SCIENCE IN Rupert's land. 341 



incidents of his journey, of a nature most calculated to prove inter- 

 esting to the general reader : — 



" I left home on the 2nd of May, in a canoe paddled by a couple 

 of Indians belonging to my mission. "We followed the ice down the 

 noble McKenzie, staying awhile with Indians wherever we met them ; 

 and remained three or four days at each of the Forts along the route. 

 On the 11 th of June I left the zone in which my life had hitherto 

 been passed, and entered the less genial arctAc one. Then, however, 

 it was pleasant enough. The immense masses of ice piled on each 

 side of the river sufficiently cooled the atmosphere to make travelling 

 enjoyable. The sun shed upon us the comfort of light nearly the 

 whole twenty-four hours, and as we advanced further northward he 

 did not leave us at all. 



" Between Point Separation and Peel's River, we met several parties 

 of Esquimaux, all of whom, from their theivish propensities, gave us 

 a great deal of trouble, and very glad were we to escape out of their 

 hands without loss or injury. They are a fine looking race of people, 

 and from their general habits and appearance, I imagine them to be 

 much more intelligent than the Indians. If proof were wanting, I 

 think we have it in a girl brought from the Coast, little more than 

 three years ago, who now speaks and reads the English language with 

 considerable accuracy. The men are tall, active, and remarkablv 

 strong, many of them having a profusion of whiskers and beard. 

 The women are rather short, but comparatively fair, and possess very 

 regular and by no means badly formed features. The females have a 

 very singular practice of periodically cutting the hair from the crown 

 of their husband's head (leaving a bare place precisely like the tonsure 

 of a Roman CathoHc priest), and fastening the spoil to their own, they 

 wear it in bunches on each side of their face, and on the top of their 

 head, something in the manner of the Japanese who recently visited 

 the United States. This custom, as may be imagined, by no means 

 improves either their figure or appearance, and as they advance in 

 life, the bundles must become uncomfortably large- A benevolent old 

 lady was most urgent on me to partake of a slice of blubber ; but I 

 need hardly say that a sense of taste caused me to decline her hos- 

 pitality. Both sexes are inveterate smokers. Their pipes, which they 

 manufacture themselves, are made principally of copper. In shape, 

 the bowl is very like a reel used for cotton, and the hole through the 

 centre is as large as the aperture for holding the tobacco. This they 



