230 GREA T FISH RIVER. Chap. XIV. 



The principal articles which caught my attention here 

 were eight or ten fir poles, varying in length from 5 to 10 

 feet, and up to 2 \ inches in diameter (these were converted 

 into spear handles and tent poles), a kayak paddle con- 

 structed out of the blades of two ash oars, and two large 

 snow shovels 4 feet long, made of thin plank, painted white 

 or pale yellow ; these might have been the bottom boards of 

 a boat. There were many smaller articles of wood. 



Half a mile further on we found seven or eight deserted 

 snow huts. Bad weather had now fairly set in, accom- 

 panied by a most unseasonable degree of cold. On the 

 morning of the 12th May we crossed Point Ogle, and en- 

 camped upon the ice in the Great Fish River the same 

 evening ; the cold, and the darkness of our more southern 

 latitude, having obliged us to return to day-travelling. All 

 the 13th we were imprisoned in our tent by a most furious 

 gale, nor was it until late on the morning of the 14th that 

 we could proceed ; that evening we encamped 2 miles from 

 some small islands which lie off the north end of Montreal 

 Island. 



On the morning of the 15 th we made only a short march 

 of 6 miles, as one of the men suffered severely from snow- 

 blindness, and I was anxious to recommence night-travelling; 

 encamped in a little bay upon the N.E. side of Montreal 

 Island. The same evening we again set out, although it 

 was blowing very strongly, and " snowing for a wager," as 

 the men expressed it, but it was only necessary for us to 

 keep close along the shore of the island : we discovered, 

 however, a narrow and crooked channel which led us 

 through to the west side of the island, and, one of the 

 men (Robert Hampton) appearing seriously ill, we en- 

 camped about midnight. 



Whilst encamped this day, explorations were made about 

 the N.E. quarter of the island; islets and rocks were seen 



