62 First Meeting with Innuits. [September, is64. 



Eskimo Joe now sighted with the telescope a place ou the land where the 

 liniuits* had had a late encampment, the marks being several tent-poles stand- 

 ing erect. A fe^Y minutes later he sighted a boat which was turned over and 

 lying above high water on the land ahead. From this we concluded that the 

 nati^•es could not be far oft", and toward this boat the Sylvia was now directed. 

 When within one mile of it we were delighted at the sight of a native near this 

 boat ; and yet the joy was mingled with something that was akin to fear, for he 

 appeared advancing cautiously toward us with gun in hand, and at the same 

 time, as Joe thought, loading it. However, I caused my small crew of three to 

 l)ull ahead, and soon leaped fi'om the bow of the Sylvia into the muddy shallow 

 water and waded ashore. The next moment my hand was in that of noble 

 Ou-e-Ia's (Albert's), as fine a specimen of an Eskimo as ever I met. I told him 

 that but a few days before I had seen you, and that Captain Chapel had brought 

 me and the two Innuits then in the boat m his vessel from my country, America. 

 Ou-e-Ia's joy on hearing from you seemed equal to mine on meeting him. He told 

 us that his tupil;, skin tent, and those of several others of his people, were just 

 over a point of land from where we then were, and that if we would stop and 

 make our encampment there, he and his people would the next day move over 

 beside us and then we all would have a long talk. • 



* The appellations Innuits and Eskimos will be used in this Narrative synonymously, as Hall 

 uses them. It may be as ■well, however, to give the probable origin of the names and their legit- 

 imate application. The word Esquimaux — better written Eskimo — is derived from a root indi- 

 cating, in the language of the Northern tribes, a sorcerer. The Inn uit name i'a(7-HsA.ce7>ie meaus 

 the house where the shmnans, sorcerers, conduct their dances and incantations. The word Inuuit 

 means jyeople, and is in use from Greenland to Bering Strait. It should take the place of Es- 

 kimos, the etymology of which is not clear. Mr. W, N. Dall, in a paper read before the American 

 Association in I8G9, and in a number of "The Contributions to North American Ethnology" by 

 Major .J. D. Powell, makes the following additional valued statements: 



"The Orariansare distinguished (I) by their language, of which the dialects, in construc- 

 tion and etymology, bear a strong resemblance to one auother throughout the group, and differ in 

 their homogeneousness(as well as the foregoing characters) as strongly fi-om their Indian dialects 

 adjacent to them ; (II) by their distribution, always confined to the sea-coasts or islands, some- 

 times entering the mouths of large rivers, as the Yukon, but only ascending them for a short dis- 

 tance, and as a rule avoiding the wooded country; (III) by their habits, more maritime and ad- 

 venturous than the Indians, following hunting, and killing not only the small seal, but also the sea- 

 lion and walrus. Even the great Arctic bow-head whale (and anciently the sperm-whale) falls a 

 victim to their persevering etforts ; and the patent harpoon, almost universally used by American 

 whalers in lieu of the old-fashionwi article, is a copy, iii steel, of the bone and slate weapon which 

 llie Innuits have used for centuries ; lastly, ihey are distinguished by their physical characteris- 

 tics, a light, fresh, yellow complexion, fine color, broad build, scaxihbcephalic head, great cranial 

 capacity, and obliquity of the arch of the zygoma. The patterns of their implements and 

 weapons, and their myths, arc similar in a general way throughout the group, and equally differ- 

 ent Cnim (he Inrliau types. 



••'I'lic Oi.iriaiis are divided into two well niarkttl ;;i()iips, namely, the lunuit, comprising 

 all (111- su-<alli «1 Eskimo and Tiiskis, and (ho Aleuts." 



