332 VOYAGE TO THE 



CH ^ P - their having the same origin. They were if any 

 n— r^ thing less dirty, and somewhat fairer, and their im- 

 1826. plements were better made. Their dress, though 

 Esquimaux, differed a little from it in the skin 

 shirts being ornamented with tassels, after the man- 

 ner of the Oonalashka people, and in the boots fit- 

 ting the leg, instead of being adapted to the recep- 

 tion of either oil or infants. 



The old men had a few gray hairs on their chins, 

 but the young ones, though grown up, were beard- 

 less. Many had their heads shaved round the crown, 

 after the fashion of the Tschutschi, the Otaheitans, 

 or the Roman Catholic priesthood in Europe, and 

 all had their hair cut short. Their manner of salu- 

 tation was by rubbing their noses against ours, and 

 drawing the palms of their hands over our faces ; 

 but we were not favoured as Kotzebue was, by their 

 being previously spit upon. In the stern of one of 

 the baidars there was a very entertaining old lady, 

 who amused us by the manner in which she tried 

 to impose upon our credulity. She was seated 

 upon a bag of peltry, from which she now and then 

 cautiously drew out a skin, and exhibited the best 

 part of it, with a look implying that it was of great 

 value ; she repeatedly hugged it, and endeavoured 

 to coax her new acquaintances into a good bargain, 

 but her furs were scarcely worth purchasing. She 

 was tattooed in curved lines along the sides of the 

 cheek, the outer one extending from the lower jaw, 

 over the temple and eyebrow. 



Our visiters on board were not less accomplished 

 adepts at bartering than the old woman, and sold 

 almost every thing they had. With the men, 

 " tawac," as they called our tobacco, was their great 



