Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 1Parry, William Edward, Sir
History
Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 1
Parry, William Edward, Sir
Arctic regions; Northwest Passage; Parry, William Edward, Sir, 1790-1855
We found our new acquaintance as desirous of pleasing us as we
were ready to be pleased; so that we were soon on good terms with
them all. While we were engaged in examining every part of their
huts, their whole behaviour was in the highest degree orderly,
respectful, and good-humoured. They eagerly received the various
articles that were given them, either in exchange for their own
commodities or as presents, but on no occasion importuned us for
anything, nor did the well-known sound of "pilletay" once escape
from them. We had also great reason to believe that these people
possessed, in no ordinary degree, the quality of honesty; a
quality the more desirable to us, as we had on shore, besides the
house and observatory, all our boats and other articles, which,
had they been disposed to pilfer, it would have required all our
vigilance to guard. If we dropped a glove or a handkerchief
without knowing it, they would immediately direct our attention to
it by pointing; and if the owner had left the hut before they
discovered it, would run out after him to return it. Numberless
instances of a similar kind occurred in the course of our
subsequent communication with them, some of which I shall
hereafter have an opportunity of relating.
After remaining with them a couple of hours, and proposing to
spend the following day among them, we set out on our return to
the ships. Being desirous of trying their disposition to part with
their children, I proposed to buy a fine lad, named _Toolooak_,
for the very valuable consideration of a handsome butcher's knife.
His father, apparently understanding our meaning, joyfully
accepted the knife, and the boy ran into the hut to fetch his
mittens, which seemed to be all that he cared for in leaving his
home. He then set off with us in high spirits, and at first
assisted in drawing a sledge we had purchased to carry our things;
but as he began, by our additional signs, more clearly to
comprehend our true meaning, he gradually relaxed in his zeal to
accompany our party, and, being afterward overtaken by a number of
his companions, he took an opportunity to slink off among some
hummocks of ice, so that, when we arrived on board, Toolooak was
missing.
On our reaching the ships, these people expressed much less
surprise and curiosity than might naturally have been expected on
their first visit, which may, perhaps, in some measure, be
attributed to their being in reality a less noisy kind of people
than most of the Esquimaux to whom we had before been accustomed.
Quiet and orderly, however, as they were disposed to be, this
first visit showed them to be as fond of merriment as their
countrymen are usually considered; for, on Captain Lyon's ordering
his fiddler up on the Hecla's deck, they danced with the men for
an hour, and then returned in high glee and good-humour to their
huts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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