292 CAPTAIN YOUNG'S JOURNEY. Chap. XVII. 



of a cliff, and I well remember seeing my excellent friend 

 and messmate, the Paymaster of the ' Enterprise,' accidentally 

 make a most rapid descent of at least one hundred and fifty 

 feet on one of these ; none of us had either the inclination 

 or the courage to follow his example : our surprise may be 

 imagined at seeing a bear at the top of one of these slopes, 

 deliberately place himself on his haunches, and slide down 

 to the bottom, steadying himself with his fore-paws as he 

 went along, and thus maintaining the same posture through- 

 out the entire descent ! 



25///. — Position, 70 40' N., 55 17' W. Becalmed off 

 Hare Island, and getting the steam ready. We are only 

 108 miles from Godhavn, and the anxiety to clutch our 

 letters has become intolerable. No pack-ice has been 

 met with in our passage across Baffin's Bay, but many 

 icebergs. This morning the lofty snow-clad lands of Nour- 

 soak, and Disco were beautifully distinct ; and at the same 

 time the wind died away, leaving us, at least, the oppor- 

 tunity to contemplate at our leisure their gloomy grandeur. 



26th. — Steamed for ten hours last night. Fair winds and 

 calms have alternated since then, but this evening we are 

 within twenty miles, and hope soon to get into port. 



I have been reading over Young's report of his spring 

 journey. It comprises seventy-eight days of sledge travel- 

 ling, and certainly under most discouraging circumstances. 

 Leaving the ship on 7th April, he crossed Sir J. Franklin 

 Strait to Prince of Wales' Land, and thence traced its shore to 

 the south and west. On reaching its southern termination — 

 Cape Swinburne, so named in honour of Rear-Admiral 

 Swinburne, a much esteemed friend of Sir J. Franklin, and 

 one of the earliest supporters of this final expedition — he 

 describes the land as extremely low, and deeply covered 

 with snow, the heavy grounded hummocks which fringed its 

 monotonous coast alone indicating the line of demarcation 



