We landed upon a point just to
the eastward of this bight, in which neighbourhood are several
little islands and coves, probably affording good anchorage, but
which the more immediate objects we had in view did not permit us
to examine. Upon the point we found the remains of no less than
sixty Esquimaux habitations, consisting of stones laid one over
the other in very regular circles, eight or nine feet in diameter,
besides nearly a hundred other rude, though certainly artificial
structures, some of which had been fireplaces, others storehouses,
and the rest tolerably-built walls four or five feet high, placed
two and two, and generally eight or nine feet apart, which these
people use for their canoes, as well as to keep the dogs from
gnawing them. A great many circles of stones were also seen more
inland. About three miles to the N.N.W. of our landing-place, our
people reported having seen fifteen others of the same kind, and
what they took to be a burying-ground, consisting of nine or ten
heaps of large stones, of three feet in diameter, and as many in
height. Under these were found a variety of little implements,
such as arrow or spear heads tipped with stone or iron, arrows,
small models of canoes and paddles, some rough pieces of bone and
wood, and one or two strips of asbestos, which, as Crantz informs
us, is used by the natives of Greenland for the wick of their
lamps, and for applying hot, in certain diseases, to the afflicted
part.
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