SECOND VOYAGE 197 



provided for them, their Christmas cheer must have been 

 salt beef and pork. 



The next morning, the 25th, some of the natives paid 

 them a visit. They are a little, ugly, half-starved, beardless 

 race ; not a tall person appeared amongst them. They were 

 almost naked ; their only clothing was a seal-skin. The 

 women cover their nakedness with the flap of a seal-skin, but 

 in other respects are clothed like the men. Two young 

 children were seen at the breast entirely naked ; thus they 

 are inured from their infancy to cold and hardships. They 

 had with them bows and arrows ; and darts, or rather 

 harpoons, made of bone, and fitted to a staff. They, and 

 everything they had, smelt most intolerably of train-oil. 

 The women and children remained in their canoes. These 

 were made of bark ; and in each was a fire, over which the 

 poor creatures huddled themselves. They likewise carry in 

 their canoes large seal-hides to shelter them when at sea, and 

 to serve as coverings to their huts on shore ; and occasionally 

 to be used for sails. 



The natives all retired before dinner ; indeed no one 

 invited them to stay. Their dirty persons, and the stench 

 they carried about them, were enough to spoil the appetite 

 of any European, and that would have been a real dis- 

 appointment, as the ship's company had not experienced 

 such fare for some time. Roast and boiled geese, and goose- 

 pie, was a treat little known to them, and they had yet some 

 Madeira wine left, which was the only article of provision 

 that was mended by keeping ; so that their friends in 

 England did not, perhaps, celebrate Christmas more cheer- 

 fully than they did. This was named Christmas Sound. 



Next day the natives made another visit ; and it being 

 distressing to see them stand trembling and naked on the 

 deck, Captain Cook humanely gave them some baize and 

 old canvas to cover themselves. 



The refreshments to be got here are precarious, as they 

 are chiefly wild fowl, and may probably never be found in 

 such plenty as to supply the crew of a ship. They consist 

 of geese, ducks, sea-pies, shags, and that kind of gull called 

 Port Egmont hen. Here is a kind of duck, called by the 

 sailors race-horses, on account of the great swiftness with 

 which they run on the water ; for they cannot fly, the wings 

 being too short to support the body in the air. The geese, 

 too, are much smaller than English tame geese, but eat 

 as well. They have short black bills and yellow feet. The 

 gander is all white ; the female is spotted black and 

 white, or gray, with a large white spot on each wing. The 

 Captain says, of all the nations he had seen, these people 

 seem to be the most wretched. They are doomed to live 



