ge,
besides the two infants in arms, or, rather, behind their mothers'
backs; and the woman of thirty was with child.

We began, as before, by buying whatever they had to dispose of,
giving in exchange knives, axes, brass kettles, needles, and other
useful articles, and then added such presents as might be farther
serviceable to them. From the first moment of our arrival until we
left them, or, rather, till we had nothing left to give, the
females were particularly importunate with us, and "pilletay"
resounded from the whole troop, wherever we went; they were
extremely anxious to obtain our buttons, apparently more on
account of the ornament of the crown and anchor which they
observed upon them than from any value they set upon their use;
and several of these were cut off our jackets to please their
fancy. When I first endeavoured to bargain for a sledge, the
persons I addressed gave me distinctly to understand by signs that
it was not their property, and pointed towards the woman who owned
it; though my ignorance in this respect offered a good opportunity
of defrauding me, had they been so inclined, by receiving an
equivalent for that which did not belong to them: on the owner's
coming forward, the bargain was quickly concluded. The pikes which
I gave in exchange underwent the usual ceremony of licking, and
the sledge was carried to our boat with the most perfect
understanding on both sides. In another instance, an axe was
offered by some of the Griper's gentlemen as the price of a dog,
to which the woman who owned the animal consented. To show that we
placed full confidence in them, the axe was given to her before
the dog was caught, and she immediately went away with a kind of
halter or harness of thongs, which, they use for this purpose, and
honestly brought one of the finest among them, though nothing
would have been easier than to evade the performance of the
contract. The readiness, however, with which they generally parted
with their commodities, was by no means the effect of fear, nor
did it always depend on the value of the articles offered in
exchange; for having, as I thought, concluded a bargain for a
second canoe belonging to the old woman, I desired the men to hand
it down to the boat; but I soon perceived that I had misunderstood
her, for she clung fast to the canoe, and cried most piteously
till it was set down; I then offered a larger price than before,
but she could not be induced to part with it.