Chap. XII. BACK'S JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA. 477 



thing could exceed the self-possession and nicety of judg- 

 ment with which he guided the frail thing along the narrow 

 line between the high waves of the torrent and the returning 

 eddy. A foot in either direction would have been fatal ; 

 but with the most perfect ease, and I may add, elegant and 

 graceful action, his keen eyes fixed upon the run, he kept 

 her true to her course through all its rapid windings." — p. 

 165. 



At length, however, they reached the last and 

 most formidable of rapids; and here they fell in 

 with a party of those treacherous Esquimaux 

 against whom the Indian chief had so urgently 

 cautioned him. He landed, and notwithstanding 

 their brandished spears, and yells, and wild gesti- 

 culations, walked up to them, calling out tima — 

 peace. In an instant their spears were flung on the 

 ground ; and, placing their hands on their breasts, 

 they also called out tima. He made them under- 

 stand they were Kabloonas — Europeans — and not 

 Indians; and he says, "as they did not, like their 

 neighbours to the North, go through the ceremony 

 of rubbing (not pulling) noses, by way of saluta- 

 tion, I adopted the John Bull fashion of shaking- 

 each of them heartily by the hand." A few pre- 

 sents were given to them, and Back went to their 

 tents and introduced himself to their women and 

 children; and he had every reason to believe he 

 had obtained their confidence. Their numbers, he 

 thinks, were altogether about thirty-five. 



These good-natured and friendly people were of 



