The head man of this settlement, and in whose hut we happened to stop, was one of the most crabbed, savage-like fellows with whom we had met in all our past acquaintance with native life. He appeared to take real delight and satisfaction in degrading and mortifying us all he could. He would cut the meat or blubber, whatever it might be, into small pieces, and reach them to us on the end of a stick, for us to take them, or bite them off as a dog. Indeed, we were treated by him in the same line of courtesy as he treated his dogs. We quietly submitted to all manner of such ill behavior on his part, simply for the sake of peace and safety. We were completely in his power, and he could use us as he saw fit; and the least we said about it the better. This head man was an exception to all whom we saw among the natives for real ugliness. He was a regular savage. We were glad to be off. We shortly left this settlement, and passed on towards East Cape, following the direction of the sea coast, which from the river is nearly, as laid down in the chart, in the form of a half circle. We observed that the huts and settlements increased as we came farther south; and sometimes, in course of a day or two, we would pass through several small settlements. When we became wearied and exhausted by traveling, though it was difficult to make very rapid progress in the snow, or when we were hungry, we would stop, rest ourselves, get some blubber to eat, and then travel on again. Generally we found the natives ready and willing to help us with what they had. We had nothing to give them in return. We were a company of beggars. They saw our destitution and poverty, and therefore their kindness to us must be attributed to the dictates of human sympathy or pity, which in some way or other shows itself in the most barbarous and uncivilized forms of society. In our journey upon the coast, we discovered a new whale boat, which the natives had probably drawn out of the reach of the water and ice. We saw, also, the broadside of a ship in the ice near the shore, supposed to be lost the season before. Another ship was reported to have been seen by some of our party in the ice, some distance from the land, with her masts still standing. There were tracks in that direction in the snow upon the ice, which showed that the natives had been to her with their dog teams. As we passed along, we saw considerable drift stuff, such as wood, broken casks, &c. We continued on in our course on the coast mostly, finding huts from time to time, in which we obtained provisions for our present necessities, until we came within thirty or forty miles of East Cape, or about half the distance between the river and the cape. As the spring advanced, the sun was constantly attaining a higher altitude--not only imparting some additional heat, but its rays were powerfully reflected from one dense, unbroken surface of ice and snow, which every where met the eye of the beholder.