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CHAP. When they came alongside, they were shown a handful of flour, and
were referred to the island upon which the cask had been buried.
Their guilty looks showed that they perfectly understood our meaning
; but they strongly protested their innocence, and as a proof that
they could not possibly have committed the theft, they put their fingers
to their tongues, and spit into the sea with disgust, to show us how
much they disliked the taste of the material, little considering that the
fact of their knoTving it to he nauseous was a proof of their having
tasted i t : but no further notice was taken of the matter, as I wished
as much as possible to conciliate their friendship on account of the land
expedition.
The baidars of these people were better made than any we had
seen, excepting those of the St. Lawrence islanders, which they resembled
in having a flap made of walrus skin attached to the gunwale for
the purpose of keeping their bows and arrows dry. The natives had a
great variety of articles for sale, all of which they readily parted with,
except their bow's, arrows, and spears, and those they w'ould on no account
sell. Several old men were among their party, all of whom sat
in the stern of the boat, a deference which, as 1 have already said, we
every where observed to be paid to age by the younger part of this
tribe. YVhen they had sold all they intended to part with, and had
satisfied their curiosity, they paddled on shore, well satisfied, no doubt,
at having escaped detection.
The next morning the boats were sent to find water and to dig
wells upon Chamisso Island, as we had but nine days’ supply on board
at very reduced allowance. In the mean time I paid a visit to the
Esquimaux, who were on their travels towards home with cargoes of
dried salmon, oil, blubber, and skins, which they had collected in their
summer excursion along the coast. YVhen they perceived our boat
approaching the shore, they despatched a baidar to invite us to their
encampment; and as we rowed toward the place together,observingwith
what facility they passed our boat, they applied their strength to their
paddles, and, exulting on the advantage they possessed, left us far behind.
It was perfectly smooth and calm, or this would not have been the
case, as their boats have no hold of the water, and are easily thrown
back by a wave; and when the wind is on the side, they have the CHAP.
greatest difficulty in keeping them in the right direction. .
The shallowness of the water obliged our boat to land a short
distance from the village; and the natives, who by this time had hauled
up their baidar, walked down to meet us with their arms drawn in from
their sleeves, and tucked up inside their frocks. They were also very
particular that every one of them should salute us, which they did by
licking their hands, and drawing them first over their own faces and
bodies, and then over ours. This was considered the most friendly
manner in which they could receive us, and they were officiously desirous
of ingratiating themselves with us; but they w'ould on no account suffer
us to approach their tents; and, when we urged it, seemed determined
to resist, even with their weapons, which were carefully laid out
upon a low piece of ground near them. They w'ere resolved, nevertheless,
that we should partake of their hospitality, and seating us upon
a rising ground, placed before us strips of blubber in wooden bowls,
and whortle berries mashed up with fat and oil, or some such heterogeneous
substance, for we did not taste it. Seeing we would not partake
of their fare, they commenced a brisk traffic with dried salmon, of which
we procured a great quantity. Generally speaking, they were honest
in their dealings, leaving their goods with us, when they were in doubt
about a bargain, until they had referred it to a second person, or more
commonly to some of the old women. I f they approved of it, our offer
was accepted; if not, they took back their goods. On several occasions,
however, they tried to impose upon us with fish-skins, ingeniously put
together to represent a whole fish, though entirely deprived of their
original contents; but this artifice succeeded only once; the natives,
when detected in other attempts, laughed heartily, and treated the affair
as a fair practical joke. Their cunning and invention were further exhibited
in the great pains wliich they took to make us understand, before
we parted, that the flour had been stolen by a party who had absconded
on seeing the ship. Their gestures clearly intimated to us that the
attention of this party had been attracted to the spot by the newly
turned earth, though wc had replaced it very carefully; on w hich, it
appears, they began to dig, and, to their great surprise and joy no