OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
239 
a constant state of anxiety, lest the ice should come in, but it gave us no 1820. 
disturbance. A few hares were brought in by our sportsmen, and a dovekey 
was seen, being the first for this season. 
On the morning of the 9th, a musk-ox came down to graze on the beach, Wed. 9. 
near the ships. A party was despatched in pursuit, and having hemmed him 
in under the hill, which was too steep for him to ascend, succeeded in killing 
him. When first brought on board, the inside of this animal, which was a 
male, smelt very strongly of musk, of which the whole of the meat also 
tasted, more or less, and especially the heart. A description of this animal 
being given in the Appendix, I shall only add respecting it, that it furnished 
us with four hundred and twenty-one pounds of beef, which was served 
to the crews as usual, in lieu of their salt provisions, and was very much 
relished by us, notwithstanding the peculiarity of its flavour*. The meat was 
remarkably fat, and, as it hung up in quarters, looked as fine as any beef in 
an English market. A small seal, (Phoca Vitulina), killed by the Griper’s 
people, was also eaten by them; and it was generally allowed to be very 
tender and palatable, though not very sightly in its appearance, being of a 
disagreeable red colour. 
In the morning-watch, a breeze sprung up from the westward, which we 
were always ready to welcome, having found that it invariably served to open 
the ice, while an easterly wind as constantly made it closer. This was, 
however, of short duration, being succeeded soon after noon by a light air 
from the south-east, which brought all the loose ice into our bight. At half- 
past three P.M., a large piece of a very heavy floe came close to us, and 
would have given us a “ nip” against the shore, had we not avoided it by 
heaving the ship a few yards a-head in good time. It was then brought up by 
the point of land, and remained quietly half a cable’s length astern of us, there 
not being room for it to drift farther to the westward between the point and an 
enormous floe which blocked up the passage to the southward and westward. 
At ten P.M.,the whole body of ice which was then a quarter of a mile from 
us, was found to be drifting in upon the land, and the ship was warped back 
a little way to the westward, towards that part of the shore, which was 
most favourable for allowing her to be forced up on the beach. At eleven 
* Some pieces of this meat, which we brought to England, were found to have acquired 
a much more disagreeable flavour than when first killed, though they had not undergone 
putrefaction in the slightest degree. 
