182 ACROSS THE SUB-ARCTICS OF CANADA. 



the skeleton of an immense whale, but unfortunately 

 not the part that is of commercial value. This doubt- 

 less had been carried away by the Eskimos or by some 

 whaling crew. 



During the following day the weather continued fair r 

 and feeling that nature was favoring us we made good 

 use of our time. As we followed the coast in a south- 

 westerly direction the outline of Marble Island could 

 be seen against the southern sky; while to the north 

 extended the bold, dark coast-line of rock, unbroken 

 in appearance excepting where here and there lay great 

 banks of snow. 



About noon we discovered, on landing, what must 

 very recently have been a large Eskimo encampment. 

 Several kometics (sleds) and other articles were found. 

 The wreck of a large whale-boat lay on the shore, 

 and several dogs were seen lurking about. This camp- 

 ing-place was the summer home of the Eskimos we had 

 met sailing up Chesterfield Inlet, and from a sanitary 

 point of view was no credit to them, for filth and putre- 

 faction everywhere abounded. 



The rocks of this locality were of an interesting 

 character, being dark green hornblendic schists of the 

 Huronian formation. 



Following these two days of exceptionally fair weather 

 we enjoyed still another, and were permitted to tra- 

 verse the mouth of Rankiii Inlet, which would have 

 required two or three days to coast had the weather 

 been anything but calm. During these three days we 

 had made a distance of just one hundred miles, which, 

 upon such an exposed coast, we considered good progress. 



Though we saw little game we still had some dried 



