custom to appropriate the lower end or entrance of the tent to answer
the purpose of a larder, where all their delicacies are displayed; such
as, deer’s flesh, oil, and whale blubber. The upper end of the tent,
under the triangle, was thickly carpeted with skins of different
animals, particularly the deer, and it is set apart for their resting
and sleeping place. I noticed, that whenever I entered a tent, which had
not been previously visited by any of our party, the owner of it ran
forward, with great precipitation, to conceal something under the skins
at the farther end of the tent. Curiosity prompted me to inquire into
this mysterious conduct; and, on removing the skins, I discovered his
bow and arrows, in a sort of seal-skin quiver. The owner stood quite
tranquil during my search, and he did not appear angry when the arms
were produced; but when I offered him a knife, with the usual
expression, “_Chymo_ (barter),” he smiled, as I thought, rather
suspiciously; and taking the quiver gently out of my hand, he replaced
it under the skins; at the same time, offering me an unfinished bow,
without a string, in exchange for the knife. As often as I continued to
point to the quiver, and make signs that I wished to purchase the set
complete, he seemed to feel confused, and endeavoured instantly to draw
off my attention from the subject. I tried at each tent, with no better
success; and it struck me, from appearances, that the _Esquimaux_ have
some superstitious veneration for their bows and arrows: but their
hiding them may be intended as a compliment to their visitors, or an
assurance of their security whilst under that roof. None of the canoes
that visited us, during our stay in _Hudson’s Straits_, had either bow
or arrows on board; consequently, they are only used by the _Esquimaux_
in their wars, and not for the purpose of killing birds or fishes. After
having said this respecting their singular attachment to their weapons,
perhaps it will be expected that those articles are curiously
manufactured and ornamented: but the bow is merely made of two pieces of
plain wood, firmly corded together, and rarely strengthened at the back
with thongs of the sea-horse’s hide; the string is formed of two slips
of hide or dried gut; the arrows are headed, either with iron,
sea-horse’s teeth, sea-unicorn’s horn, or, in some few instances, with
stone[15]; and the whole fabrication of the bow and arrows does not
surpass the workmanship of an English school-boy.
In one of their tents, I saw a female far advanced in pregnancy; she was
sitting upon the ground, closely wrapt in skins as high as her hips; and
during the whole of my stay, she never attempted to rise. It may now be
proper to relate an anecdote of a very interesting nature; which I
received upon such indisputable authority, that it will not admit of a
doubt, as to its veracity.
The land to the northward of _Churchill Factory_, in _Hudson’s Bay_, is
inhabited by _Esquimaux_, who, contrary to the general customs of this
people, employ themselves in hunting. They carry their furs annually to
_Churchill Factory_, for the purpose of traffic. In one of their
periodical visits, a young woman was seen amongst them, having a sickly
infant in her arms, respecting whose health she appeared to be
particularly solicitous; and as some of the domesticated _Indian_ women
in the factory, belonging to the nation of _Cree Indians_, partly
understood the _Esquimaux_ tongue, the young woman explained to them,
that, as the infant was her first-born child, if it should unfortunately
die, her husband would undoubtedly put her to death. The infant expired
shortly after this explanation took place; and some _Europeans_ visiting
the _Esquimaux_ encampment a day or two afterwards, made inquiries
respecting the unhappy mother; when the _Indians_ silently pointed to
the spot where the poor victim was interred!
This circumstance has given rise to an assertion, that if a first-born
child die before it reaches a particular age, the mother is certain of
being immolated, for a supposed want of attention to her infant. I had
no means of ascertaining this singular custom myself; but I have before
observed, that there did not appear either sickly or deformed child or
adult amongst them.
Their fire-places, as before stated, are outside the tents; and they
have no need of any in the interior, as the seal-skins that cover them
are like parchment oiled, and will not admit the wind, nor give egress
to the breath; therefore their habitations are not only warm, but at
mid-day, when I visited them, they were oppressively hot. With respect
to their winter residence, I can say little or nothing. Most people
suppose that they live in caves, by lamp-light; but the Abbé _Raynal_,
who mentions the _Esquimaux_ in his History of the _East_ and _West
Indies_, is of a different opinion. As the Abbé is both correct and
incorrect, in many points of which I had a good opportunity to judge,
perhaps it may not be amiss to give an extract from the part of his work
relating to the _Esquimaux Indians_.
“This sterility of Nature extends itself to every thing. The human race
are few in number, _and scarce any of its individuals above four feet
high. Their heads bear the same enormous proportion to their bodies as
those of children_: the smallness of their feet makes them awkward and
tottering in their gait: small hands, and a round mouth, which in
_Europe_ are reckoned a beauty, seem almost a deformity in these people;
because we see nothing here but the effects of a weak organization, and
of a cold that contracts and restrains the springs of growth, and is
fatal to the progress of animal as well as vegetable life. Besides all
this, their men, although they _have neither hair nor beard_, have the
appearance of being old, even in their youth: this is partly occasioned
by the _formation of their lower lip, which is thick, fleshy, and
projecting beyond the upper_. Such are the _Esquimaux_, who inhabit not
only the coast of _Labrador, from whence they have taken their name_,
but also all that tract of land which extends from the point of
_Bellisle_ to the most northern part of _America_.
“_The inhabitants of Hudson’s-Bay_ have, like the _Greenlanders_, a flat
face, with short, but not flattened noses; _the pupil of their eyes
yellow, and the iris black_. Their women have marks of deformity
peculiar to their sex; amongst others, very long and flabby breasts.
This deformity, which is not natural, arises from their custom of giving
suck to their children until they are five or six years old. They
frequently carry their children on their shoulders, who pull their
mothers’ breasts with their hands, and almost suspend themselves by
them.
“It is not true, that there are races of _Esquimaux_ entirely black, as
has been supposed, and afterwards pretended to be accounted for; neither
do they live under ground. How should they dig into a soil, which the
cold renders harder than stone? How is it possible they should live in
caverns, where they would be infallibly drowned by the first melting of
the snows? What, however, is certain, and almost equally surprising, is,
that these people spend the winter under huts, run up in haste, and made
of flints joined together by cements of ice, where they live without any
other fire, but that of a lamp hung up in the middle of the shed, for
the purpose of dressing their game, and the fish they feed upon. The
heat of their blood and of their breath, added to the vapour arising
from this small flame, is sufficient to make their huts as hot as
stoves.
“The _Esquimaux_ dwell constantly near the sea, from whence they are
supplied with all their provisions. Both their constitutions and
complexions partake of the quality of their food. The flesh of the seal,
which is their food, and the oil of the whale, which is their drink,
give them an olive complexion, a strong smell of fish, an oily and
tenacious sweat, and sometimes a sort of scaly leprosy. This last is
probably the reason why the mothers have the same custom as the bears of
licking their young ones.
“This nation, weak and degraded by nature, is, notwithstanding, most
intrepid on a sea that is constantly dangerous. In boats, made and sewed
together like so many borachio’s, but at the same time so well closed
that it is impossible for the water to penetrate them, they follow the
shoals of herrings through the whole of their polar emigrations, and
attack the whales and seals at the peril of their lives.
“One stroke of a whale’s tail is sufficient to drown a hundred of these
assailants; _and the seal is armed with teeth, to devour those he cannot
drown_: but the hunger of the _Esquimaux_ is superior to the rage of
these monsters. They have an inordinate thirst for the oil of the whale,
which is necessary to preserve the heat in their stomachs, and defend
them from the severity of the cold. Indeed, men, whales, birds, and all
the quadrupeds and fishes of the North, are supplied by nature with a
degree of fat, which prevents the muscles from freezing, and the blood
from coagulating. Every thing in these Arctic regions is either oily or
gummy, and even the trees are resinous.
“The _Esquimaux_ are, notwithstanding, subject to two fatal disorders;
the scurvy, and loss of sight. The continuation of snows upon the
ground, joined to the reverberation of the rays of the sun on the ice,
dazzle their eyes in such a manner, that they are almost constantly
obliged to wear shades of two pieces of very thin wood, through which
small apertures for the light have been bored with fish-bones. Doomed to
six months’ night, they never see the sun but obliquely; and then it
seems rather to blind them, than to give them light. Sight, the most
delightful blessing of nature, is a fatal gift to them, _and they are
generally deprived of it when young_. A still more cruel evil, which is
the scurvy, consumes them by slow degrees: it insinuates itself into
their blood, and changes, thickens, and impoverishes the whole mass. The
fogs of the sea, which they inspire; the dense and inelastic air they
breathe in their huts, which are shut up from all communication with the
external air; the constant and tedious inactivity of their winters; a
mode of life alternately roving and sedentary; every thing, in short,
tends to increase this dreadful malady, which in a little time becomes
contagious, and, spreading itself through their abodes, is transmitted
by cohabitation, and perhaps likewise by the means of generation.
“Notwithstanding these inconveniences, the _Esquimaux_ is so
passionately attached to his country, that no inhabitant of the
most-favoured spot under Heaven quits it with greater reluctance, than
he does his frozen deserts. The difficulty he finds in breathing in a
softer and cooler climate may possibly be the reason of this attachment.
The sky of _Amsterdam_, _Copenhagen_, and _London_, though constantly
obscured by thick and fetid vapours, is too clear for an _Esquimaux_.
Perhaps, too, there may be something in the change of life and manners
more contrary to the health of savages than the climate: it is not
impossible but that the indulgences of an _European_ may be poison to an
_Esquimaux_.—Such are the inhabitants of a _country discovered, in 1610,
by Henry Hudson_!”
Although many parts of the foregoing extract are strictly descriptive of
the _Esquimaux_, yet it is very evident that the Abbé _Raynal_ has
undertaken to describe a people whom he never saw: consequently, nothing
can be more absurd than those remarks which, it may be observed, I have
particularized: and I shall now notice them, in the order in which they
occur.
In the first place, the Abbé says, that “_scarce any of the individuals
are above four feet high!_” It has been before noticed, that, of all
those whom we saw, a fair average standard might determine their height
to be between five feet five inches, and five feet eight inches:
moreover, we even saw some of the females five feet seven inches high.
In the next place, he observes: “_Their heads bear the same enormous
proportion to their bodies as those of children._” This, again, is about
as fabulous as those old stories of a race having been discovered with
_two heads_. There is certainly nothing peculiar about the heads of the
_Esquimaux_, to distinguish them from the _Europeans_; unless, indeed,
we except the enormous quantity of thick, coarse, straight, black hair,
which covers them: and this last fact will bear rather hard upon the
next marvellous remark of the Abbé’s, in which he asserts that _they
have neither hair nor beard_! The amazing coarseness of their hair,
which generally is as thick as a mat on their heads, is, of all others,
the most likely characteristic to strike the attention of a stranger:
they have also a straggling beard upon the chin and upper lip; although,
certainly, it must be admitted that the beard never grows thick or
bushy.
The aged appearance of the _Esquimaux_ is, as he says, owing to the
_formation of their lower lip_!—Being able to adduce, if necessary, the
testimony of a hundred witnesses to prove the truth of my assertions, I
shall content myself with simply stating, that there is no such
_projection of the lower lip_ as the Abbé has described. He states that
the _Esquimaux_ have _taken their name from the coast of Labrador_; but
_Esquimaux_, or _Skimaux_, is an expression, in the language of the
_Cree_ and other inland _Indians_, signifying “_eaters of raw flesh!_”
and they have bestowed this appellation on the maritime _Indians_, in
contempt; as there has always been a most deadly hatred between them.
Then again, with a bold dash of his pen, the Abbé peoples the _whole of
Hudson’s Bay with Esquimaux_: whereas, in fact, they occupy but a very
small proportion of it, when compared with the vast extent of territory
inhabited by the different tribes of Hunting _Indians_, the inveterate
enemies of the _Esquimaux_. The northern and unexplored parts of the
Bay, and the western shore of _Labrador_, from _Cape Diggs_ to the
southward, are alone inhabited by the latter; whilst the whole of the
western and southern shores are peopled by the former.
I know not what could have induced him, also, to describe the
_Esquimaux_ as having “_the pupil of their eyes yellow, and the iris
black_:” this is not true; but I suppose that such a supposition may
have arisen from that peculiar contraction of the eyelids which has
already been noticed in the foregoing part of this Narrative.
It is not less absurd to affirm, that “_the seal is armed with teeth, to
devour those he cannot drown_,” than to say, that the hare is armed with
teeth, to devour those dogs from which she cannot escape;—the former
being almost as timid an animal as the latter; and there cannot be much
danger from the _rage of that monster_, who coolly suffers a man to
strike him a blow over the nose, which puts an almost immediate end to
his existence.
I believe _Raynal_ to be very correct in his remarks on the prevalent
diseases of the _Esquimaux_; but he goes too far, in asserting that
“_they are generally deprived of sight when young_.” Sore eyes, indeed,
are common amongst them; but there were many old men without this
complaint, and few of the women were troubled with it. “_Such_,” he
concludes, “_are the inhabitants of a country discovered, in 1610, by
Henry Hudson_.”—However, if curiosity should lead any person hereafter
to visit the shores of _Labrador_, in the hopes of meeting with a race
of people _four feet in height_, with _enormous heads_ without _any hair
on them_, and _yellow eye-balls_, he will be grievously disappointed:
and so far are they from being that miserable degraded race which the
Abbé describes them to be, that they are really possessed of industry,
ingenuity, and courage; and certainly as far superior to the disgusting
_Hottentot_, as an _European_ is superior to that race of men.
After having ventured to correct these errors of the Abbé, it would be
injustice if I did not bear testimony to the authenticity of his
description in other respects. The scaly leprosy, which he mentions, is
common amongst them: we at first believed it to be the small-pox, to
which it bears a great resemblance; but, from an attentive inspection
being made by Mr. _Arnot_, our surgeon, he was of opinion, that the
latter disease had not as yet reached them, or that, if it had, it must
have been in its mildest form. Almost all the men are afflicted with
_ophthalmia_, and wear the wooden shades which the Abbé has described;
but, as I before mentioned, few of the women labour under this disease.
The pendant breasts of the latter have certainly a disgusting
appearance; yet it is so common amongst them, that one of the young
girls shewed me, with conscious pride, that her breasts had not as yet
been thus relaxed; intimating, that she differed from the other dusky
damsels in this respect, and was therefore to be considered as an object
of greater admiration. From which it is evident, that they consider long
breasts as a deformity, even among themselves.
With respect to their winter habitations, it is more probable that the
Abbé is correct, than that those persons are so, who entertain the
notion of their residing in caverns; but it is not certain that the
_Esquimaux_ live in a state of total inactivity during the winter: they
must, doubtless, leave their retreats daily, in search of food: and that
they do not depend on the water for all their supplies, is very evident,
from the number of deer-skins which may be observed in every habitation.
It is now pretty well ascertained that the tribes of _Esquimaux_,
inhabiting the northern shores of _Hudson’s Straits_, migrate, in the
fall of the year, towards the south; for the double purpose of taking up
their winter quarters, and of procuring fuel and game amongst the
pine-tree forests of _Labrador_. The northern shore of _Hudson’s
Straits_ is, from end to end, a barren rock; having no mark of
vegetation, except here and there a tuft or two of wild sorrel, or
scurvy-grass: consequently, the wooden frame-work of the canoes, the
poles for their summer-tents, and the handles of their fishing-spears,
can only be procured by the _Esquimaux_ during their annual migrations
to the coast of _Labrador_. Add to this, that, on our visit to their
tents, we observed five or six large boats, hauled up on the shore, and
completely laden with all sorts of furs and necessaries, as if
preparatory to a speedy removal of the whole tribe into winter quarters.
I should not have been led into so long a digression, had it not been
from a wish to correct the very erroneous statements, of even the most
eminent authors, respecting this singular race. That those authors have
derived their descriptions from the confused accounts of other writers,
is evident, by the gross mistakes they have fallen into. It is indeed
probable, that, of those who have written upon this subject, no one ever
personally visited the _Esquimaux_: neither is it a surprising thing
that they have not done this, because the _Esquimaux_ have always been
represented hostile to strangers, prone to treachery, and exceedingly
disgusting in their persons.
To return, then, to our party.—We continued roving for some time amongst
the habitations of the _Esquimaux_; and could not help admiring the
various ways in which they contrive to render the seal useful: indeed,
this creature may be said to supply them with food, light, clothes,
houses, beds, boats, and casks. The blubber of the seal is either eaten,
or converted into oil for the winter lamps; the skin, with the hair on,
is made into frocks, breeches, boots, and stockings; and with the hair
scraped off, and well oiled, the skin serves also for a covering to
their houses and boats: numbers of them, heaped together with the skins
of bears and deer, constitute their beds: lastly, after having carefully
skinned a seal, the females sew the hide neatly up; then fill it with
wind, like a bladder, and dry it in the sun; and, after this
preparation, it fully answers all the purposes of a cask, for containing
oil, or any other liquid for which it may be required; in the same
manner as the mountaineers of _Spain_ and _Portugal_ carry their wine in
the skins of animals.
The _Esquimaux_ have various methods of killing the seal; but the most
common is, by spearing him with a long lance, which they discharge from
a _throwing stick_, exactly in the same manner as described by _Cook_ to
be in use among the natives of _Otaheite_. The seal, when once struck,
becomes an easy prey: a large bladder, affixed to the dart, effectually
prevents his sinking; and a heavy log of wood, also fastened to the
dart, acts as a drag, to prevent his swimming away with any velocity.
They have also a manner of passing the handle of the lance through the
centre of a sort of tambourine; which, in this case, is substituted for
the drag: of course, the seal is soon exhausted, with the efforts he is
compelled to make, in pulling this machine against the water; and a blow
on the nose, from his pursuers, soon puts a period to his existence.
After leaving their huts, we stood on the top of a hill, with the whole
of the remaining population of the place around us:—I say, the remaining
population; because many of the natives were still trafficking on board
the ships. From their numbers, I should think that either several
families must reside in one tent, or that there were other hamlets along
the shore, at a short distance, from whence we had visitors; as the
assemblage on the hill with us consisted of ten men, twenty women, and
fourteen children; and yet there were only nine finished tents, and four
or five in the frame.
Nothing, as before observed, can be more troublesome than the continual
solicitations of these people for gifts; men, women, and children,
tormented us incessantly with “_Pillitay! pillitay! pillitay!_” It
became therefore, at last, absolutely necessary, in our own defence, to
invent some means of diverting their attention from these importunities.
Accordingly, one of our party, who was well acquainted with the manners
of the _Indians_ in _Hudson’s Bay_, began a song in the language of the
_Cree_ tribe. The _Esquimaux_ gaped with great astonishment and evident
pleasure, preserving the most profound silence, until he gave a loud
shout, as a finale; when they sat up an universal shouting and jumping,
and it appeared as if they were half beside themselves with delight: yet
we were certain that they understood nothing of the sense of the song.
We thought this a good opportunity to petition them for a similar
favour: our signs were instantly comprehended, and a ring immediately
formed, consisting entirely of women, with the exception of an old man,
whom we recognised to have seen before, as steersman of one of the large
women’s boats. This old man began the song; walking, at the same time,
in a circle; followed by the women, with their backs to each other. At a
certain turn in the air, the women all raised their voices; I shall not
say in a chorus, as it appeared more like a continuation of the song.
After a short time, the women suffered their voices to die gradually
away, in the most plaintive manner; and the old man again resumed the
song alone, until a similar turn again brought in the women’s voices.
This alternation lasted a considerable time; during which they still
continued to walk round in a circle, and all the while bestowed the most
friendly smiles upon us. Meantime, the men stood scattered outside the
ring; and whenever the old man resumed his song, they jumped, shouted,
and laughed, in the most extravagant manner. One of the men at last
kissed two of the females, making plain signs for us to take the same
liberty, in rotation, with the whole circle; at the same time uttering,
repeatedly, the exclamation, “_Coo-nee!_” We, however, pretended not to
comprehend his meaning, as we were not at all desirous of so
indiscriminate a salutation. I noticed one of the women earnestly making
the same gesticulations, and crying out “_Coo-nee!_” also; but as we did
not comply, they soon after finished the song. We adopted their own
method of jumping and shouting, to express our satisfaction; at which
they seemed particularly well pleased.
Preparing now to leave this interesting spot, we descended to the sea,
followed by the whole of the natives: and as I turned about to observe
if there were any thing belonging to their tents which had before
escaped our notice, my eyes rested upon a group of about a dozen huge
dogs, around a piece of whale blubber. It is really surprising what
numbers of these animals the _Esquimaux_ uselessly support during
summer; but they are amply repaid by the benefits derived from them in
the winter; as the dogs are then employed to drag the sledge of their
owners, after the manner of the reindeer in _Lapland_. In
_Newfoundland_, and in its environs, large dogs are also used, for the
purpose of transporting fire-wood, and other articles, over the snow:
and I have been assured, by a respectable merchant, who resides
occasionally at _Lance-a-Loup Bay_ on the southern coast of _Labrador_,
that he has travelled one hundred miles in twenty-four hours, in a
sledge drawn by ten brace of dogs: they are not accustomed to reins, but
two well-trained dogs are placed foremost, and the whole are then
managed by a singular kind of whip, the use of which it is difficult to
acquire, as the handle is but three feet long, and the lash fifteen.[16]
[Illustration: _Sledge drawn by Dogs.
used by European Traders at Hudson’s Bay, and on the Southern Coast of
Labrador_]
[Illustration: _Engraved by J. Smith & Clements Inc. Strand
Bark Canoe of the Cree Indians in Hudsons Bay.
London Published by J. Mawman 13^th May 1817_]
After giving away amongst the natives all the metals we possessed, even
to the buttons of our coats, we embarked; and resting upon our oars, at
a trifling distance from the shore, we gave them three hearty cheers.
This was merely intended by us as an experiment; but the effect produced
by it surpassed in interest any thing that we had yet seen amongst this
people.