July, 1858. OFF LANCASTER SOUND. 123 



east, and pressed in more ice. At length the ship was with 

 difficulty made fast to a strip of land ice, a few miles west- 

 ward of Point Osborn. Gradually the gale subsided, but 

 not until the pack was close in against the land. The tides 

 kept sweeping it to and fro, to our great discomfort. The 

 land is composed of gneiss, and the gravelly shore is low. 

 A few ducks only have been shot, and traces of reindeer 

 and hares seen. Our Melville Bay friends, the rotchies, are 

 very rare visitors upon this side of Baffin's Bay. 



Part of a ship's timber has been found upon the beach ; 

 it measures 7 inches by 8 inches, is of American oak, and, 

 although sound, has long been exposed to the weather. 



