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CHAPTER XI.
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At 12hrs. 30min. A. M. on the 17th of July we commenced our second voyage on the Hyperborean sea. The morning was calm and fine; and, after pulling two or three miles outwards, round a field of ice, we found an open channel between Berens Isles and the main shore. That advantage would, however, have soon been lost, had not a gentle S.S.W. wind sprung up, and, while it detached the ice from the land, greatly accelerated our progress. At several points we had to lower sail and push through the streams of ice, at considerable risk to the boats. To our Indian companions the sea was indeed a new element. Almost the first living objects they saw, two young seals, (which they called sea-beaver,) excited their wonder, and, when we landed to breakfast on an island, they anxiously
