XXXVI 
INTRODUCTION. 
ferved, and the fum of it was to the following 
purport : . 
When the veffels arrived at this place (Marble 
Ifland) it was very late in the Fall, and in getting 
them into the harbour, the largeft received much 
damage; but on being fairly in, the Englifh be- 
gan to build the houfe, their number at that time 
feeming to be about fifty. As foon as the ice 
permitted, in the following Summer, (one thou- 
fand feven hundred and twenty,) the Efquimaux 
paid them another vifit, by which time the num- 
ber of the Englifh was greatly reduced, and thofe 
that were living feemed very unhealthy. Accord- 
ing to the account given by the Efquimaux they 
were then very bufily employed, but about what 
they could not eafily defcribe, probably in length- 
ening the long-boat ; for at a little diftance from 
the houfe there is now lying a great quantity of 
oak chips, which have been moft afluredly made 
by carpenters. 
Sicknefs and famine occafioned fuch havock 
among the Englifh, that by the fetting in of the 
fecond Winter their number was reduced to twen- 
ty. That Winter (one thoufand feven hundred 
and twenty) fome of the Efquimaux took up their 
abode on the oppofite fide of the harbour to that 
on which the Englifh had built their houfes*, and 
frequently fupplied them with fuch provifions as 
. they 
* T have feen the remains of thofe houfes feveral times; they are on 
the Weft fide of the harbour, and in all probability will be difcernible for 
many years to come. It 
