364 
THE ESQUIMAUX. 
ment on board the brig. Although during my absence 
on the attempted visit to Beechy Island, the men I had 
left behind had frequent and unrestrained intercourse 
with them, I myself saw no natives in Rensselaer Bay 
till immediately after the departure of Petersen and his 
companions. Just then, by a coincidence which con¬ 
vinced me how closely we had been under surveillance, 
a party of three made their appearance, as if to note 
for themselves our condition and resources. 
Times had indeed altered with us. We had parted 
with half our provisions, half our boats and sledges, 
and more than half our able-bodied men. It looked 
very much as if we were to lie ensconced in our ice- 
battered citadel, rarely venturing to sally out for explo¬ 
ration or supplies. We feared nothing of course but 
the want of fresh meat, and it was much less important 
that our neighbors should fear us than that Ave should 
secure from them offices of kindness. They were over¬ 
bearing sometimes, and needed the instruction of 
rebuke; but I treated them with carefully-regulated 
hospitality. 
When the three visitors came to us near the end 
of August, I established them in a tent below deck, 
with a copper lamp, a cooking-basin, and a liberal sup¬ 
ply of slush for fuel. 1 left them under guard when I 
went to bed at two in the morning, contentedly eating 
and cooking and eating again without the promise of 
an intermission. An American or a European would 
have slept after such a debauch till the recognised hour 
for hock and seltzer-water. But our guests managed 
