northern shore, in order to try what could there be done towards effecting our passage; and at nine P.M., after beating for several hours among floes and streams of ice, we got into clear water near that coast, where we found some swell from the eastward. There was just light enough at midnight to enable us to read and write in the cabin.

The wind and sea increased on the 19th, with a heavy fall of snow, which, together with the uselessness of the compasses, and the narrow space in which we were working between the ice and the land, combined to make our situation for several hours a very unpleasant one.

On the 21st we had nothing to impede our progress but the want of wind, the great opening through which we had hitherto proceeded from Baffin's Bay being now so perfectly clear of ice, that it was impossible to believe it to be the same part of the sea, which, but a day or two before, had been completely covered with floes to the utmost extent of our view. In the forenoon we picked up a small piece of wood, which appeared to have been the end of a boat's yard, and which caused sundry amusing speculations among our gentle. men; some of whom had just come to the very natural conclusion that a ship had been here before us, and that, therefore, we were not entitled to the honour of the first discovery of that part of the sea on which we were now sailing; when a stop was suddenly put to this and other ingenious inductions by the information of one of the seamen, that he had dropped it out of his boat a fortnight before. I could not get him to recollect exactly the day on which it had been dropped, but what he

stated was sufficient to convince me that we were not at that time more than ten or twelve leagues from our present situation; perhaps not half so much; and that, therefore, here was no current setting constantly in any one direction.

We perceived, as we proceeded, that the land along which we were sailing, and which, with the exception of some small inlets, had appeared to be hitherto continuous from Baffin's Bay, began now to trend much to the northward, beyond Beechey Island, leaving a large open space between that coast and the distant land to the westward, which now appeared like an island, of which the extremes to the north and south were distinctly visible. The latter was a remarkable headland, having at its extremity two small table-hills, somewhat resem. bling boats turned bottom upward, and was named CAPE HOTHAM. At sunset we had a clear and extensive view to the northward, between Cape Hotham and the eastern land. On the latter, several headlands were discovered and named; between the northernmost of these, called CAPE Bowden, and the island to the westward, there was a channel of more than eight leagues in width, in which neither land nor ice could be seen from the masthead. To this noble channel I gave the name of WELLINGTON. The arrival off this grand opening was an event for which we had long been looking with much anxiety and impatience; for the continuity of land to the northward had always been a source of uneasiness to us, principally from the possibility that it might take a turn to the southward and unite with the coast of America. The appearance of this broad opening, free from ice,

and of the land on each side of it, more especially that on the west, leaving scarcely a doubt on our minds of the latter being an island, relieved us from all anxiety on that score; and every one felt that we were now finally disentangled from the land which forms the western side of Baffin's Bay; and that, in fact, we had actually entered the Polar Sea.

Though two thirds of the month of August had now elapsed, I had every reason to be satisfied with the progress which we had hitherto made. I calculated upon the sea being navigable for six weeks to come, and probably more, if the state of the ice would permit us to edge away to the southward in our progress westerly: our prospects, indeed, were truly exhilarating; the ships had suffered no injury; we had plenty of provisions; crews in high health and spirits; a sea, if not open, at least navigable; and a zealous and unanimous determination, in both officers and men, to accomplish, by all possible means, the grand object on which we had the happiness to be employed.

CHAPTER III.

Favourable Appearances of an open Westerly Passage.-Land to the Northward, a Series of Islands.-General Appearance of them.- Meet with some Obstruction from low Islands surrounded with Ice.-Remains of Esquimaux Huts, and natural Productions of Byam Martin Island.-Tedious Navigation from Fogs and Ice.-Difficulty of Steering a Proper Course.-Arrival and Landing on Melville Island.-Proceed to the Westward, and reach the Meridian of 110° W. Long., the first Stage in the Scale of Rewards granted by Act of Parliament.

A CALM which prevailed during the night kept us quite stationary till three A.M. on the 23d, when a fresh breeze sprung up from the northward, and all sail was made for Cape Hotham, to the southward of which it was now my intention to seek a direct passage towards Behring's Strait. Wellington Channel, to the northward of us, was as open and navigable to the utmost extent of our view as any part of the Atlantic; but as it lay at right angles to our course, and there was still an opening at least ten leagues wide to the southward of Cornwallis Island, I could have no hesitation in deciding which of the two it was our business to pursue. It is impossible to conceive anything more animating than the quick and unobstructed run with which we were favoured, from Beechey Island across to Cape Hotham. Most men have, probably, at one time or another, experienced that elevation of spirits which is usually produced by rapid motion of any kind; and it will readily be

conceived how much this feeling was heightened in us, in the few instances in which it occurred, by the slow and tedious manner in which the greater part of our navigation had been performed in these

seas.

At noon we had reached the longitude of 94° 43′ 15", the latitude by observation being 74° 20′ 52′′, when we found that the land which then formed the western extreme on this side was a second island, which I called GRIFFITH ISLAND. The ice in this neighbourhood was covered with innumerable "hummocks," and the floes were from seven to ten feet in thickness.

After various unsuccessful attempts to get through the ice which now lay in our way, we were at length so fortunate as to accomplish this object by "boring" through a number of heavy streams," which occasioned the ships to receive many severe shocks; and, at half an hour before midnight, we were able to pursue our course, through "sailing ice," to the westward.

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The weather was at this time remarkably serene and clear; and although we saw a line of ice to the southward of us, lying in a direction nearly east and west, or parallel to the course on which we were steering, and some more land appeared to the westward, yet the space of open water was still so broad, and the prospect from the masthead, upon the whole, so flattering, that I thought the chances of our separation had now become greater than before; and I therefore considered it right to furnish Lieutenant Liddon with fresh instructions, and to appoint some new place of rendezvous in case of unavoidable separation from the Hecla.