﻿274 MELVILLE HILLS. August, 



value. These men gave us no additional informa- 

 tion, but expressed pleasure when told that they 

 miglit expect to meet other parties of white men. 

 A scull of eleven white whales were seen in the 

 evening. 



We continued under sail all night, and at three 

 in the afternoon of the 12th, landed in a very 

 shallow bay, to the southward of Point Stivens, to 

 cook a meal which served for both breakfast and 

 dinner. Mr. Rae went in pursuit of some rein-deer 

 which were seen from the boats, but, owing to the 

 extreme flatness of the land, which afforded no 

 cover, he was unable to approach them. 



The high banks of Cape Bathurst are continued 

 to the bottom of Franklin Bay, where they recede 

 a little from the coast, and are lost in an even- 

 backed ridge, apparently not exceeding four or 

 five hundred feet in height. These hills are 

 named the Melville Range, and cross the neck of the 

 peninsula of Cape Parry, appearing again behind 

 Darnley Bay. The peninsula is so flat near its 

 isthmus, and so much intersected by water, that I 

 am still in doubt whether it may not be actually a 

 collection of islands. But if this is the case, the 

 channels which separate the islands are intricate 

 and shallow. To the south of Point Stivens the soil 

 was wholly mud, apparently alluvial; to the north- 

 ward beds of limestone crop out. In the evening 



