Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/331

TO THE EASTWARD. southern coast of Victoria Land—by which that open sea might be attained, while the shores of the continent were yet environed by an impenetrable barrier of ice, as they were this season. Our portable canoe, which we had not had occasion to use, was buried in the sand at the foot of a huge round rock on the beach, and with lighter burdens we commenced retracing our steps. As we approached our encampment for the night, we had a capital deer-hunt, which ended in our dispatching a young buck in a small lake; and it was carnival time with us, for one evening at least. This was the last fine day that we enjoyed. During the remaining four occupied by our return to the boats, we had to face piercing north and westerly winds, with fog, snow, and rain, aggravated by hard frosts at night. Our march, through swamps, sand, stones, and streams, grew more and more laborious; and, being continually wet, we suffered much from the cold, for the shore did not yield sufficient fuel to dry our clothes at night. Sandpipers and other little birds lay dead in several places upon the beach, having apparently perished by the severity of the weather. We saw some herds of deer migrating southward: one magnificent buck marched before us, like a doomed victim, for two days, and was shot near our last encampment.