1842.--On the opening of the navigation I again set out for Esquimaux
Bay, where I found letters from the Secretary, conveying the welcome
intelligence that my request for permission to visit Britain had been
granted, and that the Directors, agreeably to my recommendation, had
determined on abandoning Ungava, the ship being ordered round this
season to convey the people and property to Esquimaux Bay.




CHAPTER VIII.

GENERAL REMARKS.

CLIMATE OF UNGAVA--AURORA BOREALIS--SOIL--VEGETABLE
PRODUCTIONS--ANIMALS--BIRDS--FISH--GEOLOGICAL FEATURES.


It need scarcely be observed that, in so high a latitude as that
of Ungava, the climate presents the extremes of heat and cold; the
moderate temperature of spring and autumn is unknown, the rigour of
winter being immediately succeeded by the intense heat of summer, and
_vice versá_.

On the 12th of June, 1840, the thermometer was observed to rise from
10° below zero to 76° in the shade, the sky clear and the weather
calm; this was, in fact, the first day of summer. For ten days
previously the thermometer ranged from 15° below zero to 32° above,
and the weather was as boisterous as in the month of January, snowing
and blowing furiously all the time. The heat continued to increase,