Ten months among the tents of the Tuski, with incidents of an Arctic boat expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, as far as the Mackenzie River, and Cape Bathurst . a stop-gap to conversation while hehad time to replace one thought by the next; occa-sionally, however, Metra displayed latent powers ofmind scarcely to be expected; dry, quaint, and ofteneven caustic humour, showed that there was stillsomething better than dross beneath the surface; andas he was a very shrewd old gentleman at a bargain,I do not think we ought to dismiss him from oursketch as altogether a simpleton, but rather a
Ten months among the tents of the Tuski, with incidents of an Arctic boat expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, as far as the Mackenzie River, and Cape Bathurst . a stop-gap to conversation while hehad time to replace one thought by the next; occa-sionally, however, Metra displayed latent powers ofmind scarcely to be expected; dry, quaint, and ofteneven caustic humour, showed that there was stillsomething better than dross beneath the surface; andas he was a very shrewd old gentleman at a bargain,I do not think we ought to dismiss him from oursketch as altogether a simpleton, but rather afford himthe designation of sloio. All these visitors had arrived in their sledges, drawnby dogs, of which Metra and Belconta possessed thefinest teams in the country ; but a new and delightfulspectacle was afforded us later in the afternoon, by thearrival of Mooldooyah, his wife, son, and friend, eachdriving two reindeer harnessed to his sledge. I cannotdescribe the emotions we experienced at this sight,so novel and so interesting; no other incident, sincethe first view of the natives in their atwoits in thebuy, produced so vivid a remembrance of the distance. REVIEW OF OUR POSITION. 71 which lay between us and our homes, and of thestrange people we were now among. In our first interview with the Tuski, after theimmediate surprise and novelty had passed, we weretoo much employed with our own affairs to pay parti-cidar attention to each peculiarity upon its primaryexhibition, and thus many points of striking interesthad become familiar, while we neglected to noticethem with due attention. But this incident recalledall the strangeness of om position to mind; oneview of the tableau presented renewed the fresh-ness and interest of this phase of oiu lives. Loftyrugged mountains, majestic and snow-bewi*apped,surrounded the ice-bound harbom-, now clad in asmooth, almost unbroken mantle of dazzhng white;the Atwoit resting upon its bosom like a bird uponthe water, now long located in h
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjecteskimos, bookyear1853
