54 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS. [Feb. 25, 1856. 



At Batliurst Inlet and Arctic and Melville Sounds many deer were sLot, 

 and bears and seals were plentiful. Capeline and herring were extremely 

 numerous, with a variety of other fish. ISwans, cranes, and grey geese were 

 also killed. 



To Victoria and Wollaston Lands Sir J. Piichardsoa says the deer migrate 

 in large herds in the spring, and return to the main in the autumn. They 

 are the breeding -places of vast flocks of snow-geese ; and seals are nu- 

 merous. There also Dr. Rae, in 1851, found many partridges ; deer were 

 very numerous, and many hares were seen. He found the Esquimaux very fat, 

 having killed plenty of seals. They kill the wliale near the difierent head- 

 lands of the coast, as Sir J. Richardson informs us. At Garry Island, off the 

 mouth of the Mackenzie, he found numbers of moose and reindeer, foxes, 

 gulls, dotterels, geese, cranes, and swans. In the autumn from 300 to 400 

 herring-salmon were caught daily, with carp, trout, and other fish. 



At Icy Cape, Capt. Beechey, in the ' Blossom,' fell in with numerous flocks 

 of ducks, consisting entirely of young ones and females. The Esquimaux had 

 great quantities of oil, blubber, skins, and dried salmon. 



On Herald Islands innumerable flocks of black and white divers deposit 

 their eggs and bring up their young. 



On the Parry groui\ in 1819-20, animals were very numerous. Sir E. 

 Parry's hunting parties in a few excursions obtained 3 musk oxen, 24 deer, 

 63 hares, 53 geese, 59 ducks, 144 ptarmigan, amounting to nearly 4000 lbs. 

 of meat ; one of the musk oxen weighed 700 lbs. Here also M'Clintock 

 during his remarkable journey killed 4 oxen out of about 50 seen, 1 reindeer 

 out of 34, 2 bears, 1 wolf, 7 hares out of 80 or 90 seen, and 20 ptarmigan ; 

 and he remarks that, " had it been his object, he could easily have shot two- 

 thirds of all the oxen he saw ;" the other animals were remarkably tame. 



Austin Island, the shores near Cape Walker, Beaufort, Bathurst, and 

 Cornwallis Lands, and Wellington and Victoria Channels, also abound with 

 animal life. Captain Penny especially mentions bears, seals, reindeer, wal- 

 ruses, hares, with thousands of ducks and sea-fowl. In a short journey, 3 

 ptarmigan, 4 bears, 3 seals, 1 walrus, 14 hares, 1 reindeer were killed ; of the 

 latter about 30 were seen, and 35 bears. 



The following i3 the list of animals, &c., killed by the crew'S of the ' Assist- 

 ance ' and her tender ' Intrepid ' in their cruise of 14 months after leaving 

 Whalefish Islands previous to their return home : — 13 bears, 22 foxes, 9 hares, 

 4 musk oxen, 1 deer, 3 lemmings, 1 seal, and 2 narwhals. These were all in 

 good condition ; the hares w^eighing about 10 lbs. Of birds, 15 king ducks, 45 

 eider ducks, 20 long-tailed ducks, 1 brent goose, 82 ptarmigan, 6 willow 

 grouse, 4 phalaropes, 1 ring dotterel, 19 snow buntings, 10 curlews, 1080 

 loon (none of these latter were seen W. of Griffith Island), 225 dovekies, 10 

 lestries, 1438 rotges (these latter were not seen out of Baffin's Bay), 8 burgo- 

 masters, and 240 other birds, as ivory and silver gulls, puffins, terns, &c. ; in 

 all 3174 in number. 



ERRATA IN PROCEEDINGS, No. I. 



Pages 8 and 10, Fuga, net Faga; p. 11, Matiamvo, not Matiamovo: p. 13, Dr. House, 

 notDr. Honse: p. 15, Gujeba^ not Gugobs.: p. 17, line 2, 1853-4, not 1852-3-4; 

 and in line 6, 1853, not 1850: p. 24, Winniatt, not VVinniett. 



