OF A NORTH WEST PASSAGE. 
173 
summer. This was further confirmed by Mr. Beverly having on the 13th 
killed a male ptarmigan, and by another being seen on the following day, as 
well as the first tracks of rein-deer and musk-oxen, which indicated their 
route to be directly to the northward. The time of the return of these 
animals to Melville Island, from the continent, is thus satisfactorily ascer- 
tained; and it was suggested by Captain Sabine, as a circumstance worthy 
of remark, that the period of their migration had occurred with the first fine 
weather which took place after the commencement of constant day-light. 
In examining the seeds and small buds contained in the maw of the bird killed 
by Mr. Beverly, they were found to consist entirely of the native plants of the 
island, and principally those of the dwarf- willow, so that the bird had perhaps 
arrived a day or two before that time. On the 15th, two or three coveys 
of ptarmigan were seen, after which they became more and more numerous, 
and a brace or two were almost daily procured for the sick, for whose use 
they were exclusively reserved. As it was of the utmost importance, under 
our present circumstances, that every ounce of game which we might thus 
procure, should be served in lieu of the other meat, I now renewed the 
orders formerly given, and which afterwards obtained among us the name 
of “ game-laws,” that every animal killed was to be considered as public 
property ; and, as such, to be regularly issued like any other kind of pro- 
vision, without the slightest distinction between the messes of the officers 
and those of the ships’ companies. 
Some of our men, having, in the course of their shooting excursions, been 
exposed for several hours to the glare of the sun and snow, returned at 
night, much affected with that painful inflammation in the eyes, occasioned 
by the reflection of intense light from the snow, aided by the warmth of 
the sun, and called in America, “ snow-blindness.” This complaint, of 
which the sensation exactly resembles that produced by large particles of 
sand or dust in the eyes, is cured by some tribes of American Indians, by 
holding them over the steam of warm water ; but we found a cooling wash, 
made of a small quantity of acetate of lead mixed with cold water, more 
efficacious in relieving the irritation, which was always done in three or 
four days, even in the most severe cases, provided the eyes were carefully 
guarded from the light. As a preventive of this complaint, a piece of black 
crape was given to each man, to be worn as a kind of short veil attached to 
the hat, which we found to be very serviceable; a still more convenient 
mode, adopted by some of the officers, was found equally efficacious ; this 
1820 . 
May. 
