Page:An account of a savage girl.djvu/87

Rh their loins with a string. That of their women is open; and when they sit on the ground, their usual seat, they draw the end of their garment, which is long, between their thighs, from a sense of modesty.

the French have made settlements on the coast of Labrador, for fishing seals, the Esquimaux approach them sometimes, and even traffic with them. No body understands their language; but they are very expert at expressing their meaning by signs. They are ingenious, and make all their own instruments themselves. They work in iron, and tan skins. They make leather canoes, which are water-proof, and are covered above in such a way, as to have only one opening in the middle, like a purse, capable of containing a single man, who, tying this purse round his waist, and seizing an oar in each hand of the form subjoined, he in that manner faces the most stormy weather, and the strongest fishes. The overturning this canoe is of no consequence; for it instantly recovers its right position. They sail equally well by either end, as occasion requires. They make likewise small boats of wood, which their women row with their faces to the stern, like our sailors.

French, upon these savages approaching them in the night, give them a discharge or two