which the violence of the winter storms sweep away even the tenacious
lichens. The winter storms are the most violent I ever experienced,
sweeping every thing before them; and often prove fatal to the Indians
when overtaken by them in places where no shelter can be found. The
year previous to my arrival, a party of Indians ventured out to a
barren island in the bay in quest of deer, taking their women along
with them. While engaged in the chase, a sudden storm compelled them
to make for the mainland with all possible speed. The women were soon
exhausted by their exertions, and, unable to proceed farther, were
at length covered by the snow, and left to their fate. As soon as the
fury of the storm abated, the men went in search of them; but in vain;
they were never found.

During winter the sky is frequently illuminated by the Aurora Borealis
even in the day-time; and I have observed that when the south wind,
the coldest in this quarter, (traversing, as it does, the frost-bound
regions of Canada and Labrador,) blows for any length of time, the sky
becomes clear, and the aurora disappears. No sooner, however, does the
east wind blow, which, being charged with the vapours of the Atlantic,
induces mild weather even in midwinter, than they again dart forth
their coruscations--more brightly at first, afterwards more faintly,
till, if the wind continue, they again disappear.

These phenomena seem to warrant the conclusion that the aurora is
produced by the evolving of the electric fluid, through the collision
of bodies of cold and warm air. The same phenomena are observable in
New Caledonia; the east wind, passing over the glaciers of the Rocky
Mountains, cools the atmosphere to such a degree as to cause frost
every month in summer; the west wind, on the contrary, causes heat;
and there, as in Ungava, the change of winds is followed by what may