558 SECOND VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 



whereas their intention perhaps is only to get rid of the inquiry. It is very 

 common also for them when asked what a thing is, to give the name of the 

 material of which it is composed, or of the animal tliat furnished it, instead 

 of the name of the article in its j)resent state. If for insUinco, a stranger 

 should shew a pair of seal-skin mittens, and desire to know their name, an 

 Esquimaux would in all probability answer " neitiek," (seal,) or " amia," 

 (skin,) and not mention " poo-a-look," till more closely questioned. 



In the following collection of words, the mode of spelling adoj)ted has 

 been such as to render the pronunciation intelligible to an English person, 

 by attending to the foUovting examples of particular combinations of 



letters : — 



a to be pronounced as in father. 



a terminal . . China. 



e or ee . . . impede, feed. 



ei . ... eider, eye. 



oke .... smoke. 



00 ... . root. 



ow or ou . . . cow, foul. 



uk . . . . hick. 



uke . . . duke. 



ut . . . . cut. 



It is of some importance that the stress should be laid on the right 

 syllable, to ensure which the marks used in Latin prosody have been 

 adopted ; namely - long, and ^ short, the latter being usually understood 

 where no mark is ai)pUcd ; the mark ♦ as already obsorvcd, denotes a guttural 

 pronunciation. 



