LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT, ROSS. 
211 
jec-tion of the nose ? this was a direct puzzler to the whole of the 
inquiring crew, as they sat in their smoke dried berth, and perhaps 
had the question been propounded to them by their domine, of the 
composition of the nucleus of the earth, there could not have 
existed a greater diversity of opinion, than was expressed on 
the momentous question, which then engrossed their undivided 
attention. 
Amongst the many minor subjects, to which the government of 
the country directed their attention in the fitting out of theHeda 
and Fury, was the selection of a library of the principal books, 
which treated of the former voyages to the Arctic seas, and 
which were always ready at hand to be referred to, when 
any difficulty presented itself, or when an explanation was re¬ 
quired of any of the habits or cust oms of the several tribes of the 
Esquimaux, who inhabited the country. This unfortunately how¬ 
ever for the crew of the Victory was not the case, and therefore 
they were bereft of that valuable source of information, which 
would at once have relieved them from their present embarrass¬ 
ment, and have served them as a guide in their future transactions 
with the Esquimaux ladies. 
Chance will, however, often effect what the most studied preme¬ 
ditation and diligence will never accomplish: the sailors had never 
yet been permitted to extend their walks as far as the huts of the 
Esquimaux, and therefore they had never yet enjoyed the oppor¬ 
tunity of observing their manners and customs in private life, 
and how far they differed in their essential character from the 
customs of more civilized nations. There are, however, to be 
found amongst every people, customs of nature as contra-distin¬ 
guished to those of habit and education ; and there is one belonging 
to the former class, which was introduced by Adam and Eve, car¬ 
ried by Noah into the Ark, and which has descended to almost 
all the children of that great patriarch, who migrated from the 
Tower of Babel to the four quarters of the world, and which, in its 
general practice, it will be universally admitted, has been the 
parent of some of the most extraordinary scenes which have been 
enacted upon the globe. It has however been surmised by those 
who pretend to be learned in such matters, that as the said eus- 
