MURDOCH. ] INTERCOURSE WITH WHITE MEN. Do 
in regard to the use of firearms. They certainly remembered no English. 
Indeed, Dr. Simpson says! that they learned hardly any. The Plover’s 
people probably found it very easy to do as we did and adopt a sort of 
jargon of Eskimo words and “pigeon English” grammar for general in- 
tercourse. Although, according to the account of the natives, there 
was considerable intercourse between the sailors and the Eskimo women, 
there are now no people living at either village who we could be sure 
were born from such intercourse, though one woman was suspected of 
being half English. She was remarkable only for her large build, and 
was not lighter than many pure-blooded women. 
Since 1854, when the first whalers came as far north as the Point, 
there has hardly been a season in which ships have not visited this re- 
gion, and for a couple of months every year the natives have had con- 
siderable intercourse with the whites, going off to the ships to trade, 
while the sailors come ashore occasionally. We found that they usually 
spoke of white men as “kablu/na;” but they informed us that they had 
another word, ‘ti/n-nyin,” which they used to employ among themselves 
when they saw a ship. Dr. Simpson’ says that they learned the word 
“kabluna” from the eastern natives, but that the latter (he gives it 
Tan/-ning or Tan’-gin) came from the Nunata/tmiun. He supposes it to 
apply to the Russians, who had regular bath days at their posts, and 
says it is derived from tan-nikh-lu-go, to wash or cleanse the person. 
The chief change resulting from their intercourse with the whites has 
been the introduction of firearms. Nearly all the natives are now pro- 
vided with guns, some of them of the best modern patterns of breech- 
loaders, and they usually sueceed in procuring a supply of ammunition. 
This is in some respects a disadvantage, as the reindeer haye become so 
wild that the natives would no longer be able to procure a sufficient 
number of them for food and clothing with their former appliances, and 
they are thus rendered dependent on the ships. On the other hand, 
with a plentiful supply of ammunition it is easier for them to procure 
abundance of food, both deer and seals, and they are less liable to famine 
than in former times. 
There is no reason to fear, as has been suggested, that they will lose 
the art of making any of their own weapons except in the case of the 
bow. With firearms alone they would be unable to obtain any seals, 
a much more important source of food than the reindeer, and their own 
appliances for sealing are much better than any civilized contrivances. 
Although they have plenty of the mostimproved modern whaling gear, 
they are not likely to forget the manufacture of their own implements 
for this purpose, as this important fishery is ruled by tradition and 
superstition, which insists that at least one harpoon of the ancient pat- 
tern must be used in taking every whale. All are now rich in iron, 
civilized tools, canvas and wreck wood, and in this respect their con- 
dition is improved. 
1 Op. cit., p. 251. 2Op. cit., p. 271. 
