June, 1859. BOOTHIA FELIX. 263 



sea ; near the shore they are of course most distinct ; some 

 fossils were picked up, chiefly impressions of shells. 



King William's Island is for the most part extremely 

 barren, and its surface dotted over with innumerable ponds 

 and lakes. It is not by any means the "land abounding 

 with reindeer and musk oxen " which Ave expected to find : 

 the natives told us there were none of the latter and very 

 few of the former upon it. 



On the 8th June the first ducks and brent geese were seen 

 flying northward. Passing over the extreme point of Cape 

 Victoria, Boothia Land, near which we saw the deserted 

 snow huts of our March acquaintances, and shortly after- 

 wards crossing the mouth of the deep bay to the north of it, 

 in which, sheltered by the island, a ship would find security 

 from ice pressure, and very tolerable winter quarters, we 

 again reached the straight low limestone coast of Boothia 

 Felix. 



I was unable to make any delay at the Magnetic Pole, 

 nor could I find a trace of Ross's cairn ; 1 but at each of our 

 encampments along the coast the magnetic inclination was 

 carefully observed. Throughout my whole journey I availed 

 myself of every opportunity of obtaining these most interest- 

 ing observations, often remaining up, after we had encamped 

 for rest, six or seven hours in order to do so ; but the instru- 

 ments supplied for this purpose were not well adapted for 

 use in this climate or in the open air, consequently they 

 occasioned me a vast deal of labour and loss of time, so as 

 to diminish to almost one-third the results I should otherwise 

 have obtained. 



Much snow has disappeared off the land; and the ridges 



1 This cairn, as well as the one built on Point Victoiy in 1S30, had 

 been destroyed by the natives ; fortunately they had not visited Point 

 Victory whilst the Franklin cairn and record remained there, other- 

 wise neither cairn nor record would have remained for us to dis- 

 cover. 



