icularly eager to exchange all
that they apparently possessed, and hastily bartered with the
Eddystone, blubber, whalebone, and seahorse teeth, for axes, saws,
knives, tin kettles, and bits of old iron hoop. The women presented
image toys, made from the bones and teeth of animals, models of canoes,
and various articles of dress, made of seal skins, and the membranes of
the abdomen of the whale, all of which displayed considerable ingenuity
and neatness, and for which they received in exchange, needles, knives,
and beads. It was very clear that European deception had reached them,
from the manner in which they _tenaciously_ held their articles till
they _grasped_ what was offered in barter for them; and immediately
they got the merchandise in possession, they licked it with their
tongues, in satisfaction that it was their own. The tribe appeared to
be well-conditioned in their savage state, and remarkably healthy. Some
of the children, I observed, were eating raw flesh, from the bones of
animals that had been killed, and given them by their mothers, who
appeared to have a strong natural affection for their offspring. I
threw one of them a halfpenny, which she caught; and pointing to the
child she immediately gave it to him with much apparent fondness. It
has been supposed that in holding up their children, as is sometimes
the case, it is for barter, but I should rather conclude that it is for
the purpose of exciting commiseration, and to obtain some European
article for them. A few of the men were permitted to come on board, and
the good humour of the captain invited one to dance with him: he took
the step with much agility and quickness, and imitated every gesture of
his lively partner. The breeze freshening, we soon parted with this
barbarous people, and when at a short distance from the ship, they
assembled in their canoes, each taking hold of the adjoining one, in
apparent consultation, as to what bargains they had made, and what
articles they possessed, till a canoe was observed to break off from
the group, which they all followed for their haunts along the shores of
Terra Neiva, and the Savage Islands. Having a copy of the Esquimaux
Gospels from the British and Foreign Bible Society, it was my wish to
have read part of a chapter to them, with a view to ascertain, if
possible, whether they knew of the Moravian Missionary establishment at
Nain, on the Labrador coast; but such was the haste, bustle, and noise
of their