Note 7 — Chapter I

The Esquimaux method of settling disputes, which we learned from Augustus, deserves to be mentioned, not only as being very different from the sullen conduct of an affronted Indian, but from its coincidence with the practice of a people widely separated from them—the native inhabitants of Sydney, in New South Wales. Mr. Cunningham, in his entertaining work on New South Wales, says, "The common practice of fighting amongst the natives is still with the waddie, each alternately stooping the head to receive the other's blows, until one tumbles down, it being considered cowardly to evade a stroke." The Esquimaux use the fist instead of the waddie, in these singular duels, but there is no other difference betwixt their practice and that of the New South Wales' people. Another coincidence betwixt the Esquimaux and the inhabitants of Australasia, is the use of the throwing stick for discharging their spears.