The Journey to the Polar Sea Part 17

Their horns, which in the middle of August were yet tender, have now attained their proper size and are beginning to lose their hairy covering which hangs from them in ragged filaments. The horns of the reindeer vary not only with its s.e.x and age but are otherwise so uncertain in their growth that they are never alike in any two individuals. The old males shed theirs about the end of December; the females retain them until the disappearance of the snow enables them to frequent the barren grounds which may be stated to be about the middle or end of May, soon after which period they proceed towards the sea-coast and drop their young. The young males lose their horns about the same time with the females or a little earlier, some of them as early as April. The hair of the reindeer falls in July and is succeeded by a short thick coat of mingled clove, deep reddish and yellowish browns; the belly and under parts of the neck, etc., remaining white. As the winter approaches the hair becomes longer and lighter in its colours and it begins to loosen in May, being then much worn on the sides from the animal rubbing itself against trees and stones. It becomes grayish and almost white before it is completely shed.

The Indians form their robes of the skins procured in autumn when the hair is short. Towards the spring the larvae of the oestrus, attaining a large size, produce so many perforations in the skins that they are good for nothing. The cicatrices only of these holes are to be seen in August but a fresh set of ova have in the meantime been deposited.*

(*Footnote. "It is worthy of remark that in the month of May a very great number of large larvae exist under the mucous membrane at the root of the tongue and posterior part of the nares and pharynx. The Indians consider them to belong to the same species with the oestrus that deposits its ova under the skin: to us the larvae of the former appeared more flattened than those of the latter. Specimens of both kinds preserved in spirits were destroyed by the frequent falls they received on the portages." Dr.

Richardson's Journal.)

The reindeer retire from the sea-coast in July and August, rut in October on the verge of the barren grounds and shelter themselves in the woods during the winter. They are often induced by a few fine days in winter to pay a transitory visit to their favourite pastures in the barren country, but their princ.i.p.al movement to the northward commences generally in the end of April when the snow first begins to melt on the sides of the hills and early in May, when large patches of the ground are visible, they are on the banks of the Copper-Mine River. The females take the lead in this spring migration and bring forth their young on the sea-coast about the end of May or beginning of June. There are certain spots or pa.s.ses well-known to the Indians, through which the deer invariably pa.s.s in their migrations to and from the coast and it has been observed that they always travel against the wind. The princ.i.p.al food of the reindeer in the barren grounds consists of the Cetraria nivalis and cucullata, Cenomyce rangiferina, Cornicularia ochrileuca, and other lichens, and they also eat the hay or dry gra.s.s which is found in the swamps in autumn. In the woods they feed on the different lichens which hang from the trees. They are accustomed to gnaw their fallen antlers and are said also to devour mice.

The weight of a full-grown barren-ground deer, exclusive of the offal, varies from ninety to one hundred and thirty pounds. There is however a much larger kind found in the woody parts of the country whose carca.s.s weighs from two hundred to two hundred and forty pounds. This kind never leaves the woods but its skin is as much perforated by the gadfly as that of the others, a presumptive proof that the smaller species are not driven to the sea-coast solely by the attacks of that insect. There are a few reindeer occasionally killed in the spring whose skins are entire and these are always fat whereas the others are lean at that season. This insect likewise infests the red-deer (wawaskeesh) but its ova are not found in the skin of the moose or buffalo, nor, as we have been informed, of the sheep and goat that inhabit the Rocky Mountains, although the reindeer found in those parts (which are of an unusually large kind) are as much tormented by them as the barren-ground variety.

The herds of reindeer are attended in their migrations by bands of wolves which destroy a great many of them. The Copper Indians kill the reindeer in the summer with the gun or, taking advantage of a favourable disposition of the ground, they enclose a herd upon a neck of land and drive them into a lake where they fall an easy prey but, in the rutting season and in the spring, when they are numerous on the skirts of the woods, they catch them in snares. The snares are simple nooses, formed in a rope made of twisted sinew, which are placed in the aperture of a slight hedge constructed of the branches of trees. This hedge is so disposed as to form several winding compartments and, although it is by no means strong, yet the deer seldom attempt to break through it. The herd is led into the labyrinth by two converging rows of poles and one is generally caught at each of the openings by the noose placed there. The hunter too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them with his bayonet as they pa.s.s by and the whole herd frequently becomes his prey. Where wood is scarce a piece of turf turned up answers the purpose of a pole to conduct them towards the snares.

The reindeer has a quick eye but the hunter, by keeping to leeward and using a little caution, may approach very near, their apprehensions being much more easily roused by the smell than the sight of any unusual object. Indeed their curiosity often causes them to come close up and wheel around the hunter; thus affording him a good opportunity of singling out the fattest of the herd, and upon these occasions they often become so confused by the shouts and gestures of their enemy that they run backwards and forwards with great rapidity but without the power of making their escape.

The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts them most readily and they often succeed in bringing them within shot by kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side in imitation of the motion of a deer's horns when he is in the act of rubbing his head against a stone.

The Dog-Rib Indians have a mode of killing these animals which though simple is very successful. It was thus described by Mr. Wentzel who resided long amongst that people. The hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer and in the other a small bundle of twigs against which he from time to time rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the animal.

His comrade follows, treading exactly in his footsteps and holding the guns of both in a horizontal position so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their foreheads and the foremost has a strip of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, raising their legs very slowly but setting them down somewhat suddenly after the manner of a deer, and always taking care to lift their right or left feet simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon it instantly stops and the head begins to play its part by licking its shoulders and performing other necessary movements. In this way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd without exciting suspicion and have leisure to single out the fattest.

The hindmost man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is dropped, and they both fire nearly at the same instant. The herd scampers off, the hunters trot after them; in a short time the poor animals halt to ascertain the cause of their terror, their foes stop at the same instant and, having loaded as they ran, greet the gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer increases, they run to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a great part of the herd is destroyed within the s.p.a.ce of a few hundred yards.

A party who had been sent to Akaitcho returned bringing three hundred and seventy pounds of dried meat and two hundred and twenty pounds of suet, together with the unpleasant information that a still larger quant.i.ty of the latter article had been found and carried off, as he supposed, by some Dog-Ribs who had pa.s.sed that way.

The weather becoming daily colder all the lakes in the neighbourhood of the house were completely, and the river partially, frozen over by the middle of the month. The reindeer now began to quit us for more southerly and better-sheltered pastures. Indeed their longer residence in our neighbourhood would have been of little service to us, for our ammunition was almost completely expended though we had dealt it of late with a very sparing hand to the Indians. We had however already secured in the storehouse the carca.s.ses of one hundred deer together with one thousand pounds of suet and some dried meat, and had moreover eighty deer stowed up at various distances from the house. The necessity of employing the men to build a house for themselves before the weather became too severe obliged us to put the latter en cache, as the voyagers term it, instead of adopting the more safe plan of bringing them to the house. Putting a deer en cache means merely protecting it against the wolves and still more destructive wolverines by heavy loads of wood or stones; the latter animal however sometimes digs underneath the pile and renders the precautions abortive.

On the 18th Mr. Back and Mr. Wentzel set out for Fort Providence accompanied by Beauparlant, Belanger, and two Indians, Akaiyazza and Tholezzeh, with their wives, the Little Forehead and the Smiling Marten.

Mr. Back had volunteered to go and make the necessary arrangements for transporting the stores we expected from c.u.mberland House and to endeavour to obtain some additional supplies from the establishments at Slave Lake. If any accident should have prevented the arrival of our stores and the establishments at Moose-Deer Island should be unable to supply the deficiency he was, if he found himself equal to the task, to proceed to Chipewyan. Ammunition was essential to our existence and a considerable supply of tobacco was also requisite, not only for the comfort of the Canadians, who use it largely and had stipulated for it in their engagements, but also as a means of preserving the friendship of the Indians. Blankets, cloth, and iron-work were scarcely less indispensable to equip our men for the advance next season.

Mr. Wentzel accompanied Mr. Back to a.s.sist him in obtaining from the traders, on the score of old friendship, that which they might be inclined to deny to our necessities. I forwarded by them letters to the Colonial Office and Admiralty detailing the proceedings of the Expedition up to this period.

On the 22nd we were surprised by a visit from a dog; the poor animal was in low condition and much fatigued. Our Indians discovered by marks on his ears that he belonged to the Dog-Ribs. This tribe, unlike the Chipewyans and Copper Indians, had preserved that useful a.s.sociate of man although, from their frequent intercourse with the latter people, they were not ignorant of the prediction alluded to in a former page. One of our interpreters was immediately despatched with an Indian to endeavour to trace out the Dog-Ribs, whom he supposed might be concealed in the neighbourhood from their dread of the Copper Indians; although we had no doubt of their coming to us were they aware of our being here. The interpreter however returned without having discovered any traces of strange Indians, a circ.u.mstance which led us to conclude that the dog had strayed from his masters a considerable time before.

Towards the end of the month the men completed their house and took up their abode in it. It was thirty-four feet long and eighteen feet wide, was divided into two apartments and was placed at rightangles to the officers' dwelling and facing the storehouse, the three buildings forming three sides of a quadrangle.

On the 26th Akaitcho and his party arrived, the hunting in this neighbourhood being terminated for the season by the deer having retired southward to the shelter of the woods.

The arrival of this large party was a serious inconvenience to us from our being compelled to issue them daily rates of provision from the store. The want of ammunition prevented us from equipping and sending them to the woods to hunt and, although they are accustomed to subsist themselves for a considerable part of the year by fishing or snaring the deer, without having recourse to firearms, yet on the present occasion they felt little inclined to do so and gave scope to their natural love of ease as long as our storehouse seemed to be well stocked. Nevertheless as they were conscious of impairing our future resources they did not fail occasionally to remind us that it was not their fault, to express an ardent desire to go hunting, and to request a supply of ammunition although they knew that it was not in our power to give it.

The summer birds had by this time entirely deserted us, leaving for our winter companions the raven, cinereous crow, ptarmigan, and snow-bird.

The last of the waterfowl that quitted us was a species of diver of the same size with the Colymbus arcticus but differing from it in the arrangement of the white spots on its plumage, and in having a yellowish-white bill. This bird was occasionally caught in our fishing-nets.

The thermometer during the month of October at Fort Enterprise never rose above 37 degrees or fell below 5 degrees; the mean temperature for the month was 23 degrees.

In the beginning of October a party had been sent to the westward to search for birch to make snowshoe frames, and the Indian women were afterwards employed in netting the shoes and preparing leather for winter clothing to the men. Robes of reindeer skins were also obtained from the Indians and issued to the men who were to travel as they were not only a great deal lighter than blankets but also much warmer and altogether better adapted for a winter in this climate. They are however unfit for summer use as the least moisture causes the skin to spoil and lose its hair. It requires the skins of seven deer to make one robe. The finest are made of the skins of young fawns.

The fishing having failed as the weather became more severe was given up on the 5th. It had procured us about one thousand two hundred white-fish, from two to three pounds each. There are two other species of Coregoni in Winter Lake, Back's grayling and the round-fish; and a few trout, pike, methye, and red carp were also occasionally obtained from the nets. It may be worthy of notice here that the fish froze as they were taken out of the nets, in a short time became a solid ma.s.s of ice and, by a blow or two of the hatchet, were easily split open, when the intestines might be removed in one lump. If in this completely frozen state they were thawed before the fire they recovered their animation. This was particularly the case with the carp and we had occasion to observe it repeatedly as Dr.

Richardson occupied himself with examining the structure of the different species of fish and was always in the winter under the necessity of thawing them before he could cut them. We have seen a carp recover so far as to leap about with much vigour after it had been frozen for thirty-six hours.

From the 12th to the 16th we had fine and, for the season, warm weather; and the deer, which had not been seen since the 26th of October, reappeared in the neighbourhood of the house, to the surprise of the Indians who attributed their return to the barren grounds to the unusual mildness of the season. On this occasion, by melting some of our pewter cups, we managed to furnish five b.a.l.l.s to each of the hunters, but they were all expended unsuccessfully, except by Akaitcho who killed two deer.

By the middle of the month Winter River was firmly frozen over except the small rapid at its commencement which remained open all the winter. The ice on the lake was now nearly two feet thick. After the 16th we had a succession of cold, snowy, and windy weather. We had become anxious to hear of the arrival of Mr. Back and his party at Fort Providence. The Indians, who had calculated the period at which a messenger ought to have returned from thence to be already pa.s.sed, became impatient when it had elapsed and, with their usual love of evil augury, tormented us by their melancholy forebodings. At one time they conjectured that the whole party had fallen through the ice; at another that they had been waylaid and cut off by the Dog-Ribs. In vain did we urge the improbability of the former accident, or the peaceable character of the Dog-Ribs, so little in conformity with the latter. "The ice at this season was deceitful," they said "and the Dog-Ribs, though unwarlike, were treacherous." These a.s.sertions, so often repeated, had some effect upon the spirits of our Canadian voyagers who seldom weigh any opinion they adopt, but we persisted in treating their fears as chimerical for, had we seemed to listen to them for a moment, it is more than probable that the whole of our Indians would have gone to Fort Providence in search of supplies, and we should have found it extremely difficult to have recovered them.

The matter was put to rest by the appearance of Belanger on the morning of the 23rd and the Indians, now running into the opposite extreme, were disposed to give us more credit for our judgment than we deserved. They had had a tedious and fatiguing journey to Fort Providence and for some days were dest.i.tute of provisions.

Belanger arrived alone; he had walked constantly for the last six-and-thirty hours, leaving his Indian companions encamped at the last woods, they being unwilling to accompany him across the barren grounds during the storm that had prevailed for several days and blew with unusual violence on the morning of his arrival. His locks were matted with snow and he was encrusted with ice from head to foot so that we scarcely recognised him when he burst in upon us. We welcomed him with the usual shake of the hand but were unable to give him the gla.s.s of rum which every voyager receives on his arrival at a trading post.

As soon as his packet was thawed we eagerly opened it to obtain our English letters. The latest were dated on the preceding April. They came by way of Canada and were brought up in September to Slave Lake by North-West Company's canoes.

We were not so fortunate with regard to our stores; of ten pieces, or bales of 90 pounds weight, which had been sent from York Factory by Governor Williams five of the most essential had been left at the Grand Rapid on the Saskatchewan, owing, as far as we could judge from the accounts that reached us, to the misconduct of the officer to whom they were entrusted and who was ordered to convey them to c.u.mberland House.

Being overtaken by some of the North-West Company's canoes he had insisted on their taking half of his charge as it was intended for the service of Government. The North-West gentlemen objected that their canoes had already got a cargo in and that they had been requested to convey our stores from c.u.mberland House only, where they had a canoe waiting for the purpose. The Hudson's Bay officer upon this deposited our ammunition and tobacco upon the beach and departed without any regard to the serious consequences that might result to us from the want of them.

The Indians, who a.s.sembled at the opening of the packet and sat in silence watching our countenances, were necessarily made acquainted with the non-arrival of our stores and bore the intelligence with unexpected tranquillity. We took care however in our communications with them to dwell upon the more agreeable parts of our intelligence, and they seemed to receive particular pleasure on being informed of the arrival of two Esquimaux interpreters at Slave Lake, on their way to join the party. The circ.u.mstance not only quieted their fears of opposition from the Esquimaux on our descent to the sea next season, but also afforded a substantial proof of our influence in being able to bring two people of that nation from such a distance.

Akaitcho, who is a man of great penetration and shrewdness, duly appreciated these circ.u.mstances; indeed he has often surprised us by his correct judgment of the character of individuals amongst the traders of our own party, although his knowledge of their opinions was in most instances obtained through the imperfect medium of interpretation. He was an attentive observer however of every action, and steadily compared their conduct with their pretensions.

By the newspapers we learned the demise of our revered and lamented sovereign George III and the proclamation of George IV. We concealed this intelligence from the Indians lest the death of their Great Father might lead them to suppose that we should be unable to fulfil our promises to them.

The Indians who had left Fort Providence with Belanger arrived the day after him and, amongst other intelligence, informed Akaitcho of some reports they had heard to our disadvantage. They stated that Mr. Weeks, the gentleman in charge of Fort Providence, had told them that, so far from our being what we represented ourselves to be, the officers of a great King, we were merely a set of dependent wretches whose only aim was to obtain subsistence for a season in the plentiful country of the Copper Indians, that out of charity we had been supplied with a portion of goods by the trading Companies, but that there was not the smallest probability of our being able to reward the Indians when their term of service was completed. Akaitcho, with great good sense, instantly came to have the matter explained, stating at the same time that he could not credit it. I then pointed out to him that Mr. Wentzel, with whom they had long been accustomed to trade, had pledged the credit of his Company for the stipulated rewards to the party that accompanied us, and that the trading debts due by Akaitcho and his party had already been remitted, which was of itself a sufficient proof of our influence with the North-West Company. I also reminded Akaitcho that our having caused the Esquimaux to be brought up at a great expense was evidence of our future intentions, and informed him that I should write to Mr. Smith, the senior trader in the department, on the subject when I had no doubt that a satisfactory explanation would be given. The Indians retired from the conference apparently satisfied, but this business was in the end productive of much inconvenience to us, and proved very detrimental to the progress of the Expedition. In conjunction also with other intelligence conveyed in Mr.

Back's letters respecting the disposition of the traders towards us, particularly a statement of Mr. Weeks that he had been desired not to a.s.sist us with supplies from his post, it was productive of much present uneasiness to me.

On the 28th St. Germain the interpreter set out with eight Canadian voyagers and four Indian hunters to bring up our stores from Fort Providence. I wrote by him to Mr. Smith at Moose-Deer Island and Mr.

Keith at Chipewyan, both of the North-West Company, urging them in the strongest manner to comply with the requisition for stores which Mr. Back would present. I also informed Mr. Simpson, princ.i.p.al agent in the Athabasca for the Hudson's Bay Company who had proffered every a.s.sistance in his power, that we should gladly avail ourselves of the kind intentions expressed in a letter which I had received from him.

We also sent a number of broken axes to Slave Lake to be repaired. The dog that came to us on the 22nd of October and had become very familiar followed the party. We were in hopes that it might prove of some use in dragging their loads but we afterwards learned that on the evening after their departure from the house they had the cruelty to kill and eat it although they had no reason to apprehend a scarcity of provision. A dog is considered to be delicate eating by the voyagers.

The mean temperature of the air for November was minus 0.7 degrees. The greatest heat observed was 25 degrees above and the least 31 degrees below zero.

On the 1st of December the sky was clear, a slight appearance of stratus only being visible near the horizon, but a kind of snow fell at intervals in the forenoon, its particles so minute as to be observed only in the sunshine. Towards noon the snow became more apparent and the two limbs of a prismatic arch were visible, one on each side of the sun near its place in the heavens, the centre being deficient. We have frequently observed this descent of minute icy spiculae when the sky appears perfectly clear, and could even perceive that its silent but continued action added to the snowy covering of the ground.

Having received one hundred b.a.l.l.s from Fort Providence by Belanger we distributed them amongst the Indians, informing the leader at the same time that the residence of so large a party as his at the house, amounting with women and children to forty souls, was producing a serious reduction in our stock of provision. He acknowledged the justice of the statement and promised to remove as soon as his party had prepared snowshoes and sledges for themselves. Under one pretext or other however their departure was delayed until the 10th of the month when they left us, having previously received one of our fishing-nets and all the ammunition we possessed. The leader left his aged mother and two female attendants to our care, requesting that if she died during his absence she might be buried at a distance from the fort that he might not be reminded of his loss when he visited us.

Keskarrah the guide also remained behind with his wife and daughter. The old man has become too feeble to hunt and his time is almost entirely occupied in attendance upon his wife who has been long affected with an ulcer on the face which has nearly destroyed her nose.

Lately he made an offering to the water spirits whose wrath he apprehended to be the cause of her malady. It consisted of a knife, a piece of tobacco, and some other trifling articles which were tied up in a small bundle and committed to the rapid with a long prayer. He does not trust entirely however to the relenting of the spirits for his wife's cure, but comes daily to Dr. Richardson for medicine.

Upon one occasion he received the medicine from the Doctor with such formality and wrapped it up in his reindeer robe with such extraordinary carefulness that it excited the involuntary laughter of Mr. Hood and myself. The old man smiled in his turn and, as he always seemed proud of the familiar way in which we were accustomed to joke with him, we thought no more upon the subject. But he unfortunately mentioned the circ.u.mstance to his wife who imagined in consequence that the drug was not productive of its usual good effects and they immediately came to the conclusion that some bad medicine had been intentionally given to them. The distress produced by this idea was in proportion to their former faith in the potency of the remedy and the night was spent in singing and groaning.

Next morning the whole family were crying in concert and it was not until the evening of the second day that we succeeded in pacifying them. The old woman began to feel better and her faith in the medicine was renewed.

While speaking of this family I may remark that the daughter, whom we designated Green-stockings from her dress, is considered by her tribe to be a great beauty. Mr. Hood drew an accurate portrait of her although her mother was averse to her sitting for it. She was afraid she said that her daughter's likeness would induce the Great Chief who resided in England to send for the original. The young lady however was undeterred by any such fear. She has already been an object of contest between her countrymen and, although under sixteen years of age, has belonged successively to two husbands and would probably have been the wife of many more if her mother had not required her services as a nurse.

The weather during this month was the coldest we experienced during our residence in America. The thermometer sank on one occasion to 57 degrees below zero and never rose beyond 6 degrees above it; the mean for the month was minus 29.7 degrees. During these intense colds however the atmosphere was generally calm and the woodcutters and others went about their ordinary occupations without using any extraordinary precautions yet without feeling any bad effects. They had their reindeer shirts on, leathern mittens lined with blankets, and furred caps; but none of them used any defence for the face, or needed any. Indeed we have already mentioned that the heat is abstracted most rapidly from the body during strong breezes and most of those who have perished from cold in this country have fallen a sacrifice to their being overtaken on a lake or other unsheltered place by a storm of wind. The intense colds were however detrimental to us in another way. The trees froze to their very centres and became as hard as stones and more difficult to cut. Some of the axes were broken daily and by the end of the month we had only one left that was fit for felling trees. By entrusting it only to one of the party who had been bred a carpenter and who could use it with dexterity it was fortunately preserved until the arrival of our men with others from Fort Providence.

A thermometer hung in our bedroom at the distance of sixteen feet from the fire but exposed to its direct radiation stood even in the daytime occasionally at 15 degrees below zero, and was observed more than once previous to the kindling of the fire in the morning to be as low as 40 degrees below zero. On two of these occasions the chronometers 2149 and 2151 which during the night lay under Mr. Hood's and Dr. Richardson's pillows stopped while they were dressing themselves.

The rapid at the commencement of the river remained open in the severest weather although it was somewhat contracted in width. Its temperature was 32 degrees, as was the surface of the river opposite the house about a quarter of a mile lower down tried at a hole in the ice through which water was drawn for domestic purposes. The river here was two fathoms and a half deep and the temperature at its bottom was at least 42 degrees above zero. This fact was ascertained by a spirit thermometer in which, probably from some irregularity in the tube, a small portion of the coloured liquid usually remained at 42 degrees when the column was made to descend rapidly. In the present instance, the thermometer standing at 47 degrees below zero with no portion of the fluid in the upper part of the tube, was let down slowly into the water but drawn cautiously and rapidly up again, when a red drop at plus 42 degrees indicated that the fluid had risen to that point or above it. At this period the daily visits of the sun were very short and, owing to the obliquity of his rays, afforded us little warmth or light. It is half-past eleven before he peeps over a small ridge of hills opposite to the house, and he sinks in the horizon at half-past two. On the 28th Mr. Hood, in order to attain an approximation to the quant.i.ty of terrestrial refraction, observed the sun's meridian alt.i.tude when the thermometer stood at 46 degrees below zero, at the imminent hazard of having his fingers frozen.

He found the s.e.xtant had changed its error considerably, and that the gla.s.ses had lost their parallelism from the contraction of the bra.s.s. In measuring the error he perceived that the diameter of the sun's image was considerably short of twice the semi-diameter, a proof of the uncertainty of celestial observations made during these intense frosts. The results of this and another similar observation are given in the footnote.*

(*Footnote. The observed meridian alt.i.tude of sun upper limb was 2 degrees 52 minutes 51 seconds. Temperature of the air minus 45.5 degrees.

By comparing this alt.i.tude, corrected by the mean refraction and parallax with that deduced from the lat.i.tude which was observed in autumn, the increase of refraction is found to be 6 minutes 50 seconds, the whole refraction therefore for the alt.i.tude 2 degrees 52 minutes 51 seconds is 21 minutes 49 seconds. Admitting that the refraction increases in the same ratio as that of the atmosphere at a mean state of temperature the horizontal refraction will be 47 degrees 22 seconds. But the diameter of the sun, measured immediately after the observation, was only 27 minutes 7 seconds, which shows an increase of refraction at the lower limb of 3 minutes 29 seconds. The horizontal refraction calculated with this difference and the above-mentioned ratio is 56 minutes 3 seconds at the temperature minus 45.5 degrees. So that in the parallel 68 degrees 42 minutes where, if there is no refraction, the sun would be invisible for thirty-four days, his upper limb with the refraction 56 minutes 3 seconds is in fact above the horizon at every noon.

The wind was from the westward a moderate breeze and the air perfectly clear. January 1st, 1821. Observed meridian alt.i.tude of sun lower limb 2 degrees 35 minutes 20 seconds, sun apparent diameter 29 degrees 20 minutes. For apparent alt.i.tude 2 degrees 35 minutes 20 seconds the mean refraction is 16 minutes 5 seconds (Mackay's Tables) and the true, found as detailed above, is 20 minutes 8 seconds which, increasing in the same ratio as that of the atmosphere at a mean state of temperature, is 41 minutes 19 seconds at the horizon. But the difference of refraction at the upper and lower limbs increasing also in that ratio gives 55 minutes 16 seconds for the horizontal refraction. Temperature of the air minus 41 degrees. Wind north, a light breeze, a large halo visible about the sun.