A . > 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the extreme nortli-wcstcm portion of America, on the eastern side of that sea which 
divides the Old from the New World, lies Western EskimaiK-knd, a comitry extending 
from Norton Somid to Point Barrow, &om latitude 65° 0' 0" to 71° 28' 0" north. It 
presents a coast line of about 1000 mUes in length, and is chieily situated witliin the Arctic 
circle. The sea washing the shores is shallow, seldom exceeding twenty-five fathoms 
in depth, and dangerous to navigate. With a southerly wind, the cold aii- of the north 
and the warm of the south are brought in contact. A dense fog is produced, the wmd 
increases to a gale, and the waves, from the shallowness of the water, are short, and vomit 
masses of foam. With a sluggish compass, no astronomical observations sometimes for days, 
a Uttle-known sea, and the continued fear of running against drifting masses of ice, the 
seaman is struggling against difficulties over which his skill can exercise no control. 
Suddenly the wind shifts into a northerly direction. The fog vanishes, the sky becomes 
cloudless, and the water, within the space of a few hom-s, is as quiet as it had been violent. 
The Arctic Ocean is now in repose ; whales are blowing in every direction ; walruses are 
drifting on shoals of ice ; flocks of eider-ducks, gulls, divers, and puffins enliven the scene ; 
seals are playing in the watery element. , - ■ „„ j „-;*!, 
The bottom of the ocean is abounding with shells, startish, crabs, shnmps, and .ith 
alg. of a delicate texture and of a gi-eyish colour. Until the end o May ^^1^^ 
in' June the ice is tlunving and drifting away. The naugator, «« mu h ^cd ty s 
now enabled to reach the latitude of 69°. Encom-agcd by success, he pushes norths aids, 
Zirl 70th, the 7Ist, the 7.id paraHe, but at last,^ej^er ^^ -"^2 ^t 
beset liim. 
narrow 
beset mm. =im peisevexing, ... ^^^^^^ - _ ^ ^ . , ^^^^^ 
latitude 73° north, all progress becomes impossible , -he ^^ ^^^ J -^ superseded by 
human discoveries have terminated, where the sober knowledge of facts is superseded bj 
numan aiseoveiico Beyond that boundary some see 
