64 SIGHT CAPE YORK. 



to which we gave chase in the gig ; the simpleton fool- 

 ishly took to the water, and gave us a very smart pull ; 

 however, poor fellow, he soon discovered that he was not 

 in his element, and sprang upon the first small floe-piece 

 he met, where he took his wounds most courageously, 

 plunging again into the sea to allay the pain. After a 

 very animated chase, and some very bad shots, the balls 

 finding their way to the ship instead of Bruin, he sur- 

 rendered, turning up suddenly on his back. This was 

 the second killed in Melville Bay, the first by Comman- 

 der M'Clintock and Lieutenant Meecham, of ' Resolute,' 

 on the 6th instant. This animal, even after a ball had 

 passed through his brain, I was informed by Lieutenant 

 Meecham, was disposed to show fight ! 



July 29. Our advance had now become pretty re- 

 gular, occasionally impeded by sudden meeting of points 

 of floes, but these were soon overcome by blasting. I 

 left the ship today for a short time, with Lieutenant May 

 and Mr. Grove, in pursuit of the rotges, small aquatic 

 birds (AIca Alle) about the size of a water-hen. We 

 killed one hundred and fifty ; but in the act of picking 

 up the dead birds, a sudden run of the ice took place, at 

 the rate of three knots, driving many of the birds under 

 the sharp ledges of the floe. We killed between five 

 and fifteen at a shot. The ship and ' Pioneer' were tem- 

 porarily pressed against the floe, but it soon ceased. 



On the 30th, we had reached 76 N. and 63 29' W., 

 and clearly on the verge of our long-desired " north wa- 

 ter -." Cape York was in sight, and, towed by ' Pioneer,' 

 we were pursuing our course merrily, hoping to rejoin 

 our consorts there, not doubting but that they had been 

 more fortunate in getting along the land than ourselves. 



