CHAP. self upon a piece of driftwood at a little distance from the baidar, and
continued there, muttering an unintelligible language, and apparently
August, believing herself to be holding communion with that invisible world to
which she was fast approaching. Though in her dotage, her opinion
was often consulted, and on more than one occasion in a mysterious
manner. We afterwards witnessed several instances of extremely old
women exercising great influence over the younger part of the community.
On this occasion I purchased a bow and quiver of arrows for a
brooch. The man who sold them referred the bargain to the old woman
above-mentioned, who apparently disapproved of it, as the brooch was
returned, and the bow and arrows re-demanded. The males of this party
were all provided with lip ornaments; and we noticed a gradation in
the size, corresponding to the ages of the party who wore them, as well
as a distinction in the nature of them. Two young lads had the orifices
in their lips quite raw: they were about the size of a crow-quill, and
were distended with small cylindrical pieces of ivory, with a round knob
at one end to prevent their falling out. For some time after the operation
has been performed, it is necessary to turn the cylinders frequently,
that they may not adhere to the festering flesh: in time this action
becomes as habitual with some of them as that of twirling the mustachios
is with a Mussulman. In the early stage it is attended with
great pain, the blood sometimes flowing, and I have seen tears come
into the boys’ eyes while doing it. Lip ornaments, with the males, appear
to correspond with the tattooing of the chins of the females; a
mark which is universally borne by the women throughout both the
eastern and western Esquimaux tribes: the custom of wearing the
labrets, however, does not extend much beyond the Mackenzie lliver.
The children we saw to-day had none of these marks; a girl, about
eleven, had one line only; and a young woman, about twenty-three
years of age, the mother of the infants, had the three perfect. One
of her children was rolling in the bottom of the baidar, with a large
piece of seal-blubber in its mouth, sucking it as an European child
would a coral. The mother was rather pretty, and allowed her portrait
to be taken. At first she made no objection to being gazed at
stedfastly, as was necessary for an indifferent artist to accomplish his
purpose; but latterly she shrunk from the scrutiny with a bashfulness CHAP,
that would have done credit to a more civilized female; and on my , ^ ■
attempting to uncover her head, she east a look of inquiry at her .A«tyst,
husband, who vociferated “ naga,” when she very properly refused to
comply. The young men were very importunate and curious, even to
annoyance; and there is little doubt that if any persons in our dress
had fallen in with a powerful party of these savages, they would very
soon have been made to exchange their suit of broad cloth for the
more humble dress of furs. Their honesty was not more conspicuous
than their moderation, as they appropriated to themselves several
articles belonging to Mr. Collie.
During three hours that we were on shore, the tide fell one foot;
it had subsided eighteen inches from its greatest height when we first
landed, and when we put off W’ a s still ebbing to the S. S. W. at the
rate of half a mile an hour. Four hours afterwards, when by our
observations on shore it must have changed, it ran N.AE . at the
same rate, and afforded another instance of the flood coming from the
southward.
A thick fog came on after we returned on board. The next
morning we closed with the land near Cape Beaufort, with a view of
trying the veins of coal iu its neighbourhood, as we were very short of
that article; but the wind veered round to the N. N. W., and by
making it a lee shore prevented the boats landing, and rendered it
expedient for the ship, which was very light, and hardly capable of
beating off, to get an offing. The day was fine, and afforded an opportunity
of verifying some of our points, which we had the satisfaction
to find quite correct. The next day the wind veered to the
S.S.YV., and then to the westw'ard. Throughout the 23d, 24th, and
part of the 25th, it blew hard, with a short head sea, thick weather, and
latterly with snow showers, which obliged the ship to keep at so great a
distance that the land expedition would have passed her unobserved, had
they been in progress along the coast. YVith these winds we kept off the
coast. The night of the 25th was clear and cold, w ith about four hours’
darkness, during which we beheld a billliant display of the aurora borealis,
which was the first time that phenomenon had been exhibited to us in
o o