OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 17 



of the sea offers a prospect of making a fair run to the westward. Mr. Da- ^J'^'- 

 vidson informed me that, after leaving this shore, they seldom meet with any >.*-r>. 

 very serious obstruction, except from a body of ice which they usually have 

 to penetrate near Charles's Island, and which, from the frequency of its oc- 

 currence in that situation, has obtained the name of " Charles's Patch." 

 Long experience has brought those who frequent this navigation to the con- 

 clusion that, in most seasons, no advantage is to be gained by attemj)ting to 

 enter Hudson's Strait earlier than the iirst week in July, the annual disruption 

 of the ice which occupies the upper and middle parts of the strait being sup- 

 posed not to take place till about this time. In the course of our single year's 

 experience in these parts, we have seen nothing to recommend a practice dif- 

 ferent from that at present pursued by the ships of the Hudson's Bay Company. 

 In the afternoon, having a contrary wind, against which little progress could 

 be made, I landed, at half-past four, upon the easternmost of the Savage 

 Islands, accompanied by several of the officers, and was shortly after joined 

 by Captain Lyon. The lower parts of this island are composed of gneiss and 

 granite, and the upper part of mica slate in thin laminae, and containing gar- 

 nets in some specimens. At the foot of the clifis, which rise from four to five 

 hundred feet above the level of the sea, many huge separate masses of granite 

 occurred, in which the red feldspar, Avhite quartz, and plates of dark-coloured 

 mica were large and distinct. Veins also of white quartz, eight or ten inches 

 wide, and nearly in a vertical position, traverse the rocks in some parts of the 

 island. After making the usual observations for the longitude and variation, 

 we ascended to the highest part of the island, which is from six to eight hun- 

 dred feet above the sea, in order to take an eye-sketch and angles of the 

 surrounding lands. We here counted eleven islands, which may properly 

 be considered as belonging to the group called the Upper Savage Islands, 

 occupying nearly the whole space between that on which we stood, the 

 largest and highest of the whole, and the western shore. The south point 

 of this island is comparatively low, and appeared to have shoal water off' it 

 to the distance of half a mile. Captain Lyon here noticed the remains of 

 some Esquimaux habitations, consisting, as usual, of small rude circles of 

 rough stones* ; and one human skull was also found there. We met with a 



* These circles are, in the Narrative of the former Voyage, erroneously called *' huts," 

 as we then took them to be the remains of the winter habitations of the Esquimaux ; 

 •whereas, they are exclusively used for extending the skins composing their summer tents. 



D 



