450 Thirty Years 



trade with them would be beneficial, they would gladly 

 encourage a further intercourse, and do all in their 

 power to prevent future visitors from having such a 

 reception as we had on our arrival in these seas. We 

 learned that this island, which has been distinguished 

 by the name of Herschel, is much frequented by the 

 natives at this season of the year, as it abounds with 

 deer, and its surrounding waters afford plenty of fish. 

 It is composed of black earth, rises, in its highest 

 point, to about one hundred feet, and at the time of 

 our visit was covered with verdure. The straight be- 

 tween it and the main shore, is the only place that 

 we had seen, since quitting the Mackenzie, in which a 

 ship could find shelter; but even this channel is much 

 interrupted by shoals. 



Tl isih ay On the morning of the 18th the fog was so 

 thick that we could not see beyond the beach. It 

 dispersed about noon, and we discovered that there 

 was a channel of open water near the main shore, 

 though in the centre of the strait the ice was heavy, 

 and driving rapidly to the north-west. We embarked 

 at once, in the expectation of being able to penetrate 

 between the drift ice and the land, but the attempt 

 was frustrated by the shallowness of the water ; and 

 the fog again spreading as thick as before, we landed 

 on a sand-bank. We were soon visited by another 

 party of the Esquimaux, who brought deer's meat for 



