450 Thirty Years 
trade with them would be beneficial, they would gladly 
encourage a further intercourse, and do all in their 
power to prevent future visitors from having such a 
reception as we had on our arrival in these seas. We 
learned that this island, which has been distinguished 
by the name of Herschel, is much frequented by the 
natives at this season of the year, as it abounds with 
deer, and its surrounding waters afford plenty of fish. 
It is composed of black earth, rises, in its highest 
point, to about one hundred feet, and at the time of 
our visit was covered with verdure. The straight be- 
tween it and the main shore, is the only place that 
we had seen, since quitting the Mackenzie, in which a 
‘ship could find shelter ; but even this channel is much 
interrupted by shoals. 
Tus,” On the morning of the 18th the fog was so 
thick that we could not see beyond the beach, It 
dispersed about noon, and we discovered that there 
was a channel of open water near the main shore, 
though in the centre of the strait the ice was heavy, 
and driving rapidly to the north-west. We embarked 
at once, in the expectation of being able to penetrate 
between the drift ice and the land, but the attempt 
was frustrated by the shallowness of the water; and 
the fog again spreading as thick as before, we landed 
on a sand-bank. We were soon visited by another 
party of the Esquimaux, who brought deer’s meat for 
