PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
571 
With the Western Esquimaux, as indeed with almost all uncivilized CHAP, 
tribes, hospitality seems to form one characteristic feature of the dis- 
position; as if Nature, by the gift of this virtue, had intended to check, Oct. 
in some measure, that ferocity which is otherwise so predominant. 
Smoking is their favourite habit, in which they indulge as long 
as their tobacco lasts. Parties assemble to enjoy the fumes of this 
narcotic, and the pipe passes round like the calumet of the Indians, 
but apparently without the ceremony being binding. Their pipes are 
short, and the bowls of some contain no more tobacco than can be con- 
sumed in a long whiff ; indeed the great pleasure of the party often 
consists in individuals endeavouring to excel each other in exhausting 
the contents of the bowl at one breath, and many a laugh is indulged 
at the expense of him who fails, or who, as is very frequently the case, 
is thrown into a fit of coughing by the smoke getting into his lungs. 
They seldom use tobacco in any other way than this, though some 
natives whom we saw to the southward of Beering’s Strait were not 
averse to chewing it, and the St. Lawrence islanders indulged in snuff. 
Their predilection for tobacco is no doubt derived from the Tschutschi, 
Avho are so passionately fond of it, that they are said, by Captain 
Cochrane, to snuff, chew, and smoke, all at the same time. The practice 
of adulterating tobacco is common with the Tschutschi, and has, no 
doubt, passed from them to the Esquimaux, who often adopt it from 
choice. That which finds its way to this part of America is of very 
inferior quality, and often has dried wood chopped up with it. 
The ornaments worn in the lip, described in the course of this 
narrative, are pecuhar to the males of the Western Esquimaux, and 
are in use only from Norton Sound, where they were seen by Captain 
King, to the Mackenzie Eiver, where they were worn by the party 
which attacked Captain Franklin. The practice is by no means mo- 
dern, as Deschnew, as far back as 1648, describes the inhabitants of 
the islands opposite Tschutskoi Noss as having pieces of sea-horse tush 
thrust into holes in their lips. No lip ornaments similar to these have 
been seen to the eastward of the Mackenzie Eiver ; and indeed we know 
of no other tribe which has adopted this singular custom of disfiguring 
the face, except that inhabiting the coast near Prince William Sound, 
4 D 2 
