90 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



north. Some would carry thre"e persons. This tribe are like 

 the others, of a roving disposition, and have no permanent 

 abode until the winter sets in. Upon the whole they are 

 cleaner than those at Cape York and Pond's Bay. Our 

 last anchorage was near to a narrow fiord, which led into 

 Frobisher Straits. One day I was sent to take a survey of 

 it. When half-way through the fiord I found part of the hill 

 side composed of stones of all sizes, resembling Turkey 

 stones, which are used for sharpening tools. I brought a 

 quantity of the smaller sizes on board, and it was most 

 remarkable that in such a remote region they should have the 

 appearance of having passed through the hands of a mason. 

 All the other rocks were granite and ironstone. The fiord 

 was eight miles in length, and opened midway in Frobisher 

 Straits. I travelled up the mountain, and had a good view 

 of the greater part of the straits. It was very rocky, and so 

 far as I could judge it was about thirty miles across. There 

 were no animals in sight, or any signs of it being visited by 

 natives. On my return I reported to the captain that the 

 fiord opened into the straits as he anticipated. If our 

 business had called us in that direction it would have saved 

 us many miles. The winter was fast approaching, yet with 

 our little steam companion we remained longer than we 

 otherwise could have done. As there was no prospect of 

 getting any more whales, we weighed anchor and sailed for 

 home. Therefore the captain's intention of going to Fox 

 Channel was abandoned for the present. We much 

 regretted that we had not gone direct there when we came 

 from the north. Fox's Channel was so called by Captain Luke 

 Fox, or North-West Fox, once a Younger Brother of the 

 Trinity House, Hull, who sailed from the Thames in the 

 year 1631, the same day as Captain James sailed from 

 Bristol, both in search of a north-west passage. We 

 eventually arrived at Stromness, and stayed there two days 

 for a favourable wind, which brought us safely to Hull. 



