As soon as Henry heard this he had the load dumped from one of the
sleds, and took Koumania to drive and an Ooqueesiksillik native as
guide, and came at once to report. He said it had been very difficult
to get his party of natives away from the camps that they met daily,
and that they had moved by portages, which doubled the distance. He had
bought dog food of the natives all along the route, and his dogs were,
consequently, in good order. They would remain in camp where they were
a day or two to feed up the dogs and get what fish they wanted for his
two sleds, and then join us on the 10th.
About five miles inland from Starvation Cove the natives had found
during the summer the skeleton of a white man which no one had ever
seen before. On the way down, Henry visited the place and erected a
monument over the remains. The pieces of clothing found indicated that
deceased was a sailor, not an officer. The finding of this grave is
worthy of notice, as showing that the natives were thoroughly aroused
by our visit and its object. We had promised them liberal rewards for
everything of importance found, and for valuable information--that is,
anything new--and were always particular to keep our promises. The
consequence was that they had greatly aided us by searching everywhere
within reach of their camps or hunting grounds.
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