188 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
Captain Ross; and it is not improbable but it 
had a similar origin. The state and situation in 
which it was found, indicated that it had not been 
long out of use. It was found lying in a little 
cavity of the rock, where we first landed, in a 
pool of sea-water; yet it was not greatly corroded 
by rust. On the contrary, it was so little acted 
upon, that it did not seem to have lain many 
months. 
Scarcely any birds were seen on the shore, 
though there were abundance of roaches, dovecas, 
and some eider-ducks in the water. I only ob¬ 
served an arctic gull, and two small birds (one 
resembling a wag-tail and the other a red-pole) 
during the whole excursion. Numbers of winged 
insects, however, were met with, particularly on 
the hills among the stones. These consisted of 
several species of butterflies, with bees, and mus- 
quitoes ! Near the beach were several plants in 
flower, with a few that were farther advanced, 
and in a state of fructification. I obtained beau¬ 
tiful specimens of Ranunculus nivalis and An¬ 
dromeda tetragona, two or three species of Saxi- 
fraga, Epilobium latifolium, Potcntilla verna, 
&c. with the Cochlearia anglica, Rumex digynus, 
and a species of Salix. The latter was the 
only arborous plant met with. This willow ex¬ 
pands to the extent of three or four feet, or more, 
