Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/65

Rh emanate from himself; I will merely state here that no one moment has been lost by this indefatigable collector and observer. He has, moreover, by his genial and ready help on all occasions, won the friendship of all, and I feel confident that their Lordships will highly appreciate his valuable services. I am only doing him justice when I state that he has been to this Expedition what Sabine was to that under Sir Edward Parry."

This is good news for naturalists, and we look forward with pleasurable expectations to the appearance of Capt. Feilden's own account of his labours.

Meantime, on glancing through the Report before us, we do not fail to notice the occasional allusions which are made to the game and wild-fowl procured en route by the officers and crews of both vessels. In the neighbourhood of Hayes Sound the sportsmen discovered a richly vegetated valley, with numerous traces of Musk Oxen and other game (p. 10). Walrus Shoal, off Franklin Pierce Bay, and a mile to the eastward of Norman Lockyer Island, was so named from the numerous remains of Esquimaux found on the island, who, to judge by the number of bones lying about, had evidently subsisted principally on these animals. At present this neighbourhood may be considered as the northern limit of their migration, only a very few having been seen further to the north (p. 16).

Here the 'Discovery' made her winter quarters, and the 'Alert' pushed onward alone. The winter quarters of the latter vessel were established off Cape Sheridan, in the highest northern latitude ever yet reached by a ship. Capt. Nares' account of the situation, and of the long arctic winter, with its unparalleled intensity and duration of darkness for one hundred and forty-two days, is engrossing in the extreme.

The vicinity of the winter quarters of the 'Alert' "proved to be unfavoured by game."

"On our first arrival," says Capt. Nares (p. 48), "a few Ducks were seen and five shot; and during the winter and spring three Hares were