"

"Me no can tell; they most too quiet," replied the interpreter.

Esquimaux in general are extremely noisy and full of animated
gesticulation on meeting with strangers, especially when they meet on
decidedly friendly terms. The silence, therefore, maintained by the
natives as they advanced was looked upon as a bad sign. The fleet
consisted of nine kayaks, and three large oomiaks full of women and
children; and a curious appearance they presented at a distance, for the
low kayaks of the men being almost invisible, it seemed as if their
occupants were actually seated on the water. The oomiaks being much
higher, were clearly visible. On coming to within a quarter of a mile
of the fort, the men halted to allow the women to come up; then forming
in a crescent in front of the oomiaks, the whole flotilla advanced
slowly towards the beach. When within a hundred yards or so, Stanley
said, "Now, Oolibuck, give them a hail."

"Chimo! Chimo! Chimo-o-o!" shouted the interpreter.

The word acted like a talisman.

"Chimo!" yelled the Esquimaux in reply, and the kayaks shot like arrows
upon the sand, while the women followed as fast as they could. In
another minute a loud chattering and a brisk shaking of hands was taking
place on shore.

The natives were dressed in the sealskin garments with which arctic
travellers have made us all more or less acquainted. They were stout
burly fellows, with fat, oily, and bearded faces.

"Now tell them, Oolibuck, the reason of our coming here," said Stanley.

Oolibuck instantly began, by explaining to them that they had come for
the purpose of bringing about peace and friendship between them and the
Indians; on hearing which the Esquimaux danced and shouted for nearly a
minute with joy. But when the interpreter went on to say that they
intended to remain altogether among them, for the purpose of trading,
their delight knew no bounds; they danced and jumped, and whooped and
yelled, tossed up their arms and legs, and lay down on the sand and
rolled in ecstasy. In the midst of all this, Mrs Stanley rushed out of
the house, followed by Edith, in great terror at the unearthly sounds
that had reached her ears; but on seeing her husband and Oolibuck
laughing in the midst of the grotesque group, her fears vanished, and
she stood an amused spectator of the scene.

Meanwhile, Stanley went down and stepped into the midst of one of the
oomiaks, with a few beads and trinkets in his hands; a