306 DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND. [June, 



from the great floe having a tidal motion backward and 

 forward, easterly and westerly, at a time when the tem- 

 perature admits of the broken floe remaining afloat as 

 loose pack. At the period of our visit all was firmly 

 frozen, and no continuation beyond the outer circle 

 seemed to afford proof of any but the action which I 

 have described. The ice here did not seem to have 

 been forced with so much violence on the laud as in the 

 vicinity of Exmouth Island. 



At the time we commenced our ascent of the hill, which 

 was about two hundred feet above the level, the tempe- 

 rature was low, 28, with a cool refreshing air ; the soil 

 was well frozen and firm, and the summit land covered 

 with a slight crust of snow. The island is belted, from 

 the first base of this elevated range, by a low marshy 

 slope of frozen mud thickly covered with tufts of grass. 

 This mud is the result of the debris during the summer 

 thaw, which appears to lose itself in the sea, distant from 

 the elevated laud about a quarter of a mile. The solid 

 elevated land is deeply channelled into ravines, present- 

 ing, on some of the sides, vertical dark-coloured masses of 

 rock, probably, from the general distribution of fragments 

 which I examined, of clay ironstone. The interior pre- 

 sents smooth, rounded hills, deeply clothed with snow, 

 and rising to between seven and eight hundred feet, but 

 very difficult of access by reason of the snow in the inter- 



vening ravines. 



On the lower skirting we noticed the tracks, as well as 

 recent deposits, of deer, hares, and ptarmigan ; and as we 

 ascended the elevation, antlers and other marks of recent 

 animal presence increased. One antler still exhibited its 



