OLD WHALING DAYS. 101 



one to another. I have also been astonished why the 

 natives do not leave the walls of their winter huts standing. 

 Is it selfishness, so that other natives may not occupy them, 

 or may it be superstition ? We had no sooner brought up, 

 than two luggage boats and ten canoes came into the 

 harbour, but they could not be persuaded by us to come 

 alongside. The natives who were on board spoke to them, 

 and at last they prevailed upon them to venture. They 

 were greatly astonished to see such a large kyack, or canoe, 

 as they called us. Some took hold of the ring bolts in the 

 deck ; others tried to shake the masts, and in various ways 

 showed their amazement. They remained a short time, 

 saying they were going further up the fiord. They would 

 not land, but appeared to shun the place. Those who were 

 on board also went away in their canoes. The first day the 

 boats were away several fish were seen going up the fiord at 

 great speed. If one rose to the surface it only gave one 

 blast, and the next time it would be a couple of miles off. 

 Our only chance, therefore, lay in their coming near the 

 boats. One day a fish rose to leeward ; all the boats set 

 their sails in pursuit. As the wind increased the others 

 gave up the chase, knowing what a long pull it would be to 

 get back. When I wanted to lower my sail we could not 

 manage it, as I had a rope traveller on the mast, the iron 

 one having broken. The former being an old-fashioned 

 plan, and being made of new rope, it stuck to the mast, so 

 that we could not lower the sail. 



The wind by this time had increased to a gale, and our 

 only chance of safety was to run before it, and get shelter 

 under an island or any cove in the land which we could 

 find. After running two hours we came to a point of land 

 which opened into a large and beautiful fiord, where it was 

 calm, the water being quite smooth, although in the other 

 fiord it was still blowing, and the sea covered with foam. 

 I have often wondered whether this was the direction the 



