24 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



1821. mainland, containing about twenty persons, more than half of whom were 

 ^JJIJJ^' women and children. They brought a little oil, some skin dresses, and 

 tusks of the walrus, which they were desirous of exchanging for any trifle 

 we chose to give them. They had, also, a number of toys of various kinds, 

 such as canoes with their paddles, spears, and bows and arrows, all on a very 

 small scale. Many of the jackets of these people, and particularly those of 

 the females, were lined with the skins of birds, having the feathers inside ; 

 and they had, also, in the boat several other skins in a prepared state, 

 taken from the throat of the colymbus glacialis, which splendid bird, though 

 we had twice found its skin in possession of the Esquimaux, we had yet 

 not met with ourselves. 



Being desirous of ascertaining the time and direction of the tides, which 

 run strong between Nottingham Island and the northern land, the current 

 was tried several times to-day, about mid-channel, by a small boat moored 

 to the bottom, and found to set as follows : 



At 8 A.M., E.b.S., 1 mile per hour. 



— 9.40, E.b.S., -jV mile. 

 — 11.15, Slack (low ?) water. 



— Noon, W.N.W., 1| mile per hour. 



The wind backing to the southward in the afternoon, we had a fine run 

 along the land, and about ten P.M. had nearly lost sight of Nottingham 

 Island, being abreast of three small black-looking islands, which answer 

 to the Trinity Islands of Fox. Immediately to the westward of these, the 

 land trends very much to the northward, leading towards the "Farthest" 

 of that navigator ; so that, our business lying to the westward, and being 

 still favoured with a navigable sea and a fair breeze, we soon lost sight 

 of that shore altogether. Some dusky clouds, which appeared upon the 

 southern horizon this evening, were probably hanging over the Mill Islands. 

 After a run of forty miles, during the night, almost without seeing any 

 Thurs. 2. i ce > we came, on the morning of the 2d, to a body of it so closely "packed," 

 that Ave could make no further progress, while the masses [on the outer 

 edge were moving so rapidly in various directions, as to occasion us much 

 trouble and many violent blows before Ave could get clear of them. The 

 latitude observed at noon was 64° 59' 24", and the longitude, by chrono- 

 meters, 79° 40'. The soundings Avere one hundred and three fathoms, on 

 a bottom of hard rock and shells ; but the depth varied, very frequently and 



