06 OBTAIN DOGS FROM NATIVES. 



seen them. As to inquiry after E. York, they no doubt 

 considered him sold as a slave, and turned their atten- 

 tion more to the business in prospect. But one old man 

 and a boy met us at the floe-edge, the others, although 

 near, having held aloof, in all probability waiting until 

 they were apprised of the turn of affairs. Our traffic 

 with these people, who were filthy in the extreme, cannot 

 prove interesting. In return for our presents, but more 

 particularly in exchange for a boat-hook and a broken 

 oar, we obtained three very fine and handsome native 

 dogs, not differing a hair in marks or colours from each 

 other, being of an iron-grey, whitish beneath, dark stripe 

 on back and shoulders, and strongly resembling a very 

 dark-coloured Arctic wolf. 



I was indeed glad to find that the articles which they 

 preferred were likely to be of such value to them, instead 

 of the trumpery gewgaws usually given to these uncivil- 

 ized beings. As to looking-glasses, if I for an instant 

 imagined they would reflect their own deformities, and 

 induce them to mend, wash themselves, or to scrape off 

 their filth, I would gladly have bestowed on them all our 

 supply. Of wood they appeared to be greatly in need, and 

 had I been aware of it, before leaving the ship I would 

 have given them some of great value, viz. the staves of 

 the great oil-casks picked up from the wrecks. Each of 

 the sledge-runners I noticed, were constructed of no less 

 than nine pieces of oak, partly staves and heads of casks 

 cleverly sewn together, and probably belo ging to some 

 vessel wrecked, or procured from the ' North Star' when 

 she wintered a short distance to the northward in Wol- 

 stenholme Sound. They were evidently accustomed to 



