OF THE POLAR SEA. 



181 



compact body, leaving a channel between 

 its edge and the main of about three miles. 

 The water in this channel was of a clear 

 green colour, and decidedly salt. Mr. 

 Hearne could have tasted it only at the 

 mouth of the river, when he pronounced it 

 merely brackish. A rise and fall of four 

 inches in the water was observed. The 

 shore is strewed with a considerable quan- 

 tity of drift timber, principally of the popu- 

 lus balsamifera, but none of it of great size. 

 We also picked up some decayed wood far 

 out of the reach of the water. A few 

 stunted willows were growing near the en- 

 campment. Some ducks, gulls, and par- 

 tridges were seen this day. As I had to 

 make up despatches for England to be 

 sent by Mr. Wentzel, the nets were set in 

 the interim, and we were rejoiced to find 

 that they produced sufficient fish for the 

 party. Those caught were, the Copper-Mine 

 River salmon, white fish, and two species 

 of pleuronectes. We felt a considerable 

 change of temperature on reaching the sea- 

 coast, produced by the winds changing from 



