Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/154

 we steered by compass for Flaxman Island, which we reached at 5 on the 20th. In crossing the mouth of Canning River, such was the strength of the current it emitted that the boat nearest the shore was turned almost round before the steersman had time to be on his guard. At the entrance of the bay which receives Staines' River we could distinguish through the haze a very large Esquimaux camp, being, in all probability, the western traders, on their way to meet the various parties we had passed. The ice was closely packed on the north side of Flaxman Island, but we passed unobserved by the natives through the channel that divides it from the mainland. Almost benumbed with cold, we landed to breakfast near Point Bullen. The weather again cleared up a little; and Mount Coplestone, the western termination of the Romanzoff chain, appeared through its robe of clouds. The ice became heavier as we advanced, obliging us to keep within the Lion and Reliance reefs ; and at 1 it entirely arrested our progress in Foggy Island Bay. We had scarcely landed, and secured the boats, when a violent north-east gale commenced, overspreading the sky with lurid clouds, and tossing the icy masses like foam upon the waves. The atmosphere cleared in the evening, but it continued to