LITTLETON ISLAND. 
317 
with water-pools. Our sledge broke down with re¬ 
peated strainings, and we had a fatiguing walk of thirty- 
six miles to get another. We passed the first night 
wet and supperless on the rocks; a bad beginning, for 
the next day found us stiff and out of sorts. 
The ice continued troublesome, the land-ices swajdng 
hither and thither with the tide. The second day’s 
progress, little as it was, cost us very hard labor. But 
another night of repose on the rocks refreshed us; so 
that, the day after, we were able to make about seven 
miles along the ice-belt. Two days more, and we had 
carried the boat across twenty miles of heavy ice-floe, 
and launched her in open water. It was not far from 
the hut on Esquimaux Point. 
The straits were much clogged with drift, but I 
followed the coast southward without difficulty. We 
travelled at night, resting when the sun was hottest. 
I had every reason to be pleased with the performance 
of the whaleboat, and the men kept up their spirits 
well. We landed at the point where we left our life¬ 
boat a year ago, and to our great joy found it un¬ 
touched : the cove and inlet were still fast in ice. 
We now neared the Littleton Island of Captain 
Inglefield, where a piece of good fortune awaited us. 
We saw a number of ducks, both eiders and hareldas; 
and it occurred to me that by tracking their flight we 
should reach their breeding-grounds. There was no 
trouble in doing so, for they flew in a bee-line to a 
group of rocky islets, above which the whole horizon was 
studded with birds. A rugged little ledge, which I 
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