The Cecil Whig., 1886-01-16

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tance. The thieving propensity which
nearly all travellers unite in saying is SC
common in the straits, l found to be
almost wholly wanting among my new
acquaintance, and no care was taken
to put things of a movable nature ava,
from their sight when we met them
Their idea of the truth was also much
better. Taking it altogether, here
met very good band of savages, and
as was completely dependent upon
them, moved among them where
they gave me hearty welcome. |
afterward noticed that when these
northern natives met each other they
never exchanged any salutations what
ever, beyond a sort of idiotic grin at
each others presence, when they COM
menced talking to each other as if
they had been together for years.
Handshaking, or its equivalent, is un-
known, and their only method Of kiss
ing is to touch their noses together in
a way that, from our standpoint, looks
more idiotic than afectionate. 1t is
seldom done between grown people,
but mostly the act Of parents with their
little children, of whom no people on
the face of earth are more fond. Those
natives who have been for long time
visited by whalers shake hands with
the white men when they meet them,
but this has never grown upon them so
as to adopt it as one of their own GUS
toms.
Our next meeting with Eskimo was
IN river valley never before visited by
white men, and where this particular
band had permanent village, living
off of the salmon that here ascend an
nually and are then caught in large
numbers. We were on our main
sledge journey from Hudson's Bay to
the Arctic Ocean, and had been out
from the former about a month and a
half. When the country was becom-
ing so mountainous that we were not
sure of getting through with our
sledges, the head of a narrow river let
us through and down this we were
travelling, congratulating ourselves on
such an easy route to the Arctic Sea.
We travelled along it about a hundred
miles, and about fifty miles from its
mouth first came upon evidence of ma
tives, place where they had cut out
a SHOW block from bank of that ma
terial, little cache in the snow, where
they had buried some musk-ox meat,
and from there a trial led down the
river, showing where they had dragged
musk OK skin, using it as a sledge.
Afterward we ascertained that these
musk-ox skins were the only kind of
sledges these people had, so scarce is
wood in this country. 1t is unknown,
in fact, as a growth, but the natives get
little by barter with a tribe beyond,
who secure a little from the Arctic
coast as drift-wood. 1t produced con-
siderable excitement in our own party,
and especially the native part of it, as
we felt that our search was then truly
commencing.
Next day, quite while before we
expected to, we came plump on their
village of half dozen snow huts as we
rounded sharp bend in the river. A
few of the natives were standing
around, but they scampered into their
houses as soon as they saw us as if
they were hares and we were so many
wolves. Our party was halted nearly a
mile from them, and one of our ma
tives left us and approached their vii
lage, where, after considerable yelling,
he got few of them to come out.
They had taken us for hostiles living
further west, and were 10th to come
from their dens of snow, as if they
were any protection. According to
Eskimo custom, our party armed itself
with mixed array OF weapons that
was almost comical, for, knowing our
strength, we cared little what we took
everything from a Creedmoor rifle to a
sledge slat, my own native hunters tax
ing an ice-chisel or a snow-knife rather
than heavy gun. 1t looked worse
than EaLstaf's army ever could one
Of those gatherings that all the ammu-
milton a person wanted to rout it COM
pletely was blunderbuss and a dozen
assorted yells but it was because the
other side was so much weaker that we
SO arrayed ourselves. Marching in
company front we neared rheir snow
houses, in front of which they, too,
were drawn up in line, armed with
musk OK lances, snowknives, and SO
on. When the two lines got within
two or three feet of each other ours
was halted, and the others began rub
bing their hands up and down their
breasts, as if they were scratching theil
breastbones, and saying Huuulk too.
mrc.! HuUnik toomee.I which was in
terpreted by my natives as equivalent
to welcome. We shook hands with
some, but so little did they know about
it that it felt to me like shaking hands
with a horse, as these animals are
sometimes trained to do. After they
were quite positive that we were not
going to murder them, all their women
and children came crawling out from
the snow houses, and after some hesi,
tation mingled with the throng. OF
course the white men of the party
were 4 combined ci1cus and MAGIC.