OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 227 



frames beinsr closelv covered with Russia mats after sunset. The only water ^,^.^'^- 

 • . ■' May. 



we coukl procure for the seeds was by melting snow ; and it woukl have made 



a horticulturist smile to sec a fire of turf made daily at our garden for 

 this purpose. The snoAV-drift too had not yet ceased to be an additional an- 

 noyance, half a day's labour being sometimes required after the snow had 

 ceased, to admit the sun's rays by removing it from the frames. 

 • On the 13th at noon the thermometer in the sun stood at 55°, that in the Mon. 13. 

 shade being at 27°. At seven in the evening the electrometer was tried in 

 the usual manner, without any effect being perceptible on the gold leaf. On Tues. 14. 

 the following evening, when the wind had backed to the southward, and the 

 sky was overcast with clouds, it was again tried with no greater success, and 

 the chain was now removed from the mast-head, the ships being nearly ready 

 for sea. 



In the course of the forenoon of the loth, a message to our medical gen- Wed. 15. 

 tlemen announced the fall of James Pringlc, one of the seamen of the Hecla, 

 from her mizen-top-mast head to the deck ; and in a few minutes after I was 

 much shocked in receiving Lieutenant Hoppner's report of his death, no 

 sign of life having indeed appeared in him from the first moment after his fall. 

 On examination it was found that the base of the skull was fractured, and 

 the neck also dislocated. A grave was directed to be dug near the observa- 

 tory, and arrangements were made for the funeral taking place on the follow- 

 ing Sunday. 



On the 16th, Ewcrat, with his^vife and family, arrived at the ships, bring- Thur. 16, 

 ing with them all their goods and chattels, and with the intention of taking 

 up their abode upon the ice near us. They accordingly built their hut about 

 a hundred yards from the Fury's stern, but whether with the view of living 

 upon us, or the seals that frequent the bay, we were at first at a loss to con- 

 jecture. Ewerat's household consisted not only of his own family, but also 

 of Appokiuk and Itkamuk, the former of whom having no husband, and the 

 latter no relative, they both seemed to be fairly " on the parish." Besides 

 this establishment, a second, on a smaller scale, also made its appearance in 

 our neighbourhood, consisting of a very little man named Koo-il-li-li-iik, 

 nick-named by the sailors " John Bull," and his pretty little w-ife Amalooa, 

 whose zeal in bringing up her husband's share of the sea-horses, I have 

 before described. These persons, being eight in number, had, deter- 

 mined on travelling to Amitioke for the ensuing summer, influenced, pro- 

 bably in some degree, by the hope of falling in with us again, as they 



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