OF THE POLAR SEA. 



399 



pounds, and with this we advanced at the rate of about a mile an 

 hour, including rests. In the evening the hunters killed a lean cow, 

 out of a large drove of musk-oxen ; but the men were too much 

 laden to carry more than a small portion of its flesh. The alluvial 

 soil, which towards the mouth of the river spreads into plains, 

 covered with grass and willows, was now giving place to a more 

 barren and hilly country ; so that we could but just collect sufficient 

 brush wood to cook our suppers. The part of the river we skirted 

 to-day was shallow, and flowed over a bed of sand ; its width about 

 one hundred and twenty, yards. About midnight our tent was blown 

 down by a squall, and we were completely drenched with rain before 

 it could be re-pitched. 



In the morning of the 1st of September a fall of snow took 

 place; the canoes became a cause of delay, by the difficulty of 

 carrying them in a high wind, and they sustained much damage 

 from the falls of those who had charge of them. The face of the 

 country was broken by hills of moderate elevation, but the ground 

 Was plentifully strewed with small stones, which, to men bearing 

 heavy burthens, and whose feet were protected only by soft moose 

 skin shoes, occasioned great pain. At the end of eleven miles we 

 encamped, and sent for a musk-ox and a deer, which St. Germain 

 and Augustus had killed. The day was extremely cold, the ther- 

 mometer varying between 34° and 36°. In the afternoon a heavy 

 fall of snow took place, on the wind changing from north-west to 

 south-west. We found no wood at the encampment, but made a 

 fire of moss to cook the supper, and crept under our blankets for 

 warmth. At sun-rise the thermometer was at 31°, and the wind 

 fresh from north-west ; but the weather became mild in the course 

 of the forenoon, and the snow disappeared from the gravel. The 

 afternoon was remarkably fine, and the thermometer rose to 50°. 

 One of the hunters killed a musk-ox. The hills in this part are 



