HAPPY TO PART. 453 



by that time we were pulling off; nevertheless, some of their arrows dropped 

 very close about us. Mr Hooper and I returned them by firing over their 

 heads. The second time they discharged their arrows we were out of range, 

 for they all dropped astern ; and by way of farewell we fired again, our balls 

 falling very short, and made sail, quite satisfied to have escaped all injury 

 ourselves, while we had done nothing more than give our antagonists a good 

 fright. The rascals, on seeing our muskets pointed at them, cut so many 

 capers, that it was impossible for us to take aim, and directly they saw the flash, 

 they dropped on the ground, hoping, by so doing, to avoid injury. Had they 

 come ten minutes sooner I do not think we should have parted so scathless, for 

 on such a small field our fire-arms would have told fearfully against them. . . . 



"With a west-north-west wind we went along cheerily; passed Yar- 

 borough Inlet; ran between Chandos Point and the small island off it; 

 passed Point Anxiety, near which the wind fell calm; and at midnight 

 landed on a low shingly beach, extending'west from the northern part of 

 Foggy Island, tired and weary, but rid at last of our troublesome com- 

 panions, after two days and a night of constant watching, wet through the 

 greatest part of the time, with the thermometer ranging between 35° and 40°^ 

 the latter of which temperatures we considered comfortably warm." 



After a day of tracking and pulling, the expedition encamped, on the night 

 of the 15th August, on a low headland immediately east of Point BuUen. 

 Flaxman Island, about midway between Point Barrow and the mouth of the 

 Mackenzie, was reached on the morning of the 16th. The eastern part of 

 Flaxman Island is high and bold, falling off abruptly to the low gravelly 

 beach, on which, from the lofty bank above, PuUen could see his men dis- 

 posed in groups, some preparing dinner round a large fire, and others tending 

 the boats or enjoying a nap after their morning's work. A dreary expanse 

 of ice extended around, stretching far eastward into Camden Bay. The 

 oppressive silence of the scene was broken only by the occasional disruption 

 and fall of heavy masses of ice, which broke off from the main body with a 

 reverberating sound like distant reports of artillery. On the island were 

 many bleached remains of natives long dead. Pullen selected one perfect 

 skull and placed it in the boat, where the sailors made use of it as a "match- 

 tub." On the 18th the expedition was arrested and detained for a day on a 

 small gravelly spit off Point Martin by a gale accompanied by dense fog. 

 The enforced delay afforded the men an interval of rest, which was much 

 required. Their hard work was now' beginning to tell upon them. Their 

 labours usually commenced at six a.m., and continued till nine at night ; and 

 during the whole of that time they often worked in clothes that were 

 thoroughly drenched. After such a day, and when the camp fire was lit on 

 the shore and the tent set up, a watch was always set, and those appointed 

 to this duty obtained little or no sleep. "Indeed," writes Pullen, "I very 



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