Mi-RDorw.] IXTKRC Ol KSK WITH WHI IT. MKN. f)3 



in regard to the use of firearms. They certainly remembered no English. 

 Indeed, Dr. Sim})son says 1 that they learned hardly any. The Plover s 

 people probably found it very easy to do as we did and adopt a sort of 

 jargon of Eskimo words and &quot;pigeon English&quot; grammar for general in 

 tercourse. Although, according to the account of the natives, there 

 was considerable intercourse between the sailors and the Eskimo women, 

 there are now no people living at either village who we could be sure 

 were born from such intercourse, though one woman was ^inspected of 

 being half English. She was remarkable only for her large build, and 

 was not lighter than many pure-blooded women. 



Since 1854, when the first whalers came as far north as the Point, 

 there has hardly been a season in which ships have not visited this re 

 gion, and for a couple of months every year the natives have had con 

 siderable intercourse with the whites, going off to the ships to trade, 

 while the sailors come ashore occasionally. We found that they usually 

 spoke of white men as &quot;kablu na;&quot; but they informed us that they had 

 another word, &quot;tii n-nyln,&quot; which they used to employ among themselves 

 when they saw a ship. Dr. Simpson 2 says that they learned the word 

 &quot;kabluna&quot; from the eastern natives, but that the latter (he gives it 

 Tan -ning or Tau -gin) came from the Xuiiata iimitin. I le supposes it to 

 apply to the Russians, who had regular bath days at their posts, and 

 says it is derived from tan-nikh-lu-go, to wash or cleanse the person. 



The chief change resulting from their intercourse with the whites has 

 been the introduction of firearms. Xearly all the natives are now pro 

 vided with guns, some of them of the best modern patterns of breech 

 loaders, and they usually succeed in procuring a supply of ammunition. 

 This is in some respects a disadvantage, as the reindeer have become so 

 wild that the natives would no longer be able to procure a sufficient i 

 number of them for food and clothing with their former appliances, and 

 they are thus rendered dependent on the ships. On the other hand, 

 with a plentiful supply of ammunition it is easier for them to procure 

 abundance of food, both deer and seals, and they are less liable to famine 

 than in former times. 



There is no reason to fear, as has been suggested, that they will lose 

 the art of making any of their own weapons except in the case of the 

 bow. With firearms alone they would be unable to obtain any seals, 

 a much more important source of food than the reindeer, and their own 

 appliances for sealing are much better than any civilized contrivances. 

 Although they have plenty of the most improved modern whaling gear, 

 they are not likely to forget the manufacture of their own implements 

 for this purpose, as this important fishery is ruled by tradition and 

 superstition, which insists that at least one harpoon of the ancient pat 

 tern must be used in taking every whale. All are now rich in iron, 

 civilized tools, canvas and wreck wood, and in this respect their con 

 dition is improved. 



Op. cit., p. 251. &quot;Op. cit., p. 271. 



