NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 117 



there appeared no disposition on their part to 

 confine us down to a mere pittance, while they 

 themselves had their usual allowance. What 

 they had was freely offered to us, and both par- 

 ties fared about the same while food lasted. 

 Their supply of provisions for the winter, so far 

 as we could judge, was not large ; but now the 

 addition of thirty-three persons to their number 

 soon diminished their usual stock. 



Winters even in the arctic are variable, as we 

 learned from the natives ; some were very severe, 

 and other less so. We ascertained that an en- 

 tire settlement to the north of the one in which 

 we lived, and north of the wreck, perished a few 

 years before in consequence of the intense cold, 

 and the want of provisions. 



Some idea perhaps may be entertained by the 

 reader of the principal kind of food the natives 

 eat, and what we lived upon for months while 

 with them. 



THEIR MANNER OF CAPTURING THE WHALE. 



As the whale approaches quite near the shore, 

 the natives are not greatly exposed by following 

 him to a great distance in their canoes. They 

 take their own time and opportunity for killing 

 the whale. Both men and women are in the ca- 

 noes on such occasions. It is regarded by them 

 as a family affair. 



