We found no wood at the encampment but made a fire of moss to cook the supper and crept under our blankets for warmth.

At sunrise the thermometer was at 31 degrees and the wind fresh from north-west, but the weather became mild in the course of the forenoon and the snow disappeared from the gravel.

The afternoon was remarkably fine and the thermometer rose to 50 degrees.

One of the hunters killed a musk-ox.

The hills in this part are lower and more round-backed than those we passed yesterday, exhibiting but little naked rock; they were covered with lichens.
Having ascertained from the summit of the highest hill near the tents that the river continued to preserve a west course and, fearing that by pursuing it farther we might lose much time and unnecessarily walk over a great deal of ground, I determined on quitting its banks the next day and making as directly as we could for Point Lake.