whereas the people of the Esquimaux nation, are, by the accounts of all travellers, the ugliest of men, of the harshest and most disagreeable features, and all covered with hair. But tho' our author is mistaken as to the race of people, yet I think she is not mistaken in the situation of the country which she gives to her, for it certainly is a very cold country; and the people, which she describes as living in the neighbourhood of her nation, can be no other than the Esquimaux: And when we add to this, what travellers tell us of a certain race of people, who are fair, of smooth skins, and soft features, living in the country of Labrador, upon the East side of Hudson's bay, in the neighbourhood of the Esquimaux,[1] we can hardly doubt that Madamoiselle le Blanc is one of that race of people, and that her country is the coast of Hudson's bay. And I think it is highly probable, that the girls mentioned in the letter of Madame Duplessis de St. Helene, which is subjoined to this relation, who are said to have lived at Quebec, and to have died in the hospital there, were of this race of people, tho' they are, by mistake, called Esquimaudes by Madame Duplessis.
But
- ↑ See a collection of French voyages to the North.
