them."

_March_ 5th.--The Esquimaux were about this time rather badly off for
food, in consequence of the winds having of late been unfavourable for
their fishery; but this had only occurred two or three times in the
course of the winter, and never so much as to occasion any great
distress. It is certain, indeed, that the quantity of meat which they
procured between the 1st of October and the 1st of April was sufficient
to furnish about double the population of working people who were
moderate eaters, and had any idea of providing for a future day; but to
individuals who can demolish four or five pounds at a sitting, and at
least ten in the course of a day,[003] and who never bestow a thought on
to-morrow, at least with a view to provide for it by economy, there is
scarcely any supply which could secure them from occasional scarcity. It
is highly probable that the alternate feasting and fasting to which the
gluttony and improvidence of these people so constantly subject them,
may have occasioned many of the complaints that proved fatal during the
winter; and on this account we hardly knew whether to rejoice or not at
the general success of their fishery. Certain it is, that on a
particular occasion of great plenty, one or two individuals were seen
lying in the huts, so distended by the quantity of meat they had eaten
that they were unable to move, and were suffering considerable pain,
arising solely from this cause. Indeed, it is difficult to assign any
other probable reason for the lamentable proportion of deaths that took
place during our stay at Igloolik, while, during a season of nearly
equal severity, and of much greater privation as to food, at Winter
Island, not a single death occurred. Notwithstanding their general
plenty, there were times in the course of this winter, as well as the
last, when our bread-dust was of real service to them, and they were
always particularly desirous of obtaining it for their younger children.
They distinguished this kind of food by the name of _k=an~ibr~o~ot_,
and biscuit or soft bread by that of _sh=eg~al~ak_, the literal meaning
of which terms we never could discover, but supposed them to have some
reference to their respective qualities.

Our lengthened acquaintance with the Esquimaux and their language, which
a second winter passed among them afforded, gave us an opportunity of
occasionally explaining to them in some measure in what direction our
country lay, and of giving t