed by Lieut. Hoppner, and a party under his command, in consequence of news brought by the Esquimaux, that two ships had been wrecked last year (1822) five days tives as guides; but after travelling a few days, the latter declared they would proceed no farther. They pointed to the line in which they said the ships would be found, and told their associates they might go without them; but the risk of following this counsel was too great, and the Europeans returned. In these journeys, and their continual migrations, the value of the Esquimaux dog is witnessed. These strong and hardy animals draw the country sledges at the rate of five miles, and more, an hour. Nor is this performed with a light weight attached to them. Eight in harness will draw three or four persons with ease and speed in this manner. On one occasion, an anchor and stock, weighing about a ton, was dragged to its destination by fifteen or sixteen of them; and, generally speaking, they are fully equal to a load of 100 weight per dog. They are bold and vigorous in the chace. With them the Esquimaux hunts the great Polar bear; and some of those brought to England carry the scars of their prowess in this way. They seize the adversary by his long shaggy hair, and worry and detain him till their masters come up with their spears to end the conflict. Those in the ships, twelve or fourteen in number, are large creatures of various colours, tan, grey, but mostly black with white spots over the eyes and on the feet and tip of the tail. They are exceedingly fierce, and more like wolves than dogs. They do not bark, but snarl, growl, and howl in a savage manner. A good many died in consequence of the heat, on their way to England; and though Wednesday last was a cold October day, the survivors were panting as if they had exhausted themselves with running. In the Hecla was one dog bred between the Esquimaux dog and a lurcher taken out from this country. She had six female pups, and the specimen we saw is now a fine powerful animal, and quite tame. It gave a singular proof of its sagacity in the river: A lighter came alongside with some casks of fresh water, into which it immediately leapt over the side, and ran from cask to cask, trying to get its head into a bung-hole. This being impossible, one of the men good-humouredly drew a bowl full for it, which it despatched with evident delight, and then begged for another draught. This it also obtained, drank it nearly all, and with signs of gratification and thankfulness made its way back into the ship. On their native soil, however, these ferocious animals are often destroyed by the still more ferocious wolves. The latter hunt in packs, and even drag the dogs from the huts to devour them. Attracted by the scent, they were always prowling about our vessels, and daringly carried off whatever came in their way. Thirteen of them were seen in one pack; all of which were trapped and slain. It was of these the hungry Esquimaux made their dinners. At one time they bore away a dog from the Fury, in spite of the pursuit of the men. The birds are the swan, the beautiful king duck, the eider duck, the longtailed duck, the silver Arctic duck, &c. &c. Gulls of every kind, the Arctic diver, the loom, the red-throat, guillemots, the snow bunting, the ptarmigan; ravens, snowy owls, and hawks; birds of song, with a short low chirping note, the Siberian lark and the Lapland finch. The insect creation is very limited. There are about six species of flies; the mosquito, very troublesome, but existing only about one month; the wild bee, i. e. the large black and not our hive-bee; the spider; butterfly, a small kind of the golden; and the white moth. The water teems, as we have stated, with molusca, the food of the enormous whale and other species of fish. There is also another creature in extraordinary abundance; we mean the small shrimp, which is known by the name of the Sea-louse. These performed a very curious office to the naturalists in the Expedition, and their usefulness was very drolly discovered. An officer one day was desirous of preparing a Solan goose for cooking, and in order to reduce its saltness, he plunged it through an ice-hole into the water; but alas! next morning, when the goose was to be drawn up for spitting, nothing but the skeleton appeared. The sea-lice had picked its bones as clean as any anatomist could have scraped them, and thus finely prepared it for any collection of natural history which might want such a specimen! The hint was not lost, for, after this time, whatever skeletons or bones required polishing, were submitted to the lice operators, and so diligent were they in executing the task confided to them, they would eat a sea-horse's head clean in a couple of nights. In the Botanical department we have already mentioned the hortus siccus, which has been kindly presented to us. Hardly one of the plants exceeds two or three inches in height, and the flowers are all small. Yet some of them are very pretty; and they bloom in such profusion as entirely to enamel their wild and drear locality, for a season of two or three months. The most remarkable which we observe among our specimens, besides the early blue saxifrage, is the andromeda, of which the natives make their beds; and the potentilla or wild tansey, the roots of which they eat. This we believe is done in some of the most northern Scottish Isles: it is a very minute plant, not more than two inches in height, and the root not larger than that of a single wheat-stalk. The andromeda is wiry, like heath. All the flowers are yellow or blue; and we find the poppy, one resembling a cowslip, one with a curvous berry seed, several of saxifrage, grasses, a beautiful bright yellow moss, &c. &c. among our spe cimens. On the voyage home the ships touched at Winter Island, and were surprised to find their garden vegetables thriving. Whether the plants bad resown themselves or sprung again from the roots, could not be ascertained, but the singular fact of salads and peas growing spontaneously on the arctic circle was exhibited to the wonder of the visitors. On leaving the Esquimaux, some muskets of small worth were given them; and one native and his wife were willing to have come to England, but the trouble and uncertainty of restoring them to their own country prevented their voyage. An axe, and still better a saw, would console them for any disappointment. We have now related, we are persuaded, nearly all the principal occur rences which attended this interesting Expedition. For the want of order and polish, our circumstances will, we trust, obtain pardon; and especially as our information, though hastily put together, and not much extended by description, is very complete in its character,and may be relied on as accurately embracing nearly all the features of a Voyage, than which none ever excited a stronger public feeling. Anxious to gratify this, we have done our utmost endeavour, and cannot but hope that it will afford very general satisfaction.* * Since writing this account, and on looking over our brief memoranda, &c. we are reminded of eight or ten specimens of fossils and minerals A dark piece of iron pyrites is that from which the natives strike sparks among the dry moss, to light their fires. We have also a model of a canoe ingeniously made by a native, and only fourteen inches long. It does credit to their skill; but not so much as a female's reticule (if we may so call it) made of ducks' feet curiously disposed in a neat circular shape, and the toes hanging out like tags or tassels. This is a very singular piece of workmanship, and looks well. Small bottles of matting woven closely, and of an elegant form, are among their manufactures ; and the string on threads of fish-fibres, of the teeth of foxes, wolves, &c. for female ornaments, does not always betray a bad taste, however common the materials are. Images of bone, an inch or an inch and a half long, afford no high notion of the native talents for carving in ivory-they just so far resemble the human shape as to show they were meant to represent it. One petrifaction of the back bone of a fish is in our collection, and extremely curious. |