Page:Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World in the Years 1791–95, volume 1.djvu/330

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266
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY


1702. M.iv.

')()ur'; had vifitcd thr vefiel. The iiarty was evidently reduced, and thofc who Hill remained liaving faiisfied their curiofity, or being compelled by their modeoriife, were preparing to depart with all their Hock and ef- ficts. TIk fe it required little hibour to remove, confilUng chiefly of the mats for covering their habitations, -wherever it may be convenient to pitch them ; iheir Ikin and woollen garments, their arms, implements, and liich articles of food as they had acquired during their refidence ; which, with their family and dogs, all find acconmiodation in a fingle canoe; and thus the party is eafdy conveyed to any Ration, which timcy, convenience, or neceflity, mav direft. The dogs belonging to this 'ribcof Indians were numerous, and much refembled thofe of Po- merania, though in general fomewhat larger. 'I'hey rt-ete all fhorn as dole to the (kin as llieep are in England ; and fo compaft were their fleeces, that huge portions could be lifted up by a corner without caufing any feparation. They were compofed of a mixture of a coarfe kind of wool, with very fine long hair, capable of being fpun into yarn. This gave me reafon to believe, that their woollen clothing might in part be compofed of this material mixed with a finer kind of wool from fome other animal, as their garments were all too fine ^o he manufaflured from the coarfe coating of the dog alone. The abundance of thefe garments amongfl the few people we met with, indicates the animal from whence the raw material is procured, to be very common in this neighbourhood ; but as they have no one domefticated excepting the dog, their fupply of wool for their clothing can only be obtained by hunting the wild crea- ture that produces it; of which we could not obtain the leaft information.

The weather continued delightfully ferene and pleafaut ; the carpenters had executed their taflc, and the topfail yards were replaced. Friday 25.

In the courfc of the forenoon on friday, fome of our Indian friends brought us a whole deer, which was the firfl intire animal that had been offered to us. This they had killed on the ifland, and from the number of perfons that came from thence, the major part of the remaining inhabitants of the village, with a great number of their dogs, fecmed to have been engaged in the chafe. This and another deer, parts