﻿306 GENERAL REFLECTIONS. August, 



resting and beautiful herb in the eye of a botanist, 

 but giving no promise to an ordinary observer 

 that it could supply warmth to a large party during 

 a long arctic winter. To apply it, or any of the 

 other polar plants, to such a purpose, a large quan- 

 tity must be stored up near the winter station 

 before the snow falls. 



I have thought it right to throw these few observ- 

 ations together in this place, that a reader unac- 

 quainted with the natural resources of the country 

 may judge of the probability of the whole or part 

 of the crews of the Erebus and Terror maintaining 

 themselves there, supposing the ships to have been 

 wrecked. Of course, as long as the vessels remained, 

 they would afford shelter and fuel ; but the other 

 contingencies would come into consideration if 

 parties went off in various directions in quest of food. 

 One great purpose of the expedition which I con- 

 ducted along the coast was to afford relief to such 

 detached parties, or to the entire crews, had they 

 directed their way to the continent, and our re- 

 searches proved at least that none of the party, 

 having gained that coast, were dragging out a 

 miserable existence among the Eskimos, without 

 the means of repairing to the fur posts. In the 

 following summer of 1849 Mr. Rae ascertained 

 that the Eskimo inhabitants of Wollaston Land had 

 seen neither the ships nor white men. The know- 



