﻿216 KUTCHIN AND ESKIMOS. July, 



In the course of Mr. Bell's residence on Peel's 

 River, an event occurred in the history of these 

 j)eople, which, in its principal feature, bore no small 

 resemblance to the skirmish between the parties of 

 Joab and Abner, related in the second chapter of 

 the second book of Kings. A party of Kutchin 

 having met a number of Eskimos, their demeanour 

 to one another was friendly, and the young men of 

 each nation rose up to dance. The Eskimos, how- 

 ever, being accustomed to carry their knives con- 

 cealed in their wide sleeves, did so on this occasion, 

 and, grasping them suddenly, on a preconcerted 

 signal in the midst of the dance, thrust them at 

 their Kutchin companions, by which three of the 

 latter fell mortally wounded. A melee ensued, in 

 which several were slain on both sides. This is 

 the story told by the Kutchin survivors, but the 

 Eskimos would, perhaps, give a different colour to 

 the matter were they the narrators. It is to be 

 hoped that, in a few years, the interference of the 

 traders will put an end to these disastrous con- 

 flicts, which have long ceased in other parts of the 

 fur countries.* 



* An unexpected and cruel massacre of a party of Eskimos 

 lias been reported to the Admiralty by Commander Pullen, since 

 this and some of the following sheets were set in type. This 

 sad occurrence is rendered more lamentable, from a Canadian in 

 the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company having been a 

 prime actor in the affair. It appears that in the spring of 1850, 



