Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/90

Rh "I found Adam Beck anxiously waiting me, and, in due course, together we reached the town, where I procured a boat and got safely on board, well tired, but satisfied with my journey." Adam informed me that his children had no food, and though I had paid him well, and did for him all in my power, yet that could not help him much. The next day he, his wife, two children, and an infant at her back, went out in their rickety canoe to try and catch fish for "poor picaninnies."

The following is a fac-simile of Adam Beck's writing, when I asked him to put down his name and date of birth, which he did, adding the name of Sir John Ross.



There is no C in the Greenland-Esquimaux alphabet, as already explained, and this accounts for its omission in the above.

On the 16th of July we endeavoured to return the many kindnesses shown us by the good people of Holsteinborg by inviting them to a ball. The lieutenant-governor and lady, the schoolmaster, and his wife, with their infant child at her back, and most all the town, were there. Never did the George Henry and her crew look happier, gayer, or present a more varied scene. With warm hearts, honest faces, and a ready mood for the fullest mirth of the hour, did we enter upon the festive day. The vessel was decorated for the occasion, and it would amuse many friends and readers at home were I able to give at length all that occurred. In this merry dance the Esquimaux did their very best, and our bold sailor-boys showed