324 SIGNS OF EELEASE. Chap. XVII. 



^th. — The ship has been thoroughly cleaned 

 and restowed, remaining provisions examined, 

 tanks filled with fresh water, 12 tons of stone 

 ballast taken in, and everything brought on 

 board that was landed last autumn. Hobson 

 is the only one upon the sick list; but he 

 is able to walk about and does duty. Yery 

 few birds, and only one small seal, have been 

 obtained during the week ; an occasional great 

 northern diver is seen, and a rare land bird 

 has been shot. We cannot discover the nests 

 of either ducks or geese, and the breeding 

 cliffs of the gulls being inaccessible, we have 

 not got any eggs. I am a close prisoner at 

 the corner of my table, poring over my obser- 

 vation and angle book, and have at length 

 laid down upon paper the west coast of King 

 William's Land to my satisfaction. Tidal obser- 

 vations are commenced ; and the aneroid and 

 mercurial barometers are again being compared 

 in order to verify the former. 



l^th. Saturday night. — We are now almost 

 ready for sea. There is a much larger space of 

 water in Bellot Strait, reaching within 300 or 

 400 yards of us. Long cracks or lanes of water 

 have been seen in Prince Regent's Inlet. The 

 decay of the ice continues, though not with 



