SECOND VISIT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. 41 



winter line of ice was very apparent along the 

 beach, exactly as on the banks of lakes and broad 

 rivers in the interior of America. The height 

 was less than I should have supposed, and could 

 not have exceeded thirty feet from low-water 

 mark. It must, therefore, have been formed 

 during an unusually calm season ; for, even in 

 these inland situations, a rise of full twenty feet is 

 by no means uncommon. 



We had a second visit from the Esquimaux, 

 with the same noisy bartering, the same cupidity, 

 and the same unnatural readiness to exchange 

 their children for a few needles or a saw. Es- 

 quimaux, indeed, will give any thing to procure 

 what they desire ; a laughable instance of which 

 was afforded by a young woman who, observing 

 that one of the officers had not much hair on his 

 head, immediately offered to supply him with 

 her own at the easy price of a curtain-ring. The 

 weather continued beautifully fine, with a tem- 

 perature of 35°, and the water 32° ; and, at noon, 

 the latitude was 62° 39' N. longitude, 70° 50' W. 



For the remainder of this day and the next 

 we continued beating along the shore, wherever 

 a lane of water was to be found ; and such was 

 the strength of the current which set us in the 

 direction of our course, that, notwithstanding 

 the impediments by which we were beset, and a 

 wind for the most part heading us, we made 



