316 
APPENDIX NO. II. 
upon tlie daily routine. We had perpetual daylight; but it was iny rule, 
rarely broken even by extreme necessity, not to enter upon the labors 
of a day until we were fully refreshed from those of the day before. 
We halted regularly at bedtime and for meals. The boats, if afloat, 
were drawn up, the oars always disposed oil the ice as a platform for 
the stores; our buffalo-skins were spread, each man placed himself 
with his pack according to his number, the cook for the day made 
his fire, and the ration, however scanty, was formally measured out. 
Prayers were never intermitted. I believe firmly that to these well- 
sustained observances we are largely indebted for our final escape. 
As we moved onward, we were forced to rely principally on our guns 
for a supply of food. We suffered, when off the coast immediately 
north of Wostenliolm Sound, from a scarcity of game, and were sub¬ 
jected to serious sickness in consequence. But at Dalrymplc Island, 
a little farther south, we recruited rapidly on eggs of the eider-duck; 
and from this point to Conical Rock wc found birds in abundaucc. 
Again, at the most uncertain period of our passage, when our stock of 
provisions was nearly exhausted, we were suddenly arrested in our 
course by high and rugged land-ice, which hugged a glacier near Cape 
Dudley Digges. We were too weak to drag our boats over this barrier, 
and were driverf in consequence to land under the cliffs. To our joyful 
surprise, we found them teeming with animal life. This transition 
from enfeebling want to the plenty which restored our strength, we 
attributed to the direct interposition of Providence. The lumme 
(Urise, Brunichii, and Troile) was the fowl which we here found in 
greatest numbers. We dried upon the rocks about two hundred 
pounds of its meat, which we carefully saved for the transit of 
Melville Bay. 
The rest of the coast, except under the glaciers, was followed with 
less difficulty. We found peat of good quality, and plenty of food. 
Our daily allowance of birds was twelve to a man. They were boiled 
into a rich soup, to which we added a carefully-measured allowance of 
six ounces of bread. 
On the 21st wo reached Cape York, and, finding no natives, made 
immediate preparations for crossing Melville Bay. An extended view 
showed the land-ice nearly unbroken, and a large drift of pack to the 
southward and westward. A beacon-cairn was built, and strips of red 
flannel fastened to a flagstaff so placed as to attract the attention of 
whalers or searching-parties. I deposited here a notice of our future 
intentions, a list of our provisions on hand, and a short summary of 
the discoveries of the cruise. 
