uimaux were as inquisitive as the others we had seen respecting
our names, and were very desirous of teaching us the true pronunciation
of theirs. They informed us that they had seen Indians, and had heard of
white people, but had never seen any before. My giving a little deer's
meat to one of them in exchange for fish, led to an inquiry as to how we
killed the animal. On which Ooligbuck showed them his gun, and obtaining
permission, fired it off after cautioning them not to be alarmed. The
report astonished them much, and an echo from some neighbouring pieces
of ice made them think that the ball had struck the shore, then upwards
of a mile distant. The women had left us previously; several of the men
departed the instant they heard the report; and the rest, in a short
time, followed their example. They applied to the gun the same name
they give to their harpoons for killing whales.

We learned from these people that the shore we were now coasting was
part of the main land, and that some land to the northward, which
appeared soon after we had passed their tents, consisted of two islands;
between which and the main shore, there was a passage leading to the
open sea. On landing to cook breakfast and obtain a meridian observation
for latitude, we observed the interior of the country to be similar to
that seen from Nicholson's Island. The soil was in some spots sandy,
but, generally, it consisted of a tenacious clay which cracks in the
sun. The air was perfumed by numerous tufts of a beautiful phlox, and of
a still handsomer and very fragrant cruciform flower, of a genus
hitherto undescribed.

On re-embarking we pulled about eight miles farther betwixt the islands
and the main, and found a narrow opening to the sea nearly barred up.
The bottom was so soft and muddy that the poles sunk deep into it, and
we could not carry the cargo ashore to lighten the boats. We succeeded,
however, in getting through, after much labour, and the moment we
crossed the bar, the water was greenish, and perfectly salt. The cape
forming the eastern point of this entrance lies in latitude 70 degrees
36 minutes N., longitude 127 degrees 35 minutes W. and proved to be the
most northerly part of the main shore which we saw during the voyage. It
is a few miles farther north than Return Reef of Captain Franklin, and
is most probably, with the exception of the land near Icy Cape, since
discovered by Captain Beechey, in the Blossom, the most northern poi