March 1830. 



HABITS OF THE 



NATIVES. 



343 



stay all night with him. We then gave him some bread, which 

 he smelt, and afterwards eat. He offered us some sea-elephant 

 blubber, about two inches and a-half thick ; we took it, and 

 making signs it was not good, flung it on the fire. As soon as 

 it began to melt, he took it from the fire, put one part in his 

 mouth, and holding the other drew it back again, squeezing 

 out the oil with his teeth, which were nearly shut. He put the 

 same piece on the fire again, and, after an addition to it, too 

 offensive to mention, again sucked it. Several more pieces were 

 served the same way, and the women and children partook of 

 them. They drank large draughts of water as soon as they had 

 done eating. As it grew dark at about eight oVlock, the man 

 began to talk to the women about our ' sherroo' or boat, and 

 our men, who he thought Avere near. They seemed to be 

 alarmed, for the women shortly after left the wigwam, and did 

 not return. They were quite naked. The man took the 

 youngest child in his arms, squatted down with the rest, and 

 making signs that he was going to sleep, stretched himself 

 by the fire, the children lying between him and the side of the 

 wigwam. Soon afterwards another man came in, who seemed 

 to be about twenty-two years of age, younger by ten years than 

 the first we saw. He had a piece of platted grass round his 

 head, in the form of a band. After talking some time with his 

 companion, he talked and laughed with usj ate some bread, and 

 would have eaten all we had, if we had not kept it from him. 

 He ate about two pounds of blubber, broiling and squeezing 

 it, as the other had done, and drank three or four pints of 

 water. We had only one case knife, which he was very fond of 

 borrowing now and then, to cut the blubber, pretending that 

 the muscle shells, which he broke for the purpose, were not 

 sharp enough. He examined all our clothes, felt our limbs 

 and breasts, and would have taken our clothes off, if we had 

 let him. He wanted a knife, and was continually feeling about 

 us for one, as we did not let him know that we had only one. 

 He opened a rush basket, and took out several trifles, such as 

 flre-stone,* feathers, spear-heads, a sailor's old mitten, part of 

 * Iron pyrites. 



