SECOND VOYAGE OP DISCOVERY. 



389 



of the polar regions we have yet visited, a southerly or easterly wind occa- ^ 1S ^ 3 - 

 sioned a rise in the thermometer, while the greatest cold was always expe- ^->J 

 rienced with the wind in the opposite quarters. 



On the 1st of January the star Capella could be kept sight of with the Wed. 1, 

 naked eye till half an hour before noon, the weather being remarkably clear and 

 fine. On the 5th, the sky looked so red towards noon that we were induced Sun. 5.. 

 to look out for the sun from the masthead, but without success, though we 

 could not help fancying every moment that it was about to burst above the 

 horizon. After this the sky was so constantly overcast for a fortnight, that 

 we did not obtain a sight of it. In the first week of January, the proportion 

 of coals for the main-hatchway stoves was increased to five pecks per day, or 

 the quantity for which they were expressly constructed. This proportion of 

 fuel, which was now expended for the first time since leaving England, 

 was continued for eleven weeks, or till towards the end of March ; after which 

 the expenditure of coals for this apparatus was gradually diminished, and it 

 was permanently discontinued for the season on the 10th of June. About Mon. 6. 

 this time some more of the Esquimaux shifted their quarters from Igloolik to 

 the ice, leaving the permanent huts upon the island now deserted by about 

 one-half their inhabitants. 



On the 19th, the weather having at length cleared up, we were once more Sun. 19.. 

 gratified with tt sight of the sun, and numerous parties of walkers were seen 

 in various parts of the bay, enjoying the novelty and splendour of this cheer- 

 ing and glorious sight. A parhelion also appeared on each side of the sun ; 

 and exactly opposite to it near the northern horizon was a large circular 

 patch of white light, precisely similar to that described on the 16th of No- 

 vember. The Esquimaux who were at the ships to-day before the sun rose, 

 particularly said that we should see it, and apparently with great confi- 

 dence. It is certain however that on this occasion no sun-dance took place, 

 nor any other festivity of the kind described by Crantz * ; their only expres- 

 sion of satisfaction at this event being of the same general nature as our own. 



About this time the accounts from the huts, as well from the Esquimaux as Tues. 21. 

 from our own people, concurred in stating that the number of the sick, as 

 well as the seriousness of their complaints, was rapidly increasing there. We 

 had indeed scarcely heard of the illness of a woman named Kei-moo-seuk, 

 who it seemed had lately miscarried, when an account arrived of her death. 



* Crantz, I. 76 



