110 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. August 



constantly flying from the sea with fish in their bills ; 

 ninny broods of eider ducks following their mothers 

 were noticed, and several seals. The dredge was let 

 down in eight fathoms ; it came up filled with lime- 

 stone pebbles, doubtless shed from the bergs ; two or 

 three examples of Trochus clinging to Laminaria, an 

 Astarte, a starfish, and a couple of annelids were all 

 the animals obtained. A few Silurian fossils were col- 

 lected from the massive limestone cliffs that flank 

 the bay. 



At 4 a.m., of the 24th, the officer of the watch 

 reported that the southerly wind in the channel was 

 dying away, and hoping that a lead might open near 

 Cape Lieber, I landed and ascended Cape Morton, 

 accompanied by Thomas Eawlings, first-class petty 

 officer, to inspect the condition of the ice. After a 

 very severe climb up the steep sides to the summit of 

 the coast ridge, a height of 2,000 feet, we were amply 

 repaid for our labour and loss of breakfast by the 

 grandeur of the view. 



It was a beautiful morning with scarcely a cloud 

 in the sky, the cold sharp wind which had benumbed 

 us at the sea-level was local, for on the summit of the 

 cape it was perfectly calm, and I was able to work 

 without gloves though the temperature was down to 

 20°. After # a quarter of an hour spent in taking 

 bearings, the warmth engendered by our rapid ascent 

 passed off, and our clamp underclothing proved any- 

 thing but agreeable ; we were glad enough to put on 

 our warm jackets which we had at first discarded. 

 The panorama was certainly superb. Sixty miles 

 distant in the S.W., were the Victoria and Albert 



