half hours, and gaining a mile and a half
distance, we were again forced to take shelter.

The fifteenth was very beautiful, with a
temperature of only eight degrees below zero.
The heavy fall of snow had made the walking
and sledge-hauling worse than before. It was
impossible to keep a straight course, and we
had to turn much out of our way, so as to
select the hardest drift banks. After advancing
several miles, we fortunately reached a
large lake containing a number of islands, on
one of which I noticed an old Esquimaux
tent site. The fresh footmarks of a partridge
(Tetrao rupestris) were also seen, being the
only signs of living thing (a few tracks of
foxes excepted) that we had observed since
commencing the traverse of this dreary waste
of snow-clad country. To the lake above
mentioned, and to those seen previously, the
name of Barrow was given, as a mark of
respect to John Barrow, Esquire, of the
Admiralty; whose zeal in promoting, and
liberality in supporting, many of the expeditions
to the Arctic Sea are too well known to
require any comment, further than that he
presented a very valuable Halkett's boat for
the service of my party, which unfortunately
by some irregularity in the railway baggage
trains between London and Liverpool did not
reach the latter place in time for the steamer,
although sent from London some days before.
Our snow hut was built on the edge of a
small lake in latitude sixty-eight degrees
thirty-one minutes thirty-eight seconds north,
longitude eighty-nine degrees eleven minutes
fifty-five seconds west, variation of
compass eighty-three degrees thirty minutes
west.

The difficulties of walking were somewhat
diminished on the sixteenth by a
fresh breeze of wind, which drifted the snow
off the higher ground, and we were enabled
to make a fair day's journey. Early on the
seventeenth we reached the shore of Pelly
Bay, but had barely got a view of its rugged
ice covering before a dense fog came on. We
had to steer by compass for a large rocky
island, some miles to the westward; and we
stopped on an islet near its east shore until
the fog cleared away. This luckily
happened some time before noon, and afforded
an opportunity of obtaining observations,
the results of which were latitude sixty-
eight degrees forty-four minutes fifty-three
seconds north, longitude by chronometer
eighty-nine degrees thirty-four minutes forty-
seven seconds west, and variation eighty-four
degrees twenty minutes west.

Even on the ice we found the snow soft
and deep, a most unusual circumstance. The
many detentions I had met with caused me
now, instead of making for the Castor and
Pollux River, to attempt a direct course
towards the magnetic pole, should the land
west of the bay be smooth enough for travelling
over. The large island west of us was so
rugged and steep that there was no crossing
it with sledges; we therefore travelled along
its shores to the northward, and stopped for
the night within a few miles of the northern
extremity. The track of an Esquimaux
sledge drawn by dogs was observed to-day,
but it was of old date.

The morning of the eighteenth was very
foggy; but after rounding the north point
of the island it became clear, and we
travelled due west, or very nearly so, until
within three miles of the west shore of the
bay, which presented an appearance so rocky
and mountainous, that it was evident we
could not traverse it without loss of time.
As the country towards the head of the bay
looked more level, I turned to the southward,
and, after a circuitous walk of more than
sixteen miles, we built our snow house on
the ice, five miles from shore. Many old
traces of Esquimaux were seen on the ice
to-day.

On the nineteenth we continued travelling
southward, and our day's journey (about
equal to that of yesterday) terminated near
the head of the bay.

Twentieth of April. The fresh footmarks
of Esquimaux, with a sledge, having
been seen yesterday on the ice within a short
distance of our resting-place, the interpreter
and one man were sent to look for them, the
other two being employed in hunting and
collecting fuel, whilst I obtained excellent
observations, the results of which were
latitude sixty-eight degrees twenty-eight
minutes twenty-nine seconds north, longi-
tude by chronometer ninety degrees eighteen
minutes thirty-two seconds west, variation of
compass ninety-eight degrees thirty minutes
west. The latter is apparently erroneous,
probably caused by much local attraction.

After an absence of eleven hours the men
sent in search of Esquimaux returned in
company with seventeen natives (five of
whom were women), and several of them
had been at Repulse Bay when I was there
in eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Most
of the others had never before seen " whites,"
and were extremely forward and troublesome.
They would give us no information
on which any reliance could be placed, and
none of them would consent to accompany
us for a day or two, although I promised to
reward them liberally.

Apparently, there was a great objection
to our travelling across the country in a
westerly direction. Finding that it was their
object to puzzle the interpreter and mislead
us, I declined purchasing more than a small
piece of seal from them, and sent them away
—not, however, without some difficulty, as
they lingered about with the hope of stealing
something; and, notwithstanding our
vigilance, succeeded in abstracting from one of
the sledges a few pounds of biscuit and
grease.

The morning of the twenty-first was
extremely fine; and at three A.M. we started