Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/325

304 the island that Frobisher and his company landed upon, viz. Niountelik.

I have here put down a part only of what I recorded in my journal at the time, and, consequently, much of it will be found to have been the result of some slight mistake in what I then understood; but, coupled with the previous statements of Koojesse, and the information which I afterward obtained, it will be seen that the main facts about Frobisher's Expedition are well supported by evidence. The old lady further informed me that frequently, in her lifetime, she had seen wood, chips, coal, and bricks, and large pieces of very heavy stone, on the island of Niountelik. This again puzzled me. What could "very heavy stone" mean? I asked her "what kind of stone it was," and to this she replied, "It was black, and very heavy. No Innuits had ever seen such kind of stones before." This at once led me to conclude that the heavy stones were iron; and still more so when Tookoolito observed, "I think, from what the old lady says, these stones were very heavy, a small one being as much as an Innuit could lift. I think, perhaps," added she, "they were iron." "And so do I. By-and-by, I will see to it," was my reply. The information thus obtained seemed so clearly to bear upon Frobisher's Expedition that I determined, as soon as I could, to visit Niountelik, and ascertain all about the matter. I thought to myself, if such facts concerning an expedition which had been made nearly three hundred years ago can be preserved by the natives, and evidence of those facts obtained, what may not be gleaned of Sir John Franklin's Expedition of only sixteen years ago? The singular fate of La Perouse and his expedition was unknown to the civilized world for thirty-eight years, and then brought to light only by the exertions of one individual. Captain Dillon, an English master of a merchant ship! Here, too, we have the first intimation of the fate of Frobisher's five men—after being shrouded in mystery for 285 years—all but determined by personal inquiry among the natives! Why not, then, be able to ascertain from