230 BAFFIN BAY 



feare of us, my selfe with the merchaunts, and others 

 of the company went a shoare, bearing with me 

 twentie knives : I had no sooner landed, but they lept 

 out of their Canoas, and came running to mee and the 

 rest, and unbraced us with many signes of hartie 

 welcome : at this present there were eighteene of them, 

 and to each of them I gave a knife : they offered 

 skinnes to mee for rewarde, but I made signes that it 

 was not solde, but given them of curtesie : and so dis- 

 missed them for that time, with signes that they 

 shoulde returne againe after certaine houres." But 

 soon there were passing troubles owing to iron having 

 so great an attraction for them that they could not 

 resist stealing it. While amongst them, exploring the 

 country, Davis compiled the first Eskimo vocabulary 

 known, a list of some forty words written down 

 phonetically, most of them remarkably good approaches 

 considering that both parties were ignorant of each 

 other's language, none of them, however, except that 

 for " sea " being likely to be of any use in putting him 

 on the road to China. 



On leaving Gilbert Sound, Davis when in latitude 

 63 8' " fel upon a most mighty and strange quantity of 

 ice, in one intyre masse, so bigge as that we knew not 

 the limits thereof, and being withall so very high, in 

 forme of a land, with bayes and capes, and like high 

 cliffe land, as that we supposed it to be land, and there- 

 fore sent our pinnesse off to discover it : but at her 

 returne we were certainely informed that it was onely 

 ice, which bred great admiration to us all, considering 

 the huge quantity thereof, incredible to be reported in 

 truth as it was, and therefore 1 omit to speake any 



