460 AKCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. XI. 



whole coast-line is one continued series of rocky 

 islets, with channels between them mostly choked 

 with ice, the sea beyond them also covered with 

 ice, in the shape of floes and hummocks; reefs of 

 rocks parallel with the beach, their intermediate 

 channels shallow, and in many places not navigable 

 even by boats ; the weather foggy and stormy, with 

 violent gales of wind, so that Franklin says, after 

 dragging his boats 374 miles to the westward of 

 Mackenzie's River, " in all that space not a harbour 

 exists in which a ship could find shelter." Dr. 

 Richardson notices but one spot in the course of 

 800 miles — the strait of the Dolphin and Union — in 

 which there is water for large vessels ; but, he says, 

 " the navigation of it would be dangerous to ships, 

 from the many sunken rocks which we observed 

 near the southern shore." 



Dease and Simpson held out no encouragement 

 for ship navigation near to the coast, and they 

 found the western portion of it beyond the point 

 to which Franklin advanced, rocky, shallow, and 

 muddy on and near the beach, and the sea gene- 

 rally loaded with heavy ice. Geography and 

 natural history have gained very largely by these 

 expeditions ; and to these may be added meteoro- 

 logy in all its aspects, including magnetism and 

 electricity. 



