30 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. II. 



English knife, saying, "Take that." This they 

 picked up, shouted, and palled their noses. Sac- 

 cheous, in return, called out Heicfhyaw ! pulling 

 his nose with the same gesture. 



This pulling of noses, which is represented to be 

 their mode of a friendly salutation, is a trite matter 

 of little moment, and would not be mentioned here 

 but for the singular circumstance, which has been 

 told by several of the officers, and in print, that they 

 never saw nor heard of it till it was mentioned by 

 Commander Ross, for the first time, at Shetland, on 

 their return home. It is scarcely possible that such 

 a foolish ceremony, if frequently and solemnly re- 

 peated, could have escaped the notice of all the offi- 

 cers except that of the commander; yet there must 

 be something in it, for Back, in his Arctic journey, 

 mentions rubbing of noses as an Esquimaux salu- 

 tation. 



The following is somewhat curious, considering 

 the number and frequency of whalers visiting this 

 part of the coast, where no doubt much intercourse 

 must have taken place between them and the inno- 

 cent natives: Ross says, they soon became more 

 familiar ; and, pointing to the ships, eagerly asked, 

 " What great creatures these were ? Do they come 

 from the sun or the moon? do they give us light 

 by night or by day?" repeating the question, 

 " What were they ?" to which Saccheous replied, 

 " They were houses made of wood." They re- 



