162 THE FOURTH ATTEMPT. Chap. X. 



a halfpenny, one of which I pocketed. Upon the ground 

 lay the fragments of a bottle which once contained the 

 record, and near it a staff about 4 feet long. Having cal- 

 culated upon finding the bottle sound, I was obliged to 

 make an impromptu record-case of its long neck, into 

 which I thrust my brief document, and consigned it to the 

 safe custody of a small heap of stones, the staff being 

 erected over it. 



It was dark before I got on board again. The strait had 

 been reconnoitred from the hills, and was reported to be 

 perfectly clear of ice. This morning we made a fourth 

 attempt to pass through ; but Bellot Strait was by no means 

 clear ; the same obstruction existed which defeated our last 

 attempt, and in precisely the same place. Returning east- 

 ward, we entered a narrow arm of the sea, nearly a couple 

 of miles to the west of Depot Bay, and anchored in a small 

 creek, perfectly sheltered and land-locked, at the foot of a 

 sugar-loaf hill, subsequently named after our surgeon, Mount 

 Walker. The temperature is falling ; last night it stood 

 at 2 4 . 



