What we greatly feared was now coming upon us. A new chapter in our history began to open. The food of the natives must henceforth be for our support. To their credit, however, be it said, there appeared no disposition on their part to confine us down to a mere pittance, while they themselves had their usual allowance. What they had was freely offered to us, and both parties fared about the same while food lasted. Their supply of provisions for the winter, so far as we could judge, was not large; but now the addition of thirty-three persons to their number soon diminished their usual stock. Winters even in the arctic are variable, as we learned from the natives; some were very severe, and other less so. We ascertained that an entire settlement to the north of the one in which we lived, and north of the wreck, perished a few years before in consequence of the intense cold, and the want of provisions. Some idea perhaps may be entertained by the reader of the principal kind of food the natives eat, and what we lived upon for months while with them. THEIR MANNER OF CAPTURING THE WHALE. As the whale approaches quite near the shore, the natives are not greatly exposed by following him to a great distance in their canoes. They take their own time and opportunity for killing the whale. Both men and women are in the canoes on such occasions. It is regarded by them as a family affair. They go sufficiently near the whale to throw a harpoon into his body. Their harpoons are somewhat different from ours, yet in principle they are precisely the same. When they have thrown one or two irons into the whale, they cast overboard two air-tight and inflated seal skins attached to the lines. Every canoe in pursuit of whales has two skins of this sort. If the whale is disposed to turn flukes and go down, he must of course carry with him these full blown skins. The lines are very strong, being made of walrus skin. When the whale makes his appearance again, he is struck by another canoe, and two more seal skins are attached to his body. Thus they go on fastening irons into his body, and impeding his course by any number of seal skins, until he is wearied out, and then they go up to him and lance him. Whales have been picked up, by ships and boats, having several seal skins attached to them. One whale was found, several years since, which had _twenty-eight_ full-blown seal skins trailing after him. PREPARING THEIR FOOD.