6Z THK I'OINT HAKROW KSKIMO. 



oaiiy 11:111 1)1' till' wiiitiT tliis jtai-U is most of the tiiiir in iiiotioii, some- 

 tiinrs iiii)\iii.<; iiiiirlii-astwiinl \\'\t\\ tlie previiiliiig cuiTcut and grmdiug 

 all inn till' I'lli;^ of till' bariiiT. soiiictiines moving ofi' to sea before an off- 

 sIiiph' wiiiil. Ifaxiiiu •■ leads" of iipi'ii water, wliicli in calm weather are 

 imiiicdiarcly roviTcd with new ii-i' (at the rate of C) inches in 24 hours), 

 and aj^aiii coming in with greater or less violiMicc against the edges of 

 this new ice, .-nishing and crumpling it up against the barrier. Portions 

 of the land-rtoe even tloat off and move away with the pack at this season. 



The westerly gales of the later winter, liowever, bring in great quan- 

 tities of ice. which, incssing against the land-floe, are pushed up into 

 hum mucks and ground tirndy in deeper water, thus increasing the breadth 

 of tiic (ixi'il land tloc until the line of separation between the hmd-floe 

 aud the moving pack is 4 or 5 or sometimes even 8 miles from land. The 

 hummocks of the land Hoe show a tendency to arrange themselves in 

 lines parallel to the shore, and if the pressure has not been too great 

 there are often fields of ice of the season not over 4 feet thick between 

 the ranges of hummocks, as was the case in the winter of 1881-'82. In 

 the following year, howexer, the )>ressure was so great that there were 

 no such fleUls, and even the level ice inside of the barrier was crushed 

 into hummocks in many places. 



After the gales are over there is generally less motion in the pack, 

 until about the middle of April, when easterly winds usually cause 

 leads to open at the edge of the land-floe. These leads now continue to 

 open and shut, varying in size with the direction and force of the wind. 

 As the season advances, esiiecially in July, the melting of tlie ice on 

 the surface h)0sens portions of the land-floe, which float ottanil join the 

 pack, bringing the leads nearer to the shore, i u the meantime the level 

 shore ice has been cut away from the beach by the warm water running 

 down from the bind and has grown "rotten" aud full of hoh's from the 

 heat of the sun. By the time the outside ice has moxcd away so as to 

 leave only the floes grounded on the bai- the inside ice breaks uj) into 

 loose masses, moving up and down with wind and current and ready 

 to move oft' through the tirst break in the barrier. Portions of the re- 

 maining barrier gradually break oft' and at last the whole tiually floats 

 and moves out with the i)ack, sometimes, as in ISSl — a \ er> remarkable 

 season — moving out of sight from the laud. 



This final departure of the ice may take jilace at any time between 

 the middle of .July and the middle of August. East of Point Harrow 

 we had opportunities only for hasty and superti.ial observations of the 

 state of the ice. The land floe apjiears to form some distance outside 

 of the .sandy islands, and from the account of the natives there is much 

 open water along shore early in the season, caused by the breaking up 

 of the rivers. I>r. Sim|)son' learned from the natives that the trading 

 parties which left the Point about the l.st of July found open water at 

 Deasc Inlet. This is more detinite information than we were able to 

 obtain. We only learned that they counted on tiuding open water a 

 few days' journey east. 



