ground,
covered with the dung of these animals as well as of deer. They
fired at him from a considerable distance without wounding him,
and he set off at a very quick pace over the hills. The musk-ox
has the appearance of a very ill-proportioned little animal, its
hair being so long as to make its feet appear only two or three
inches in length; they seem, indeed, to be treading upon it at
every step, and the individual in question actually did so in some
instances, as the hair was found in several of the foot-tracks.
When disturbed and hunted, they frequently tore up the ground with
their horns, and turned round occasionally to look at their
pursuers, but they never attempted to attack any of them. Our
gentlemen also met with a herd of twelve deer, three only of which
had horns, and they were much the largest of the herd, and
constantly drove the others away when they attempted to stop. The
birds seen by our people were many brent-geese and ptarmigans,
several golden plovers, one or two "boatswains," and abundance of
snow-buntings. One or two mice were caught; like several others we
had seen, these were turning brown about the belly and head, and
the back was of a dark gray colour. In every part of the island
over which we travelled, the holes and tracks of these little
animals were occasionally seen; one of them, which Sergeant Martin
ran after, finding no hole near and that he could not escape, set
himself against a stone, as if endeavouring to defend himself, and
bit the sergeant's finger when he took hold of him.

On a point of land at the distance of three quarters of a mile to
the W.b.S. of the tents, and within a hundred yards of the sea,
the remains of six Esquimaux huts were discovered; they consisted
of rude circles, about six feet in diameter, constructed
irregularly of stones of all sizes and shapes, and raised to the
height of two feet from the ground: they were paved with large
slabs of white schistose sandstone, which is here abundant; the
moss had spread over this floor, and appeared to be the growth of
three or four years. In each of the huts, on one side, was a small
separate compartment forming a recess, projecting outward, which
had probably been their store-room; and at a few feet from one of
the huts was a smaller circle of stones, which had composed the
fireplace, the mark of fire being still perceptible upon them.

The day was fine and clear, with a moderate wind from the westward
till four P