£76 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
to keep in repair, and so much expence to beautify and adorn. 
But there appears to be a feeling’ natural to the human heart, re¬ 
specting the last resting place of those, to whom we have been 
attached by the bonds of affection, and there are few societies, 
even in the most savage life, in which that feeling is not dis¬ 
played in the most amiable manner. In this respect, however, 
the Esquimaux appear to stand in the very lowest degree of human 
nature; it is true, that they sometimes bury their dead, either in 
the snow or a trench dug in the ground, but this only happens in 
those seasons, when an immediate removal from their present place 
of abode would be inconvenient. The ceremony of interment is 
therefore not performed from any respect due to the dead, but as 
a mere matter of convenience to the living; for as in the case of 
the death of lllictu, the tribe preferred vacating their habitations 
and removing to a distant quarter, than to incur the trouble of dig¬ 
ging a trench for the body, which it must be allowed with their rude 
and inadequate tools, is a task of no little difficulty, where the soil 
itself is as bard to penetrate as if it were of granite. The total 
absence of all notion of a resurrection, or of an after life, may 
certainly in a great degree operate to regulate the conduct of the 
Esquimaux towards their dead, not that it intrinsically matters 
in regard to that great important point, whether the corpse be 
gradually mouldering in the marble mausoleum, or whether it be 
left bleaching in the storms of an arctic winter; but they regard 
a human corpse as a thing so totally undeserving of all respect 
or attention, that to bestow any trouble upon it, when their own 
interest or convenience is not concerned, would appear to them 
as a total waste of time. They had not even given themselves 
the pains to undress the reverend father of their tribe, for lllictu 
was the most aged amongst them, and when the visiting party 
entered the hut, one of the first things which struck the attention 
of Chimham Thomas, the carpenter, was the sound condition of 
lllictu s boots, which were made of seal’s skin. Acting upon the 
principle that there is no sin in robbing the dead, and Thomas 
being at that particular time much in want of a good pair of 
boots, he very deliberately cut them off, and returned with his 
oooty to the ship. 
