12 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



Only these few men could be procured, 

 although our requisition had been sent to 

 almost every island, even as far as the 

 northernmost point of Ronaldsha. I was 

 much amused with the extreme caution 

 these men used before they would sign the 

 agreement ; they minutely scanned all our 

 intentions, weighed every circumstance, 

 looked narrowly into the plan of our route, 

 and still more circumspectly to the pro- 

 spect of return. Such caution on the part 

 of the northern mariners forms a singular 

 contrast with the ready and thoughtless 

 manner in which an English seaman enters 

 upon any enterprise, however hazardous, 

 without inquiring, or desiring to know, 

 where he is going, or what he is going 

 about. 



The brig Harmony, belonging to the 

 Moravian Missionary Society, and bound 

 to their settlement at Nain, on the coast of 

 Labrador, was lying at anchor. With a 

 view of collecting some Esquimaux words 

 and sentences, or gaining any information 

 respecting the manners and habits of that 



