Towards the end of June, the dovekies (_Colymbus Grylle_) were extremely numerous in the cracks of the ice at the entrance of Port Bowen; and as these were the only fresh supply of any consequence that we were able to procure at this unproductive place, we were glad to permit the men to go out occasionally with guns, after the ships were ready for sea, to obtain for their messes this wholesome change of diet; while such excursions also contributed essentially to their general health and cheerfulness. Many hundreds of these birds were thus obtained in the course of a few days. On the evening of the 6th of July, however, I was greatly shocked at being informed by Captain Hoppner that John Cotterell,[007] a seaman of the Fury, had been found drowned in one of the cracks of the ice by two other men belonging to the same party, who had been with him but a few minutes before. We could never ascertain precisely in what manner this accident happened, but it was supposed that he must have overreached himself in stooping for a bird that he had killed. His remains were committed to the earth on Sunday the 10th, with every solemnity which the occasion demanded, and our situation would allow; and a tomb of stones, with a suitable inscription, was afterward erected over the grave. In order to obtain oil for another winter's consumption, before the ships could be released from the ice, and our travelling parties having seen a number of black whales in the open water to the northward, two boats from each ship were, with considerable labour, transported four miles along shore in that direction, to be in readiness for killing a whale and boiling the oil on the beach, whenever the open water should approach sufficiently near. Notwithstanding these preparations, however, it was vexatious to find that on the 9th of July the water was still three miles distant from the boats, and at least seven from Port Bowen. On the 12th, the ice in our neighbourhood began to detach itself, and the boats, under the command of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, being launched on the following day, succeeded almost immediately in killing a small whale of "five feet bone," exactly answering our purpose. Almost at the same time, and, as it turned out, very opportunely, the ice at the mouth of our harbour detached itself at an old crack, and drifted off, leaving only about one mile and a quarter between us and the sea. Half of this distance being occupied by the gravelled canal, which was dissolved quite through the ice in many parts, and had become very thin in all, every officer and man in both ships were set to work without delay to commence a fresh canal from the open water to communicate with the other. This work proved heavier than we expected, the ice being generally from five to eight feet, and in many places from ten to eleven in thickness. It was continued, however, with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity from seven in the morning till seven in the evening daily,