OF THE POLAR SEA. {57 
beyond this point, as there was a scarcity of 
wood. One of our men was despatched after a 
red-deer that appeared on the bank. He con- 
trived to approach near enough to fire twice, 
though without success, before the animal moved 
away. After a fatiguing march of seventeen 
miles, we put up at the upper Nippéween, a de- 
serted establishment ; and performed the com- 
fortable operations of shaving and washing for 
the first time since our departure from Cumber- 
land, the weather having been hitherto too 
Severe. We passed an uncomfortable and sleep- 
less night, and agreed next morning to encamp 
in future, in the open air, as preferable to the 
imperfect shelter of a deserted house without 
doors or windows. 
The morning was extremely cold, but fortu- 
nately the wind was light, which prevented our 
feeling it severely ; experience indeed had taught 
us that the sensation of cold depends less upon 
the state of temperature, than the force of the 
wind. An attempt was made to obtain the lati- 
tude, which failed, in consequence of the screw, 
that adjusts the telescope of the sextant, being 
immoveably fixed, from the moisture upon it 
having frozen. The instrument could not be 
replaced in its case before the ice was thawed 
by the fire in the evening. 
