454 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. XI. 



us turn to the pages of Parry, where he describes 

 the superior intellectual faculties of that extraor- 

 dinary woman Iligliuk, who in a moment was made 

 to comprehend the nature of whatever was brought 

 under her notice, and among other things, that of the 

 compass, as being the means of guiding her hand to 

 pencil out on paper the lines of two extensive 

 coasts, on two opposite sides of the same land, 

 united by a long strait, with islands and other 

 particulars; all of which were found to be suffi- 

 ciently correct to guide Parry to the object of his 

 research. The eagerness with which her scruti- 

 nizing eye was directed to the forge, and the ope- 

 ration of welding iron, gave a strong proof of her 

 inquisitive and sagacious mind. Her son was little 

 inferior to herself in mental capacity. 



Indeed, the order, good conduct, and skill* of the 

 people, from whom Parry received so much useful 

 information, and their superiority over the general 

 class of human beings cannot be denied ; nor that 

 the means of instruction alone are wanted to bring 

 them rapidly into a state of civilization : but so 

 long as they continue to be hemmed in to the 

 distance of not many miles from the sea-coast, and 

 by hostile and unenlightened tribes in the interior, 

 their time and their energies are wholly employed 

 in the means of self-defence, and self-preservation 

 from famine. Parry has justly contrasted those 



* Displayed in their construction of snow-built houses. 



