A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 157 



vernment keeps a colony under the superintendance of an 

 officer, whose chief residence is said to be at the whale 

 islands, and under his direction other agents or factors 



water in irregular spires, whenever met with, was found to be a cloud 

 of minute icy particles, extremely annoying ; and, from its effects, 

 styled by the sailors, " the barber : " snow at times : day ended with 

 icy snow. 



May 11 : 15°, 25°, 16°: wind S.S.E., fresh to strong breeze : cold 

 less than on the preceding day : atmosphere at times loaded with milky 

 haze ; which, on clearing, afforded view of beautiful snowy cirrocu- 

 mulus, and in its aggregation exhibiting a changing variety of ciiTO- 

 stratus : close in with Disko, westward of Fortune Bay, some huge 

 bergs embedded in flaws of field ice many miles in extent : larus ma- 

 rinus, procellaria glacialis, colymbus troile. 



May 12 : ther. 20°, 24°, 20° : wind from W. to S.E., fresh breeze : 

 trailing masses of cumulus passed frequently across the sky : cumu- 

 lostratus, and occasionally ciirocumulus seen : extensive flaws descend- 

 ing from the northward with a strong current, the ice being about two 

 feet in thickness : Lievely Point not far distant : the whale islands lying 

 to the S.W. : procellaria glacialis, corvus corax, and some ducks observed. 



May 13: ther. 25°, 33°, 24°: wind variable from N.E. to N.W., 

 fresh breeze : ciiTOstratus in mist: a long spreading sheet in N.E. 

 and very dark linear parallel layers of the same in E. : the horizon 

 exhibits a characteristic instance of ice bUnk. The procellaria glacialis 

 this day active, and in vast number : some rain preceded a short fall 

 of snow in the evening. 



