448 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



June " m ^ was swoni anc * I^ainfiil', I determined on resting for the day, 

 which was warm but gloomy, the thaw proceeding very rapidly. With the 

 exception of saxifrage, I observed no plant in bloom, but the grasses and 

 mosses were shooting luxuriantly, and promised abundant provision to the 

 vast quantities of deer which we continually saw. In fact, such was their 

 number, that had we been employed as a shooting, instead of a travelling 

 party, we might have procured enough to supply both ships constantly, were 

 they not too distant for the conveyance of the venison. 



23. " The 23d was fine and very warm, which softened the snow so much that 

 the snow-shoes sank several inches at every step. Starting at five P.M., we 

 travelled for nine hours over the still deeply-covered plain, in order to reach 

 the point whence we had seen the ships ; we here found the valley quite 

 flooded, and the ravine beginning to run. While we were tenting, we saw a 

 fox prowling on a hill-side, and heard him for some hours after, in different 

 places, imitating the cry of the brent-goose. The night was cold, and we 

 felt it very sensibly after the most sultry day I ever remember to have seen 

 in this country ; our faces and hands smarted most severely and were much 



24. swollen by the scorching of the sun. The 24th was also a very hot clay, and 

 I found the country so universally flooded that I gave up all idea of proceed- 

 ing for Quilliam Creek, and determined during the night to make for the 

 ships. When the evening cooled we proceeded over the plain, and wading, 

 rather than walking, through deep snow and water for eight hours, arrived 



25. at four A.M. on the 25th at the sea-side, about eight miles to the south-west 

 of the ships. Here we gladly tented and rested ; Dunn killed a brown and 

 ash-coloured crane ( ardea canadiensis, Linn. J which pitched near us. 



26. " Starting at four A.M. on the 26th, we waded for eight hours to the 

 ships, and when amongst the hummocks, about a mile from the Hecla, were 

 so completely buried in the wet snow, that we were obliged to make a signal 

 for assistance, as we were too much fatigued to clear the sledge. A party 

 was sent, and with their help we arrived on board at noon. 



" We had now obtained sufficient proof that no passage was practicable 

 in a southerly direction to the sea, and had also learned by experience the 

 extreme difficulty of carrying a sledge over land, even with so fine a team of 

 dogs as mine. That some other way might be found to obtain a view of the 

 Western Sea, I was yet in hopes ; but it was not possible to pass over land 

 at this time, from the state in which the thawing had left the snow. A more 

 advanced period of the season might perhaps be more favourable ; but even 



