Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/155

 blow with great fury. An immense herd of reindeer had recently passed, and we saw fresh foot-prints of the natives in pursuit. The country is a grassy flat, interspersed with little lakes well stocked with wild fowl; As on the burning sands of Egypt, the mirage sometimes converted the whole plain into the semblance of one vast sheet of water. The portion of the Rocky Mountains visible from the coast does not terminate, as conjectured by Sir John Franklin, with the Romanzoff chain. After a brief interval, another chain commences, less lofty perhaps, but equally picturesque; which, in honour of the distinguished officer whose discoveries we were following up, we named the Franklin Range.

On the 21st the storm raged fiercely, but we bore with patience the detention on witnessing the havoc made among the landward ice. A few miles out to sea, a continuous white line proclaimed it still unbroken. The beach was strewed with sea-wrack, amongst which we picked up some pieces of delicate branched sponge. An incredible number of seals were seen on the shores of this bay.

The gale continued during the 22nd, but with less violence. The morning was darkened by fog, and it was bitterly cold. At 7 we stood out, under close-reefed sails, for Point Anxiety.