Voyage to Davis Straits . 81 $ 
They are seldom or never taken, although it is said they yield 
a considerable quantity of very pure oil. 
Here were a great many Little Auks, ( Alca alle ). They live 
together in large flocks, feeding on shrimps, and fly very swiftly 
along the surface of the water, keeping always near the ice. 
The feet are placed far behind the centre of gravity, which en- 
ables them to swim and dive with great rapidity. 
At the edge of the west ice we remained for a few days, 
without seeing any thing remarkable. On the 1 5th we killed a 
whale ; and having continued for some days longer about the 
same latitude (68°), without a prospect of farther success, we 
made the best of our way to the northward. On the 25th we 
were in Lat. 70° 6', off the north end of Disko Island. About 
twenty miles to the NE. we could plainly discern Hare Island ; 
but a cross bar of ice prevented us from penetrating farther in 
that direction. 
It frequently happens that the summer is pretty far spent be- 
fore a passage can be effected to the northward of Hare Island. 
This difficulty is occasioned by a range of icebergs, extending 
across the Straits, which, opposing different points of resistance 
to the floes, holds them for a long time in the situation in which 
they were originally formed. These floes or ice-fields, which 
are of annual formation, will, for a longer or shorter time, with- 
stand the action of the waves, in proportion to their thickness 
and solidity, which will depend upon the mildness or severity of 
the preceding winter. The numerous icebergs which are per- 
manent, are here rendered stationary, plainly indicating a less 
considerable depth of water, more especially as they are so ar- 
ranged that the direction of the ground on which they are 
stranded can be easily traced. 
Our progress to the northward being thus obstructed, we re- 
moved two degrees to the southward, in hopes of falling in with 
whales ; but nothing remarkable having occurred, we made a 
second attempt to get to the northward, which proving as in- 
effectual as the former, we again returned to the southward. 
At the West Ice, abreast of Disko Bay, in Lat. 68° 88', we saw 
many whales, three of which fell to our share. On one of them 
was found a great number of crustaceous insects, adhering tQ 
the skin by their hooked claws. 
