kind of grass known to botanists by the name Carex Acuta, which is cut down in the summer, dried, rubbed betwixt their hands, and afterwards combed and carded. They legs, and put it Thus defended and chilblains also wrap it round the lower part of their into their gloves to preserve their hands. they never suffer from the severest cold; amongst them are unknown. As this grass in the winter drives away the cold, so in the summer it checks the perspiration of the feet, and preserves them from being injured by the stones, against which their untanned shoes are but a poor defence. In this country the Aurora Borealis is seen in all its glory, and in the winter season in a thousand fantastic forms nightly illuminates their hemisphere. The stature of the people is short, varying in general between four and five feet. Their complexion is a dirty yellow, which is partly owing to the smoky huts in which they pass the winter. Their face is generally broad, their nose short, and the hair is rather black. They are not strong, but very active, and of a cheerful disposition. Every country has its own peculiar illustrations of the Divine power; but the severity of an Arctic frost, and the pitiless storms of driving sleet that sweep over these northern lands, seem to challenge more especially our submission to the power of Deity, and make us feel our nothingness when compared with God, while by them the Divine Being seems to ask: "Hast thou e'er scaled my wintry skies, and seen Of hail and snow my northern magazine? BOOTHIA FELIX AND THE ESQUIMAUX. FOR the last three hundred years attempts have been made by navigators of different European nations to find a northern passage to India and China, and the other rich countries and islands of eastern Asia, and thus to avoid the long voyages round the southern extremities of Africa or South America. There is hardly a doubt that such a passage exists, both in a western and an eastern direction ; the one along the northern shore of Asia, the other through Baffin's Bay, and between the islands that are clustered along the arctic shore of North America. But it is almost equally certain that, even should some fortunate voyager be able, in some very mild season, to force his way by either channel, the discovery will be of little practical utility for merchant-vessels, until the climate of that part of the globe materially alters. It is only during unusually mild years that the snow ever disappears from the land, or the ice from the sea, even in the height of summer; and this is only for a very few weeks, or even days, and then again all is buried in adamantine chains for nine or ten weary months. The last attempt to discover the long-sought north-west passage was made in 1829, by Captain Ross. Aided by Sir Felix Booth, a wealthy London merchant, he fitted out a steam-vessel, called the Victory, with every requisite for a polar voyage. After some delays and disappointments, chiefly from the defective state of the boiler and other parts of the steam-engine, the captain reached Baffin's Bay, visited the Danish settlement of Helsteinberg, on the coast of Greenland, and entered Lancaster's Sound. He sailed down Prince Regent's Inlet, to the spot where Captain Parry's ship, the Fury, had been wrecked four years before. Her crew had returned to England in the Hecla, and as this vessel could not contain all her stores, they were necessarily abandoned, after having been piled on the beach in regular order. Captain Ross had obtained permission from government to make use of them, and he was not disappointed in his calculation of finding that they had sustained no material injury. When he landed on the beach, with three of his officers, he found only one tent left entire. This had been the mess-tent of the Fury's officers, and it was evident that the bears and foxes had paid it frequent visits. However, the preserved meats and vegetables were effectually protected from the sharp noses and strong jaws of these hungry visiters by the stronglysoldered tin canisters; and though the two heaps had been exposed to all weathers, they had not suffered in the slightest degree:-one hot summer's day in a milder region would have done more mischief than all the storms of the polar sky. Besides preserved meat and vegetables, there were wine, spirits, bread, flour, sugar, cocoa, lime |