Volume 4, 1951 - The Arctic Circle - Home

Navy is identical except for the addition of a centreboard.
There were no marks on the bow or the stern to identify the
builder or the dockyard from which it had been drawn. Oars,
boathook, rifles, bread boxes, spirit jars, chisels, hammers,
sheath knives, and other articles Wére strewn round the
wreckage. The oars and boathôok were so well preserved
that they could have been used once more if necessary, and
in fact the boathook was taken by us aS a staff for the
W/T aerial.
A few miles farther on we surprised another bear
which was eating the remains of a musk ox on the shore
beneath the cliff. Since the musk ox appeared to have
been dead for a considerable time it was doubtful that
it had been killed by the bear, but had probably died as
the result of starvation and old age during the previous
winter.
About 3 a.m. the sarne morning we found a carnpsite
after some difficulty but, as the following days were to
show, it proved to be a very poor choice indeed. From
August 10 to 17, one full week, a succession of southwesterly
gales, which every evening veered to the north,
accompanied by rain, snow, and freezing temperatures,
made life miserable. ]'ortunately the tent withstood the
wind, although we were nearly flooded when the high spring
tide came to within a few inches of the tent floor. We
would certainly have been washed away but for the fact
that the heavy ice moved in towards the beach with the
rising tide, giving a little shelter from the heavy seas
running in from the north.
A most interesting collection of graptolites was
made from the shales between our campsite and Cape Phillips.
Evidence of thrust from the west and high angle thrust
faulting could be seen in the cliffs facing ~ueens Channel.
Samples of bitumen from a basal conglomerate were also
colleoted and evfdence of an oil seepage along the fault
was noted.
During our stay here another bear evinced considerable
interest in the camp, and while he did no damage, he
caused considerable concern for at times he would persist
1n coming within a few feet of the tente Fortunately, for
.him, he generally contente.d himself with sitting quietly
about 200 yards away and looking at the orange tent and
red jerry cans which obviously provoked his interest. The
wind finally blew out on August 15 and we once again continued
our geological work.