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 2Parry, 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 2
Parry, William Edward, Sir
Arctic regions; Northwest Passage; Parry, William Edward, Sir, 1790-1855
"We were joyfully welcomed to the dwelling of Ooyarra, whose guest I
was now to become, and the place of honour, the deerskin seat, was
cleared for my reception. His two wives, _K~ai-m=o=o-khi~ak_
and _Aw~a-r=un-n~i_ occupied one end, for it was a double
tent; while at the opposite extremity the parents of the senior wife
were established. The old mother N=ow-k~it-y~oo assisted the
young woman in pulling off our wet clothes and boots, which latter
being of native manufacture, she new-soled and mended without any
request on our side, considering us as a part of the family. Dunn
slept in the little tent to watch our goods, and I had a small
portion of Ooyarra's screened off for me by a seal's skin. My host
and his wives having retired to another tent, and my visitors taking
compassion on me, I went comfortably to sleep; but at midnight was
awakened by a feeling of great warmth, and, to my surprise, found
myself covered by a large deerskin, under which lay my friend, his
two wives, and their favourite puppy, all fast asleep and stark
naked. Supposing this was all according to rule, I left them to
repose in peace, and resigned myself to sleep.
"On rising, Dunn and I washed with soap in a pond, which caused
great speculations among the by-standers, on some of whom we
afterward performed miracles in the cleansing way. A large
assemblage being collected to hear me talk of Ney-uning-Eitua, or
Winter Island, and to see us eat, the women volunteered to cook for
us; and, as we preferred a fire in the open air to their lamps, the
good-natured creatures sat an hour in the rain to stew some venison
which we had saved from our shares of the deer. The fires in summer,
when in the open air, are generally made of bones previously well
rubbed with blubber, and the female who attends the cooking chews a
large piece, from which, as she extracts the oil, she spirts it on
the flame.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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