Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/325

Rh to six feet thick, but no icebergs were anywhere to be seen. I hoped, from this strong evidence of winds and tides, that we were not engaged in exploring a bay; though the northern land still stretched out before us, appearing in some places scarcely twenty miles distant. We found to-day the bones of a large whale and the skull of a Polar bear, and sea-wrack and shells strewed the beach. No deer were seen, but the recent print of their hoofs often appeared in the sand. In the afternoon we passed, at a distance of six miles, the conspicuous hill mentioned yesterday. It is about six hundred feet high, and received the name of Mount George, after my respected relative, Governor Simpson. Drift wood was become so scarce that we made a practice of picking up every piece we could find, an hour or two before camping-time, to prepare our supper and breakfast. Some of the men's legs were much swelled and inflamed this evening from the fatigue of their burdens, the inequalities of the ground, and the constant immersion in icy-cold water. The tide fell sixteen or eighteen inches during our stay at Point Ballenden; but, as it had been subsiding for some time previously, I think the whole rise and fall must exceed two feet. Strong new ice formed in every open spot during the calm of the night.