and brought together at the top, where they are firmly bound by bark, sedge, and twigs. Smaller branches are then interlaced, forming a tolerably compact wicker-work, and on this, grass, turf, and bark are laid, making the hut quite warm, and impervious to the wind and snow, though not quite so to the rain. The usual dimensions of these huts are seven or eight feet in diameter, and about four or five feet in height. They have an oval hole to creep in at. The fire is built in a small excavation in the middle of the hut. The floor is of clay, which has the appearance of having been well kneaded. The usual accom

paniment of a hut is a conical pile of shells opposite the door, nearly as large as the hut itself.

Their occupancy of a hut seems to be limited to the supply of shellfish, consisting of mussels and limpets, in the neighbourhood.

These natives are never seen but in their huts or canoes. The impediments to their communication by land are great, growing out of the mountainous and rocky character of the country, intersected with inlets deep and impassable, and in most places bounded by abrupt precipices, together with a soil which may be termed a quagmire, on which it is difficult to walk. This prevails on the hills as well as in the plains and valleys. The impenetrable nature of the forest, with the dense undergrowth of thorny bushes, renders it impossible for them to overcome or contend with these difficulties. They appear to live in families, and not in tribes, and do not seem to acknowledge any chief.

On the 11th of March three bark canoes arrived, containing four men, four women, and a girl about sixteen years old, four little boys and four infants, one of the latter about a week old, and quite naked. The thermometer was at 46° Fahrenheit. They had rude weapons, viz., slings to throw stones, three rude spears, pointed at the end with bone, and notched on one side with barbed teeth. With this they catch their fish, which are in great quantities among the kelp. Two of the natives were induced to come on board, after they had been alongside for upwards of an hour, and received many presents, for

which they gave their spears, a dog, and some of their rude native trinkets. They did not show or express surprise at any thing on board, except when seeing one of the carpenters engaged in boring a hole with a screw-auger through a plank, which would have been a long task for them. They were very talkative, smiling when spoken to, and often bursting into loud laughter, but instantly settling into their natural serious and sober cast.

They were found to be great mimics, both in gesture and sound, and would repeat any word of our language, with great correctness of pronunciation. Their imitations of sounds were truly astonishing. One of them ascended and descended the octave perfectly, following the sounds of the violin correctly. It was then found he could sound the common chords, and follow through the semitone scale, with scarcely an error. They have all musical voices, speak in the note G sharp, ending with the semitone A, when asking for presents, and were continually singing,

Their mimickry became annoying, and precluded our getting at any of their words or ideas. It not only extended to words or sounds, but actions also, and was at times truly ridiculous. The usual manner of interrogating for names was quite unsuccessful. On pointing to the nose, for instance, they did the same. Any thing they saw done they would mimic, and with an extraordinary degree of accuracy. On these canoes approaching the ship, the principal one of the family, or chief, standing up in his canoe, made a harangue. He spoke in G natural, and did not vary his voice more than a semitone. The pitch of the voice of the female is an octave higher. Although they have been heard to shout quite loud, yet they cannot endure a noise. When the drum beat, or a gun was fired, they invariably stopped their ears. They always speak to each other in a whisper. Their cautious manner and movements prove them to be a timid race. The men are exceedingly jealous of their women, and will not allow any one, if they can help it, to enter their huts, particularly boys.

The women were never suffered to come on board. They appeared modest in the presence of strangers. They never move from a sitting posture, or rather a squat, with their knees close together, reaching to their chin, their feet in contact and touching the lower part of the body. They are extremely ugly. Their hands and feet were small and well-shaped, and from appearance they are not accustomed to do

any hard work. They appear very fond and seem careful of their young children, though on several occasions they offered them for sale for a trifle. They have their faces smutted all over, and it was thought, from the hideous appearance of the females, produced in part by their being painted and smutted, that they had been disfigured by the men previous to coming alongside. It was remarked that when one of them saw herself in a looking-glass, she burst into tears, as Jack thought from pure mortification.

The men are employed in building the huts, obtaining food, and providing for their other wants. The women were generally seen paddling their canoes.

When this party of natives left the ship and reached the shore, the women remained in their canoes, and the men began building their temporary huts; the little children were seen capering quite naked on the beach, although the thermometer was at 40°. On the hut being finished, which occupied about an hour, the women went on shore to take possession of it. They all seemed quite happy and contented.

Before they left the ship, the greater part of them were dressed in old clothes, that had been given to them by the officers and men, who all showed themselves extremely anxious "to make them comfortable." This gave rise to much merriment, as Jack was not disposed to allow any difficulties to interfere in the fitting. If the jackets proved too tight across the shoulders, which they invariably were, a slit down the back effectually remedied the defect. If a pair of trousers was found too small around the waist, the knife was again resorted to, and in some cases a fit was made by severing the legs. The most difficult fit, and the one which produced the most merriment, was that of a woman to whom an old coat was given. This she concluded belonged to her nether limbs, and no signs, hints, or shouts, could correct her mistake. Her feet were thrust through the sleeves, and after hard squeezing she succeeded in drawing them on. With the skirts brought up in front, she took her seat in the canoe with great satisfaction, amid a roar of laughter from all who saw her.

Towards evening, Messrs. Waldron and Drayton visited their huts. Before they reached the shore, the natives were seen making a fire on the beach, for their reception, evidently to avoid their entering their huts.

On landing, one of the men seemed anxious to talk with them. He pointed to the ship, and tried to express many things by gestures; then pointed to the southeast, and then again to the ship, after which, clasping his hands, as in our mode of prayer, he said "Eloah, Eloah," as though he thought we had come from God.

After a little time, they gained admittance to the hut. The men creeping in first, squatted themselves directly in front of the women, all holding out the small piece of sealskin to allow the heat to reach their bodies. The women were squatted three deep behind the men, the oldest in front nestling the infants.

After being in the hut, Mr. Drayton endeavoured to call the attention of the man who had made signs to him before entering, to know whether they had any idea of a Supreme Being. The same man then put his hands together, repeating as before, "Eloah, Eloah." From his manner, it was inferred that they had some idea of God or a Supreme Being.

Their mode of expressing friendship is by jumping up and down. They made Messrs. Waldron and Drayton jump with them on the beach, before entering the hut, took hold of their arms, facing them, and jumping two or three inches from the ground, making them keep time to the following song:

All our endeavours to find out how they ignited their fire proved unavailing. It must be exceedingly difficult for them to accomplish, judging from the care they take of it, always carrying it with them in their canoes, and the danger they thus run of injuring themselves by it.

Their food consists of limpets, mussels, and other shell-fish. Quantities of fish, and some seals, are now and then taken among the kelp, and with berries of various kinds, and wild celery, they do not want. They seldom cook their food much. The shell-fish are detached from the shell by heat, and the fish are partly roasted in their skins, without being cleaned.

When on board, one of them was induced to sit at the dinner-table; after a few lessons, he handled his knife and fork with much dexterity. He refused both spirits and wine, but was very fond of sweetened water. Salt provisions were not at all to his liking, but rice and plum-pudding were agreeable to his taste, and he literally crammed them into his mouth. After his appetite had been satisfied, he was in great good humour, singing his "Hey meh leh," dancing and laughing,

His mimickry prevented any satisfactory inquiries being made of him relative to a vocabulary.

Some of the officers painted the faces of these natives black, white, and red: this delighted them very much, and it was quite amusing to see the grimaces made by them before a looking-glass.

One of these natives remained on board for upwards of a week, and being washed and combed, he became two or three shades lighter in colour. Clothes were put on him. He was about twenty-three years of age; and was unwell the whole time he was on board, from eating such quantities of rice, &c. His astonishment was very great on attending divine service. The moment the chaplain began to read from the book, his eyes were riveted upon him, where they remained as long as he continued to read. At the end of the week he became dissatisfied, and was set on shore, and soon appeared naked again. It was observed on presents being made, that those who did not receive any began a sort of whining cry, putting on the most doleful-looking countenances imaginable.

They are much addicted to theft, if any opportunity offers. The night before they left the bay, they stole and cut up one of the windsails, which had been scrubbed and hung up on shore to dry.

Although we had no absolute proof of it, we are inclined to the belief that they bury their dead in caves.

There is a black-coloured moss that covers the ground in places, giving it the appearance of having been burnt. Many small ponds are met with, as though the peat had been dug up from the place, and the holes filled with water. There is great plenty of scurvy-grass and wild celery close to the beach.

Here any quantity of water may be obtained on the top and sloping sides of the hills.

The decomposition of the feldspathic rocks appears to be going on rapidly. This, combined with vegetable matter, forms a rich soil; but it is so exceedingly wet from the constant rains and snows, that it is very questionable if any agricultural operations could succeed.

At Orange Harbour the tide was found to have four feet rise and fall. High water, full and change, at 4 P. M. Among the Hermit Islands it seems to be affected by the winds in the offing The flood sets to the east.

Large numbers of humpback whales were seen in March, about Orange Harbour.

In a small cove on New Island, a different description of hut was seen by the officers of the Relicf. Not having met with any natives, it was not in their power to ascertain if it belonged to the same tribe.