irto
CHAP. the vessel; but the sea ran too high, and the natives not being willing
to exert themselves, the attempt again failed. The sea was now making
fair “ o"®)' to)® vessel, and Mr. Belcher desired the cockswain to cut
the cable, and allow her to come broadside upon shore; but whetlier
through fear, or th a t the cocksw'ain did not understand his orders, it was
not done. There W'ere four men and a boy on board at this time, two
of whom, finding no hope of relief from the shore, jumped overboard,
with spars in their hands, and attempted to gain the beach, but both
W'ere unfortunately drowned. The others retreated to the rigging;
among them was a boy, whose cries were for some time heard on shore,
b u t at length, exhausted with cold and fatigue, he fell from the rigging,
and W'as never seen again.
I h e party of Esquimaux, who had so reluctantly rendered their
personal assistance, beheld this loss of lives with the greatest composure,
giving no other aid than th a t of their prayers and superstitious
ceremonies; and seeing the helpless condition of those throw'ii upon
the shore, began to pilfer every thing they could, bringing the party
some fish occasionally, not from charitable motives, but for the purpose
of engaging their attention, and of affording them a better opportunity
of purloining the many articles belonging to the boat w'hich were
washed ashore. About eleven o’clock at night the sea began to subside,
and at midnight, after very great exertions, a communication with the
vessel W'as effected, and the two remaining seamen were carried on shore,
and laid before the fire, where they recovered sufficiently to be taken
to a h u t near the fatal scene.
The morning after this unfortunate occurrence, part of the creiv
were employed collecting w'hat w'as washed on shore, and preventing
the natives committing further depredations. Seeing there w'as no
chance of obtaining any tiling more of consequence from the wreck, the
party took up its quarters on Point Garnet, where we found them on
our return from Port Clarence. Previous to this, several Esquimaux
had pitched a tent in the hay close to the party, and lost no opportunity
of appropriating to themselves wliatever they could surreptitiously
obtain. Among these W'ere four persons whom Mr. Belelier liad a
short time before assisted, when their baidar was thrown on shore, and
I ' J t
one of the party drowned. These people did not forget his kind- C^^AP.
ness, and brought him fish occasionally, but they could not resist the ^
temptation of joining their companions in plunder when it was to be
Sept.
made. Mr. Belcher seeing several articles amongst them which must
1827.
have accompanied others in their possession, searched their bags,
and recovered the boat’s ensign, and many other things. N o opposition
was offered to this examination, but, on the contrary, some of
the party which had been saved from the wreck of the baidar intimated
to Mr. Belcher that one W'ho was making off with a bag had part ot his
property ; and on searching him, a quantity of the boat’s iron and the
lock of a fowling-piece were discovered upon him.
Upon the whole, however, the natives behaved better than was expected,
until the day on which the ship arrived. This appears to have
been a timely occurrence ; for early that morning two baidars landed
near the wreck, and the Esquimaux party was increased to twenty-
four. The man who had been searched the preceding evening, finding
his friends so numerous, joined by another troublesome character, came
towards our people, flourishing their knives, apparently with the determination
of being revenged. It fortunately happened that there was
a person of authority amongst the number, with whom Mr. Belcher
effected a friendship. He expostulated with the two refractory men,
and one of them went quietly away, but the other remained brandishing
his knife ; and there is but too much reason to believe that had he
commenced an attack, he would have been seconded by his countrymen,
notw ithstanding the interference of the chief.
When the ship’s boat came to the relief of our party, Mr. Belcher
ordered the man w ho had been so refractory to be bound and taken on
board the ship, intimating to the otliers that he should be kept until
more of the stolen property was returned, which they appeared perfectly
to understand, as the prisoner pointed to his boat, where, upon
search being made, the other lock of the fowling-piece, and a haversack
belonging to Lieutenant Belcher, were found. The strength of this man
was so great that it required as many of our people as could stand round
to pinion his arms and take him down to the boat. As soon as this
was effected, all the other Esquimaux fled to their baidars, and did not
4l!