M., having beat up within five or six miles of the
entrance of the strait, and being anxious to sound the channel,
which appeared narrow, but without any ice in it to offer us
obstruction, I left the ship in the gig, accompanied by Mr. Ross,
for this purpose.
The part of Southampton Island on which we landed is about a
thousand feet high, and composed of gneiss. Every here and there
along the shore, between the projecting points of rocks, is a
small cove or bay, having a beach composed of small pieces of
limestone, which make the water almost as white as milk. Landing
in one of these coves, we carried the boat above high-water mark;
and making a tent of her sail, lay very comfortably during the
night. When the boat first touched the beach, we observed an
innumerable quantity of the little fish called sillocks swimming
about, several of which were killed by the boat-hooks or taken in
the hand. A great number of white whales, seals, and narwhals were
also playing about near the beach during the night. The white
whales were the most numerous; the noise these animals made
resembled a hoarse, low-toned barking more than any other to which
I can compare it; and we remarked that their colour was whiter
than any we had before seen.
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