102 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



whales took going south, instead of the outside. As we 

 approached a low sandy beach we heard a great shout from 

 a number of natives running about with their bows and 

 arrows. I immediately pulled towards them, but they 

 evidently did not want us to land. We beached the boat, 

 however, near them, saying " chimo, chimo," which means 

 welcome, and is generally their first salutation. They. were 

 much surprised to hear me address them in their native 

 tongue, which I could speak very well, being so often 

 amongst them from my boyhood. This tribe had more the 

 appearance of Indians than those further north. I deemed 

 it prudent to fire off my rifle and harpoon gun, fearing some 

 accident might occur, as they are very inquisitive. When 

 they heard the echo of the report among the hills they 

 screamed and yelled in a strange manner. When I first 

 landed, an old woman purloined two pair of mittens out 

 of my jacket pocket. When I attempted to get them from 

 her she fell down, and in consequence the natives appeared 

 very angry. When I told them she was stealing they 

 laughed, so I was very glad to satisfy them by giving her 

 one pair to get the other back. When I fired my rifle off I 

 shot a malemauk, which was sitting on the water. One of 

 the natives took his canoe and fetched it. They were very 

 much surprised to find no arrow, but a hole cut through it, 

 and when I fired off my harpoon gun without killing 

 anything their astonishment was unbounded. The wad, 

 which was made of rope, lay on the water like a ball of 

 oakum. This they fetched on shore, and examined it 

 closely, and they could not understand why a small gun 

 should kill a bird without seeing anything come out of it, 

 and the large one doing no damage but leave a piece of 

 stuff floating on the water. 



We were wet and hungry, so quickly made a fire 

 with some coals and wood, which we always carry^ on 

 such occasions, and made our coffee. It would be an 



