OF THE POLAR SEA. 1S7 



ticularly with the sight of the seals that were 

 swimming about near the entrance of the river, 

 but tliese sensations gave place to despondency 

 before the evening had elapsed. They were ter- 

 rified at the idea of a voyage through an icy sea 

 in bark canoes. They speculated on the length 

 of the journey, the roughness of the sea, the un- 

 certainty of provisions, the exposure to cold where 

 we could expect no fuel, and the prospect of 

 having to traverse the barren grounds to get to 

 some establishment. The two interpreters ex- 

 pressed their apprehensions with the least dis- 

 guise, and again urgently applied to be discharged ; 

 but only one of the Canadians made a similar 

 request. Judging that the constant occupation 

 of their time as soon as we were enabled to com- 

 mence the voyage would prevent them from con- 

 juring up so many causes of fear, and that 

 Wiliarity with the scenes on the coast, would in 

 a short time enable them to give scope to their 

 natural cheerfulness, the officers endeavoured to 

 ridicule their fears, and happily succeeded for the 

 present. The manner in which our faithful 

 Hepburn viewed the element that he had been so 

 long accustomed to, contributed not a little to 

 make them ashamed of their fears. 



On the morning of the 19th Dr. Richardson, 

 accompanied by Augustus, paid another visit to 



