470 
LAST VOYAGE OF CART. ROSS. 
these people : and it is very natural to suppose, that an indivi¬ 
dual, who has been frequently cheated by a particular class of 
persons, is not very solicitous afterwards to renew their ac¬ 
quaintance. He, therefore, in an authoritative tone, gave the 
Esquimaux to understand, that they might take their senik in any 
other part of the world, which their fancy might select; but that 
it was his positive determination, that it should not take place 
on board of his ship. This was, however, a mode of argument, 
which they did not understand, or if they did understand it, it 
did not in the least harmonize with their own individual feel¬ 
ings ; for as, from their infancy, they had never been subject to 
any authority, they were not disposed to bend to it, from a per¬ 
son, who, although he might have dropped amongst them, in a 
most extraordinary manner, and appeared to be invested with the 
character of a superior being, yet it was to them by no means a 
settled point, that he was to determine the exact place, where 
they were to keep their senik , and to deny to them those rights 
of hospitality, which had been allowed to their brethren. The 
vicinity of Felix Harbour was not, however, the only place, in 
this motley world, in which the might of the strong prevails 
against the claims of the pauper and the dependent. The Es¬ 
quimaux had come without a passport; for they had brought 
neither skins, nor trousers, nor hoods, nor mittens, nor any ar¬ 
ticle of their household gear: and, therefore, with all that 
coarseness of manners, which is habitual to the British sailor, 
when he is standing on the deck of his own ship, the Esquimaux 
were by turns handed down the ladder, and left to take their 
senik under the cope of heaven, which perhaps to them was a 
nobler covering, than the smoke-dried rafters of an English vessel. 
The wind continuing to blow from the south, the ship, on th * 
15th, was heaved a-head, with the ice running north, making a 
heavy pressure against the stern of the vessel, and exciting some 
apprehension for the safety of the rudder. Some very opposite 
opinions were at this time held on board the ship, as to the 
course of management, which was pursued on this occasion ; and 
many there were, who, although they could not boast of holding 
the King’s commission, or who had gone through their examina • 
