442 



VOYAGE TO THE 



CHAP. 

 XII. 



Narrative 

 of the 

 Barge. 



pleasure of seeing the ship at anchor off Chamisso 

 Island, and the gratification to find all on board of 

 her well. 



(Signed) William Smyth, 



Mate of H. M. S. Blossom. 



sept. By this expedition about seventy miles of coast 



in addition to those discovered by the Blossom — 

 making in the whole 126 miles — have been added 

 to the geography of the polar regions, and the 

 distance between Captain Franklin's discoveries and 

 our own has been brought within so small a com- 

 pass as to leave very little room for further spe- 

 culation on the northern limits of the continent 

 of America. The actual distance left unexplored 

 is thus reduced to 146 miles, and there is much 

 reason to believe, from the state of the sea about 

 Point Barrow and along that part of the coast which 

 was explored by Captain Franklin, that the naviga- 

 tion of the remaining portion of unknown coast in 

 boats is by no means a hopeless project. 



Having now the assistance of the barge, I em- 

 barked in her to examine narrowly the shores of 

 Kotzebue Sound. Proceeding to survey the head of 

 Escholtz Bay, shallow water obliged the boat to 

 anchor off Elephant Point, where I left Mr. Collie 

 with a party to examine again the cliffs in which 

 the fossils and ice formation had been seen by Kot- 

 zebue, and proceeded to the head of the bay in a 

 small boat. We landed upon a flat muddy beach, 

 and were obliged to wade a quarter of a mile before 

 we could reach a cliff for the purpose of having a 

 view of the surrounding country. Having gained 

 its summit we were gratified by the discovery of a 



