32 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



Accompanied by Dr. Borden, two seamen and six Eskimos, we 

 left the ship on the morning of the 15th June, being transported 

 to Cape Fullerton over the shore-ice by dog-teams to where the 

 boats were found hauled out on the ice close to its edge. The 

 morning was quite cold and boisterous, and not at all pleasant 

 for a boat cruise. Our boats and the four belonging to the Era 

 were soon loaded and launched. A fair wind allowed us to sail 

 northward through a narrow lead of open water between the 

 shore-ice and the moving pack, which completely covered the 

 sea outside. Early in the afternoon we reached the other boats, 

 manned by natives, hauled out on the ice and covered in for 

 cooking operations. A cup of hot coffee soon reduced the chill 

 received in the boats. The journey was then resumed, but in a 

 short time the ice closed in on the shore, obliging us to haul our 

 boats on to the solid ice, where they were propped upright, and 

 soon roofed with cotton covers stretched over light wooden 

 frames. This turned each boat into commodious and comfort- 

 able sleeping quarters, and soon the evening meal was being 

 cooked over the oil stoves. The ice remained tight on the coast, 

 and it was only with great difficulty that the boats were forced 

 through it a few miles to Whale point, where we remained 

 hemmed in the next day. 



At Whale point a small house was erected some years ago as 

 a station by one of the American whalers. It is situated on the 

 summit of the point, and a ladder leads to the roof, where a 

 small platform served as a lookout station for whales swimming 

 in the ice-laden waters of Roes Welcome. This is a favourite 

 camping ground for the Aivillik natives in the early summer, 

 whales, seals and walrus being then plentiful in the adjoining 

 waters, and the barren-ground caribou numerous within a short 

 distance of the coast. 



According to Captain Comer, more whales have been killed 

 within sight of Whale point than in all the rest of Hudson 

 bay ; on this account, and from the ease with which it might be 



