154 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



natives of lying — a habit we perceived identified 

 with another, viz., that of stealing. And yet the 

 report could not fail to produce in all our minds 

 intense solicitude respecting the fate of our com- 

 panions. 



They ventured forth, risking their own lives, in 

 order to find better accommodations for the com- 

 pany. As soon as they should find better quar- 

 ters, and the prospect of preserving us from starva- 

 tion, the agreement was, to send us immediate 

 word ; and then small companies would follow 

 them from time to time, so as not to discommode 

 a small settlement of only a few huts with our 

 whole number coming into it at once. 



The reluctance of the natives in our settle- 

 ment to assist us in finding new quarters, when 

 they knew their provisions were getting wretch- 

 edly low, and when they knew, too, that we had 

 not more than one third of our ordinary fare, and 

 that we were becoming weaker and more ema- 

 ciated day after day, their reluctance to assist 

 us, or to direct us to the nearest settlement, can 

 be accounted for only on the principle that if 

 we died, they wanted us to die with them ; or 

 that they did not desire we should go to any 

 other settlement. What their particular motive 

 was in this respect, we could not satisfactorily 

 ascertain. 



