18 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNE ITE. 



foi- a clearing up. At five P. M. the fog clearing, we slipped 

 from the berg and rounded the headland to the northward. 

 My object in keeping in close to the shore, though we were 

 working thi'ough icebergs, w^as to get a sight of the Devil's 

 Thumb, a remarkable pillar of land north of Wilcox Head, 

 and from which I intended to take a fresh departure for cross- 

 ing Melville Bay. But on rounding Wilcox Head we saw 

 nothing of the Devil's Thumb, and I imagined I might have 

 been deceived in the boat's position in the afternoon. Our 

 accommodations were so limited, the boat had to carry so 

 much, and the difficulty, not to say danger, of getting outside 

 of the boat was so great, that the log could not be hove wdth 

 any accuracy, and our reckoning was at the best not the most 

 reliable. The currents set us out of our reckoning frequently, 

 sometimes being to the northward and sometimes to the south- 

 ward. ^ 



" Discovering another high headland to the northward of the 

 supposed Wilcox Head I stood on, gettmg in tolerably open 

 water, and having a smooth sea and no wind with clear sky, 

 we headed for this new high land. On going below at eight 

 p. M. I directed Lieutenant Chipp to call me when nearly up 

 with this headland, or in case of any change in the weather. 

 At ten P. M. Lieutenant Chipp called me, a fog having shut 

 in, and land being entirely obscured, much ice being encoun- 

 tered in the shape of pack ice and icebergs, and some new ice 

 an inch in thickness. I immediately put about and attempted 

 to retrace our way, which we succeeded in doing for several 

 miles, but finally, owing to the increasing thickness of the 

 fog, we missed our track and were brought to a stand-still in 

 the pack. As far as we could see we were caught in solid ice 

 from about one to two feet thick, with large hummocks and 

 icebergs surrounding us. By steady ramming of the ice and 



1 It is well to note here for the information of any who may get into 

 Allison Bay, that the chart is wrong in leaving it to be imagined that the 

 bay is free except as to icebergs. It is filled with small islands, running 

 along about fifteen miles from the glacier line, and extending from Cape 

 Seddon nearly fifteen miles to the southward toward Wilcox Head. It 

 was the presence of these islands which confused us in reference to Wilcox 

 Head. — G. W. De L. 



