CAPTAIN COLLINSON'S MOVEMENTS. 257 



edible seaweed (dulse), which abounds there, and which 

 I freely used at Port Refuge in August, 1853. These 

 ideas are long since recorded. 



" Of the eastern party, I firmly believe that some may 

 have reached Igloolik, where Sir Edward Parry win- 

 tered, and have attempted to reach Pond's Bay by the 

 spring following. 



" But here a difficulty meets me, which is somewhat 

 suspicious. The Pond's Bay tribe do not seem to have 

 communicated with our whalers from the date of that 

 eventful period, 1849; and yet evidence of a late visit 

 was proved by my visit in September last, when I found 

 remains of recent blubber ! 



" In one of the old huts I found a skull, a European 

 knife and tinned spoon, enveloped in seal- and bird-skin 

 dresses ; and it is rather a strange coincidence that the 

 fitting of the knife to Esquimaux use is similar to one 

 brought home by Dr. Rae. 



" It is still my firm conviction that the most reliable 

 search would be from Captain Penny's position in Nor- 

 thumberland Inlet (Kemesok) ; from whence a commu- 

 nication might be effected with the several tribes, and 

 more satisfactory evidence discovered." 



Such was my communication : nor was this merely the 

 result of Dr. Rae's report, as this narrative, unaltered 

 from its original tenour, will evince. Had the Squadron 

 been released in 1853, four distinct positions would have 

 been occupied between Navy Board Inlet and Kemesok, 

 and the eastern questions satisfactorily determined. 



As regards the last vessels of the searching Expedi- 

 tions, Captain Collinson's despatches indicate that he 



VOL. II. S 



