234 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
sailors were not sparing* in their tricks upon them, for which 
reason they were often seen rolling over and over like the bears 
of their country, and by their extreme awkwardness, affording 
an infinite fund of amusement to the mischievous crew. In the 
game of foot-ball the slippery nature of the ice occasioned many 
disasters, and in the extreme eagerness of the natives to obtain a 
kick at the ball, they often met with those accidents, which were 
well calculated to excite the risibility of their playmates, but 
in their turn they had often a laugh at the sailors, when they 
stumbled into a pool of water, or were laid sprawling on the 
ground, from their inability to maintain their footing on the 
slippery surface. When the games were concluded, the sailors 
requested leave to accompany the natives to their huts, but a 
decided refusal was given. The bearing of the huts from the 
ship was direct northeast, but although they were permitted to 
take an excursion into the country, they were directed to bend 
their course south west. They however were no sooner out of 
sight of the ship, than they gradually veered round towards the 
south and the east, until they came in sight of the huts, but for 
fear of detection they dared not venture into their immediate 
vicinity. Whilst they were taking a view of the wide and 
desolate region around them, they perceived a dog belonging to 
the Esquimaux barking at something behind a bank of snow, on 
which one of the females proceeded from the hut to ascertain the 
cause of the violence of the dog, when she discovered it to be a 
bear in his winter harbour, which immediately made towards her, 
and seized her by the leg; fortunately the natives came to her 
assistance, and she escaped from her perilous situation with only 
a slight wound on her head. The Esquimaux were not long in 
despatching the ferocious animal, and they bore him home in 
triumph. 
