THE wELcoj^iE. y.j 



hour, but the bottom was too irregular to 15^24. 

 allow of our accurately marking its rise. A Sept. 

 light breeze sprung up from the eastward as 

 the boats came on board in the evening, and I 

 endeavoured to beat nearer to the shore and 

 anchor for the night, but the wind was too 

 scant, and the tide prevented us. The officers 

 reported to me that they had found the sound- 

 ings to decrease with great regularity as they 

 approached the shore, and when at a mile from 

 it, they had fourteen fathoms, carrying it into 

 ,two fathoms at landing. 



The beach was of shingle lime- stone, thrown 

 up into long ridges by the action of the sea, 

 and it trended n.n.w., and s.s.e., with many 

 small points projecting about half a mile from 

 it, and forming shallow little bays. The 

 country inland presented a fine level appear- 

 ance for several miles, when the land rose 

 gradually into moderately high hills. The 

 plain was rich in the usual Arctic plants, but 

 the flowers had all withered. Fresh water 

 lakes were very numerous, and covered with 

 ice two inches in thickness, which accounted for 

 a dazzling refracted glare which had been ob- 

 served over the shore all day. Five deer were 

 seen, and fourteen eider and pintail ducks, in a 

 moulting state, were killed. The vertebrae of 



