respecting the two ships that had been forced on shore; and, indeed, as
an earnest of its truth, one man named _Adloo_, who was said to have
actually seen them in this state, was a day or two afterward met by our
people at Arlagnuk, while travelling to the southward, and having on his
sledge a great deal of wood of the same kind as that before described.

This information having excited considerable interest, Lieutenant
Hoppner, who had taken great pains to ascertain the facts correctly,
volunteered his services to accompany some of the Esquimaux, who were
said to be going northward very shortly, and to obtain every information
on this and other subjects which might be within the scope of such a
journey. On the night of the 4th, having heard that a party of the
Esquimaux intended setting out the following morning, Lieutenant Hoppner
and his people went out to their tents to be in readiness to accompany
them. We were surprised to find the next day, that not only Lieutenant
Hoppner's intended guide, but the whole of the rest of these people, had
altogether left the island, and, as it afterward proved, permanently for
the summer. We were now, therefore, for the first time since our arrival
here, entirely deserted by the natives, only two or three of whom again
visited the ships during the remainder of our stay. It appears probable,
indeed, that these wandering people are in the habit of residing at
their various stations only at particular intervals of time, perhaps
with the intention of not scaring the walruses and seals too much by a
very long residence at one time upon the same spot. What made this
appear still more likely was the present state of their winter
habitations at Igloolik, which, though offensive enough at about the
same time the preceding year, were then wholesome and comfortable in
comparison. Besides quantities of putrid walrus flesh, blubber, and oil,
carcasses of dogs, and even of human beings recently deceased, were now
to be seen exposed in their neighbourhood. What remained of the corpse
of Keim=o=oseuk was of course wholly uncovered; a second, of a
child, on which the wolves had feasted, was also lying about; and a
third, of a newly-born infant, was discovered in the middle of a small
lake by Mr. Richards, who caused them all to be buried under ground.

Our stock of meat for the dogs being nearly expended, and no seahorses
having yet been seen near the shore, I sent Mr. Ross with a sledge to
Tern