0CHR1SH-C0L0URED ICE. ()5 



again obliged to have recourse to the lines, was 

 at last brought into comparatively open water* 

 The conduct of both officers and men in this 

 arduous and irksome service deserved all praise ; 

 and their exertions were not altogether without 

 reward, for the land supposed to be Cape Com- 

 fort was evidently further off; and, at noon, this 

 conjecture was confirmed by the increase of lati- 

 tude, which was 65° <25' N., the longitude being 

 81° e 8' W. Hitherto my endeavour had been to 

 follow the leads, in the hope of being brought 

 out into open water ; but now, as none was in 

 sight, I determined on steering directly towards 

 Frozen Strait, and, singular to say, the ice opened 

 as we advanced, though but half an hour pre- 

 vious it was tightly pressed together. As the 

 day drew in, the southern horizon became dark 

 and cloudy, sending what had been long ardently 

 desired, a south west wind. The effects of this 

 were soon conspicuous in the ice ahead, which 

 now began to part into holes and lanes, and en- 

 couraged a hope among the more sanguine that 

 we were, at length, near the edge of that vast 

 body which had so long detained us. It was 

 remarkable that the whole of the ice, whether 

 detached or compact, floe or drift, was of a dirty 

 ochrish colour, totally unlike any which we had 

 seen before, and must therefore have been close 

 to the land. The middle of the night being 



F 



