self or family, and that for days
together; yet he is under no apprehension from his enemies, and enjoys
his night's rest undisturbed; whereas, the warrior of the plain, while
he revels in abundance, seldom retires to rest without apprehension;
the hostile yell may, in fact, rouse him from his midnight slumber,
either to be butchered himself, or to hear the dying groans of his
family while he escapes. Thus chequered is the life of man with good
and evil in every condition, whether civilized or savage.

Every preparation for our departure being now completed, I took leave
of Fort York, its fogs, and bogs, and mosquitoes, with little regret.
We embarked on the 22d of August, in a brig that had fortunately
escaped the mishaps of the other vessels last autumn; and after being
delayed in port by adverse winds till the 26th, we finally stood out
to sea, having spoken the Prince Rupert just come in. The fields of
ice, that had been observed a few days previously, having now entirely
disappeared, the captain concluded that the passage was clear for him,
and accordingly steered for the south. He had not proceeded far in
this direction, however, when we fell in with such quantities of ice
as to interrupt our passage; but we still continued to force our
way through. Convinced at length of the futility of the attempt,
we altered our course to a directly opposite point, standing to the
north, until we came abreast of Churchill, and then bore away for
the strait, making Mansfield Island on the 7th of September. We
encountered much stream ice on our passage, from which no material
injury was sustained; although the continual knocking of our rather
frail vessel against the ice created a good deal of alarm, from the
effect the collision produced, shaking her violently from stem to
stern.

We were thus passing rapidly through the straits without experiencing
any accident worthy of notice, when I inquired of our captain, one
evening, how soon he expected to make the Island of Akpatok. He
replied, "To-morrow morning about nine o'clock." We retired to rest
about ten, P.M., and I had not yet fallen asleep, when I heard
an unusual bustle on deck, and one of the men rushing down to the
captain's room to call him up. I instantly dressed and went on
deck, where I soon learned the cause;--a dark object, scarcely
distinguishable through the fog and gloom of night, was pointed out
to me on our lee beam, two cable-lengths distant, on which we had