NOVEMHER II, 1887.] 



SCIENCE 



233 



EXPLORATION AND TRAVEL. 

 Notes from the Arctic. 



Mr. William Duvel, who returned a few days ago from Cum- 

 berland Sound on board the New London schooner ' Eira,' gives 

 us some interesting information on the events in Cumberland Sound 

 during the last years. The whalers, who had been unsuccessful for 

 a great number of years, have been more fortunate since 1885, 

 while the catch of the Davis Strait fishery shows a sudden falling- 

 off. In 1884, when ten vessels were fishing in Lancaster Sound, 

 the catch aggregated some eighty whales, but in the following years 



lowest temperature of last winter was — 46" F. The snowfall was 

 very scanty, the ice being hardly covered with any snow. As, in 

 addition to this, the ice was very smooth, travelling in winter was 

 easy. In February, however, the much-dreaded dog-disease made 

 its appearance, and swept away the dogs of the natives. In Black 

 Lead, among a party of thirty-three natives, only nine dogs re- 

 mained. In the spring of i885 the same disease made its first 

 appearance in the settlements of Davis Strait, where it was unknown 

 up to that time. 



Last summer the ice of Cumberland Sound broke up on the 6th 

 of July. As the whaling in the Sound has become more profitable, 



Ice-Chart of Cum 



Sound. Compiled by Dr. F. Bo 



not more than ten or twelve were caught by the whole fleet. In 

 1884, the pack-ice was remarkably loose, and the first ship entered 

 Cumberland Sound as early as the middle of July. The floe, how- 

 ever, which was attached to the land, lasted until the 5th of August, 

 a date unprecedented in Cumberland Sound. This corresponds to 

 the character of the land-ice in Davis Strait, which, as was formerly 

 reported by Captain Spicer, did not break up in three subsequent 

 summers, from 1884 to 1886. In 1885 the land-floe in Cumberland 

 Sound extended verj' far south, as may be seen on the accompany- 

 ing sketch-map. In 1 886 its position was a little farther north, while 

 last winter it extended again to the entrance of the Gulf. This fact 

 is very remarkable, as in many former years the head of the open 

 water reached up to Kekerten, and even as far as Haystack. The 



a greater number of vessels frequent the Sound, and several per- 

 manent stations are established. There is a Scottish station in 

 Kekerten, while American whalers have stations on Black Lead, in 

 Nugumiut, and in Hudson Strait. The sanitary condition of the 

 natives was very good. In Cumberland Sound five deaths occurred 

 during the last year, while three children were born in a single set- 

 tlement. In the fall all natives belonging to the tribe inhabiting 

 the west coast of Cumberland Sound gathered in Black Lead, and 

 celebrated the great annual festival which is known to all the 

 tribes of northern Labrador and Baffin Land, and in which masked 

 men, who represent certain spirits, make their appearance. Early 

 in spring south-westerly winds carried the heavy pack-ice of Davis 

 Strait into the Sound, and kept it there for a number of weeks. 



