passes, as well as the amount of their irregularity produced by the attraction of the ship's iron, had been found very rapidly, though uniformly, to in. crease as we proceeded to the westward; so much, indeed, that, for the last two days, we had been under the necessity of giving up altogether the usual observations for determining the variation of the needle on board the ships. This irregularity became more and more obvious as we now ad. vanced to the southward, which rendered it not improbable that we were making a very near approach to the magnetic pole. For the purposes of navigation, therefore, the compasses were from this time no longer consulted; and in a few days afterward, the binnacles were removed as useless lum. ber from the deck to the carpenter's storeroom, where they remained during the rest of the season.

A dark sky to the southwest had given us hopes of finding a westerly passage to the south of the ice along which we were now sailing; more especially as the inlet began to widen considerably as we advanced in that direction: but at three A.M. on the morning of the 8th, we perceived that the ice ran close in with a point of land bearing S.b. E. from us, which appeared to form the southern extremity of the eastern shore.

With the increasing width of the inlet we had flattered ourselves with increasing hopes; but we soon experienced the mortification of disappointment. The prospect from the crow's-nest began to assume a very unpromising appearance, the whole of the western horizon, from north round to S.b.E., being completely covered with ice, consist. ing of heavy and extensive floes, beyond which no

indication of water was visible; instead of which there was a bright and dazzling iceblink extend. ing from shore to shore. The western coast of the inlet, however, trended much more to the westward than before, and no land was visible to the southwest, though the horizon was so clear in that quarter, that, if any had existed of moderate height, it might have been easily seen at this time at the distance of ten or twelve leagues. From these circumstances, the impression received at the time was, that the land, both on the eastern and western side of this inlet, would be one day found to consist of islands.

A breeze sprung up from the northward on the morning of the 12th, but the weather was so foggy for some hours that we did not know in what di rection it was blowing. As soon as the fog cleared away, so as to enable us to see a mile or two around us, we found that the floe to which we had anchored was drifting fast down upon another body of ice to leeward, threatening to enclose the ships between them. We therefore cast off and made sail, in order to beat to the northward, which we found great difficulty in doing, owing to the quantity of loose ice with which this part of the inlet was now covered. A remarkably thick fog ob. scured the eastern land from our view this evening at the distance of five or six miles, while the western coast was distinctly visible at four times that distance.

The weather was beautifully calm and clear on the 13th, when, being near an opening in the eastern shore, I took the opportunity of examining it in a boat. It proved to be a bay, a mile wide at

its entrance, and three miles deep in an E.b.S. die rection, having a small but snug cove on the north side, formed by an island, between which and the main land is a bar of rocks, which completely shelters the cove from sea or drift ice. We found the water so deep, that in rowing close along the shore we could seldom get bottom with seven fathoms of line. The cliffs on the south side of this bay, to which I gave the name of PORT BOWEN, resemble, in many places, ruined towers and battlements; and fragments of the rocks were constantly falling. from above. At the head of the bay is an extensive piece of low flat ground, intersected by numerous rivulets, which, uniting at a short distance from the beach, formed a deep and rapid stream, near the mouth of which we landed. This spot was, I think, the most barren I ever saw, the ground being almost entirely covered with small pieces of slaty limestone, among which no vegetation appeared for more than a mile, to which distance Mr. Ross and myself walked inland, following the banks of the stream. Among the fragments we picked up one piece of limestone, on which was the impression of a fossil-shell. We saw here a great number of young black guillemots, and a flock of ducks, which we supposed to be of the eider species.

The narwhals were here very numerous; these animals appear fond of remaining with their backs exposed above the surface of the water, in the same manner as the whale, but for a much longer time, and we frequently also observed their horns erect, and quite stationary for several minutes together. The whole of the 14th was occupied in an unVOL. I.-D

successful attempt to find an opening in the ice to the westward, which remained perfectly close and compact, with a bright iceblink over it.

The ice continued in the same unfavourable state on the 15th; and being desirous of turning to some account this vexatious but unavoidable detention, I left the ship, accompanied by Captain Sabine and Mr. Hooper, in order to make some observations on shore, and directed Lieutenant Liddon to send We a boat from the Griper for the same purpose. landed in one of the numerous valleys or ravines which occur on this part of the coast, and at a few miles' distance very much resemble bays, being bounded by high hills that have the appearance of bluff headlands. We ascended with some diffi culty the hill on the south side of the ravine, which is very steep, and covered with innumerable de. tached blocks of limestone, some of which are constantly rolling down from above, and afford a very insecure footing. From the top of this hill, which is about six or seven feet above the level of the sea, and commands an extensive view to the westward, the prospect was by no means favoura. ble to the immediate accomplishment of our object. No water could be seen over the ice to the northwest, and a bright and dazzling blink covered the whole space comprised between the islands and the north shore. It was a satisfaction, however, to find that no land appeared which was likely to im. pede our progress; and we had been too much ac. customed to the obstruction occasioned by ice, and too well aware of the suddenness with which that obstruction is often removed, to be at all discour. aged by present appearances.

On the top of this hill we deposited a bottle, containing a short notice of our visit, and raised over it a small mound of stones; of these we found no want, for the surface was covered with small pieces of schistose limestone, and nothing like soil or veg. etation could be seen.

'On the 17th we had a fresh breeze from the S.S. W., with so thick a fog that, in spite of the most unremitting attention to the sails and the steerage, the ships were constantly receiving heavy shocks from the loose masses of ice with which the sea was covered, and which, in the present state of the weather, could not be distinguished at a sufficient distance to avoid them. On the weather clearing up in the afternoon, we saw for the first time a remarkable bluff headland, which forms the northeastern point of the entrance into Prince Regent's Inlet, and to which I gave the name of CAPE YORK. A little to the eastward of Cape Fellfoot, we observed six stripes of snow near the top of the cliff, being very conspicuous at a great distance, when viewed from the southward. These stripes, which are formed by the drift of snow between the buttress-like projections before described, and which remained equally conspicuous on our return the following year, have probably at all times much the same appearance, at least about this season of the year, and may, on this account, perhaps, be deemed worthy of notice as a landmark.

There being still no prospect of getting a single mile to the westward, in the neighbourhood of Prince Leopold's Islands, and a breeze having freshened up from the eastward in the afternoon, determined to stand over once more towards the