was in their faces; it was the noise of our dogs which gave them notice of our arrival and proximity; and as soon as this was heard, one of them rushed out of a hut, brandishing the large knife used in attacking bears, while the tears were streaming down his aged and furrowed face, which was turning wildly round in search of the objects of his animosity. In an instant he lifted his arm to throw his weapon at myself and the surgeon, who were then within a few yards of him, having advanced in order to ascertain the cause of all this commotion. But the sun, dazzling him, caused him to suspend his arm for an instant; when one of his sons laid hold of his uplifted hand, and gave us a moment's time for reflection.

The result of that was, of course, an immediate preparation for defence; though we could have done little against such odds as our unexpected enemies displayed. We therefore retired to the sledge, where I had left my gun; and not daring again to quit it, as Mr Abernethy had no arms, waited for the result, while losing ourselves in vain conjectures respecting the cause of offence, seeing that we had parted good friends on the preceding day.

The ferocious old man Pow-weet-yah was still held fast, and, now, by both his sons, who had pinioned his arms behind him; though he strove hard to disengage himself; while the rest of the party seemed to be standing in readiness to second any attempt which he might make on us. That there was some difference of opinion among them, however, and that all were not equally hostile, was plain from the conduct of these young men; so that we could still hope for some parley before matters came to extremity. They now began to talk among themselves, and then separated in such a manner as to be ready to surround us, which having nearly effected, and we not choosing to be so cut off from the ship, I warned those who were closing in on the rear, to desist. This produced a short pause, and a still shorter conference; but they immediately again began to close in, brandishing their knives in defiance, according to their usual custom, and had nearly gained their object, when finding that further forbearance would be hazardous, I placed the gun to my shoulder, and was about to fire, when I fortunately saw that the threat alone was sufficient to give them a check. With little loss of time, those who had advanced nearest broke off, in evident alarm, and retreated towards their huts; thus leaving us an open passage in the rear.

But as I could not induce any of them to approach, or to answer my questions, we continued for nearly half an hour in this state of suspense and perplexity, when we were relieved by the courage or confidence of one of the women, who came out of a hut just as I was again raising my gun, and called to me not to fire, advancing up to our party immediately, without showing the least mark of fear.

From her, we soon learned the cause of all this hubbub, which, absurd as it was, might have had a fatal termination, as we should probably have been the chief sufferers. One of Pow-weet-yah's adopted sons, a fine boy of seven or eight years of age, whom we knew, had been killed on the preceding night, by the falling of a stone on his head. This they had ascribed to our agency, through the supernatural powers which we were believed to possess; while the father, not very unnaturally under

this conviction, had meditated revenge in the manner which we had experienced.

'I had much difficulty in persuading the good woman that we were totally ignorant of this catastrophe, and that we were very sorry for the misfortune; she, however, repeated all that I had said to two of the men who had not taken any share in the business of the attack, and who now approached us unarmed, in token of peace. Their object was to persuade us to go back to the ship, and to return in three days, when they offered to be our guides to the desired place. But many reasons opposed this scheme; of which the chief was, that as this was the first misunderstanding that had occured between us, it was essential to come to an understanding, and to renew our friendship, without any delay, lest the oppor tunity should not again occur; as they might go away in the mean time, whether from fear of our returning in greater numbers, or for any other reason, and thus, not only cause a lasting estrangement as to themselves, but a general hostility or desertion on the part of all the natives within their connexions or reach; thus rendering the whole land our enemies. I therefore objected to this proposal, and declared that I would not go back till we were all once more good friends; when perceiving that the hostile party was gradually approaching our groupe, though, probably, but to hear the conversation that was passing, I drew a line on the snow, and declared that none of them should cross it without putting away their knives, which they still continued to grasp in their right hands, with their arms folded across the breast. After some conversation among themselves their grim visages began to relax, the knives were put up; and, becoming at last apparently convinced that we had no concern in the death of this boy, they seemed now very anxious to remove the unfavour able impression which their conduct, as they must needs conclude, had made on us."

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Although peace was thus restored, yet the natives persisted in requiring the party to return to the ship, on the ground that it was impossible for them to make use of their dogs till three days had passed away after the death of any one belonging to 'a family.' Unwilling to yield to this demand, Commander Ross offered a large file to the person who would accompany him; and after a consultation, Poo-yet-tah yielding to his wife's entreaties, and to the irresistible bribe, agreed to become his guide, along with Il-lik-tah, a lad of seventeen. The account of this journey, which continued until the 4th of May, and in which they obtained two musk oxen, is, in as far as the geography of the route is concerned, written in an unknown tongue. All the names are long and uncouth Esquimaux words, not one of which is given in the chart, although it is said (in p. 359) that some of them are.* We gather, however, from the narrative, that it was in this

* With a chart on which the hills are neither drawn nor their names

journey that they discovered to the N.W. of Felix harbour the river E. Stanley, and lake Owen.

The hostile adventure which is described in the preceding extract might have proved fatal to Commander Ross and his party, and eventually to those on board the Victory. We are persuaded that it was entirely owing to the false impressions which Captain Ross and his officers either made, or allowed to be made, on the minds of an ignorant and superstitious people. There are emergencies in human affairs where the sacrifice of truth may admit of some palliation; but none where it can be really justified. In a Christian community, truth is the very cement of its endurance, without which faith and charity lose their lustre. Even in that lesser section of mankind which boasts of its code of honour, truth is ranked as the cardinal virtue; and in the wider relations of general society where it is guarded by no penal sanctions, the breach of its law is the source of all the contentions which embitter private life,-the fuel of those moral volcanoes which are ever convulsing the very frame-work of our institutions.

Two very striking examples of the mistake which, in our opinion, was committed by the officers, occurred on the 17th of February.

One of them having attended Commander Ross to the observatory, and having asked what the "guns said," was informed that they were naming the thieves who had taken our property, of whatever nature, from the ship; on which there was a general convocation held at the village, and it was agreed to return every thing. We had to regret that we possessed no such powers of conjuration over the much less pardonable thieves of our own dear native land: among its other advantages, the "march" of knowledge has deprived the good of this power also, over the evil ones of this world. What the relative gain and loss may be it is not here my business to discuss; but let us recollect, at least, that it is not all gain. At any rate, we here made use of the advantages still in our power, and therefore did not lose the opportunity of confirming them in their good intentions to "steal no more;" informing them consequently that this was the cause of their late il success in seal hunting. The failure of this chace, with which we had become acquainted, was a piece of knowledge, of which, like many much less pardonable conjurors, we took this justifiable advantage.

Some Esquimaux arrived; and it was lucky for our denunciations, that those who had restored the stolen property had been successful in the seal hunting. But their families were so much in want, that they could not spare us any of their capture.'

engraven, what is the use of the following information ?- The hill to the W. is called Pood-le-ra-nuk, to the N.W. Il-low-nuk, to the N.E. Cic-cood-le-ruk-tuk, to the W.S.W. Tak-ke-noo-ra-lig, and to the S. Il-low-na-lig!-p. 359.

VOL. LXI. NO, CXXIV,

2 F

Another occurred on the 17th of April.

The natives brought us a skin and a seal, and I was again teased by one, while making observations, to show him where the seals might be found. To get rid of him, I pointed to a place, at hazard; and, in the event, acquired the reputation of a conjurer, inasmuch as they afterwards caught three. Prognostication was, however, a trade far too dangerous to our reputation, to be indulged in; and I hoped that the opportunities would not often be forced on us in this manner. One of the seals was very gratefully brought to me, as an acknowledgement; but the bearer was nevertheless rewarded with a file.'

Commander Ross, however, seems to have seen the danger of this species of deception, and on the 28th April, when Poo-yettah was considering the astronomical instruments as implements for hunting and fishing, he remarks, that he was by no means 'desirous of passing for a conjuror. We had found ourselves in 'a sufficiently awkward predicament already, in consequence of 'this to us unenviable reputation, and I therefore declared my total ignorance of all musk oxen and their ways.'

On another occasion, when the natives had been unsuccessful in a seal hunt, one of them entreated Captain Ross, with tears in his eyes, to tell him where he should find one: how were they to suppose that men so superior to themselves in a hundred things, did not know whatever concerned them most? I 'pointed to a place at hazard, that I might give them hope, at least to occupy their time and stay their hunger; but it was not 'a very profound jest to say, that they would certainly take some if they would wait till the animals came.'

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• to

On the 4th of June, when Captain Ross could shoot no more in consequence of having lost his stock of percussion caps, a circumstance at which the natives were greatly surprised, he excuses himself by pretending snow blindness; not wishing them suppose that our fire-arms could ever be disabled or useless." On the same day, when a note for Commander Ross was deposited under a cairn which they erected for this natives were informed that it was a mark for the ship, which 'would hereafter be useful to them as well as to ourselves.' We leave it to casuists to fix the greatest deviation from truth which especial circumstances may authorize. We have done our duty as moralists, in warning future navigators against the least.

purpose,

the

Ross's

In quoting one of the preceding passages from Captain Narrative, we were unable to disentangle from it an unseemly attack on the march of knowledge;' and having thus disseminated the poison, we must supply the antidote. We regret, indeed, to say, that the narrative of our author contains a sort of running fire against knowledge and free institutions. We sup

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pose that the Reform Bill, which Captain Ross found to be the law of the land on his return, had confounded his politics, and excited those morbid feelings with which he speaks of the diffusion of knowledge. In the introduction to his volume, he expresses an anxious hope that the bravery of our naval commanders may continue, under this new æra of rising light and spreading 'knowledge.' When describing the wonder of two Esquimaux looking at each other through the same reading glass, he exclaims, such are the delights of novelty, and thus does the curiosity of pure ignorance ever find new gratifications. But we, who here know every thing, knowing even what we have 'not seen or learned, have contrived to get rid of these pleasures; 'it is even to be feared that the "schoolmaster abroad" will 'shortly find his place a mere sinecure; so universally does 'knowledge seize even on those who do not take the trouble to 'pursue it. * * Fortunately thus far for our new guests, there was no penny science in this land of little light, to interfere with 'their admiration.' In speaking of the Esquimaux villages he observes, that as universal knowledge "progresses," a new in'terest will attach to a region so robbed of its "natural rights," 'by nature herself, and a newspaper will of course approximate this frozen and furred people to the great fraternity of mankind.' When the Victory was freed from its shackles of ice, the men were delighted at the recovery of their liberty; but he adds, 'that 'they were not long in finding, as other pursuers of other liberty 'have found, that it was a freedom which was to bring us no 'happiness.' There are no poor rates' (he says in another place) :— When this shall happen, during the progress of know'ledge and legislation, the children will cease to maintain even 'themselves; there will be an end to adoption; the widow of five 'children will advertise in vain for a husband; they will all go to the workhouse; and they who can catch seals will labour to 'maintain the idle, till the day arrive when all will starve to'gether. Free America comes in for a share of Captain Ross's displeasure. It has been said that this gallantry belongs most conspicuously, if not exclusively, to nations under kingly or despotic governments, even as it did to that singular species of despotism which constituted the feudal system. We can refer 'to the Greek republics in proof of this theory, in the reverse manner; and who is there now who is not equally ready to 'quote the United States of America, where the feelings of democracy, in necessarily rendering all men tyrants, has produced that 'neglect, at least, of the sex which is as near an approach to oppression as could be practised in a country so far partaking of 'Europe as it does.'

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