. Narrative of discovery and adventure in the polar seas and regions [microform] : with illustrations of their climate, geology, and natural history; with an account of the whale-fishery. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 269 ^nned }tdid iking, -eight [read- have rleam I. five or six hundred yards of the Fury, two large floes dashed against each other with such a tremendous concussion, that numberless huge masses were thrown fifty or sixty feet into the air. The vessel, had she come for a moment within the sphere of these movements, must have been dashed to piece
. Narrative of discovery and adventure in the polar seas and regions [microform] : with illustrations of their climate, geology, and natural history; with an account of the whale-fishery. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 269 ^nned }tdid iking, -eight [read- have rleam I. five or six hundred yards of the Fury, two large floes dashed against each other with such a tremendous concussion, that numberless huge masses were thrown fifty or sixty feet into the air. The vessel, had she come for a moment within the sphere of these movements, must have been dashed to pieces,—^hap. pily she escaped. This current, however, was high, ly promising, since it could not be traced to the mouth of Hudson's Straits, but must have come from the western ocean, which they were so anxious to reach. The ice passed by, and the ships proceeded with a favouring wind and tide. The shores began now to put on their summer aspect; the snow had nearly disappeared; and the ground was covered with the richest bloom of Arctic vegetation. The expedition came to a fine river named Barrow, which formed a most picturesque fall down rocks richly fringed with very brilliant plants. Here the rein-deer sporting, the eider-duck, the golden plover, and the snow-bunting, spreading their wings, produced a gay and delightful scene. On the 14th the navigators reached the island of Amitioke, which had been de- scribed as situated near the strait they were then endeavouring to reach. They saw about two hundred walruses lying piled, as usual, over each other on the loose drift-ice. A boat's crew from each ship proceed- ed to the attack; but these gallant amphibia, some with their cubs mounted on their backs, made the most desperate resistance, and one of them tore the planks of a boat in two or three places. Three only were killed, the flesh of which was found tolerable, affording a variety amid the ordinary sea-diet. The discoverers now proceeded northwards, and i Ml. Please note that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectsciencesn
