CAPTAIN M'glUKE's DESPATCEES. !27 



ill consequence of being- in the vicinity of several large floes, and at 2 p.m. 

 ao-ain secured to a floe between the Princess Royal and Baring's Islands 

 (we passed over a shoal having 19 fathoms). On the 20th, at 1 1.30 a.m., 

 a light air sprang up from the S.W., which, slacking the ice, gave 

 hopes of making progress to the N.E., in which direction I was anxious 

 to get for the purpose of entering Barrow's Strait, that, according to 

 circumstances, I might be enabled to carry out my original intentions of 

 T)roceedino: to the northward of Melville Island, as detailed in my letter 

 to the Secretary of the Admiralty of July 20, 1850, or, should such not 

 be practicable, return to England through the strait. The ship was cast 

 off, and a mile gained, when the wind died away, and we were again 

 beset. On the morning of the 22nd, open water appearing in the N.E., 

 the rudder was shipped in expectation of a start, which was not, how- 

 ever, realised until the afternoon of the 23rd, when a light S.W. wind 

 set the ice to the N.E., carrying us over a shoal upon which there was 

 much ice grounded in 13 fathoms ; the corner of the floe to which we 

 were attached coming in contact with some of these masses, gave way, 

 throwing pieces of 12 feet and 14 feet square completely out of the water. 

 It grazed the hard bottom with a sound not unlike distant thunder, as 

 it crashed, crumbled, and upheaved, throwing an enormous mound up in 

 its centre, as if under the influence of volcanic agency, and then rent 

 asunder, the part we were secured to remaining firmly grounded, while 

 the other and lighter portion, being forced onwards with accelerated 

 speed, came direct for our unprotected stern. To let go warps and 

 anchors was but the work of a minute, and most fortunate were we in 

 accomplishing it, as, ere they could be got on board, it struck the stern, 

 forcing the ship ahead at the rate of 2 knots. A small space of open 

 water, occasioned by the grounding of the flue, allowed of our advance ; 

 when, by warping and towing, we speedily got beyond its influence. 

 Had our position been less favourable, nothing could have saved the 

 vessel from momentary destruction, and at 11.30 p.m., with a breeze 

 from the S.E., we made sail through large leads of water towards the 

 eastern side of the strait, and by the afternoon of the 24th had nearly 

 reached Point Armstrong, upon which the ice was resting, where our 

 course was checked. There was much driftwood on the beach of large 

 dimensions, mostly American pine. The cutter was consequently dis- 

 patched for a load, and some of the pieces appeared so fresh, that Mr. 

 Ford, the carpenter, was of opinion that two years was the extreme of 

 their quitting the forest. The wind veering to the westward during the 

 night, set large bodies of ice into the water we occupied, which was 

 rapidly filling. To prevent being forced on shore, we were obliged at 

 8 a.m. of the 25th to run into tlie pack, where we drifted, according to 

 the tide, about a mile and a half from the beach ; but during the 24 

 hours made about two miles and a half to the N.E., from which I am 

 of opinion, when taken with the quantity of driftwood that is thickly 

 strewn along the beach, that on this side of the strait there is a slight 

 current to the north-east, while upon the opposite one it sets to the 

 southward, upon which there is scarcely any wood, and our progress, 

 while similarly situated, was in a southern direction. We continued 

 drifting in the pack, without meeting any obstruction, until 10 a.m. of 

 the 1st of August, when a sudden and most unexpected motion of the 

 ice swept us with much velocity to the north-east, towards a low point 

 off which were several shoals awash, having many heavy pieces of 



