8 



ESQUIMAUX. 



them, from the manner in which they tena- 

 ciously held their articles till they grasped what 

 was offered in barter for them ; and immediately 

 they got the merchandise in possession, they 

 licked it with their tongues, in satisfaction that 

 it was their own. The tribe appeared to be 

 well-conditioned in their savage state, and 

 remarkably healthy. Some of the children, I 

 observed, were eating raw flesh, from the bones 

 of animals that had been killed, and given them 

 by their mothers, who appeared to have a 

 strong natural affection for their offspring. I 

 threw one of them a halfpenny, which she 

 caught ; and pointing to the child she immedi- 

 ately gave it to him with much apparent fond- 

 ness. It has been supposed that in holding up 

 their children, as is sometimes the case, it is for 

 barter, but I should rather conclude that it is 

 for the purpose of exciting commiseration, and 

 to obtain some European article for them. A 

 few of the men w r ere permitted to come on 

 board, and the good humour of the captain in- 

 vited one to dance with him : he took the step 

 with much agility and quickness, and imitated 

 €Very gesture of his lively partner. The breeze 

 freshening, we soon parted with this barbarous 

 people, and when at a short distance from the 

 ship, they assembled in their canoes, each 



