230 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1945 



Inlet on August 17 and, proceeding up Navy Board Inlet, crossed 

 Lancaster Sound to Devon Island. A strong southerly gale off Cape 

 Warrenden caused the St. Roch to pitch a great deal before shelter 

 was found in the lee of a large flat-topped iceberg. There it cruised 

 back and forth until the storm subsided. 



The St. Roch arrived at the former R. C. M. P. post at Dundas 

 Harbor, Devon Island, on August 18, and found the unoccupied 

 buildings in good condition. The patrolling schooner and police 

 crew left the next day and followed along the high, cliffy coast until 

 they came to a good harbor in a little-known 7-mile inlet (either 

 Stratton Inlet or Burnett Creek). Here they found ruins of an 

 Eskimo culture of several centuries ago; after building a cairn and 

 depositing records of their visit, they departed. That evening 

 (August 19) the first snow fell, heralding the coming winter. 



Larsen and the St. Roch continued westward, but the coast line was 

 usually hidden by frequent heavy snow squalls. The weather cleared 

 near Maxwell Bay, Devon Island, and they saw a steep-walled coast 

 with no beach and a flat-topped upland. A few bergs could be seen to 

 the south, but otherwise Prince Regent Inlet was free of ice. On 

 August 20, they arrived at historic Erebus Bay, Beechey Island. 



Beechey Island is actually connected to Devon Island by a low spit 

 which is dry at low tide. A narrow lowland at the base of the former 

 high-cliffed "island" was the site of the winter quarters of several early 

 Arctic explorers. Within recent times the site had been visited by 

 one of Otto Sverdrup's sledge parties in 1902, by A. P. Low in 1904, 

 by Captain Bernier in 1906 and 1908, and by the C. G. S. Arctic in 

 1923. Numerous police patrols from Dundas Harbor, and also the 

 Beothic, carrying the Canadian Government Eastern Arctic Patrol 

 in 1927 and 1928, called there to keep a watchful eye on the historic 

 ruins. Except for part of the keel and a bit of planking, all that was 

 left of the yacht Mary, placed there in 1850 by Sir John Ross, was 

 the mast, which was stuck in the sand. Only ruins remained of the 

 cache called Northumberland House, left by Commander Pullen of 

 the H. M. S. North Star in 1854. A further search of the island re- 

 vealed nothing of historic interest. Since the land was barren and 

 desolate, with no fresh-water supply, the St. Roch proceeded from 

 Beechey Island on the morning of August 22. 



Wellington Channel was clear of ice as far as could be seen to the 

 northward, but the first floes were met drifting eastward at Corn- 

 wallis Island. Larsen followed leads through the tightly packed floes, 

 staying inside of the line of Griffith, Somerville, and Brown Islands, 

 along the Cornwallis Island coast. Several walrus were seen in 

 this area, and four were shot and brought on board to be used as 

 dog feed. At other times, along the way, seals were shot to feed the 



