TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. Th 
visitant of that retired spot must have been, at all 
events, acarnivorous animal. No traces were seen of 
any human beings having been here before ourselves, 
but if any should ever happen to visit the same 
place hereafter, it is probable that they will not 
have the same thing to say, for, on the top of a hill, 
about half a mile from where we landed, we planted 
a pole that might be seen at some distance, having a 
piece of board nailed across the top of it, on which 
were painted these words: ‘* His Britannic Majesty’s 
ships, Hecla and Griper, August 7. 1819,” and at a 
short distance from the staff was buried a quart bottle, 
in which was a slip of paper, containing the follow- 
ing short, but very explicit, piece of information : 
‘«* His Britannic Majesty’s ships, Hecla and Griper, 
were off this coast on the 7th of August, 1819, in 
search of a north-west passage.’?. With respect to 
the mineralogy of this place, I have only to remark, 
that the fixed rocks consisted chiefly of limestone, 
which was in a very disintegrated state, being some- 
what like lime in the act of slaking. The surface 
of all the loose pieces of stone in the neighbourhood 
of these rocks was incrusted with lime, which had, ap- 
parently, been in a fluid state, for it looked more like 
the top of a cauliflower than any thing else to which 
I could compare it. This incrustation was not confined 
to limestone alone, for I observed that quartz, granite, 
hornblende, or whatever other minerals happened to 
lie on these rocks, were coated in the same manner. 
The limestone appeared to compose only the 
surface of this land, for the bed of a stream * 
that ran between two rocks of limestone, was 
* The temperature of the water of this stream was 423°, that 
of the air in the shade 514°, and of the earth near the surface 
44°, 
