392 Thirty Years 
the officers made good use of a stock of books and 
quarterlies which they had brought with them. 
The winter, though severe, passed rapidly away, 
and spring opened. We quote from Franklin’s 
Journal, 
Weanesday On the 24th of May, 1826, the mosquitoes 
appeared, feeble at first, but, after a few days, they 
became vigorous and tormenting. The first flower, a 
tussilago, was gathered on the 27th. . Before the close 
of the month, several others were in bloom, of which 
‘the most abundant was the white anemone. The 
leaf-buds had not yet burst, though just ready to 
open. . 
The carpenters had now finished the new boat, 
which received the name of the Reliance. It was 
constructed of fir, with birch timbers, after the model 
of our largest boat, the Lion, but with a more full 
bow, and a finer run abaft, Its length was twenty- 
six feet, and breadth five feet eight inches. It was 
fastened in the same manner as the other boats, but 
with iron instead of copper, and to procure sufficient 
nails we were obliged to cut up all the spare axes, 
trenches, and ice-chisels, Being without tar, we 
substituted strips of water-proof canvas, soaked in 
some caoutchouc varnish, which we had brought out, 
to lay between the seams of the planks; and for 
paint, we made use of resin, procured from the pine- 
