314 ISLANDS. [CHAP.V. 



it. The high land which joined it, and along 

 which we were setting, rounded down to a point, 

 between which and one or two islands, for we 

 could not satisfactorily make them out, was 

 unquestionably an icy channel. Soundings were 

 found in forty-eight and fifty fathoms, with a 

 muddy bottom. At noon the ice was stationary. 

 At 12 h 45 m the ice began to set slowly to the 

 westward, and the breeze freshening at the same 

 time forced it off shore ; so that in a few hours a 

 lane of water was plainly discovered along the 

 mural edge of the land ice, while that within 

 us, and bordering our floe piece, was ' brash,' 

 such as under favourable circumstances might 

 have been sailed through. At 6 h p. m. we were 

 going slowly towards the east ; and, being now at 

 a different angle with the land, thought that there 

 certainly was a passage through the bay just 

 mentioned, which had been concealed before by 

 the overlapping of two projecting points. 



At daylight of the 12th we found ourselves 

 still farther off shore, and the breeze had not 

 only kept us more than usual to the west, but 

 had caused several holes of water to open in 

 different places. There was indeed a continuous 

 channel in shore for several miles, extending 

 however, no farther than the point. Beyond, 

 all was compact ; the necessary consequence of a 

 leeward situation, such as this would be with the 



