LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
185 
sionally in order to try the velocity of sound, and it may be 
affirmed that the firing of this gun led to an event, w hich opened 
a new scene to the crew of the Victory, and tended in a very 
considerable degree, to break the monotony to which they had 
hitherto been accustomed. It was on the 9th, at 11 a.m. that 
Allan Mc’lnniss shouted that he heard some strange voices, and 
in a few minutes afterwards a tribe of Esquimaux were seen on 
the beach, armed with bows and arrows, but in other respects 
evincing the most friendly disposition. Capt. Ross was at this 
time absent from the ship, and Commander James, the surgeon, 
and Mc’Inniss went in search of him. On the officers approaching 
the Esquimaux they seemed very timid, for they were then stand¬ 
ing in a line three deep, and in the middle stood an old man who 
was very infirm, and who apparently was the father of the com¬ 
munity. The officers still continued to approach them, but they 
did not move from their place, on which the officers dropped 
their guns on the ice, when the Esquimaux broke their lines, 
and brought out from the centre the old man formerly mentioned. 
The frankness of communication observed towards natives in 
their situation was practised towards them, and a mutual good 
understanding was soon established between them. They then 
came towards the ship without hesitation, but the old man was 
obliged to be drawn thither on a sledge, as well as his son who 
had only one leg ; the name of the old man was lllictu, and that 
of his son Tullooachiu. 
The general features, bodily and intellectual of these poor 
people, are nearly the same as those of the other Esquimaux 
tribes, particularly those, which inhabit the coasts of Baffin’s Bay. 
The description of savage life is nearly applicable to all portions 
of mankind, placed below a certain degree of refinement, but 
the amiable character of the Esquimaux, forms a striking contrast 
to that of most savage nations. Insulated by nature from the 
rest of the world, they have no idea of any other human beings, 
and there is more of the true spirit of contentment to be found 
amongst them, than is probably to be met with in any other class 
of mankind whatsoever. Happy in his smoky dwelling, the 
Esquimaux knows no want, feels no inconvenience, unless the 
8 2b 
