2(38 VOYAGE TO THE 



Strait with which we are acquainted,! attached the name 

 of Port Clarence, in honour of his most gracious Ma- 

 jesty, then Duke of Clarence, To the inner, which is 

 well adapted to the purposes of repair, and is sufficiently 

 deep to receive a frigate, provided she lands her guns, 

 which can be done conveniently upon the sandy point 

 at the entrance, I gave the name of Grantley Har- 

 bour, in compliment to Lord Grantley. To the points 

 at the entrance of Port Clarence I attached the names 

 of Spencer and Jackson, in compHment to the Ho- 

 nourable Captain Robert Spencer and Captain Samuel 

 Jackson, C. B., two distinguished officers in the naval 

 service : to the latter of whom I am indebted for my 

 earliest connexion with the voyages of Northern Dis- 

 covery. 



The northern and eastern shores of Port Clarence 

 slope from the mountains to the sea, and are occasion- 

 ally terminated by cliffs composed of fine and talcy 

 mica slate, intersected by veins of calcareous spar of a 

 pearly lustre, mixed with grey quartz. The soil is 

 covered with a thick coating of moss, among which 

 there is a very limited flora : the valleys and hollows 

 are filled with dwarf willow and birch. The country 

 is swampy and full of ruts ; and vegetation on the 

 whole, even on the north side of the harbour, which 

 had a southern aspect, was more backward than in 

 Kotzebue Sound ; still we found here three species of 

 plants we had not seen before. Plants that were going 

 to seed when we left that island were here only just in 

 full flower, and berries that were there over ripe were 

 here scarcely fit to be eaten. On the northern side 

 of Grantley Harbour, Mr. Collie found a bed of purple 

 'primulas, anemones, and of dodecatheons, in full and 

 fresh blossom, amidst a covering of snow that had 

 fallen the preceding night. 



