conceal himself. Their bows are formed of three pieces of fir,
the centre piece alone bent, the other two lying in the same straight
line with the bowstring; the pieces are neatly tied together with
sinew. Their canoes are similar to those we saw in Hudson’s
Straits, but smaller. They get fish constantly in the rivers, and in
the sea as soon as the ice breaks up. This tribe do not make use of
nets, but are tolerably successful with the hook and fine. Their
cooking utensils are made of pot-stone, and they form very neat
dishes of fir, the sides being made of thin deal, bent into an oval
form, secured at the ends by sewing, and fitted so nicely to the
bottom as to be perfectly water-tight. They have also large spoons
made of the horns of the musk oxen.
Akaitcho and the Indians arrived at our tents in the evening, and
we learned that they had seen the Esquimaux the day before,
and endeavoured, without success, to open a communication with
them. They exhibited-no hostile intention, but were afraid to
advance. Akaitcho, keeping out of their sight, followed at a distance,
expecting that ultimately finding themselves enclosed between our
party and his, they would be compelled to come to a parley with one
of us. Akaitcho had seen Terregannceuck soon after our departure ;
who was much terrified and thrust his spear at him as he had done at
Augustus ; but was soon reconciled after the demonstrations of
kindness the Indians made, in cutting off the buttons from their
dress to present to him.
July 17— We waited all this forenoon in momentary expectation
of the return of Augustus and Junius, but as they did not appear at
two P.M., I sent Mr. Hood with a party of men, to inquire into
the cause of their detention, and to bring the meat which
Terregannceuck had promised us. H e returned at midnight with
the information, that none of the Esquimaux had yet ventured to
come near Terregannceuck except his aged wife, who had concealed
herself amongst the rocks at our first interview; and she told him
the rest of the party had gone to a river, a short distance to the
westward, where there was another party of Esquimaux fishing.
Augustus and Junius had erected the tent, and done every thing in
their power to make the old man comfortable in their absence.
Terregannceuck being unable to walk to the place where‘the meat
was concealed, readily pointed the spot out to Mr. Hood, who went
thither; but after experiencing much difficulty in getting at the
column of rock on which it was deposited, he found it too putrid for
our use. The features of Terregannceuck’s wife were remarkable for
roundness and flatness; her faee was much tattoed, and her dress
differed little from the old man’s.
In the afternoon a party of nine Esquimaux appeared on the east
bank of the river, about a mile below our encampment, carrying
their canoes and baggage on their backs; but they turned and
fled as soon as they perceived our tents. The appearance of so
many different bands of Esquimaux terrified the Indians so much,
that they determined on leaving us the next day, lest they should
be sin-rounded and their retreat cut off. I endeavoured, by the
offer of any remuneration they would desire, to prevail upon one or
two of the hunters to proceed, but in vain; and I had much
difficulty even in obtaining their promise to wait at the Copper
Mountains for Mr. Wentzel and the four men, whom I intended to
discharge at the sea.
The fears which our interpreters, St. Germain and Adam,
entertained respecting the voyage, were now greatly increased,
and both of them came this evening to request their discharge,
urging that their services could be no longer requisite, as the
Indians were going, from us. St. Germain even said that he had
understood he was only engaged to accompany us as long as the
Indians did, and persisted in this falsehood until his agreement
to go with us throughout the voyage had -been twice read to him.
As these were the only two of the party on whose skill in hunting
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