OF THE POLAR SEA. 195 



of Stone ; and several articles, very elegantly- 

 formed of bone, were evidently intended for some 

 game, but Augustus was unacquainted with their 

 use. We took from this deposit four seal-skins to 

 repair our shoes, and left in exchange a copper- 

 kettle, and some awls and beads. 



We paddled all day along the coast to the east- 

 ward, on the inside of a crowded range of islands, 

 and saw very little ice; the "blink" of it, how- 

 ever, was visible to the northward, and one 

 small iceberg was seen at a distance. A tide 

 was distinguishable among the islands by the 

 foam floating on the water, but we could not 

 ascertain its direction. In the afternoon St. 

 Germain killed, on an island, a fat deer, which 

 was a great acquisition to us ; it was the first we 

 had seen for some months in good condition. 



Having encamped on the main shore, after a 

 run of thirty-seven miles, we set up a pole to 

 ascertain the rise and fall of the water, which 

 was repeated at every halting-place, and Hepburn 

 was ordered to attend to the result. We found 

 the coast well covered with vegetation, of mode- 

 rate height, even in its outline, and easy of ap- 

 proach. The islands are rocky and barren, pre- 

 senting high cliffs of a columnar structure. I 

 have named the westernmost group of those we 

 passed " Berens' Isles," in honour of the Gover- 



