6 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



addition of trees to make it beautiful. The hills present the bold 

 character of rugged sterility, whilst the valleys, at this season, are 

 clothed with luxuriant verdure. 



It was not till the 1 4th, that, by appointment, the boatmen were 

 to assemble at the house of Mr. Geddes, to engage to accompany 

 the expedition. Several persons collected, but to my great mortifi- 

 cation, I found they were all so strongly possessed with the fearful 

 apprehension, either that great danger would attend the service, 

 or that we should carry them further than they would agree to go, 

 that not a single man would engage with us ; some of them, how- 

 ever, said they would consider the subject, and give me an answer on 

 the following day. This indecisive conduct was extremely annoying 

 to me, especially as the next evening was fixed for the departure of 



the ships. 



At the appointed time on the following morning four men only 

 presented themselves, and these, after much hesitation, engaged to 

 accompany the expedition to Port Chepewyan, if they should be 

 required so far. The bowmen and steersmen were to receive forty 

 pounds wages annually, and the middle men thirty-five pounds. 

 They stipulated to be sent back to the Orkney Islands, free of 

 expense, and to receive their pay until the time of arrival. Only 

 these few men could be procured, although our requisition had been 

 sent to almost every island, even as far as the northernmost point of 

 Ronaldsha. I was much amused with the extreme caution these 

 men used before they would sign the agreement ; they minutely 

 scanned all our intentions, weighed every circumstance, looked nar- 

 rowly into the plan of our route, and still more circumspectly to 

 the prospect of return. Such caution on the part of the northern 

 mariners forms a singular contrast with the ready and thoughtless 

 manner in which an English seaman enters upon any enterprise, 

 however hazardous, without inquiring, or desiring to know, where 

 he is going, or what he is going about. g 



