CHAPTER V. 



ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES AT BEECHEY ISLAND. 



THE Advance and Rescue still pursued their slow 

 and tedious progress northward, and reached Capes 

 York and Dudley Diggs. Here the most attractive 

 incident consisted in shooting the Arctic birds termed 

 auks, which nestled and breeded in countless num- 

 bers on the beetling crags. Here Dr. Kane's usual 

 intrepidity and desire of discovery led him into a 

 position of great peril. He climbed up the rugged 

 heights of the shore, where one of the most populous 

 colonies was located. The angle of deposit was about 

 fifty degrees. By the use of a walking-pole he 

 ascended from one crag to another, the fragments 

 of rock and earth receding under his feet and roll- 

 ing far down to the plain below. His descent was 

 more dangerous even than his ascent. His walking- 

 pole was whirled from his grasp by the falling frag- 

 ments. He succeeded at last in reaching a projecting 

 point of feldspar. Against this point the descend- 

 ing earth and stones struck, and divided into two 

 currents. With much difficulty and danger Dr. 



47 



