BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 147 
numerous little lakes and pools, peopled by flocks of wild geese, have 
their margins lined with beds of Carex and Hriophorum, while the sea- 
shore abounds in several Alge, and heaps of drift wood. This drift 
wood, consisting of fir and beech, is probably carried down Buckland 
River, and must have grown far inland. Some of the largest stems of 
fir I measured, and found them forty feet long, and two fect in 
diameter. 
During our stay in the Sound, an excursion was made to Escholtz 
Bay, to collect fossils, which was crowned with complete success. On 
the cliffs, in which the Mammoth bones are found, many theories have 
been advanced. I, for my part, came to the same conclusion as did 
Kotzebue ; viz., that the interior of the cliffs is pure ice (which was 
shown by several portions of the cliffs having fallen down), that this 
ice is covered with a layer of clay, containing the fossils, and surfaced 
by the everywhere prevailing peat. The peat bears the vegetation 
above described, which shows that it is possible for a plant to grow in 
a soil deep frozen beneath the surface; a fact formerly much dis- 
puted. 
To obtain an interview with the Esquimaux, the Captain resolved to 
take the ship up to Cape Kruzenstern, but there, as everywhere, the 
Esquimaux had retired to their winter-quarters. Though circum- 
stances again prevented my landing, I obtained a few Cryptogamiz, 
brought to me by our first-lieutenant, Mr. Macguire. Returning again 
to Chamisso Island, we fortunately met a party of natives, and learned 
from them that no ship had been in the Sound, but that some “ white 
men” were travelling in the interior ; this information opened a field 
for various conjectures: some concluded them to be Sir John Richardson 
and his party. 
We remained upwards of a fortnight in this region, awaiting the 
arrival of H.M.S. Plover; but that vessel not making her appear- 
ance, and there being sufficient proof of the quick approach of winter, 
a signal, bearing the names of the Blossom and Herald, was erected on 
the top of Chamisso Island, and on the last day of September we left 
the Sound. We arrived off Petropaulowski on the 15th of October. 
There the winter had fairly set in: the ground was partly covered with 
snow; and a few seeds and mosses were all that could be collected. 
Five days we remained, and then steered away, accompanied by 
favourable breezes, for the burning sun of tropical America. 
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