The general tenour of Captain Lyon’s instructions was, “after crossing to the continent, to proceed along that coast to the northward, carefully examining any bend or inlet he might meet with, so as to leave no doubt, if possible, of its actual extent and communications, thereby preventing the necessity of the ships entering it on their arrival there.”  I added, also, the necessary directions for remarking everything of interest relating to the tides, and the natural productions of the country; and I limited Captain Lyon to the end of the month in returning, to avoid the possibility of detaining the expedition.

Their preparations being completed, our travellers left the ships under a salute of three cheers from both the crews, and accompanied by a large party of officers 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,