228 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



knew that we were going in that direction. Be this, however, as it may, it 

 was soon evident that they intended making the most of us while we re- 



Frid. 17. mained neighbours ; for on the 17th, though the weather was favourable and 

 they had no food of their own, they made no effort to procure any, except 

 from the ships, to which the women brought their ootkooseeks for bread-dust. 

 Though I objected to encouraging this, and told them we should give them 

 nothing if they did not also labour for themselves, they were all such 

 favourites with our people, that 1 believe they found it answer very well; 

 contriving not only to get plenty of food, but also a number of useful presents. 

 They made, indeed, some return for this, by the usual barter of mittens, of 

 which our people were now furnished with an abundant supply. 



A great deal of snow fell in the course of the last two days, and our un- 

 fortunate gardens were once more buried beneath it. On the evening of the 

 16th, something like small rain was falling for a few minutes, being the first 

 we had seen this season ; but it soon assumed the less equivocal form of 

 sleet, the thermometer being at 31°. 



Sat. 18. The observations on the rise and fall of the tide had been constantly made 

 and registered throughout the winter, and were continued till the ships were 

 ready for sea *. This part of the phenomenon we were, therefore, well ac- 

 quainted with, and had found it very regular. In the set of the tides, how- 

 ever, (the most perplexing question, in my opinion, which the navigator in 

 an unknown sea has to solve,) we found much greater difficulty to obtain the 

 desired information. The sea having been occasionally open for days to- 

 gether, it could not be said that, even during the winter, opportunities did 

 not occur of settling this point — at least of making observations on the di- 

 rection of the current, with reference to the times of high and low water by 

 the shore. Notwithstanding this, however, it was impossible to discover 

 from our register any thing like that regularity in the set of the stream which, 

 with so considerable a rise of tide, (amounting at the equinox to nearly six- 

 teen feet,) is observed in other parts of the world. Our former experience 

 had, indeed, taught us to expect that some irregularity would be produced 

 by the influence of the winds, which here, in a degree unknown in any but 

 the icy seas, tend immediately to produce a superficial current in the water, 

 and consequently to set in motion any floating body, by which a mark may 

 be taken, in order to observe the direction of the stream. Even this, how- 



See the Tide-table in the Appendix. 



