INDOLENCE OI« THE DOG-KIBS. 89 



The thermometers, of which at least a dozen were 

 constantly hanging up outside, were never touched, 

 and none of the natives ever intruded into the 

 magnetic observatory, after a general intimation 

 that they were not to do so. When parties of 

 them came in with venison, they slept in our 

 dining-hall, and their friends from the fishery joined 

 them to hear the news, and to talk for a great 

 part of the night, yet, though the place was crowded, 

 they gave us very little trouble. Some of the new 

 comers would frequently enter the sleeping apart- 

 ments, and crouching down against the wall, re- 

 main in perfect quietness for an hour together, 

 gazing at the books and other things exposed to 

 view, and watching Mr. Rae and myself writing. 



In December, January, and February, the Indians 

 pressed heavily on our store, as the fishery was at 

 a low ebb, and they had either consumed, or we 

 had brought in, all the venison that had been put 

 en cache for us. The more active hunters, with 

 their families, had followed the game to a greater 

 distance, and several detachments of stout but idle 

 young men had joined the fishery encampment. 

 From these able-bodied fellows we steadily withheld 

 rations, though they were more than once furnished 

 with provisions and ammunition to go out on a 

 hunting excursion. The efforts to get them to do 

 any thing were, however, ineffectual. They gene- 



