Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/146

 children. They received the usual presents, and informed us that there were five more men of their party hunting reindeer on the island. At 9 we landed on its extreme western point, from whence the sea, except close in-shore, appeared quite covered with ice. Clouds obscured the sky, and encircled the mountain tops; but from the north-west a golden gleam shot down upon the icy horizon. On the beach were found some bones of an enormous whale, probably stranded here, of which the skull measured eight feet in breadth. Another oomiak, containing a man and his family, came. to us shortly after we quitted the island. The evening was mild, with a gentle easterly breeze, before which we sailed all night, between the margin of the ice and the land.

At 10 in the forenoon of the 15th we halted to breakfast at Demarcation Point, where the lat. 69° 40′ 31″ N., and the variation 48° 23′ 10″ E., were observed. In the afternoon the breeze freshened, and we made rapid progress along and through the grounded ice; fragments of which, occasionally detaching themselves, plunged headlong into the sea with a noise rivalling the discharge of heavy artillery. Large flocks of white and brown ducks flew past us; many floes were covered with the noisy "cacawees;" while on