In the Arctic Regions. 203 
River of the Esquimaux, which discharges its waters 
into thig bay, appears to be narrow, and much inter- 
rupted by rapids. The fishing-nets were set, but they 
obtained only one white fish and a few bull-heads, 
“This part of the coast is the most sterile and inhospi- 
table that can be imagined. One trap cliff succeeds 
another with a tiresome uniformity, and their debris 
cover the narrow valleys that intervene, to the exclu- 
sion of every kind of herbage. From tke summit of 
these cliffs the ice appeared in every direction. 
The wind abating, at eight P.M. we re-embarked, 
and soon afterwards discovered, on an island, a rein- 
deer, which the interpreters fortunately killed. Re- 
suming our voyage we were much impeded by the ice, 
and, at length, being unable to force a passage through 
a close stream that had collected round a cape, we 
‘put ashore at four A.M. On the 24th, several stone 
fox-traps, and other traces of the Esquimaux, were 
seen near to the encampment. ~The horizontal refrac- 
tion varied so much this morning, that the upper 
limb of the sun twice appeared at the horizon before 
it finally rose. 
For the last two days the water rose and fell about 
nine inches. The tides, however, seemed to be very 
‘irregular, and we could not determine the direction of 
the ebb-or flood. A current setting to the eastward 
was running about two miles an hour during our stay. 
