334 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, the purpose of sounding and obtaining further information of Buckland 
Eiver, but returned on the 10 th, without having been able to effect it, 
1826 account of the hostile disposition of the natives, whom he met in the 
bay. \Fhen the small boat tvas detached from the barge, tliree baidars ap- 
proached her ; and their crews, consisting of between thirty and forty 
men, drew their knives and attempted to board her, and, on the whole, 
behaved in so daring and threatening a manner, that Mr. Elson fearing 
he should be compelled to resort to severe measures, if he proceeded 
with the examination of the river, desisted, and returned to the ship. 
This was the first instance of any decidedly hostile conduct of the 
natives in the sound, whose behaviour in general had left with us a 
favourable impression of the disposition of their tribe. The barge 
brought us down a valuable addition to our collection of fossils, the 
cliff having broken away considerably since the first specimens were 
obtained. 
On the 8 th, we had the misfortune to lose one of the marines, 
by dysentery and general inflammation of the abdomen. On the 
10 th, having selected a convenient spot for a grave, on the low point 
of Charaisso Island, his body was interred in the presence of almost all 
his shipmates, and a stone properly inscribed put up to mark the spot ; 
but the earth was replaced over the grave as evenly as possible, in 
order that no appearance of excavation might remain to attract the 
attention of the natives. 
We had hitherto remained in the sound, in the expectation of being 
able to wait till the end of October, the date named in my instructions ; 
but the great change that had recently occurred in the atmosphere, 
the departure of all the Esquimaux for their winter habitations, the 
migration of the birds, the frozen state of the lakes, and the gradual 
cooling down of the sea, were symptoms of approaching winter too ap- 
parent to be disregarded, and made it evident that the time was not far 
distant when it would be necessary to quit the anchorage, to avoid being 
stopped by the young ice. On every account I was anxious to remain 
until the above-mentioned period ; but as my instructions were peremp- 
tory in desiring me not to incur the risk of wintering, it was incumbent 
upon me seriously to consider how late the ship could remain without 
