132 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



alike, that it requires the eye of an expe- 

 rienced hunter to distinguish them. The 

 largest killed by us did not exceed in weight 

 three hundred pounds. The flesh has a 

 musky disagreeable flavour, particularly 

 when the animal is lean, which, unfortu- 

 nately for us, was the case with all that we 

 now killed. 



During this day's march the river varied 

 in breadth from one hundred to two hundred 

 feet, and except in two open spaces, a very 

 strong current marked a deep descent the 

 whole way. It flows over a bed of gravel, 

 of which also its immediate banks are com- 

 posed. Near to our encampment it is 

 bounded by cliffs of fine sand, from one 

 hundred to two hundred feet high. Sandy 

 plains extend on a level with the summit of 

 these cliffs, and at the distance of six or 

 seven miles are terminated by ranges of 

 hills eight hundred or one thousand feet 

 high. The grass on these plains affords 

 excellent pasturage for the musk oxen, and 

 they generally abound here. The hunters 

 added two more to our stock in the course 



