In the winter this people have a garment of bear-skin,
which they put on as a cloak.

The Arctic Highlanders are of a dirty copper colour. Their stature is
about five feet: their bodies are corpulent, and their features much
resemble those of the Esquimaux. Their cheeks are full and round. Their
lips are thick, their eyes are small, and their hair is black, coarse,
long, and lank. These people appear to be filthy in the extreme. The
faces, hands, and bodies of such as were seen by the voyagers, were
covered with oil and dirt; and they seemed never to have washed
themselves since they were born: even their hair was matted with filth.

Some attempts were made to ascertain the religious notions of the Arctic
Highlanders, but these seem to have proved unsatisfactory; and, perhaps,
from the inability of Sacheuse to question them on such a subject. They
had a king, whom they represented to be a strong man, very good, and
greatly beloved. His house was described to be of stone, and nearly as
large as the ship; and they said that every man paid to him a portion of
all which they caught or found. They could not be made to understand
what was meant by war, nor did the voyagers see, among them, any warlike
weapons. It is peculiarly deserving of remark, that these Indians, who
derive much of their subsistence from the water, have no canoes or
vessels of any description, in which they can go afloat; nor do they
appear to have any names by which boats or canoes are designated. It is
true that they have no wood for the construction of floating vessels;
but such might, without difficulty, be constructed of bone covered with
skins.

On the 16th of August, the ice had become sufficiently open, to permit
the passage of the vessels to the northward; and they consequently
proceeded on their voyage.

In these high latitudes, a kind of marine birds, called Little Awks
(_alca alle_) were observed in countless multitudes, and afforded to the
sailors, a grateful supply of fresh food. With three muskets, no fewer
than one thousand two hundred and sixty-three of them were killed in one
day; and, of this number, ninety-three were brought down by one
discharge of the muskets.

When the ships were in latitude 75 degrees 54 minutes, the snow on the
face of the cliffs was observed to be stained of a deep crimson colour.
Some of this snow being collected in buckets, it was found to resemble,
in appearance, raspberry ice-cream: when dissolved, the