Chap. II. COMMANDER JOHN ROSS. 45 



" At half-past two (31st August), when I went off deck to 

 dinner, there were some hopes of its clearing, and I left 

 orders to be called on the appearance of land or ice a-head. 

 At three the officer of the watch, who was relieved to his 

 dinner by Mr. Lewis, reported, on his coming into the 

 cabin, that there was some appearance of its clearing at the 

 bottom of the bay ; I immediately therefore went on deck, 

 and soon after it completely cleared for about ten minutes, 

 and I distinctly saw the land, round the bottom of the bay, 

 forming a connected chain of mountains with those which 



extended along the north and south sides At this 



moment I also saw a continuity of ice, at the distance of 

 seven miles, extending from one side of the bay to the other, 

 between the nearest cape to the north, which I named after 

 Sir George Warrender, and that to the south, which was 

 named after Viscount Castlereagh. The mountains which 

 occupied the centre, in a north and south direction, were 

 named Croker's Mountains, after the Secretary to the 

 Admiralty. The south-west corner, which formed a spa- 

 cious bay, completely occupied by ice, was named Barrow's 

 Bay, and is bounded on the south by Cape Castlereagh, 

 and on the north by Cape Rosamond, which is a head-land 

 that projects eastward from the high land in the centre. 

 The north corner, which was the last I had made out, was 

 a deep inlet ; and as it answered exactly to the latitude 

 given by Baffin of Lancaster Sound, I have no doubt that it 

 was the same, and consider it a most remarkable instance of 

 the accuracy of that able navigator." — pp. 174, 175. 



It was, indeed, a most remarkable instance of 

 accuracy in Baffin, which can be explained only 

 by supposing him to have been gifted by Arctic 

 vision of one hundred and fifty miles, without 

 which he never could have got sight of Ross's 



