120 Our North Land. 



from the captain of the " Abbie Bradford," that is, if the latter 

 barque remained there the previous winter. The letter left in the 

 bottle, which we read and carefully replaced, was no doubt intended 

 for the outgoing ship of this year, and that one of those passed in 

 the strait between Nottingham and Cape Wolstenholme is the 

 vessel. 



The letter revealed the fact that they had spent a hard winter ; 

 yet they were] able to saw themselves out of the harbour and reach 

 open water in this extreme northern part of Hudson's Bay by the 7th 

 of June. I am sure this is most remarkable, and furnishes another 

 certificate of the navigability, to some extent at least, of Hudson's 

 Bay. 



There is an outer and inner harbour at Marble Island. A narrow 

 channel leads from the outer harbour to a little basin further in 

 amono- the rocks. This channel at high water will float an ordinary 

 vessel which, when inside, is like being taken within the four walls 

 of a huge enclosure. In these harbours the whalers spend the long 

 cold winters; and, as the number of graves indicates, suffer and 

 sometimes die from the inclemency of the weather, especially those 

 of weak or diseased lungs. 



Lieutenant Gordon spent the day at Marble Island, finding the 

 latitude and longitude, the dip of the magnetic needle, and the 

 variation of the compass. This work he completed by two o'clock, 

 except the calculations, and set about making a triangulation sur- 

 vey of the harbours, and taking soundings. By nine o'clock in the 

 morning Dr. Bell, with three of the Expedition hands, started out 

 in a boat on a geological excursion. He coasted around the western 

 end of the island, obtained a good collection of specimens, and re- 

 turned at seven o'clock in the evening, without making any remark- 

 able discoveries. 



