Notice of Captain Paery’s Voyage of Discovery . 15S 
from the entrance of Lancaster Sound to Melville Island, the 
land became gradually lower and less rugged, till, from lofty 
and peaked summits, it became gently undulated. * 
Vegetables of various descriptions were collected on Melville 
Island, and we observed in a small collection, specimens of 
twenty-two different genera, of which the following is a partial list. 
1. Festuca?? 14. Draba alpina 
2. Koeleria of Persoon. alpina certainly. 
3. Arundo capitatundL, Smith. stellata^ Fl.Dan. 1. 142. 
Scheuchzeri of Persoon. the nivalis of Wil*' 
4. Rumex digynus. denow. 
5. Andromeda tetragona. 15. Cochlearia. 
6. Silene. l6. Iberis.^^? 
7. Saxifraga petraea. I her is ? 
bulbifera, Fb Dan. 17- Astragalus. 
T. S 90 . 18. Salix;, several species. 
8. Cerastium. 19* Silene. 
9 . Potentilla. 20. Rhodiola rosea. 
10. Dryas integrifolia of Persoon. 21. Fontinalis squamosa, 
11. Papaver nudicaule. 22. Lichen nivalis. 
12. Ranunculus nivalis. Lichen ? 
13. Pedicularis hirsuta. 
Vegetation was marvellously rapid, and some seeds brought 
from England, planted in Melville Island, were soon above 
ground. Shells of different kinds, various crustaceons animals, 
and many of the smaller corals and coralines were collected on the 
shores of this island. Few fishes were seen during the expedition j 
but considerable variety of the feathered tribe, and, amongst 
others, the owl, ptarmigan, arctic gull, glaucous gull, and that 
beautiful species, the king-duck, were killed in Melville Island. 
In the same quarter, we are informed, that the bear, arctic fox, 
hare, musk-ox, wolf and rein-deer, were not uncommon, and 
that a species of mouse was observed to change its fur from 
a brown to a pure white colour. No natives were met with in 
any of the newly discovered lands, but in Melville Island re* 
mains of huts were noticed by Mr Fisher, the assistant surgeon 
of the Hecla, and some others of the party who accompanied 
Captain Parry across the island. 
On the return of the party, the ice in Winter Harbour was 
rapidly dissolving, and by the end of J uly it had entirely dis* 
appeared. Yet the ships were still blocked up by the exterior 
ice. It was not until the 30th that the outside it;e began to 
