cers and men to assist them,
for the first few hours. A day or two after their departures a
supply of provisions was lodged on shore, according to a plan
previously agreed on, in case of our being forced out to sea with
the ice before their return. Arrangements were also made for
putting an officer and two men on shore, as a guard to this as
well as to the clock, tent, or any other articles that might be
left behind, in the event of an occurrence of this nature.

In the course of the forenoon of the 15th, a message to our
medical gentlemen announced the fall of James Pringle, one of the
seamen of the Hecla, from her mizen-topmast-head to the deck; and
in a few minutes after I was much shocked in receiving Lieutenant
Hoppner's report of his death, no sign of life having indeed
appeared in him from the first moment after his fall. On
examination, it was found that the base of the scull was
fractured, and the neck also dislocated. A grave was directed to
be dug near the observatory, and arrangements were made for the
funeral taking place on the following Sunday.

On the 16th, Ewerat, with his wife and family, arrived at the
ships, bringing with them all their goods and chattels, and with
the intention of taking up their abode upon the ice near us. They
accordingly built their hut about a hundred yards from the Fury's
stern, but whether with the view of living upon us, or the seals
that frequent the bay, we were at first at a loss to conjecture.
Ewerat's household consisted not only of his own family, but of
Appokiuk and Itkamuk, the former of whom having no husband, and
the latter no relative, they both seemed to be fairly "on the
parish." Besides this establishment, a second, on a smaller scale,
also made its appearance in our neighbourhood, consisting of a
very little man, named _Koo-il-li-ti-uk_, nicknamed by the sailors
"John Bull," and his pretty little wife _Arnal=o=oa_, whose zeal
in bringing up her husband's share of the seahorses I have before
described. These persons, being eight in number, had determined on
travelling to Amitioke for the ensuing summer, influenced
probably, in some degree, by the hope of falling in with us again,
as they knew that we were going in that direction. Be this,
however, as it may, it was soon evident that they intended making
the most of us while we remained neighbours; for, on the 17th,
though the weather was favourable, and they had no food of their
own, they made no effort to p