andy ground, which gave us the
softest, as well as the driest bed which we had yet experienced on
our journey, and which was situated close to a little hillock of
earth and moss, so full of the burrows of hares as to resemble a
warren. We tried to smoke them out by burning port-fire, but none
appeared; and it is remarkable, that though we constantly met with
the dung of these animals, especially in this place, where it
occurred very abundantly, we never saw one of them during the
journey. As soon as we had halted, we found that Mr. Reid's
knapsack had dropped off the cart; he had therefore to go back to
look for it, and did not return till eleven o'clock, being so much
affected by snow-blindness as to be scarcely able to see his way
to the tents. This circumstance was, sufficient to show the
advantage, and even the necessity, of travelling entirely by night
under these circumstances, the intense glare of light from the
snow during the day inevitably producing this painful irritation
in the eyes.

At a quarter past five P.M. we resumed our journey to the
southwest, and soon after crossed a snowy plain a mile and a
quarter in breadth, extending to the sea to the north, and as far
as the eye could reach to the south. Having travelled S.W.b.W.
seven miles, we halted, at half an hour before midnight, at the
distance of three or four miles from the sea, the weather being
very clear and fine, with a moderate breeze from the S.S.W.

Having rested after our dinner till half past two A.M., we set out
again to the southwest, making, however, a very crooked course on
account of the irregularity of the ground. In the first quarter of
a mile we passed the first running stream which we had seen this
season, and this was but a small one, from six to twelve inches
deep. The ground, as well as the pools of water, was frozen hard
during the last night, but thawed during the day, which made
travelling worse and worse, as the sun acquired power. We passed a
few horns of deer, killed three ptarmigans, and saw a pair of
ducks. The plumage of the cock grouse was still quite white,
except near the tip of the tail, where the feathers were of a fine
glossy black; but in every hen which we had lately killed, a very
perceptible alteration was apparent, even from day to day, and
their plumage had now nearly assumed that speckled colour which,
from its resemblance to that of the ground, is so admirably
adapted to preserve them from being seen at