Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847

ducks-Visits of natives too frequent-Return of the party sent for the boat-Report the bay more closely packed than before-Preparations for wintering-Fort Hope built-Proceed to North Pole and Christie

party of natives-Their report of the ice westward of Melville Peninsula-An island said to be wooded-Produce of the chase in October-Temperature-Two observator

icient to support them. Having taken but a scanty breakfast, I fully enjoyed my dinner here, but I reversed the us

n one of two modes of proceeding, namely, whether to leave the whole survey to be completed during the following spring and summer, or to endeavour to follow i

Hecla, or towards Dease and Simpson's farthest, might be traced, yet to accomplish even this might detain us so long that there would be no time to make the necessary preparations for wintering, and we should thus be under the necessity of returning to Churchill without accomplishing the object of the expedition, or, if we remained at Rep

quite unknown to us; it was not likely that the deer would remain near at hand all winter, as we were at too great a distance from the woods; and it was very evident,

rved the great rise and fall of the tide, which must have affected the tides at the Castor and Pollux River, had there been a strait of any width separating Boothia from the mainland, unless indeed the assumption of Captain Sir J. Ross, th

to assist in bringing over the boat. Ouligbuck had now been about two days looking for deer, and I began to feel

er place than a narrow but not deep valley within a few hundred yards of our landing-place, and about a hundred and fifty from North Pole River on its east side. There appeared to be various small bays along shore t

parently not more than twelve days old. The male eider and king du

my way to set a net in a lake at no great distance, I fell in with a covey of ptarmigan, (T. rupestris), most of the young being strong on the wing, an

the same quarter as the day before. Four salmon were caught, and a deer was shot. The

and that they had better return to their huts, where I knew they were killing deer enough to support themselves. On returning from my daily walk, I found that our friends had taken leave rather hurriedly, having been detected appropriating some salt fish, which they could n

of them very small) caught, whilst the nets produced eleven more. Just as we were landing our fish, the men who had been taking over the boat made their appearance, being a day earlier than I expected. By keeping the proper route three of the portages wer

e boat over the portages, had wrought well, and readily accommodated themselves to the habits of the men. They wer

eft at North Pole Lake, as it

the 17th was so stormy and wet

to collect stones for building a house, whilst the others were occupied in setting nets, hunting deer, and gathering fuel. Our

sembling a shrimp in miniature-the favourite food of the salmon-that it was quite impossible to keep them in repair.

ts of our boats as rafters, and covering them with oilcloth and moose skin, the latter being fixed to the lower or inside of the rafters, whilst the former was placed on the outside to run off the rain. The do

ts of lunar distances with objects on both sides of the moon) 86° 55' 51" W. The variation of the compass on 30th August was

n of oilcloth. In this, besides its serving as my quarters, a

made great havoc, to judge by the abundance of skins and venison lying in all directions. Our friends were delighted to see us, and had improved much in appearance, the only poor animals about them being their dogs, which appeared to get no more to eat than was barely sufficient to keep them in life. I looked out four of the best, being all I wanted at present, for which I promised a dagger each, intending to take them with us on our return

The blue-winged goose of Edwards is by some ornithologists considered as the young of the last named bird i

unities, every spring and autumn, of observing both the snow and the blue-winged goose in their

neck; whilst the young of the blue-winged goose is of a dark slate colour, approaching to black on the head and neck. Neither do the young separate from the old, as has been asserted; for families may be seen feeding by themselves all over the marshes, the old bird keeping a sharp look-out, and giving timely warning to her brood of any approaching danger. In fact the Indian, who has thoroughly studied the habits of the bird, takes advantage of her

as blown away from her fastenings, and carried several hundred yards into the lake among some stones. Being the only one of the party provided on the spot with Macintosh boots, it fell to my lot to wade out to the boat, throw overboard the ballast, lift her bows over the stones, and take a line to the shore; which, from having miscalculated the depth

ther, with which we cooked some salmon and boiled a kettle of tea, which made us fee

den plovers and sandpipers had all disappeared, but some Lapl

uimaux, where we stopped to take on board our dogs. A young lad also came with us to carry some medicine for the patriarch of the tribe, who

aced in security for the winter. While at the lake we had not been able to procure much more food

ce that the boat left there was lifted a few yards by it, but received no injur

wet and producing a most unpleasant feeling of dampness,-far mo

which, as soon as it became dry, were built up into small heaps on the

were principally carried on out of doors, and at which they set to work immediately after rolling up their bedding and taking breakfast. This meal usually consisted

my time was employed in writing my journal or making calculations; whilst the men were busy improving themselves in reading, a

rt of the month deer were very numerous. As many as seventeen were shot on the 28th, and on the following day ten more were got, seven of which were killed by myself within a few miles o

e for observations of all kinds, the sextant had frequently been exchanged for the ri

towards laying in a stock of provisions for winter; 63 deer, 5 hares,

12th and three following days there was one continued storm which drifted the snow all round the house as high as the roof, and on the night of the 15th would have choke

lying on a shelf, I was surprised to find that the leaves were all frozen together; when I mention this, and also that our powder horns and every other art

yards I believe I apostrophized the animal much in the following strain-"Ah! poor fellow, you are done for at last!" when the deer, as if he had understood what I said, and thought I was adding insult to injury, sprung to his legs in a moment, and at a couple of bounds his horns were within a foot of me. Cir

ently so much to his satisfaction that he would have had no objections to have another sledge burnt on the same terms. They reported that the bay, to the west of Melville Peninsula, had been packed full of ice ever since we were

. In this I believe their imaginations had deceived them, aided perhaps in some degree by a peculiar state of the atmosphere, during which the appearance of the land has been so distorted that it has been mistaken for woods. Some round sticks, probably spars belonging to one of the two vessels left in Prince Regent's

during the first part of it, but scarce latterly; sixty-nine were shot, but the produce of our nets had fallen very low, eighteen salmon and four trout being all we caught. The highest temperatu

e suggestion of Captain Lefroy, R.A.), the one for the dip circle, the other

ore, and was near breaking the masts which supported it; so that we were obli

rmed a sort of half circle to leeward. Hoping to send a ball through one of them, I knelt down and took what I thought a sure aim at a large fellow that was nearest; unfortunately it was not yet broad day-light, and the rascals all kept end on to me, so that the ball merely cut off a line of hair and a piece of skin from his side. They apparently did not expect to mee

trao saliceti, but which I suppose to be the T. mutus. The parasit?

his food, by taking them under the blankets with me at night, and drying them by the heat of the body. This, it may be supposed, was not very agreeable

attract the attention of the party, who made their appearance at half-past 8 P.M., when we had given up all hopes of seeing them until the following day. They had been upwards of eight hours in coming as many miles, and were like walking pillars of snow when they came in. The four dog

uk (Aurora Borealis), Took-oo-lak (the falling stick), and Che-mik

mighty conjuror (Esquimaux of course), who gained so much power that at last he raised himself up into the heavens, taking with him his sister (a beautiful girl) and a fire. To the latter he added great quantities of fuel, which thus formed the sun. For some time he and his sister lived in great harmony, but at last they disagreed, and he, in addition to maltreating the lady in many ways, at last scorched one s

emselves in the heavens, and falling stars, or meteors, and the aurora borealis,

5°, and +0.68. Only twelve deer, nine hares, and a few partridges had been shot,