180 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. the poor creature, it seemed to be unwelcome, for though 

 -^^^^" much exhausted by pain and loss of blood, she made several 

 efforts to ward off the friendly blow. My situation and the 

 terror of my mind at beholding this butchery, cannot easily 

 be conceived, much less described ; though I summed up all 

 the fortitude I was master of on the occasion, it was with 

 difficulty that I could refrain from tears ; and I am confident 

 that my features must have feelingly expressed how sincerely I 

 was affected at the barbarous scene I then [155] witnessed; 

 even at this hour I cannot reflect on the transactions of that 

 horrid day without shedding tears. 



The brutish manner in which these savages used the bodies 

 they had so cruelly bereaved of life was so shocking, that it 

 would be indecent to describe it ; particularly their curiosity 

 in examining, and the remarks they made, on the formation 

 of the women ; which, they pretended to say, differed materi- 

 ally from that of their own. For my own part I must 

 acknowledge, that however favourable the opportunity for 

 determining that point might have been, yet my thoughts at 

 the time were too much agitated to admit of any such re- 

 marks ; and I firmly believe, that had there actually been as 

 much difference between them as there is said to be between 

 the Hottentots and those of Europe, it would not have been 

 in my power to have marked the distinction. I have reason 

 to think, however, that there is no ground for the assertion ; 

 and really believe that the declaration of the Indians on this 

 occasion, was utterly void of truth, and proceeded only from 

 the implacable hatred they bore to the whole tribe of people 

 of whom I am speaking. 



When the Indians had completed the murder of the poor 

 Esquimaux, seven other tents on the East side the river im- 

 mediately engaged their attention : very luckily, however, our 

 canoes and baggage had been left at a little distance up the 

 river, so that they had no way of [i 56] crossing to get at them. 

 The river at this part being little more than eighty yards wide,^ 



