OLD WHALING DAYS. 103 



interesting sight to see us sitting down with fifty or sixty 

 Esquimaux standing round. We did not entertain the 

 least fear of them doing us any harm. When we had 

 finished our refreshment they helped us to haul our boats 

 above high-water mark. Night coming on, there was no 

 possibility of us reaching the ship until the wind abated. 

 \Ve distributed all the small articles belonging the boat 

 amongst us to take care of. Our new friends then invited 

 us to enter their tents and partake of their food, consisting 

 of the stomach of a deer, which they consider a great 

 delicacy. I refused it with thanks, although they said it 

 was very agreeable to the taste. It might be to them, but I had 

 no relish for such dainties. We gladly accepted their 

 kind hospitality to take shelter with them for the night. 



At one o'clock I awoke ; the moon was shining brightly, 

 the wind had gone down, and I called the crew to launch 

 the boat and pull for the ship, which we reached at seven 

 a.m. Only half-an-hour was allowed for breakfast, and we 

 were sent away again to the other side of the fiord to join 

 the other boats. No time was given for an explanation for 

 our absence until the evening. The captain blamed us for 

 running during the gale. Had the traveller been of iron, 

 we could have lowered the sail with ease, as the other boats 

 had done. If we had attempted to bring the boat to, blow- 

 ing as it was, it would have capsized. The next day we got 

 under weigh, and towed the ship during a calm to another 

 harbour or small cove. About two miles further up the 

 fiord were some natives who had taken up their winter 

 quarters, and were joined by those with whom we had pre- 

 viously taken shelter, so that there was a large party of 

 them. We were also in company with Captain Budding- 

 ton's vessel, the gentleman whom I formerly mentioned. 

 The following year he wintered in this harbour, and Captain 

 Hall, of the Polaris expedition of 1871, was passenger with 

 him in order to become acquainted with the country and 



