150 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



round the neck of the chief, and the officers 

 presented theirs to an elder brother of his 

 and the two guides, communicating to them 

 that these marks of distinction were given 

 as tokens of our friendship and as pledges 

 of the sincerity of our professions. Being 

 conferred in the presence of all the hunters 

 their acquisition was highly gratifying to 

 them, but they studiously avoided any great 

 expression of joy, because such an exposure 

 would have been unbecoming the dignity 

 which the senior Indians assume during a 

 conference. They assured us, however, of 

 their being duly sensible of these tokens of 

 our regard, and that they should be pre- 

 served during their lives with the utmost 

 care. The chief evinced much penetration 

 and intelligence during the whole of this 

 conversation, which gave us a favourable 

 opinion of his intellectual powers. He 

 made many inquiries respecting the Disco- 

 very ships, under the command of Captain 

 Parry, which had been mentioned to him, and 

 asked why a passage had not been disco- 

 vered long ago, if one existed. It may be 



