Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/177

 upon which glad news the whole party harried ashore, and almost overpowered us with caresses. The men were absent, hunting, with the exception of one infirm individual, who, sitting under a reversed canoe, was tranquilly engaged in weaving a fine whalebone net. Being unable to make his escape with the rest, he was in an agony of fear; and, when I first went up to him, with impotent hand he made, a thrust at me with his long knife. He was, however, soon convinced of our good intentions; and his first request was for tobacco, of which we found men, women, and even children inordinately fond. This taste they have, of course, acquired in their indirect intercourse with the Russians; for the Esquimaux we had last parted with were ignorant of the luxury. Our new friends forthwith brought us some fresh venison; and, concluding, not without reason, that we were very hungry, they presented, as a particular delicacy, a savoury dish of choice pieces steeped in seal-oil. Great was their surprise when we declined their favourite mess; and their curiosity in scrutinizing the dress, persons, and complexions of the first white men they had ever beheld, seemed insatiable. They shewed us, with evident satisfaction, their winter store of oil, secured in seal-skin bags buried in the frozen earth. Some of their reindeer robes, ivory dishes, and