Chap. VI. CAPTAIN PARRY'S SECOND VOYAGE. 185 



less and inattentive in unravelling the meaning of our ques- 

 tions, and careless whether her answers conveyed the infor- 

 mation we desired. In short, Iligliuk in February, and 

 Iligliuk in April, were confessedly very different persons ; 

 and it was at last amusing to recollect, though not very easy 

 to persuade one's self, that the woman who now sat demurely 

 in a chair, so confidently expecting the notice of those around 

 her, and she who had at first, with eager and wild delight, 

 assisted in cutting snow for the building of a hut, and with 

 the hope of obtaining a single needle, were actually one and 

 the same individual." — pp. 219, 220. 



Iligliuk was unquestionably altered and spoiled ; 

 and to Captain Parry and his associates was owing 

 the metamorphosis; but it was a natural conse- 

 quence, and could not be otherwise ; nor does the 

 change in her conduct detract in any degree from 

 that quiet, orderly, and cheerful behaviour which 

 prevailed almost universally among the tribe to 

 which she belonged. 



Of the peculiar habits, the disposition, the general 

 character, the resources and employments, and the 

 state of society among these poor creatures, doomed 

 to consume their lives in this country, the most 

 dreary and dismal perhaps in the whole world, Parry 

 has given a full account in his concluding Chapter. 

 Here, however, the occurrences only will be men- 

 tioned. As a general one it may be stated that 

 during the months of March, April, and May, when 

 they depend mostly on the capture of the seal and 

 the walrus, which is attended with the greatest dif- 

 ficulty and watchfulness on the ice, the whole tribe 

 may be said to be literally in a state of starvation. 



