298 FATE OF FRANKLIN. 



of animal food during his winter residence at Melville 

 Island ; Ross nearly the same quantity from birds alone, 

 when wintering at Port Leopold. 



Sir John Richardson, speaking of the amount of food 

 to be obtained in the polar region, says : " Deer migrate 

 over the ice in the spring from the main shore to Vic- 

 toria and Wollaston Lands in large herds, and return 

 in the autumn. These lands are also the breeding- 

 places of vast flocks of snow-geese ; so that, with ordi- 

 nary skill in hunting, a large supply of food might be 

 procured on their shores, in the months of June, 

 July, and August. Seals are also numerous in those 

 seas, and are easily shot, their curiosity rendering them 

 a ready prey to a boat-party." In these ways, and by 

 fishing, the stock of provisions might be greatly aug. 

 mented ; and we have the recent example of Mr. Rae, 

 who passed a severe winter on the very barren shores 

 of Repulse Bay, with no other fuel than the withered 

 tufts of a herbaceous andromada, and maintained a 

 numerous party on the spoils of the chase alone for a 

 whole year. 



'With an empty stomach the power of resisting exter- 

 nal cold is greatly impaired ; but when the process of 

 digestion is going on vigorously, even with compara- 

 tively scanty clothing, the heat of the body is preserved. 

 There is, in the winter time, in high latitudes, a craving 

 for fat or oleaginous food ; and for such occasions the 

 flesh of seals, walruses, or bears, forms a useful article 

 of diet. Captain Cook says that the walrus is a sweet 

 and wholesome article of food. Whales and seals would 

 also furnish light and fuel. The necessity for increased 

 food in very cold weather is not so great when the 

 people do not work. 



In March, 1848, the British Admiralty announced 

 their intention of rewarding the crews of any whaling- 



