His
Complexion Was Very Fresh And Red And He Had A Longer Beard Than I Had
Seen On Any Of The Aboriginal Inhabitants Of America.
It was between two
and three inches long and perfectly white.
His face was not tattooed. His
dress consisted of a shirt, or jacket with a hood, wide breeches reaching
only to the knee, and tight leggings sewed to the shoes, all of deer
skins. The soles of the shoes were made of seal-skin and stuffed with
feathers instead of socks. He was bent with age but appeared to be about
five feet ten inches high. His hands and feet were small in proportion to
his height. Whenever Terregannoeuck received a present he placed each
article first on his right shoulder then on his left, and when he wished
to express still higher satisfaction he rubbed it over his head. He held
hatchets and other iron instruments in the highest esteem. On seeing his
countenance in a glass for the first time he exclaimed, "I shall never
kill deer more," and immediately put the mirror down. The tribe to which
he belongs repair to the sea in spring and kill seals; as the season
advances they hunt deer and musk-oxen at some distance from the coast.
Their weapon is the bow and arrow and they get sufficiently nigh the
deer, either by crawling or by leading these animals by ranges of turf
towards a spot where the archer can conceal himself. Their bows are
formed of three pieces of fir, the centrepiece 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 line. 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 Terregannoeuck soon
after our departure; he 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 Terregannoeuck had promised us. He returned at
midnight with the information that none of the Esquimaux had yet ventured
to come near Terregannoeuck 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 everything in their power to make the old
man comfortable in their absence. Terregannoeuck, 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 Terregannoeuck's wife were remarkable
for roundness and flatness; her face was much tattooed 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 surrounded and their retreat cut off.
I endeavoured, by the offer of any remuneration they would choose, 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 we
could rely I was unable to listen for a moment to their desire of
quitting us and, lest they should leave us by stealth, their motions were
strictly watched. This was not an unnecessary precaution as I was
informed that they had actually laid a plan for eloping; but the rest of
the men, knowing that their own safety would have been compromised had
they succeeded, kept a watchful eye over them.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 124 of 172
Words from 125970 to 126999
of 176017
