310 BOOTHIA FELIX. Chap. XVI. 



due proportion as their distance increases from 

 the sea ; near the shore they are, of course, most 

 distinct. Upon the west coast some fossils were 

 picked up, chiefly impressions of shells. 



King William's Island is for the most part 

 extremely barren, and its surface dotted over 

 with innumerable ponds and lakes. It is not by 

 any means the " land abounding with reindeer 

 and musk oxen " which we expected to find : 

 the natives told us there were none of the latter 

 and very few of the former upon it. 



On the 8th June the first ducks and brent 

 geese were seen flying northward. Passing over 

 the extreme point of Cape Victoria, Boothia 

 Land, near which we saw the deserted snow huts 

 of our March acquaintances, and shortly after- 

 wards crossing the mouth of the deep bay to the 

 north of it, in which, sheltered by the island, a 

 ship would find security from ice pressure, and 

 very tolerable winter quarters, we again reached 

 the straight low limestone coast of Boothia Felix. 



I was imable to make any delay at j;he Mag- 

 netic Pole, nor could I find a trace of Eoss's 

 cairn ;* but at each of our encampments along 



* This cairn, as well as the one built on Point Victory in 1830, 

 was removed by the natives ; fortunately they had not visited Point 

 Victory whilst the Franklin cairn and record remained there, other- 

 wise neither cairn nor record would have remained for us to discover. 



