254 OF THE EXPEDITION 



winter, on account of the excessive cold ; the surface of 

 the sea being covered over with ice. Secondly, because 

 the ice does not begin to break up till the month of 

 April, and sometimes till the latter end of May, when the 

 wind blows from 8. and W. And lastly, because it is 

 impossible for any ship or other vessel to proceed into 

 high latitudes, unless an easterly, northerly, or north-easterly 

 wind has previously occurred, to clear away the ice, and 

 render the passage northward free. 



Having now examined the points most material to be 

 retiected on, regarding the navigation of the frozen seas, it 

 appears a convenient and proper place to offer a few 

 remarks on the precise subject of the north-west passage 

 through those seas, into the North Paciiic Ocean, and thence 

 to Japan, China, the East Indies, and also to the west coasts 

 of America. 



The brief sketch of the numerous attempts made in 

 former years to explore the north-west passage, which has 

 been submitted to the reader in the preceding pages, would 

 appear quite sufficient to warrant the conclusion that all 

 hopes of its practicability, by the way of Hudson's Bay, 

 vanished with the failure of the expedition recorded by 

 Ellis in the voyage of the Dobbs and California. And yet, 

 though that disappointment evidently weighed heavy on the 

 minds of the adventurers in that expedition, still so strong 



