82 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



then stopped. The captain and those with him ap- 

 proached them and shook hands with them. The 

 natives appeared to understand the signals and 

 signs, and at once desired that all the company 

 that was behind some distance would come for- 

 ward to them. This they did. The natives 

 pointed in the direction of their settlement, and 

 furthermore desired all the company to follow 

 them. We followed them until we came in 

 sight of their huts. Here the whole company 

 was requested to stop, with the exception of the 

 captain and two of his officers. We went with 

 the natives into the settlement, and were imme- 

 diately conducted into the presence of a very old 

 woman, who marked one side of our faces with 

 two lines, and our hands in the same manner, 

 with a burnt stick. After this singular manoeu- 

 vre was over, she made signs to the captain to 

 call all his men, and they also were marked upon 

 their faces and hands. 



It is altogether probable that the marking of 

 our faces and hands by this old woman with a 

 burnt stick was some sacred rite, and that she 

 might have been a sort of priestess or prophetess 

 among the natives, and that the ceremony was a 

 mark of her approval, or that she secured the 

 protection of some divinity in our behalf. 



It was ascertained afterwards, that this old 



