LAST VOYAGE OF GAPT. ROSS. 
221 
their natural ignorance and intellectual darkness, there was a 
degree of shrewdness about them in catching up the traits of the 
character of those with whom they associated, and there is little 
doubt but that the character, which every one bore in his tribe 
could in some degree have been gathered from the name which 
had been bestowed upon him. To Capt. Ross they gave the 
soubriquet or nickname of Puluach , which signifies a raven, and 
various reasons were assigned for the application of this epithet, 
first, that a certain degree of resemblance existed in some of their 
exterior parts, particularly in the beak and the nose, and further 
having ascertained that he was the chief or governor of the whole 
crew, as well as nearly the largest in corporeal magnitude, they 
betowed upon him the name of that animal, which is nearly the 
largest with which they are acquainted, that goes upon two legs, 
although it must be allowed that the slow and solemn gait of the 
Captain bore no affinity whatever with the hop, skip, and jump 
of the raven. It is also said that the tones of the Captain's voice 
are not the most musical which have been known to issue from 
human lips, and which, therefore on account of their hoarseness, 
might have reminded the Esquimaux of the croaking of the Ra¬ 
ven ; on the other hand, however it w as affirmed by those, who 
pretended to have investigated the matter deeper than any other 
person, that the epithet of the raven was not applied to the Cap¬ 
tain from any exterior resemblance, which might exist between 
the two bipeds, but that it originated in a similarity, which dis¬ 
played itself in some of their natural habits, and particularly in a 
kind of ravenous appetite which is displayed by both, whether 
it be a mess of putrid whale’s blubber on the one part, as the 
lawyers have it, or a haunch of a rein deer on the other part. 
Another version however of the cause of the soubriquet was given, 
in w hich it was attempted to be proved, that the alleged ravenous 
appetite of the Captain, had no reference w hatever to any vora¬ 
city which he might evince when seated in his cabin before his 
roasted hare or grouse, but that it referred exclusively to the most 
ravenous appetite which he had exhibited to appropriate to him¬ 
self all their jackets, trowsers, mittens, boots and other para¬ 
phernalia of dress, and which appetite there appeared not the 
slightest prospect of appeasing. 
