THE HOWGATE EXPEDITION. 507 
with the tide. The Governor is the only Dane in Sakkak, and he is married to 
an Esquimaux. After supper I went hunting with our two engineers. After 
walking a long distance we succeeded in bagging nine ptarmigans, and returned 
to the vessel about half-past eleven o’clock. Think of shooting partridge at ten 
o'clock at night! We went hunting several times in this neighborhood with much 
better success. One day I killed fifteen and another day thirteen ptarmigans. 
They are similar to the pheasants or partridges we used to get in Montreal, and 
are delicious eating. 
The next day, the 25th, we made another start for the coal mine, but the 
sea was still too rough for us to land, so we put back into the small bay where we 
had anchored Monday night. We waited there until Friday, the 27th, when, at 
4 A. M., we again made the attempt to reach the mine, this time with success. 
The coal is found in the face of a bluff about sixty feet high, which rises abruptly 
from the beach. The vein of coal is about two feet thick, and extends for some 
distance along the face of the bluff, forty feet from the base. The coal is of an 
inferior quality, but burns well in our furnaces and stoves. It does not give us 
much heat as our bituminous coal, and burns out much quicker, but still it is 
much better than no coal at all. 
As soon as we dropped anchor we landed a party of men and set them to 
mining. By supper-time we had landed on board about eighteen tons, —a pretty 
good day’s work. We then weighed anchor and went back to our old harbor, 
leaving the miners, with tents and provisions, on shore. We were forced to do 
this on account of the insecurity of our anchorage at the mines. There was no 
bay or harbor of any kind, and it was exposed to the least wind that might 
spring up. Besides, the icebergs were a constant source of danger. ‘The straits 
were full of them, and there were several large ones in our immediate vicinity. 
We had some narrow escapes from these, as they were borne toward us by the 
current or the tide. Several of them came in contact with us, and one of them 
carried away our anchor. Altogether, they were not agreeable companions, and 
we were not solicitous of forming an intimate acquaintance with them. But it 
seems that in avoiding them we were ‘‘ jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” 
for no sooner had we entered our harbor than we ran aground. Fortunately, 
however, the bottom was of mud instead of rock, and so no serious injury was 
done to the vessel, and at high tide we easily got afloat again. 
On the 28th it snowed and rained all day, and was so cold and disagreeable 
that we remained at anchor. I pitied the poor fellows we had left on shore, but 
it seems they were very comfortable in their tents. Of course they were unable 
to do any mining. 
Yesterday, Sunday, was mild and pleasant. We remained all day in our 
harbor, but the men on shore made up for the lost time on Saturday, and worked 
in the mine. They were excusable, I think, for it was a case of necessity. 
When we arrived here this morning we found about ten tons of coal already 
mined and sacked, ready to be taken on board. The men are now hard at work 
