390 Century Ice. [Ai>rii, 1809. 



ing to come up with the Pelly Bay men, in the hopes of getting iVom 

 them yet further information and even some papers of the FrankHii 

 Expedition, he changed his course to the northward This led him 

 over a narrow ice-flow of the previous winter's formation He camped 

 on this floe, which was found to be good sealing ice — new, but some- 

 what hummocky ; and from the top of a round hillock of century ice 

 12 feet above the general level he cut the ice to melt for making his 

 coffee. It was full of little cells, in which the salt of the sea- water once 

 was, the cells being occasionall}^ as large as the thumb, though gener- 

 ally not larger than a pin-head. The surface had mud or clay im- 

 bedded in it, while at a considerable depth, the crystals were pellucid, 

 solid, and like fresh-water ice. On the floes of this Polar ice here and 



there were masses in the fomi of a berg. 

 The century ice was "a puzzle as to 

 how and where it was formed," and an 

 equal difficulty presented itself in tlie 

 question "how the bergy masses of bare 

 blue old ice got to the top from the mar- 

 gin of the old floes." 



On the 10th, a flying sledge ti-ip 

 was decided upon to find the Pelly Ba)^ 

 Innuits. At an early hour new spears 

 were made by fixing bayonets to the 



BABRES CARRIED BY HALL TO KING 



WILLIAM'S LAND. cuds of loug polcs. Thcrc seemed reason 



(Presented to Mr. J. J. Copp on his i r- ^ c j. £ iX. 



return.) to fear an attack trom the tact or trie 



well-known dissensions long existing between the men of his party 

 and these strangers ; aware of which. Hall had i)rovided each sledge 

 with rifles, guns, bayonets, revolvers, a nuisk-ox and a seal spear, and 



