'64:2 DISCOVER NEW ISLANDS. 



about forty were captured, aud made — althougli very 

 thin — an acceptable addition to our ordinary meagre 

 fare, and as we could catch no fish they were doubly 

 acceptable. The western face of the island is formed 

 of high banks, broken down and overhanging ; at 

 its northern extreme are steep mud cliffs, apparently 

 from thirty to forty feet high, and cut by ice within 

 five feet of the top. To the eastward it terminates 

 in a long gravel spit. 



On the 23rd some new islands were discovered, 

 but we had not then leisure to fix their positions with 

 accuracy, and a fcAv bearings sufficed. Kendall Island 

 was our resting place this night, and here our hunters 

 managed to bring down a deer which we estimated 

 to weigh about 160 pounds clear of offal. The 

 higher parts of all these islands resemble arable 

 land lying fallow, so much are they cracked and 

 riven by the intense cold. Flowers are in some 

 spots numerous and of considerable variety, but all 

 very diminutive ; no trees or shrubs are to be met 

 with, a species of cotton creeper, whose stem is 

 not larger than one's little finger, being the largest 

 production. There were innumerable marmot holes; 

 the men Avere chasing these little animals throughout 

 the night. A few ptarmigan were also seen upon 

 the hills. The soil is all fine black mould, with 



