454 Thirty Years 



42' W. Being now abreast of Mount Conybeare, 

 Lieutenant Back and I were on the point of setting 

 out to visit its summit, when we were stopped by a 

 very dense fog that accompanied a fresh breeze from 

 the N. W., followed by heavy rain. The weather 

 continued bad, until ten the following morning ; the 

 ice near the beach was broken into smaller pieces, but 

 as yet too closely packed for our proceeding. The 

 water being brackish in front of the reef, we despatch- 

 ed two men to bring some from the pools at a distance 

 inland, which was found to have the same taste ; 

 from this circumstance, as well as from the piles of 

 drift wood, thrown up far from the coast, one may in- 

 fer that the sea occasionally washes over this low 

 shore. The ice broken off from large masses, and per- 

 mitted to drain before it was melted, did not furnish 

 us with better water. A couple of pin-tailed ducks 

 were shot, the only pair seen ; the black kind were 

 more numerous, but were not fired at, as they are 

 fishing ducks, and, therefore, not good to eat. We 

 also saw a few geese and swans. 



F 2 r iBi! y T ne atmosphere was calm, and perfectly clear, 

 on the morning of the 2 1st ; and as there was not any 

 change in the position of the ice, I visited Mount 

 Conybeare, accompanied by Duncan and Stewart. 

 Though its distance was not more than twelve miles 

 from the coast, the journey proved to be very fatigu- 



