1823. 460 SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



when I mention that of several masses of ice one in particular was above 

 eight feet thick, full forty yards in circumference, and lay more than five 

 hundred yards from the pool. No traces could be found of the manner in 

 which these bodies had been transported, as not a single small fragment was 

 seen lying about, to warrant the supposition that they had fallen with a 

 shock. Neither were there any marks observable on the smooth un- 

 cracked floe to cause a suspicion that they had slidden over it, the general 

 appearance of the floe at this place being the same as at all other parts of the 

 inlet, and bearing no marks of having had any rush of water over it." 

 Frid.18. The ducks having now nearly deserted the neighbourhood of Arlagnuk, 

 and the travelling there becoming inconvenient for sledges, our shooting-party 

 was removed to Igloolik and shortly after recalled on board. The number 

 of ducks procured by both ships during this part of the season was about 

 nine hundred, of which above two-thirds were king-ducks, and by far the 

 greater part of the rest, of the long-tailed species. The weather was now, 

 at times extremely sultry, bringing out swarms of mosquitoes that soon 

 became very troublesome even on board the ship. A thermometer sus- 

 pended in the middle of the observatory and exposed to the sun's rays, was 

 observed by Mr. Fisher to stand at 92° at five P.M. on the 18th. 

 Sat. 19. On the 19th Captain Lyon returned from Quilliam Creek, bringing with 

 him the whole of our party stationed there, the ice being now so broken up 

 in that neighbourhood as to render the fishing dangerous without proper boats. 

 On this journey, which it took two days to perform, eleven dogs drew a 

 weight of two thousand and fifty pounds, of which six hundred and forty 

 were salmon, and ninety-five venison, procured by our people. The fish 

 had all been caught in the trawl ; and treble the quantity might easily have 

 been taken with a seine had we known how wide the mouth of the stream 

 was to become. They varied in length from twenty to twenty-six inches, 

 and one of the largest, when cleaned, weighed eight pounds and a half; but 

 their average weight in this state did not exceed two pounds and a quarter. 

 The distance of the fishing-place from the ships, the dangerous state of the 

 ice, and the soreness of the dogs' feet from travelling on the rough honey- 

 combed ice, prevented our taking any further advantage of this very accept- 

 able change of diet. 



The following remarks made by Captain Lyon, during his late excursion, 

 furnishes some information of considerable interest to naturalists. " I had 

 in the course of my walks several opportunities of observing the nests of 



