36 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



if any article happened to be demanded 

 from the outer canoes, the men nearest as- 

 sisted willingly in passing the thing across. 

 Supposing the party to belong to one tribe, 

 the total number of the tribe must exceed 

 two hundred persons, as there were, pro- 

 bably, one hundred and fifty around the 

 ships, and few of these were elderly per- 

 sons or male children. 



Their faces were broad and flat, the eyes 

 small. The men were in general stout. 

 Some of the younger women and the chil- 

 dren had rather pleasing countenances, but 

 the difference between these and the more 

 aged of that sex bore strong testimony to 

 the effects which a few years produce in 

 this ungenial climate. Most of the party 

 had sore eyes, all of them appeared of a 

 plethoric habit of body; several were ob- 

 served bleeding at the nose during their 

 stay near the ship. The men's dresses 

 consisted of a jacket of seal-skin, the trow- 

 sers of bear-skin, and several had caps of 

 the white fox-skin. The female dresses 

 were made of the same materials, but dif- 



