May, 1859. SIMPSON'S CAIRN. 241 



to find it if he had left one ; but what now remained of this 

 once " ponderous cairn " was only four feet high ; the south 

 side had been pulled down and the central stones removed, 

 as if by persons seeking for something deposited beneath. 

 After removing the snow with which it was filled, and a few 

 loose stones, the men laid bare a large slab of limestone : 

 with difficulty this was removed, then a second, and also a 

 third slab, when they came to the ground. For some time we 

 persevered with a pickaxe in breaking up the frozen earth, 

 but nothing whatever was found, nor any trace of European 

 visitors in its vicinity. There were many old caches and low 

 stone walls, such as natives would use to lurk behind for the 

 purpose of shooting reindeer • and we noticed some recent 

 tracks of those animals which had crossed direct hither from 

 the mainland. 



R 



