THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 489 



mer, as far away with the naked eye as caribou with the best 

 six-power glasses. In hunting I usually carry two kinds of glasses, 

 six-power for use in twilight, on cloudy days, and when the wind 

 is blowing so hard that twelve-power glasses cannot be held stead- 

 ily. The higher power is used when conditions of visibility are 

 ideal and with them I have seen caribou at distances of eight or 

 ten miles. I have never seen ovibos at that distance because I 

 have never looked for them where the topography allowed it, but 

 I imagine that they could be seen for twelve or perhaps fifteen 

 miles. 



We crossed the isthmus from Liddon Gulf to Hecla Bay in the 

 vicinity of Point Nias. There was either miscalculation on our 

 part or a fault in the chart, for Sir Edward Parry's monument of 

 1820 described by McClintock as still standing and conspicuous 

 in 1852 should have been visible but was not. We found here a 

 small depot which Storkerson had left for the return party, and a 

 brief note showing that he was about a week ahead of us. 



At Cape Fisher we found McClintock's conspicuous monument 

 — a barrel on top of a rock, the rock itself on a hilltop against the 

 skyline. The barrel was filled with gravel into which was stuck 

 a splinter of driftwood six or eight feet long The heavy iron hoops 

 were not much rusted, though the top one had loosened and was 

 hanging on one edge of the barrel. We could not conceive the use 

 of a heavy sheet-iron box resembling a modern camp stove, which 

 had no holes in it beyond an opening at one end. It is strange 

 that when transportation was such a problem heavy articles like 

 sheet-iron boxes and the most massive barrels should have been 

 hauled such a distance. Apparently the intention must have been 

 that these packages should protect the contents from animals, but 

 in a rocky country a better protection could easily have been made 

 out of stones that did not have to be brought along. 



We did not pry into the barrel at this time but on a later visit 

 Storkerson found in it the following record:* 



Cylinder, huried 10 feet true North from this Cairn. None. 



Traces. None found. 



Party. Returning to their ship. Have searched this coast to longi- 

 tude 118° W in latitude 75° 24' N. Also an adjacent coast from longi- 

 tude about 118 (?) W, latitude 75° N to longitude about 116°, in lati- 

 tude 77° 24', also islands off it up to 77° 50' N, Have been absent on 



this 4th April, the day we left our ships records 



have been left in several places. 



F. L. McClintock, Comndt. 



* The date of the record is not clearly legible — perhaps July 8th, 1853. 



