OLD WHALING DAYS. 87 



halted at an ancient Esquimaux summer resort. The grass 

 had grown over the stones which had held their sealskin 

 topecks down. The whole place was strewed with the skulls 

 of seals, walrus, deer, and foxes. It must have been a 

 glorious feeding-place for the natives. They always pitch 

 their tents near a running stream of water. This was the 

 first time in my life that I felt the bite of a mosquito ; 

 indeed, I should not have known what insect it was, if a 

 sailor, who had been in southern latitudes, had not told me. 

 It was as strange to me as thunder or lightning, which I had 

 not heard or seen during the time I had been at sea. The 

 Fiord appeared to terminate a few miles further on. It was 

 getting late in the afternoon when we got within a mile of 

 the end. Our boat grounded in the middle, which was only 

 a quarter of a mile wide, and in a short time we were left 

 high and dry and a long way from the water's edge. The 

 rise and fall was very great, and the place very shoal. 

 Therefore we travelled over the sand to the shore. The 

 scenery was exceedingly grand. At the head of the place 

 was a beautiful cascade with three falls, each one having a 

 descent of about thirty feet. When walking toward it, we saw 

 forty or fifty deer, but they were too far off for a shot. They 

 had already seen us, and it was amusing to see them bound- 

 ing over the rocks and then stand for a few minutes, looking 

 at us as if wondering why we were there. Being very 

 thirsty, we lay down to take a drink from a stream of water. 

 My boatsteerer called my attention, and said " There is gold 

 here." On examining it closely, we found the black sand 

 at the bottom strewed with dust which looked very much 

 like gold. He had been at the Californian gold diggings. I 

 took it for granted such might be the case. It is still my 

 opinion that the country is wealthy in minerals of all kinds, 

 but perhaps not to such an extent as to allow it to be worked 

 without a great expenditure of capital. We are not expected 

 to be judges of metals. The man took a mitten full on 



