430 THE FRANKLIN SEA ECU— 18i8-51. 



luxuries of civilised society may perhaps smile at the assertion ; yet in a 

 region where even an Eskimo hut has charms, and where nature shows her- 

 self only in the most chilly and sombre aspect, the accommodation which 

 the vessel afforded was fully appreciated. It was fortimate that the hous- 

 ing-in was so soon completed, as in October we had a constant succession 

 of bad weather, accompanied by a low temperature. The ice, towards the 

 end of the month, was three feet thick ; it had, however, before this time, 

 owing to the meeting of the tides, been thrown up occasionally to a height 

 of twenty feet, forming hummocks, pinnacles, and walls, and presenting a 

 most picturesque spectacle, which forcibly impressed an imaginative mind 

 with the idea of extensive ruins. The aurora horealis also, in proportion as 

 the temperatiu-e decreased, became more frequent, and displayed a greater 

 degree of briUiancy." 



The latitude of the winter station of the " Plover " (about 66" 30' N.) 

 does not place it within the Arctic circle, and the cold in winter is less 

 intense than in other much-frequented regions of the north. Besides, 

 Kotzebue Sound, protected to some extent from the north and east winds, 

 is open only to the west, and the chmate is consequently milder than might 

 be expected. The ofl&cers of the " Plover " had made up their minds that 

 when the cold increased all hving creatures would vanish from the Sound. 

 This, however, was not the case. Deer appeared in large numbers, and 

 offered so great a temptation for hunting that several parties started for 

 that piu-pose, but inexperience and haste prevented their killing a single 

 head, and, moreover, so alarmed the herds that they never afterwards 

 approached the immediate neighbourhood. Ptarmigans and hares were 

 abundant, and the sportsmen frequently added these luxuries to the table. 

 Wolves and foxes occasionally enlivened the scene ; and the former, pro- 

 bably driven by hunger, sometimes ventured within musket-shot, when they 

 commenced their dismal bowlings. Bears appeared more scarce ; only one 

 was seen during the whole winter. Although in November the temperature 

 still continued steadily to decrease, yet the weather was so calm that the 

 cold was not much felt, and open-air exercise was freely indulged in by all. 



In summer the natives of Polar regions are often in indifferent " feather " 

 — are filthily dirty, iU-clad, lazy, and spiritless ; but in the winter the Eskimo 

 is himself again. In the months of ice, he thrives in the severest climate ex- 

 perienced on the surface of the globe, and from frozen fields he gathers abun- 

 dant food. In the month of November, the natives began to renew the 

 visits to the " Plover " which they had for some time discontinued. " They 

 appeared," says Pirn, " almost different beings. Their light and filthy sum- 

 mer dresses had been exchanged for others that fitted more closely and were 

 better made. They were no longer the apparently-overawed people who in 

 their skin baidars paddled near the sides of our large ships, but seemed con- 



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