GREENLAND REVISITED 219 



As we proceeded up the sound we saw the cakes of ice 

 thickly sprinkled with walrus, which hatl come out of the 

 water and were taking- a sun-bath. The boats were lowered, 

 and the men started after them. In a few hours we had 

 twentv-four of the monsters on board. Their averaue wei2"ht 

 was estimated at not less than fifteen hundred pounds. There 

 were several cold baths taken by the hunters, and some narrow 

 escapes, but nothing serious occurred, and we continued on our 

 course, heading for Cape Alexander. Once around the cape, 

 we steamed half-way across the sound toward Cape Sabine, 

 where we were stopped by the ice-pack, which stretched in 

 an unbroken plain as far as we could see. Turning back, we 

 visited the site of the Polaris House, where a portion of Cap- 

 tain Hall's party Avintered after the " Polaris " was wrecked. 

 We picked up a number of souvenirs in the shape of bolts, 

 hooks, hinges, even buttons and leaves from books. A quan- 

 tity of rope was found on the border of a little pond just back 

 of where the house stood, and it seemed to be in a state of 

 perfect preservation. We also stopped at Littleton Island, and 

 on the adjoining McGary Island some of the party indulged 

 in a little shooting. A few ducks and guillemots were shot ; 

 four additional walrus and an oogzook seal were also obtained 

 in this vicinity. The weather then became thick and a strong 

 wind sprang up, which put an end to the sport. 



All night we steamed toward Hakluyt Island, but on reach- 

 mg it we could not make a landing on account of the gale. 

 We lay in the shelter of the cliffs of Northumberland, and 



