May, 1859. DESCRIPTION OF THE BOAT. 293 



wicli Dockyard in April, 184 ,* and was num- 

 bered 61. There may Lave been a fourth figure 

 to the right hand, as the stem had been reduced 

 in order to lighten the boat. The ground the 

 sledge rested upon was the usual limestone 

 shingle perfectly flat, and probably overflowed 

 at times every summer, as the stones were em- 

 bedded in ice. 



The boat was partially out of her cradle upon 

 the sledge, and lying in such a position as to 

 lead me to suppose it the effect of a violent 

 north-west gale. She was barely, if at all, above 

 the reach of occasional tides. 



One hundred yards from her, upon the land 

 side, lay the stump of a fir-tree 12 feet long, 

 and 16 inches in diameter at 3 feet above the 

 roots. Although the ice had used it roughly 

 during its drift to this shore, and rubbed off 

 every vestige of bark, yet the wood was per- 

 fectly sound. It may have been and probably 

 has been lying there for twenty or thirty years, 

 and during such a period would suffer less decay 

 in this region of frost than in one-sixth of the 

 time at home. Within two yards of it I noticed 

 a few scanty tufts of grass. 



But all these were after observations ; there 



* Only the first three figures of the date upon her stem remained, 

 thus— 184 . 



