380 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



Novemb °^ some a ^ tercat i° n between his two wives, undertook to settle their dispute 

 ^-rw by means of his knife, with which he inflicted some very severe cuts on the 

 forehead of one, and on the hand of the other. Some of our gentlemen 

 found them sitting very contentedly in their hut, with one of the wounds 

 sewn up, and both covered over with the hair of deer adhering by the coagu- 

 lated blood. They were evidently very shy of shewing them, and Sheradeoo 

 exhibited a good deal of uneasiness at having his domestic affairs thus 

 inquired into ; so that, upon the whole, our gentlemen on their return con- 

 fessed that here, as elsewhere, it seemed most prudent not to interfere in the 

 quarrels betwixt man and wife. The Esquimaux uniformly spoke of this 

 occurrence as a matter of real reproach ; which circumstance, together with 

 the fact of its being the only instance that has come to our knowledge 

 during a long intercourse with these people, is a sufficient proof that it forms 

 an exception to their ordinary conduct, and cannot therefore fairly be con- 

 sidered an impeachment of their general character. 



The Esquimaux having occasionally at this season a quantity of venison at 

 their huts which, as well as large loads of walrus-flesh, they continued for 

 some time after the setting-in of the winter to bring from various distant 

 stores, a general permission was given to purchase meat, to be paid for out 

 of the presents. The article most in request, however, was wood, and for a 

 piece of rough spar about seven feet long and from two to three inches 

 thick, I purchased for the use of the ship more than seventy pounds of the 

 finest venison we had ever seen, while smaller portions were occasionally 

 obtained for less valuable articles. Captain Lyon and myself also bought 

 some dogs and set up our own sledges, which proved of infinite convenience 

 in various ways during the winter, there being an excellent hard and beaten 

 road constantly kept between the ships and the huts, by the frequent walk- 

 ing and driving of ourselves and the natives. These people parted with 

 their dogs without much reluctance, and at first at a moderate price ; and the 

 dogs in a short time became so domesticated among us, that they would never 

 leave the ships. It seems a curious piece of inconsistency in the disposition 

 of these people that, harshly as in many respects they certainly treat their 

 dogs, they were not satisfied to sell them to us till assured we did not mean 

 to kill them ; and they thanked us more heartily, I believe, when they saw us 

 building a house for their reception, than they would have done for a similar 

 attention paid to themselves. The dogs on their part shewed that this 



