Some white geese were
seen this evening and some young gray ones were caught on the beach being
unable to fly. We fired at two reindeer but without success.
On August 14th we paddled the whole day along the northern shores of the
sound, returning towards its mouth. The land we were now tracing is
generally so flat that it could not be descried from the canoes at the
distance of four miles and is invisible from the opposite side of the
sound, otherwise a short traverse might have saved us some days. The few
eminences that are on this side were mistaken for islands when seen from
the opposite shore; they are for the most part cliffs of basalt and are
not above one hundred feet high; the subjacent strata are of white
sandstone. The rocks are mostly confined to the capes and shores, the
soil inland being flat, clayey, and barren. Most of the headlands showed
traces of visits from the Esquimaux but none of them recent. Many ducks
were seen, belonging to a species termed by the voyagers from their cry
caccawees. We also saw some gray geese and swans. The only seal we
procured during our voyage was killed this day; it happened to be blind
and our men imagining it to be in bad health would not taste the flesh;
we however were less nice.
We encamped at the end of twenty-four miles' march on the north-west side
of the bay to which I have given the name of my friend Captain Parry, now
employed in the interesting research for a North-West Passage. Driftwood
had become very scarce and we found none near the encampment; a fire
however was not required as we served out pemmican for supper and the
evening was unusually warm.
On the following morning the breeze was fresh and the waves rather high.
In paddling along the west side of Parry's Bay we saw several deer but,
owing to the openness of the country, the hunters could not approach
them. They killed however two swans that were moulting, several cranes
and many gray geese. We procured also some caccawees which were then
moulting and assembled in immense flocks. In the evening, having rounded
Point Beechy and passed Hurd's Islands, we were exposed to much
inconvenience and danger from a heavy rolling sea, the canoes receiving
many severe blows and shipping a good deal of water, which induced us to
encamp at five P.M. opposite to Cape Croker which we had passed on the
morning of the 12th; the channel which lay between our situation and it
being about seven miles wide.
