July, 1858. EXAMINE NATIVE CACHES. 151 



Petersen and one man accompanied me. We 

 started yesterday morning witb a sledge and a 

 Halkett boat. Althougb. the ice over wiiicli we 

 purposed travelling broke away from the land 

 soon after setting out, yet we managed to get 

 half way to the village before encamping. This 

 morning we learnt the truth of the old woman's 

 account. A range of precipitous cliffs rising 

 from the sea cut us off by land from Kaparok- 

 tolik, so we were obliged to return to the ship. 

 Our walk afforded the opportunity of examining 

 some native encampments and caches. We 

 found innumerable scraps of seal-skins, bird- 

 skins, walrus and other bones, whalebone, blub- 

 ber, and a small sledge. The latter was very 

 old, and composed of pieces of wood and of 

 large bones ingeniously secured together with 

 strips of whalebone. Five preserved-meat tins 

 were found; some of them retaining their original 

 coating of red paint. Doubtless these were part 

 of the spoils from Navy Board Inlet dep6t. The 

 total absence of fresh wood or iron was strongly 

 in favour of the old woman's veracity. Since 

 yesterday, ice, about 16 miles in extent, has 

 broken up in the inlet, and is drifting out into 

 Baffin's Bay. 



During my absence our shooting parties have 

 twice visited a loomery upon Cape Graham 



