TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. Boo 
had appeared, I believe we might have killed 
them all, for they are as stupid as any birds I ever 
saw. ‘These are all the circumstances worthy of 
being mentioned that occurred during our ten 
days’ excursion; and I am not sure, indeed, that 
they are of sufficient importance to claim so much 
notice as I have taken of them. As soon as we 
returned on board, another party was sent out for 
the same purpose, with ten days’ more provisions. 
Tuesday, 27th. — With respect to the events 
that occurred on board during the time we were 
absent, they have been of so little consequence that 
they do not deserve to be noticed. ‘The ice on 
the harbour has decayed indeed, very considerably 
during these ten days past ; it is covered now with 
pools of water along shore, and at the places where 
the streams of water from the ravines discharge 
themselves into the harbour, it is quite detached 
from the beach. The land is now completely 
clear of snow, with the exception of what there is 
in the ravines, and that is dissolving very rapidly 
indeed; for the torrents of water that run down 
them, exceed any thing of the kind that we have 
witnessed in these regions before. ‘The surface of 
the country presents a very pleasing appearance ; 
some parts of it, in particular, abound with such 
abundance of purple-coloured saxifrage in blos- 
som, that even persons accustomed to a better 
climate than we have been for some time past, 
could not help admiring it; but to us, who experi- 
enced, and who have so recently emerged from the 
dreary scene of an arctic winter, it naturally ap- 
pears more delightful. The sorrel is, however, 
the only vegetable production from which we 
