576 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, separately relieved, and are sometimes twenty-six inches in length. 
XIX. what purpose they are used I know not ; but part of the last link is 
frequently left solid, and formed in imitation of a whale ; and these 
chains being strong, they may in some way or other be appropriated to 
the capture of that animal. 
Among a great many singularly shaped tools in the possession of 
these people, we noticed several that are not in Captain Parry’s cata- 
logue, such as instruments for breaking wood short off; small hand 
chisels, consisting of pieces of hard stone fixed in bone handles adapted 
to the palm of the hand ; meshes for making nets ; an instrument made 
with the claws of a seal, for cleansing skins of their fat, &c. Though I 
never saw the screw in use among this tribe, yet I found a worm pro- 
perly cut upon the end of one of their fishing implements. The panna, 
or douhle-edged knife, is also in use with these people ; some of them 
were inlaid with brass, and undoubtedly came from the Tschutschi. 
The language of the Western Esquimaux so nearly resembles that 
of the tribes to the eastward, as scarcely to need any further mention, 
particularly after the fact of Augustus, who was a native of Hudson s 
Bay, being able to converse with the Esquimaux whom he met at the 
mouth of the Mackenzie Kiver. It may, however, be useful to show by 
means of a vocabulary, compiled from the people we visited, how nearly 
it coincides with that given by Captain Parry; some allowances being 
made for the errors to which all collectors are liable, who can only make 
themselves understood by signs, and who collate from small parties, 
residing perhaps at a distance from each other, and who, though they 
speak the same language, may make use of a different dialect. It does 
not appear that this language extends much beyond Norton Sound, 
certainly not down to Oonalashka ; for the natives of that island, who 
are sometimes employed by the Russians as interpreters, are of no use 
on the American coast, near Beering’s Strait. The language, notwith- 
standing, has a great affinity, and may be radically the same. 
It is unnecessary to pursue further the peculiarities of these peo- 
ple, which are so similar to those of the eastern tribes, as to leave no 
doubt of both people being descended from the same stock ; and though 
the inhabitants of Melville Peninsula declared they knew of no people 
