LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



" I shall be happy to do whatever lies in my power 

 towards furthering the objects of the Missionary Society, 

 and shall gladly comply with your request. As yet, I 

 have nothing encouraging to write, although we have 

 passed over one region that you specially mentioned. We 

 saw but few of the natives at Orange Bay. These were 

 an extremely degraded and filthy race of beings, of short 

 stature, probably one of the most debased races on the 

 globe. They came off to the ships in their boats, with 

 no clothing but a piece of sealskin which covered only 

 a part of the back. One of these had nothing about him 

 but a sling, which hung over his shoulder. This, I be- 

 lieve, is their only weapon. We were unable to get from 

 them a word of their language on account of their pro- 

 pensity to imitation. The only native phrase they spoke 

 was something like Yamoskanak, and this was always in 

 their mouth. Whatever question was asked them, they 

 would repeat it, word for word, enunciating each syllable 

 distinctly, and almost as correctly as a native of New 

 York. Ask them, ' What do you want ? ' They say, 

 ' What do you want, yamoskanak,' laughing at the same 

 time, apparently as much diverted with us and our novel- 

 ties as we with theirs, and making as much sport with us 

 as we attempted to make with them. They have no vil- 

 lages or settlements in the neighborhood of the bay. We 

 found a few scattered huts in the coves along the shore, 

 but they were all unoccupied. They are small, conical 

 structures, made by inclining a series of poles, placed in a 

 circle, so as to meet at the top. This is rudely thatched 

 with weeds and brush, leaving a hole on one side to crawl 

 in, and another at the centre above, for the smoke to go 

 out. They are but a poor protection from the cold and 

 rains of this inclement region, not a single utensil, not 

 even a stone or log to sit on, was found in any of them. 

 A few half-burnt logs lay about the centre, and large 

 numbers of shells were scattered about the rude cabin, 

 indicating from their fresh appearance that the place had 

 not been long deserted. Large heaps of shells lay near 

 the entrance, and probably shell-fish form their principal, 

 if not their only support. With nothing but the cold 

 earth to rest on, no clothes to protect their bodies during 

 the severe winters, it is difficult to imagine how they 

 exist. They call loudly on the Christian world for in- 



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