﻿292 LAMBERT ISLAND. August, 



thouo-li all remained white to seaward. We were 

 enabled thereby to run for three hours before the 

 wind, but then came to a bay, through which there 

 was no passage, large floes resting on the rocks of 

 the beach, and no lanes existing outside. A 

 meridional observation gave the latitude of this 

 place 68° 36' N. Lambert Island lies some miles 

 distant in the offing. The surrounding country, 

 as far as my examination extended, consists of 

 limestone, but many sandstone boulders of various 

 colours, lying on the surface, point out that stone 

 as existing in situ in some locality not far distant. 



August 2Qth. — A frosty night covered the sea 

 and ponds with young ice, and glued all the floes 

 immoveably together, so that the rise of the tide 

 was no longer serviceable to us. We carried the 

 cargo and launched the boats across a point of land 

 for half a mile in the morning, and spent the rest 

 of the day in the various operations of cutting 

 through tongues of ice, dragging the boats over the 

 floes, where they were smooth enough, moving 

 large stones that lay in the way, and resorting to 

 every expedient we could devise to gain a little 

 advance. Two more portages were made in the 

 afternoon over rugged paths, and we travelled 

 in all about five miles in a day of very severe 

 labour. A heavy snow-storm converted the surface 

 of the pools of sea water into a thick paste, the 



