A herd of deer thus surrounded by the wolves, who were tɔo great cowards to rush in upon their prey, would be startled every now and then by the long-drawn unearthly howl of the hungry brutes sometimes a frightened deer, horror-stricken at the abominable chaunt, dashes mally away from the herd,-away all, or a portion of the wolfish fraternity go after it. In many cases, the scene may be briefly summed up with the old three-volume dénouement of—a rush-a shriek-a crunching of bones, and snarling of beasts of prey-and all is over! for the wonderful powers of swallow and horrid voracity of an arctic wolf must be seen to be understood; no writer would peril his reputation for veracity But sometimes by repeating what has been seen on that head.

the frightened deer gains the open country, and goes wonderful distances dogged by the persevering wolf, who assuredly has it, unless another herd is met which admits the hunted deer into its ranks.

Occasionally, whilst a herd of deer are grazing, one of them may happen to hit upon a spot where the food is plentiful; it naturally lingers there, whilst the herd is moving slowly on against the wind. The wolves immediately mark the straggler, and stealthily crawl on, their object being to cut him off from the herd that effected, there is a howl and rush, which if the deer do not evade by extraordinary exertions, his fate is instantly sealed.

All through the winter these scenes go on, scent serving the creatures when sight is useless; and many a sportsman, in the December darkness of the Bay of God's Mercy, has often wished his olfactory nerves were as sensitive as those of the wolf, for although he could hear the deer, it was then impossible to see them, unless they moved over the dark yet snowy landscape ; and many a bad shot was made by a hungry man at a large pair of sorrowful eyes which loomed out of the mist around, because he did not know whether the deer was two or twenty yards from him.

During the depth of the severe winter of 1852-53, the deer approached close to the "Investigator :" of course in doing so they quitted the land. Whether this was done with a view of seeking the warmth which instinct, if not scent, told them was being given out by the ships, which were like perfect volcanoes of heat, compared to the bitter temperature every where prevailing-95 below the freezing point of water-or whether it was for security against the wolves, it is difficult to say, but most probably from the former

cause; for we remember that the foxes of Leopold Harbour, in 1848, soon ascertained the fact of the warmth thrown out by the squadron under Sir James Ross, and wisely burrowed and bred in the embankments thrown up around the ships.

Winter, with its sore trials, has of course its limits; and it is astonishing how early in the new year relief comes to the harassed reindeer. In February and March the seals are breeding, and their helpless young are luscious morsels, that now commence to distract the attention of all the beasts of prey-none more than the wolf-the reindeer's holidays then commence : indeed, we must always remember that the arctic hare and lemming likewise winter in the far north, and yield occasional meals to wolf and fox.

As spring advances, the herds gradually disperse, and the deer may then be seen in twos or threes, until as I have before said, the autumn again approaches. McClure's Discovery, page 296.

6. The arctic hare (Lepus Glacialis) collects in herds or troops during the fall of the year, in the same manner as the deer. Two hundred of them have been seen at a time; and at one of their favourite haunts, Cape Dundas, Melville Island, a complete high way, three yards broad, was seen, the tread of their numbers having beaten the snow perfectly hard. In winter they burrow under the snow for protection, as well as to seek their food. Captain M'Clintock says, "they are every where found, but of course most numerous where the pasture is most abundant, as on Banks Land and Melville Island." The sportsmen of the "Resolute" and "Intrepid" shot 161 hares in a twelve month on the latter Island ; their average weight when fit for the table was 7lbs. and from 10lbs. to 12lbs. with skin and offal. During summer the hare, as well as the lemming, seeks protection from beasts of prey under large boulders of rock or in the face of rocky ravines. The hares in summer have seen in groups of from twelve to twenty in number. Their skin is so delicate that although the winter fur is very beautiful, and the colour a brilliant white, it cannot be applied to any useful purpose. They do not hybernate, and, strange to say the Investigators generally found them amongst the heavy hummocks of the floe-ice in Mercy Bay, as if flying to that rugged ground from the wolves or foxes. They differ from the European hare, in bringing forth five or seven young at a birth. McClure's Discovery page 317.

That interesting little creature, of the order Rodentia, the arctic lemming. (Myodus Lemmus)—a perfect diamond edition of the

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guinea-pig-is very like the hare in its habits, but is generally found in large families. They have been seen at all seasons, and in winter are perfectly white; but feeding and living as they do under the snow, it is only the keen-nosed fox, or Esquimaux dog, that can detect their position and enjoy the sweet morsel they afford.

In summer, generally about the end of May, or early in June they have a peculiar habit of going off the land on to the frozen surface of the sea. They do not seem to have any definite object in doing so, and cannot be said to be migrating. Possibly the thaws induce them to leave the land: the seamen, in their quaint way, used to say, "Them blessed little lemmings must be arter salt, I should think, Sir!" and really there seemed to be no other way of accounting for their presence on the floe at such a season of the year. The writer often found them steering off shore from the north coast of Melville Island, leaving comparative plenty behind them, and as far as the eye could see on a clear day, from land of considerable height, there was nothing in the shape of terra firma whither they were bound. When thus exposed upon the open floe, owls, gulls, and foxes pick them up for food. Can it be that Providence occasions this exodus for the purpose of feeding these creatures, and thinning down the numbers of an animal which would otherwise multiply exceedingly, and eat up all the vegetation of a naturally sterile region?

One would hardly suppose so tiny a creature would serve as food to such large animals as Polar bears, but that it is so, the following extract from my journal will show; the place referred to being a valley on the north-east side of Bathurst Land debouching into Queen's Channel:

The White Bear-Saw some shoals and the Cub and Bear Islets to seaward. Made sail to a rattling breeze, and favoured by the ice, we went along at a good pace until 3h. 30m. A.M., when, seeing some drift-wood lying about, which it was important should be examined, I halted and encamped, dispersing the men along the beach to bring all in they could find. Walking landward to obtain a view from a hill, I was startled to see a she-bear and two cubs some distance inland. Watching them carefully, I was not a little interested to see the mother applying her gigantic muscular power to turning over the large blocks of sandstone which strewed the plain, and under which the unlucky lemmings at this season take shelter. Directly the she-bear lifted the stones, which

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she did by sitting upon her hams and pulling them towards her with her fore-paws, the cubs rushed in and seized their prey, tossing them up in the air in their wantonness. After repeating this ration until the young fry must have made a very good meal, I was glad to witness the bear's mode of suckling her young, a sight, I should think, rarely seen. Seated on her haunches, with the backbone arched, so as to bring the breasts (which were situated between the shoulders) as low as possible, the youngsters sucked away in a standing attitude. Anxious to secure this family party, we proceeded to burn all sorts of strong-smelling articles; and at last she brought her babes down, though very warily, and when more than 100 yards off turned away, evidently suspicious. Following her I contrived, at about 150 yards, to pass a ball (Minié) through her body, abaft the shoulder. The cubs at once made off, though I should think they had not long been born, being about the size of an Irish retriever. Joined by a couple of the men (Hail and Wicketts) who soon outstripped me, we eventually, after a long chase, came up with her; the brute, seeing she could not escape, had apparently made up her mind to wait for us behind a range of hummocks. When close to her, I learnt that they had one shot each left in their guns; and as the men longed. to go in at her, we walked up, the brute most artfully hiding her body so as to get us within reach for her rush. The wonderful fasimilarity of colour between the fur of the bear and the snow, cilitated her manœuvre, and we were within thirty yards of her when she rose. It was a ticklish moment, for the brute was venomous from desperation. The men behaved very coolly, however, merely saying to one another, "Steady!" Hall fired, but only grazed her; she still came on, when Geo. Wicketts, with my Minié (which I thought he was fully entitled to fire after so successfully bringing the brute to bay), struck her smartly in the fore shoulder. With a snap of the teeth, which it was satisfactory to know was not on ourselves, she turned round, and staggering along, fell into her lair again; and we returned to the boat to send after our dinner the small sledge for the blubber.

The she-bear was miserably lean, nothing in her stomach, and her skin in poor condition. Whilst they were skinning her, the poor little whelps ran up to be suckled; the men tried to catch them; failing in that, knocked their brains out; their little stomachs were perfectly distended with the unfortunate lemmings, which they had swallowed entire.

Perhaps the most curious fact of all, connected with the existence of animal life in high latitudes during the most severe temperatures, is that some ptarmigan are found throughout the winter in Melville Island and Banks Land. I might also add, that they have likewise been seen by officers who wintered at Beechey Island; where a small covey was flushed in the depth of the winter 1852-53. But it is best on this point to give the remarks of an officer who has had admirable opportunities of observing the fact-Captain F. L. M'Clintock, R. N.: he says:

"The willow grouse never goes north of Bearing Island, the common ptarmigan (tetrao lagopus) is the only bird of that species found on Melville Island. They are most numerous in April, generally in pairs, and in September they collect into coveys, sometimes of as many as fifteen or twenty birds, previous to a flight southward. After that month a few were seen, and those were birds which probably had not paired during the previous season. Some ptarmigan were shot in January and February, in excellent condition; of these the largest weighed 21⁄2 lbs., and its crop contained 2 ounces of the slender shoots of the dwarf willow; many of these shoots were as thick as a crowquill, and 1⁄2 inch long; when ready for cooking, the bird weighed 14 lb. ; no starveling this! Six hundred and eighty-four ptarmigan were shot on Melville Island in twelve months, by the people of the Resolute' and 'Intrepid,' being more than the Investigators got altogether." There is reason to believe that these hardy birds burrow under the snow for warmth, protection, and food, as the hare and lemming do. Mc Clure's Discovery, page 17.

RECENT GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES.

(Supplement to the Fifth edition of Lyell's Manual of Elementary Geology. London: 1857.)

There is no pause in the progress of geological knowledge. The very old in the earth's history is perpetually producing things very new to science. It is "a philosophy which never rests, its law is progress, a point which yesterday was invisible is its goal to-day, and will be its starting point to-morrow." In accordance with this, the motto of his fifth edition, Sir Charles now presents to us a supplement of 34 pages, including a startling amount of new discovery, to some of the more important items