Voyages in Search of the North-West Passage [38]
perceived themselves deceived of their expectation for all their crafty allurements. Yet once again to make, as it were, a full show of their crafty natures and subtle sleights, to the intent thereby to have entrapped and taken some of our men, one of them counterfeited himself impotent and lame of his legs, who seemed to descend to the water's side with great difficulty, and to cover his craft the more one of his fellows came down with him, and in such places where he seemed unable to pass, he took him on his shoulders, set him by the water's side, and departed from him, leaving him, as it should seem, all alone; who, playing his counterfeit pageant very well, thought thereby to provoke some of us to come on shore, not fearing but that one of us might make our party good with a lame man.
Our general, having compassion of his impotency, thought good, if it were possible, to cure him thereof; wherefore he caused a soldier to shoot at him with his calever, which grazed before his face. The counterfeit villain deliverly fled without any impediment at all, and got him to his bow and arrows, and the rest from their lurking holes with their weapons, bows, arrows, slings, and darts. Our general caused some calevers to be shot off at them, whereby, some being hurt, they might hereafter stand in more fear of us.
This was all the answer for this time we could have of our men, or of our general's letter. Their crafty dealing at these three several times being thus manifest unto us, may plainly show their disposition in other things to be correspondent. We judged that they used these stratagems thereby to have caught some of us for the delivering of the man, woman, and child, whom we had taken.
They are men of a large corporature, and good proportion; their colour is not much unlike the sunburnt countryman, who laboureth daily in sun for his living.
They wear their hair something long, and cut before either with stone or knife, very disorderly. Their women wear their hair long, knit up with two loops, showing forth on either side of their faces, and the rest faltered upon a knot. Also, some of their women tint their faces proportionally, as chin, cheeks, and forehead and the wrists of their hands, whereupon they lay a colour which continueth dark azurine.
They eat their meat all raw, both flesh, fish, and fowl, or something parboiled with blood, and a little water, which they drink. For lack of water, they will eat ice that is hard frozen as pleasantly as we will do sugar-candy, or other sugar.
If they, for necessity's sake, stand in need of the premises, such grass as the country yieldeth they pluck up and eat, not daintily, or saladwise, to allure their stomachs to appetite, but for necessity's sake, without either salt, oils, or washing, like brute beasts devouring the same. They neither use table, stool, or table- cloth for comeliness: but when they are imbrued with blood, knuckle deep, and their knives in like sort, they use their tongues as apt instruments to lick them clean; in doing whereof they are assured to lose none of their victuals.
They keep certain dogs, not much unlike wolves, which they yoke together, as we do oxen and horses, to a sled or trail, and so carry their necessaries over the ice and snow, from place to place, as the captain, whom we have, made perfect signs. And when those dogs are not apt for the same use, or when with hunger they are constrained for lack of other victuals, they eat them, so that they are as needful for them, in respect of their bigness, as our oxen are for us.
They apparel themselves in the skins of such beasts as they kill, sewed together with the sinews of them. All the fowl which they kill they skin, and make thereof one kind of garment or other to defend them from the cold.
They make their apparel with hoods and tails, which tails they give, when they think to gratify any friendship shown unto them; a great sign of friendship with them. The men have them not so syde as the women.
The men and women wear their hose close to their legs, from
Our general, having compassion of his impotency, thought good, if it were possible, to cure him thereof; wherefore he caused a soldier to shoot at him with his calever, which grazed before his face. The counterfeit villain deliverly fled without any impediment at all, and got him to his bow and arrows, and the rest from their lurking holes with their weapons, bows, arrows, slings, and darts. Our general caused some calevers to be shot off at them, whereby, some being hurt, they might hereafter stand in more fear of us.
This was all the answer for this time we could have of our men, or of our general's letter. Their crafty dealing at these three several times being thus manifest unto us, may plainly show their disposition in other things to be correspondent. We judged that they used these stratagems thereby to have caught some of us for the delivering of the man, woman, and child, whom we had taken.
They are men of a large corporature, and good proportion; their colour is not much unlike the sunburnt countryman, who laboureth daily in sun for his living.
They wear their hair something long, and cut before either with stone or knife, very disorderly. Their women wear their hair long, knit up with two loops, showing forth on either side of their faces, and the rest faltered upon a knot. Also, some of their women tint their faces proportionally, as chin, cheeks, and forehead and the wrists of their hands, whereupon they lay a colour which continueth dark azurine.
They eat their meat all raw, both flesh, fish, and fowl, or something parboiled with blood, and a little water, which they drink. For lack of water, they will eat ice that is hard frozen as pleasantly as we will do sugar-candy, or other sugar.
If they, for necessity's sake, stand in need of the premises, such grass as the country yieldeth they pluck up and eat, not daintily, or saladwise, to allure their stomachs to appetite, but for necessity's sake, without either salt, oils, or washing, like brute beasts devouring the same. They neither use table, stool, or table- cloth for comeliness: but when they are imbrued with blood, knuckle deep, and their knives in like sort, they use their tongues as apt instruments to lick them clean; in doing whereof they are assured to lose none of their victuals.
They keep certain dogs, not much unlike wolves, which they yoke together, as we do oxen and horses, to a sled or trail, and so carry their necessaries over the ice and snow, from place to place, as the captain, whom we have, made perfect signs. And when those dogs are not apt for the same use, or when with hunger they are constrained for lack of other victuals, they eat them, so that they are as needful for them, in respect of their bigness, as our oxen are for us.
They apparel themselves in the skins of such beasts as they kill, sewed together with the sinews of them. All the fowl which they kill they skin, and make thereof one kind of garment or other to defend them from the cold.
They make their apparel with hoods and tails, which tails they give, when they think to gratify any friendship shown unto them; a great sign of friendship with them. The men have them not so syde as the women.
The men and women wear their hose close to their legs, from