Upon the whole, it was impossible for us not to receive a very
unfavourable impression of the general behaviour and moral
character of the natives of this part of Hudson's Strait, who seem
to have acquired, by an annual intercourse with our ships for
nearly a hundred years, many of the vices which unhappily attend a
first intercourse with the civilized world, without having imbibed
any of the virtues or refinements which adorn and render it happy.
Early on the morning of the 22d a number of canoes repeated their
visit to us, the Esquimaux having hauled them upon a piece of ice
to lodge for the night. In the forenoon an _oomiak_ also came from
the shore, and as no intercourse with them was permitted till
after divine service, they became very impatient to barter their
commodities, and walked on the ice alongside the ships, with a
number of trifling things in their hands, vociferating "pilletay"
to such a degree that we could hardly hear ourselves speak. Some
more oil was obtained in exchange for pieces of iron hoop, and, at
a quarter before noon, the wind coming more to the southward, and
the ice being somewhat less close than before, we cast off and
made sail up the strait.
The wind and ice combined to favour us more and more as we
proceeded, the former both in strength and direction, and the
latter by opening into loose streams, so that, for the first time
since we entered Hudson's Strait, we were now enabled to set all
the studding-sails, with some prospect of deriving advantage from
them.
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