11 
Bylot island and Ponds inlet, arriving July 30, moving north to Dundas 
harbour, Devon island, July 31. After some delays on account of ice in 
Smith sound, the vessel reached Buchanan bay, but was stopped a short 
distance from Bache Peninsula port, and was ultimately compelled to 
unload the supplies at the sub-station at Fram Havn. Moving southward 
the ship crossed to Greenland again, landing some Eskimos at Nerq settle- 
ment south of Etah on August 7, and also touched at Hakluyt island in 
Smith sound the same day. August 8 to 11 were spent in taking aboard 
supplies from Craig harbour, south side of Ellesmere island, to be dis- 
tributed to other ports. The Beothic then crossed Jones sound to Sparbo, 
Devon island, where a small herd of musk-oxen was located and motion 
pictures taken. A second stop was made at Dundas harbour on August 
13, and continuing up Lancaster sound to Beechey island, a cache was estab- 
lished for the winter patrol of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ponds 
inlet was again visited August 15 by going through Navy Board inlet. A 
short stop was made at Clyde river, northeastern Baffin island, and a 
longer stop at Pangnirtung, Cumberland sound. The next port was Lake 
Harbour, on southern coast of Baffin island, which was reached on August 
25. Crossing Hudson strait, the Beothic stopped at Port Burwell August 
27-28, and running down the Labrador coast without incident of note, 
arrived at North Sydney on September 2, after an absence of forty-five 
days, and logging about 6,500 miles. Of the 255 hours available at fourteen 
ports some were lost on account of bad weather and darkness during the 
latter part of the trip, but fair collections were made, including 108 birds, 
19 mammals, a small number of fishes and other forms of life, as well as 
many photographs. The past year or two have been notable for a shortage 
of all the smaller mammals in the eastern Arctic, particularly hares and 
lemmings, and the white and blue foxes, which constitute almost the 
whole fur trade of this region, have also been very scarce. The birds of 
prey were also reported to be very scarce, and the observers on the Beothic 
did not see a single snowy owl, gyrfalcon, or large hawk during the trip. 
A female narwhal was killed in Buchanan bay and the complete skeleton 
preserved for the Museum. 
The expedition had the rare opportunity of seeing from the ship’s 
deck a small herd of musk-oxen on the north coast of Devon island, and 
still and motion pictures were taken by members of the landing party 
after two bulls had been brought to bay by an Eskimo with one dog, illus- 
trating the ease with which this now rare animal is hunted. A very import- 
ant part of the work consisted in getting data concerning the range of the 
different species of mammals, and much first-hand information was obtained 
from traders at the different posts, many of whom had been stationed at 
other remote posts not visited on this trip. The various members of the 
Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachments, visited at seven different 
posts, gave much information on the occurrence of big game, sea mammals, 
and bird life in their districts, supplementing this with data on the life of 
the intervening country which is covered by their lengthy patrols, and 
several members of the force have made valuable collections for the National 
Museum. The present range and relative abundance of the barren ground 
caribou, Peary caribou, musk-ox, Atlantic walrus, narwhal, white whale, 
ringed seal, harbour seal, harp seal, bearded seal, hooded seal, and other 
species were checked and revised. 
89917—3 
