At ten o'clock, after having had a clear view of the ice and of the land about sunset, and finding that there was at present no passage to the westward, we hauled off to the southeast, in the hope of finding some opening in the ice to the southward, by which we might get round in the desired direction. We were encouraged in this hope by a dark "water. sky" to the southward; but, after running along the ice till half past eleven without perceiving any opening, we again bore up. There was in this neighbourhood a great deal of that particular kind of ice called by the sailors" dirty ice," on the sur. face of which were strewed sand, stones, and, in some instances, moss: ice of this kind must, of course, at one time or other, have been in close contact with the land.

At ten A.M. I despatched Captain Sabine and Mr. Ross to the eastern point of the island, which we were about to round in the ships, in order to make the necessary observations, and to examine the natural productions of the shore. Our latitude at noon was 75° 03′ 12′′, long. 103° 44′ 37′′, and the depth of water forty fathoms. The gentlemen reported, on their return, that they had landed on a sandy beach, near the east point of the island, which they found to be more productive, and altogether more interesting, than any other part of the shores of the Polar regions which we had yet visit. ed. The remains of Esquimaux habitations were found in four different places. Six of these, which Captain Sabine had an opportunity of examining, and which are situated on a level sandy bank, at the side of a small ravine near the sea, are de. scribed by him as consisting of stones rudely placed

in a circular, or, rather, an elliptical form. They were from seven to ten feet in diameter; the broad, flat sides of the stones standing vertically, and the whole structure, if such it may be called, being exactly similar to that of the summer huts of the Esquimaux which we had seen at Hare Island the preceding year. Attached to each of them was a

smaller circle, generally four or five feet in diame. ter, which had probably been the fireplace. The small circles were placed indifferently as to their direction from the huts to which they belonged; and from the moss and sand which covered some of the lower stones, particularly those which com. posed the flooring of the huts, the whole encampment appeared to have been deserted for several years. Very recent traces of the reindeer and musk-ox were seen in many places; and a head of the latter, with several reindeers' horns, was

brought on board. A few patches of snow re.

mained in sheltered situations; the ravines, how. eyer, which were numerous, bore the signs of recent and considerable floods, and their bottoms were swampy, and covered with very luxuriant moss and other vegetation, the character of which differed very little from that of the land at the bottom of Possession Bay.

The dip of the magnetic needle was 88° 25' 58", and the variation was now found to have changed from 128° 58′ west, in the longitude of 91° 48', where our last observations on shore had been made, to 165° 50′ 09" east, at our present station; so that we had, in sailing over the space included between those two meridians, crossed immediately to the northward of the magnetic pole

and had undoubtedly passed over one of those spots upon the globe where the needle would have been found to vary 180°, or, in other words, where its north pole would have pointed due south.

The wind became very light from the eastward, and the weather continued so foggy that nothing could be done during the night but to stand off-andon, by the soundings, between the ice and the land. On the 29th, arter a few hours of clear weather, the fog came on again as thick as before; fortunately, however, we naa previously been enabled to take notice of several pieces of ice, by steering for each of which in succession we came to the edge of a floe, along which our course was to be pursued to the westward. As long as we had this guidance, we advanced with great confidence; but as soon as we came to the end of the floe, which then turned off to the southward, the circumstances under which we were sailing were perhaps such as have never occurred since the early days of nav. igation. To the northward was the land; the ice, as we supposed, to the southward; the compasses useless; and the sun completely obscured by a fog so thick, that the Griper could only now and then be seen at a cable's length astern.

We

had literally, therefore, no mode of regulating our course but by once more trusting to the steadiness of the wind; and it was not a little amusing, as well as novel, to see the quartermaster conning the ship by looking at the dogvane.

The weather cleared a little at intervals, but not enough to enable us to proceed till nine A.M. on the 31st, when we cast off from the ice, with a very light air from the northward. We occasion

ally caught a glimpse of land through the heavy fog-banks with which the horizon was covered, which was sufficient to give us an idea of the true direction in which we ought to steer. Soon after noon we were once more enveloped in a fog, which, however, was not so thick as to prevent our having recourse to a new expedient for steering the ships, which circumstances at the time naturally suggested to our minds. Before the fog recommenced, and while we were sailing on the course which, by the bearings of the land, we knew to be the right one, the Griper was exactly astern of the Hecla, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile. The weather being fortunately not so thick as to prevent our still seeing her at that distance, the quartermaster was directed to stand aft, near the taffrail, and to keep her constantly astern of us, by which means we contrived to steer a tolerably straight course to the westward. The Griper, on the other hand, naturally kept the Hecla right ahead; and thus, however ridiculous it may appear, it is nev ertheless true, that we steered one ship entirely by the other for a distance of ten miles out of sixteen and a half, which we sailed between one and eleven P.M.

The wind died away on the morning of the 1st of September, and the fog was succeeded by snow and sleet, which still rendered the atmosphere extremely thick. At a quarter before four A.M., I was informed by the officer of the watch that a breeze had sprung up, and that there was very lit. tle ice near the ships. Anxious to take advantage of these favourable circumstances, I directed all sail to be made to the westward: there was no dif.

ficulty in complying with the first part of this order; but to ascertain which way the wind was blowing, and to which quarter of the horizon the ship's head was to be directed, was a matter of no such easy accomplishment; nor could we devise any means of determining this question till five o'clock, when we obtained a sight of the sun through the fog, and were thus enabled to shape our course, the wind being moderate from the northward.

At one A.M. on the 2d, a star was seen, being the first that had been visible to us for more than two months.

As we were making no way to the westward, I left the ship, accompanied by a large party of offi. cers and men, and was soon after joined by the Griper's boats. The basis of this land is sandstone; but we met with limestone also, occurring in loose pieces on the surface, and several lumps of coal were brought in by the parties who had traversed the island in different directions. Our sportsmen were by no means successful, having seen only two deer, which were too wild to allow them to get near them. The dung of these animals, however, as well as that of the musk-ox, was very abundant, especially in those places where the moss was most luxuriant; every here and there we came to a spot of this kind, consisting of one or two acres of ground, covered with a rich vegetation, which was evidently the feeding-place of those animals, there being quantities of their hair and wool lying scattered about. Several heads of the musk-ox were picked up, and one of the Hecla's seamen brought to the boat a narwhal's horn, which he found on a hill more than a mile from the sea, and which must VOL. I.-E