less than
twenty-one women, boys, and young children. They were of a wild tribe,
and evidently more debased than those of the Greenland shore. They
laughed, and shouted, and skipped, and then commenced traffic with the
greatest eagerness, some of them stripping off the skins which formed
their only covering, until they were almost in a state of nudity; the
women, however, always retaining their breeches. They drove, as they
fancied, a hard bargain; yet, being ignorant of the value of the skins,
they raised shouts of triumph when they exchanged them for a nail, saw,
or razor. Hideous as were the old women, some of the children looked
almost pretty, although, being thrown carelessly into the bottom of the
boat, they more resembled young wild animals than human beings. The men
were especially addicted to practical jokes. One of them, getting
behind a sailor, shouted lustily in his ear, then gave him a hearty box
on the other. Captain Parry formed a very unfavourable opinion of the
moral character of these natives, who seemed to have acquired, by an
annual intercourse with our ships for nearly a hundred years, many of
the vices of civilisation, without having imbibed any of the virtues or
refinements which adorn it. Notwithstanding all obstructions, the
expedition, early in August, came in view of Southampton Island, at the
entrance of Fox's Channel, and from thence forced its way to Repulse
Bay, through which it was supposed that a passage westward existed; but,
after it had been thoroughly explored, Captain Parry proved that the
land round it was continuous. The appearance of the land was not
altogether uninviting. It rose to seven or eight hundred feet, and
there was the usual vegetation found in the arctic regions. Reindeer
and hares were plentiful, as were ducks and other birds. In one spot
were the remains of no less than sixty Esquimaux habitations, consisting
of stones laid one over the other, in regular circles, eight or nine
feet in diameter. There were besides about a hundred structures,--
fireplaces, store-houses, and other rough enclosures, four or five feet
high,--used to keep their skin canoes from being gnawed by the dogs.

Getting out of Repulse Bay, Captain Parry commenced a career of
discovery along an unknown coast. An inlet was discovered, on which the
name of Gore was bestowed. At the mouth of the opening the valleys were
richly clad with grass and mosses. The birds were singing, the
bu