BESET WITH ICE. 67 



the land and the ice; but scarcely had they 

 passed Red Bay, so named from the colour of 

 its cliffs, when, at two in the morning of the 

 12th June, the further advance of the vessels 

 was stopped, and the channel by which they 

 had entered became so completely closed up 

 as to preclude the possibility of retreating. The 

 ice soon began to press heavily upon us, and, 

 to add to our difficulties, we found the water 

 so shallow, that the rocks were plainly discerned 

 under the bottoms of the ships. It was impossible, 

 however, by any exertion on our part, to improve 

 the situations of the vessels ; they were as firmly- 

 fixed in the ice as if they had formed part of the 

 pack, and we could only hope that the current 

 would not drift them into still shallower water 

 and damage them against the ground. 



Our position was off a part of the northern 

 coast of Spitzbergen, where Baffin, Hudson, Poole, 

 and indeed almost all the early voyagers to this 

 country had been stopped ; for it appears that, 

 with scarcely any exception, they succeeded in 

 navigating the western coast of this island, and 

 in doubling Cloven Cliff; but in no well-authen- 

 ticated voyage is there any record of their hav- 

 ing passed much beyond our present situation. 

 We were also not far from the spot where 

 Captain Phipps so nearly abandoned his vessels, 



F 2 



