IN proportioning our matter for our last Number, we were induced to break off in the middle of Captain Parry's interesting details relative to the intercourse between the Expedition and the Esquimaux tribe which settled in its vicinity during the first winter. These details we now resume, as they are too curious and characteristic to be abridged unsparingly.

"Having distributed some breaddust among the women, we told Illumea and her daughter Togolat that we proposed taking up our lodging in their hut for the night. It is a remarkable trait in the character of these people, that they always thank you heartily for this, as well as for eat ing any of their meat; but both board and lodging may be given to them without receiving the slightest acknowledgment either in word or deed. As it was late before the men returned, I asked Togolat to get the rest of the women to perform some of their games, with the hope of seeing something that was new. I had scarcely time to make the proposal when she darted out of the hut, and quickly brought every female that was left at the village, not excepting even the oldest of them, who joined in the performance with the same alacrity as the rest. I could however only persuade them to go through a tedious song we had often before heard, which was now indeed somewhat modified by their insisting on our taking our turns in the performance, all which did not fail to create among them never-ceasing merriment and laughter. Neither their want of food and fuel, nor the uncertain prospect of obtaining any that night, were sufficient to deprive these poor creatures of that cheerfulness and good-humour which it seems at all times their peculiar happiness to enjoy.

"The night proved very thick with small snow, and as disagreeable and dangerous for people adrift upon floating ice as can well be imagined. If the women however gave their husbands a thought or spoke of them to us, it was only to express a very sincere

Our singing

hope that some good news might shortly arrive of their success. party had not been long broken up when it was suddenly announced by one of the children, the usual heralds on such occasions, that the men had killed something on the ice. The only two men who were at home instantly scrambled on their outer jackets, harnessed their dogs, and set off to assist their companions in bringing home the game, while the women remained for an hour in anxious suspense as to the extent of their husband's success. At length one of the men arrived with the positive intelligence of two walruses having been taken, and brought with him a portion of these huge animals as large as he could drag over the snow. If the women were only cheerful before, they were now absolutely frantic. A general shout of joy instantly reechoed through the village; they ran into each other's huts to communicate the welcome intelligence, and actually hugged one another in an ecstacy of delight by way of congratulation. One of them, Arnalooa, a pretty young woman of nineteen or twenty, knowing that a dog belonging to her husband was still at the huts, and that there was no man to take him down on the ice, ran out instantly to perform that office; and with a hardiness not to be surpassed by any of the men, returned, after two hours' absence, with her load of walrus-flesh, and without even the hood thrown over her head to shelter her from the inclemency of the weather.

"When the first burst of joy had at length subsided, the women crept one by one into the apartment where the first portion of the sea-horses had been conveyed, and which is always that of one of the men immediately concerned in the killing of them. Here they obtained blubber enough to set all their lamps alight, besides a few scraps of meat for their children and themselves. From this time, which was nine o'clock, till past midnight, fresh cargoes were continually arriving: the principal part being brought in by the dogs, and the rest by the men, who, tying a thong

which held it round their waist, dragged in each his separate portion. Before the whole was brought in, however, some of them went out three times to the scene of action, though the distance was a mile and a half.

"Every lamp now swimming with oil, the huts exhibited a blaze of light, and never was there a scene of more joyous festivity than while the operation of cutting up the walruses continued. I took the opportunity which their present good humour afforded, to obtain a perfect head and tusks of one of these animals, which we had not been able to do before; and indeed, so much were their hearts opened by the scene of abundance before them, that I believe they would have given us any thing we asked for. This disposition was considerably increased also by their taking it into their heads, that their success was in some way or other connected with, or even owing to, our having taken up our night's lodgings at the huts.

"After viewing all this festivity for some time, I felt disposed to rest; and wrapping myself up in my fur coat, lay down on one of the beds which Illumea had given up for our accommodation, as well as her keipik, or large deer-skin blanket, which she rolled up for my pillow. The poor old woman herself sat up by her lamp, and in that posture seemed perfectly well satisfied to doze away the night. The singularity of my night's lodging made me awake several times, when I always found some of the Esquimaux eating, though after we lay down they kept quite quiet for fear of disturbing us. Mr. Halse, who was still more wakeful, told me that some of them were incessantly employed in this manner for more than 3 hours. Indeed the quanty of meat that they thus contrive to get rid of is almost beyond belief. "Having at length enjoyed a sound nap, I found on awaking about five o'clock that the men were already up, and had gone out to renew their labours on the ice, so that several of them could not have rested more than two or three hours. This circumstance served to correct a notion we had entertained, that when once abundantly supplied with food they took no

pains to obtain more till want began again to stare them in the face. It was now more pleasing to be assured that, even in the midst of plenty, they did not indolently give themselves up to repose, but were willing to take advantage of every favourable opportunity of increasing their store. It is certain indeed that were these people more provident, (or in other words less glut tonous, for they do not waste much,) they might never know what it is to want provisions, even during the most inclement part of the year."

We could hardly find a better description than what we have just quoted, of the general habits and interior arrangements of the Esquimaux; but there are other of their customs which also deserve to be specifically mentioned in this place. Okatook, the busband of Iligliuk, was taken ill, and our countrymen, with their wonted humanity, had him brought to the ship for cure.

"Before the invalid was suffered to leave his apartment, some of the bystanders 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 afterwards 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 uttering 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

* Familiar spirit.

man. When the sledge moved on, Ewerat was the only one who had not a "Good-bye!" ready, he being as seriously engaged as at first, and continuing so as long as our people could observe him.

"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 during 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. -

-- Next day "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 afterwards 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 hushand; 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 them 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 play fellows 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 wa

ter which he drank in the course of the

four and twenty hours is beyond con ception; and the cabin fire could scarcely, by the melting of the 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 disturbed throughout the day, all our endeavours not availing to make her understand how one pain was to be removed by inflicting another.

"Togolat came down to the ships to-day to see her brother Okotook; she was accompanied by Arnalooa, and on their arrival they were both sent for into the cabin. We observed however that they required an unusual degree of solicitation to make them go near Okotook, or even to the side of the cabin where he lay concealed by a skreen; and after all, they remained in the opposite corner next the door;

and having talked freely to the invalid for some time, took their leave without seeing him. In the evening, after they were gone, we found that this unfortunate though well-intended visit was occasioning great distress to Okotook, who talked for two hours almost incessantly about "Arnalooa's having seen him," which it seems ought not to have been the case. What misfortune was to be apprehended in consequence of this event we could not learn; but he spoke of it in a kind of agony, and was evidently labouring under the influence of some powerful though absurd superstition respecting it. Towards night he suffered a dreadful bleeding at the nose, followed by much sickness at the stomach, which, together with the phantom of Arnalooa, which still haunted his imagination, combined to make him extremely unwell for some hours. The next day however he was free from complaint of any kind, and began once more to put on a smiling countenance."

We shall now devote a column or two to Natural History and Atmospherical Phenomena. On the 2d of January, it is stated—

"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 Capt. 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 poor 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 re-caught in the same traps as before.

"Of a great number of foxes weighed by Captain Lyon during the winter, the average weight was eight pounds, but they varied from nine and a half to seven, and he observed that the males, though larger than the females, were not so fat. The fur of the whole of them when first caught was of the purest white, except in two or three individuals of a bluish colour, which appeared to be of a different species. The great variety of dispositions displayed by those which were kept for taming was very remarkable, some being gentle and quiet from the time of their first coming on board, and others remaining wild and intraetable in spite of every kindness and good treatment. Our dogs became familiar enough even to play with them; but the foxes were, on their part, never entirely free from apprehension on this account. The noise they make when irritated is a weak half-stifled sort of bark, but they have also a more shrill and piercing cry when much frightened. When placed with their houses upon the ice, they were constantly endeavouring to burrow in the snow within the circle of their chains, and one of them, where the snow lay deeper than usual, soon formed for himself a secure and sheltered apartment under it. When deprived of the means of doing this, they are far from being proof against the severity of the season, for two or three died on board the Fury entirely from this cause, though furnished with good kennels. Of those which were taken better care of, not one remained on board alive when we went to sea, the greater part having gradually wasted away, though well fed and housed; and the rest, which were thriving better, escaped to the shore.”

In February, the first wolves, a flock of thirteen (all of which were killed gradatim) appeared-" These animals 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 the suite. 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.

After a short period, "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 were 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. - -

"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, how ever, his head had scarcely cleared when he furiously flew at Mr. Richards' throat, and would certainly have done him some serious mischief had not that gentleman, with great presence of mind, 33 ATHENEUM VOL. 1. 2d series.

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 this momentary confusion occasioned by his late rencontre 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 another occasion Mr. Elder observing one of the Esquimaux dogs attacked by several of these ferocious animals, "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 his 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 their's caught only a fox."

In March, Capt. P. says, "I procured from a little Toonek a string of bones, which on inquiry we found to belong to a land animal called by the Esquimaux Kablee-anioo, and which we certainly had never met with. From the description given us by these people on this and several other occasions, we considered it likely to be the wolverene; but it must be extremely rare in those parts of America."

But the atmospherical, meteorological, and other phenomena are more interesting than the accounts of animal life. The aurora borealis, double moons, and other extraordinary appearances, become of constant occurrence. We shal! select one description as a fair example of the many varieties, of which the accounts are very well written.