20 6 
NORTH POLE. 
is aim oft entirely covered with ice, and appeared to be 
impaffable.” 
The vegetable produXions of this country eonfift of 
heath, niofs, and coarfe grafs ; the mofs, when dried and 
immer-fed in the oil or blubber of the feal, or unicorn, 
ferves for a wick, and produces their fire as well as light. 
Whales are very numerous and large; and it is the opi¬ 
nion of Capt. Rofs, that this bay might be vifited every 
feafon by the whalers to advantage, and that a valuable 
fur-trade might be eftablifhed, from the number of black 
foxes actually feen by the officers and men. 
The people are of a dirty copper-colour; their ftature is 
about five feet, their bodies corpulent, and theip features 
much refembling theEfquimauxof South Greenland. The 
following defcription ofErvich, of whom a full-length por¬ 
trait is given by Rofs, will convey a juft idea of the whole 
tribe : “ This man, who appeared to be about forty years 
of age, meafured about five feet one inch in height, hisfkin 
being of a dirty copper-colour, rather darker than the ge¬ 
nerality; his face was broad, his forehead narrow and 
low, with feme wrinkles, and the nofe fmall and ftraight; 
the cheeks full, round, and ruddy, even through the 
oil and dirt which covered them ; his mouth was large, 
generally half open, and fhowing that he had loft his fore¬ 
teeth, the remainder of which were, however, white and 
regular: his lips were thick, particularly towards the 
middle; his eyes fmall, black, oval, and very approxi¬ 
mate ; the hair was black, coarfe, long, and lank, and 
had certainly never been cut or combed ; his beard and 
muftachios. which were fuffered to grow, were fcanty, and 
confined to the upper lip and chin. His body was flefhy, 
inclined to corpulence ; the hands thick and fmall, fingers 
fliort; and the feet very fhort and thick. Though good- 
humour was fully exprefl'ed in Ids countenance, it alio 
bore that indefcribable mixed appearance of ignorance 
and wildnefs that charaXerizes all uncivilized people. In 
walking, he feemed inactive, and it was with much diffi¬ 
culty he got up the fnip’s fide.” 
The number of the tribe could not be afcertained, as 
they had no words for numerating higher than five, but 
the greateft number of natives feen was about eighteen. 
They are laid not to have any knowledge of a Supreme 
Being, or of a future ftate; do not worfhip the fun, moon, 
ftars, images, or living creatures ; but believe that con¬ 
jurors (ang'ekok), of which they have many among them, 
can “ raife a ftorm, or make a calm,” and “ drive off feals, 
or bring them.” And thefe conjurors are much more 
feared than loved, as we may judge from the following 
anecdotes related by our voyagers.—While one of the 
natives was on-board the Ifabella, with his fon, on the 
13th of Auguft, Mr. Beverley, the furgeon, was fhowing 
them a conjuring-toy, which appears to bore the nofe, 
and make a hole for a firing to be drawn through ; but 
the exhibition of this trick had nearly been attended by 
confequences which would have been the reverfe of the 
intention. The old man looked very grave ; and, upon 
fome one pointing to Beverley, and faying angehoh, he 
got up with great expedition, followed by his fon, and 
was making out of the cabin in alarm ; when Sackhoufe 
brought him back, by a flu ring him that we had no an- 
geltoli amongft us, and by endeavouring to explain the 
trick. His attention was foon engaged afrefh; but it was 
obferved that he was never thoroughly reconciled to that 
gentleman, edged away from him continually, and fhowed 
lymptoms of confiderable diftruft in receiving prefents 
from him.—On the 14th, when a larger party had been 
on-board, and had entertained the fliip’s company with 
their grimaces and fongs, as already mentioned, t£ after 
we had given them a few pieces of wood and iron, toge¬ 
ther with fome other articles, and had obtained from 
them all the information they could fupply, they were 
landed, or rather put on the ice ; but, inftead of going 
away, they collected alternately abreaft of each fliip, at 
the fame time ftre.tching out their hands towards us, and 
{eliciting more wood and iron. At length their impor¬ 
tunities became fo tirefome, that we were obliged to have 
recourfe to fome means of getting rid of them ; and this 
was fully efteXed by the following expedient, which at 
once (hows their fuperftition, and their dread of the ice 
feparating : One of the Ifabeila’s men, having provided 
himfelf with a fliip’s trumpet, gave feveral loud blafts 
while they were abreaft of her; thqy gazed at him for 
fome time, with apparent furprife ; but, on being told by 
Sackhoufe that the trumpeter was an angekoh , who would 
not fail to blow away, in a little time, all the ice between 
them and the fliore, if they did not depart very quickly, 
their furprife was fuddenly converted into fear, and they 
betook themfelves to their fledges without any farther de¬ 
lay.” Journal, p. 60. 
The houfes of' thefe people are built entirely of ftones, 
the walls being funk three feet into the earth and raifed to 
three feet above it; the roof is in the form of an arch ; they 
have no windows ; the entrance is by a long and narrow 
paflage, and the floor is covered with lkins o 1 which they 
fleep; their mofs-lamp, which is neverextinguilhed, ferves 
for light, warmth, and for cooking. Their principal em¬ 
ployment is that of catching feals and fea-unicorns ; but 
they leldom hunt ortravel any diftance but on their fledge, 
and, from the rapidity with which they drive, it is conjec¬ 
tured they could travel fifty or fixty miles a-day. 
As it appeared an interelfing point to afeertain to what 
amount the language of this people differed from that 
fpoken in the fouthern part of Greenland, Capt. Sabine 
took much pains, both at the time and in frequent fub- 
fequent communications with Sackhoufe, to obtain cor- 
reX information. Crantz has remarked, that there is a 
difference in dialect and pronunciation between the Ef- 
quimaux of Labrador, of South Greenland, and of the 
country north of Difco, to the Women’s I(lands. Sack¬ 
houfe, who was a native of Difco Bay, fpoke ufually in 
the fouthern dialeX; but was alfo acquainted with that 
of the Women’s Iflands, having learnt it when a child. 
He deferibed the difference between the language of thefe 
people and of Women’s Iflands to be about as much as 
between the two dialeXs with which he was before ac¬ 
quainted, and to confift chiefly in the flow drawling pro¬ 
nunciation of the former, by which additional fyllables 
are noticed in words which cuftom has abbreviated in the 
fouth. Some little difficulty of mutual underftanding 
was obferved in confequence at our fir ft interview ; but, 
fliort as our intercourfe was with them, Sackhoufe fuc- 
ceeded in adopting their manner of fpeaking fo as to be 
perfectly underftodd. Indeed the difficulty at firft was 
much augmented by the agitation of bis feelings from 
delight at the difeovery, which caufed him to fpeak even 
quicker than ufual. Notwithftanding the pains he took 
to recoiled! and enumerate fuch words as were not mu¬ 
tually underftood, the few that Capt. S. colleXed are a 
curious indication how little change a language may un¬ 
dergo in a long courfe of years, when there is little or no 
foreign communication ; and, even amongft thefe few 
words, fome are the expreffions of new ideas, which may be 
traced to the intercourfe of the Danes with the Southern 
Efquimaux. The language does not appear to differ in 
cor.ftruXion from that fpoken in the fouth. It has the 
fame complicated inflexions, and the fame mode of de¬ 
clining by terminations. The numerals are the fame. 
We copy from Capt. Sabine’s communication a few 
words which differ in the two dialeXs, and a few more 
which are the fame, and which, being of moft common 
occurrence, are fufficient to {how the identity of the lan¬ 
guage. _ 
Northern. Southern. 
Arnewefet - Arnet. 
Innugnowak - Innufliotok. 
Oloetuk - - Tookuk. 
Ippoa - - Ermeinik 
Pyeachufweet Akput. 
Atee - - Timifet. 
Ilpaoufuk Okoutak, 
English. 
Englijh. 
Woman 
Young man 
Harpoon „ - 
Harpoon (haft 
Guillemot (a bird) 
Duck-lkin Ihirt 
Hood of the drefs 
