Some herds of deer were seen, but too many
hunters going in pursuit of them they were frightened away. The
temperature throughout the day was 42 degrees.

I observed forty species of plants in flower here, of which nearly
one-third were grasses and carices. The Thrift common on the sandy parts
of the British coast is a frequent ornament of Browell Cove; and seven
or eight of the other plants seen there, are natives of the Scottish
hills. Two dwarf species of willows were the only shrubs.

[Sidenote: Saturday, 15th.] The fog clearing away, and the wind
moderating, we embarked about three in the morning of the 15th; and
steering along the coast, came to a group of low sandy islands, that
were separated by wide but very shallow channels, and skirted, to the
distance of five or six miles, by sand-banks, which were nearly dry at
low water. In rounding these banks our soundings varied from two feet to
two fathoms, and we were occasionally led almost out of sight of the
land. During the whole day we saw much ice to seaward, and in some
places it was so closely packed as to render it doubtful whether a ship
would have been able to make way through it. The line of deep water was
marked by large masses of ice lying aground, and was about ten miles
from the shore. As we could not reach the beach, we disembarked upon a
piece of ice at noon, and cutting up a spare seat for fire-wood,
proceeded to cook our breakfast, and make observations for latitude and
magnetic variation.

After rounding the shoals, we made a traverse of ten miles across an
inlet, where the water ran out with a strong current; and, though five
fathoms deep, it was nearly fresh. This I supposed to be another
communication betwixt Esquimaux Lake and the sea, and named it Russel
Inlet, after the distinguished Professor of Clinical Surgery in the
University of Edinburgh. The land on its western side was called Cape
Brown, out of respect to the eminent botanist, whose scientific
researches reflect so much credit on British talent; and that to the
eastward of the inlet received the name of Dalhousie, in honour of His
Excellency the Governor-in-Chief of the Canadas. Cape Dalhousie consists
of a number of high, sandy islands, resembling those seen from Sacred
Island, in the mouth of the Mackenzie. We entered some deep inlets
amongst them, in search of a landing-place, but the beach was every
where too flat. At length, after dragging the boats through the mud for
a cons