424 CONJECTURES AS TO A N.W. PASSAGE 



islands that had been previously seen, the eastern 

 extremity of which was called Point Booth, from 

 Mr. (now Sir Felix) Booth, whose munificent 

 patronage of arctic discovery is too well known 

 to need any tribute from me : they seemed to 

 be of considerable extent. To the N. E. there 

 were water and ice, and beyond it a dark grey, 

 or what is denominated a water sky ; while from 

 the east to Cape Hay there was an open sea, with 

 a single island, bearing E. by S. and laid down 

 as Ripon Island, out of respect to the Earl of 

 Ripon, under whose auspices and directions it 

 was my good fortune to act. The only barrier 

 between us and the open water was a stream of 

 ice, about five hundred yards wide, which, for 

 the present, was wedged against the shore, and 

 prevented our moving. 



From these appearances, the fact of the 

 flood tide coming, so far as I could judge, from 

 the westward, the drift-wood, and the whale, 

 there seems good reason for supposing a passage 

 to exist between Point Maconochie and Point 

 James Ross. Whether the north-eastern clear 

 space is connected with and a part of the 

 Western Gulf of Captain Sir John Ross, I can- 

 not undertake to determine ; but I think I am 

 warranted in an opinion that the Esquimaux 

 outline, the sudden termination of Cape Hay, 

 and the clear sea in that particular direction, are 



