Oct. 1858. HOBSON'S PARTY EETURNED. 205 



vanced the depots. Although the weather has 

 been stormy here, they have been able to travel 

 every day. They found the coast still fringed 

 with islets, and deeply indented ; upon every 

 point, moss-grown circles of stones indicated 

 the abodes of Esquimaux in times long since 

 gone by. » 



One night they muzzled a dog, as she was in 

 the habit of gnawing her harness : in this de- 

 fenceless state, unable even to bark and arouse 

 the men, her amiable sisterhood attacked her so 

 fiercely that she died next day ! 



In honour of so important and successful a 

 commencement of our travelling, as that ac- 

 complished by Hobson, we had a feast of good 

 venison, plum pudding, and grog. It is quite 

 evident that no more travelling can be accom- 

 plished until the ice forms a pathway along- 

 shore; in this, as in some other respects, we 

 anxiously await the advance of the season. 

 The weather is mild ; Bellot Strait is almost 

 covered with ice, which drifts freely with every 

 tide. Reindeer are seen almost daily ; they 

 too are awaiting the freezing over of the 

 sea to continue their southern travels. Our 

 harbour-ice is weak and covered a foot deep 

 with a sludgy compound of snow and water. 



8^^. — Yesterday an ermine was caught in a 



