TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 59 
mountains, the land is, with very few exceptions, per- 
fectly clear of snow. We estimate the height of the 
mountains to be from sixteen hundred, to two thou- 
sand feet above the level of the sea. 
Saturday, 31st.— We got this morning off the 
place that was called, last year, Possession Bay, from 
our having landed there and taken possession of the 
country. As we had it in a different point of view 
from that in which it was seen last year, it was not 
recognised until the pole erected on the top of one 
of the hills was seen. As soon as we got abreast of 
it the ships were hove to, and a boat went ashore 
with Mr. Parry and Capt. Sabine to make magnetic 
and other observations *, and during the time they 
were employed in making these observations, two 
men and myself were directed to proceed up the 
stream which flows through the valley, with instruc- 
tions to observe if any pieces of wood or bark were 
to be seen in the bed of it, and to make such re- 
marks on the nature and productions of the place as 
might be deemed useful. We commenced our ex- 
eursion from the mouth of the stream, at which 
place it is, as near as I could judge, from thirty-five 
to forty yards broad ; and at low water, as was the 
case when we landed, not above knee deep: there 
is at this place however a bar across it, within which 
it both deepens and widens. ‘The depth of it, for 
about one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards 
within the bar I was not able to determine, being 
* The latitude at the mouth of the stream was found to be 
73° 31'16” N., and longitude 77° 44! 42” W. (by chronometer) ; 
the variation of the compass by the mean of several azimuths 
108° 50’ westerly, and the dip, or vertical inclination of the 
dipping-needle, 86° 9’. 
