Mab. 1859. WESTERN SHORES OF B9OTHIA. 229 



it was impossible to sleep, or even to hold one's 

 pannikin of tea, without putting our mitts on, 

 so intense was the cold ! 



On the 21st I visited our main depot laid out 

 last October ; it was safe, but unfortunately had 

 been carried far into Wrottesley Inlet, and only 

 40 miles south of Bellot Strait. 



On the 22nd an easterly gale prevented our 

 marching, but we had the good fortune to shoot 

 a bear, so consoled ourselves with fresh steaks, 

 and the dogs with an ample feed of unfrozen 

 flesh — a treat they had not enjoyed for many 

 months. 



We coasted along a granitic land, deeply 

 indented and fringed with islands, and found it 

 to be the general characteristic of the Boothian 

 shore from Bellot Strait, until we had accom- 

 plished half the distance to the magnetic pole ; 

 limestone then appeared, and the remainder of 

 our journey was performed along a low, straight 

 shore, which afforded us much greater facility 

 for sledging. 



Throughout the whole distance we found a 

 mixture of heavy old ice and light ice of last 

 autumn, in many places squeezed up into pack ; 

 but as we advanced southward aged floes were 

 less frequently seen. 



