Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/205

 Elson. We resumed our route early in the afternoon; and, it having fallen nearly calm, we made slow progress compared with yesterday's boisterous career. The reefs were denuded of the ice from which we had incurred so many risks before; and the water on the shallows was but slightly brackish, in consequence either of the melting of so large a body of ice, or, what is more probable, from the influx of a river of some magnitude in Yarborough Inlet. At a quarter to 10, just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, we landed near Point Anxiety. Numerous boulders of granite strewed the beach. On the level of the plain the ground was rent into enormous fissures by the frost, and large portions of the banks seemed to be constantly falling into the sea and adding to the shallows. Two large buck deer galloped past us, looking in the twilight, with their huge antlers, like goblin huntsmen on horseback. A westerly breeze opportunely springing up, we set our sails, and pursued our voyage all night.

10th.—The wind increased, and we ran along rapidly; passing outside the Lion and Reliance Reefs, and inside of Flaxman Island, where we again encountered the ice. At 11 we landed to breakfast on a reef opposite Mount Coplestone, where the lat. 70° 9′ 8″ was observed.