140 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. August 



CHAPTER V. 



RICH VEGETATION — BELLOT ISLAND — COAL SEAM — CAPE MURCHISON — 



LEAVE DISCOVERY BAT — OPEN WATER — KENNEDY CHANNEL 



STOPPED BY THE PACK ' ALERT ' FORCED ON SHORE — SEVERE 



STORM — STOPPED OFF CAPE FRAZER— DOVEKIES — ENTER DOBBIN 

 BAY — TEMPERATURE AND SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE SEA LATE- 

 NESS OF THE SEASON — FORMATION OF ICEBERGS — SHORT SUPPLY 

 OF COAL — PASS VICTORIA HEAD OPEN WATER VISIT CAPE ISA- 

 BELLA — NEWS FROM ENGLAND — SIR ALLEN YOUNG NAVIGATION 



OF SMITH SOUND. 



After the return of Lieutenant Beaumont and his men 

 from Polaris Bay, all the shooting parties were recalled 

 to their vessels, and the two ships prepared for their 

 voyage southward ; but no movement occurring in 

 the ice outside of Discovery Bay, we were unable to 

 start for several days. 



On the southern slopes of Bellot Island, which 

 were sheltered from the north winds and received the 

 full force of the mid-day sun, the vegetation was 

 remarkably rich. Six species of saxifrage were com- 

 mon, and the beautiful Hesperis, with its lilac blossoms, 

 attained a height of eight or ten inches ; considerable 

 patches were also covered with And rosace septen- 

 trionalis, and a single species of fern grew abundantly 

 under the shelter of boulder rocks. Many other 

 plants, which I have not enumerated, were collected 



