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90 Letters written during the late Voyage of Discovery being in the harbour. The water was mixed with sand* which had promoted its melting; for sand, small stones, pieces of wood, &e. retaining the sun’s heat, dissolve the snow and ice round them, whereas the snow itself, being white, repels the heat. The kill now mentioned was called Table-hill, from its appearance, and, although the only conspicuous eminence seen on the coast, does not rise more than one hundred feet above the surrounding plain : the summit is of very small extent, chiefly composed of sand, with fragments of lime-stone, iron-stone, granite, flint, &c. On the 24th we had also, for the first time, two small showers of rain, the one in the morning, the other in the evening. The arrival of these strangers, strangers not only to us but to the climate and country, brought every one on deck to greet them welcome : some held up their faces to receive the kindly drops, I should have mentioned that, in the excursion westward to Table-hill, the excellent anti-scorbutic sorrel was found in abun dance, among the tufts of moss growing in moist places. But, at this time the roots only were seen, no leaves having yet appeared j the prospect, however, of soon possessing so valuable a vegetable, gave infinite satisfaction to every member of the expedition. On the 27th two ivory gulls were observed ; a proof that open water must exist somewhere at no very great distance ; but nothing of that kind could he discovered from any height near the harbour ; the whole sea within view, a most discouraging sight for us, appearing still an impenetrable mass of ice, surely not less in thickness than seven or eight feet, as it was round the ships in the harbour. The sea-water in the trenches round the ships, and the little melted pools on the ice remained, how'ever, fluid for the best part of twenty-four hours. In the afternoon of the same day, to our no small surprise, two musquitoes were caught, resembling hut smaller than those of warm climates. The wind had, for several days preceding, come from the S. and E S.E., sometimes pretty fresh. These insects had, therefore, been wafted northwards from the woods and marshes on the American continent. The thermometer on the 27th rose to 47° above freezing, and never fell below 32°, or the freezing point. The barometer was at 30 inches. The wind from the southward, light breezes and cloudy weather, all indications of warmth and moisture. At this time Captain Parry was engaged in measuring a base across the Lee, at the mouth of the harbour, and the angles ne cessary for a survey of the adjoining coast, to be connected with the observations made to the eastward in the beginning of Sep* teinber last year. The sun being now constantly above the horizon, the tempera ture of the air moderated, and the people of both ships in good