OUR SITUATION. 109 



danger*, we could have but little chance of i824. 

 riding in safety with only a stream anchor. But Sept. 

 even supposing that I had succeeded in finding 

 a wintering place, and being firmly frozen in, 

 the same difficulties must have been again en- 

 countered the following year, and no advan- 

 tages would have been gained. 



I had at first an idea of running for Fort 

 York, or Churchill, but as the shoals off these 

 places are very dangerous -f-, and even the 

 company's ships require pilots, and the advan- 

 tage of particular tides to pass them J, there 

 was little reason to hope that we could succeed 

 in doing' so, as we could not now anchor to 

 await the favourable time of tide, or even 

 while a boat should be despatched for assist- 

 ance to the factories, which are oat of sight 

 from the deck of a ship when anchored off 

 " The Flats." 



Marble Island, according to Middleton and 

 Ellis, is the only spot along the whole Ame- 

 lican coast from Churchill upwards, which 



* Ellis, p. 269. London Edit. 174S. 



t Ibid, p. 149. 



X It is also requisite that the channels should be 

 huoyed for the guidance of the ships, as the sands shift ; 

 and when the season is over, these buoys are always taken 

 up by a vessel kept for the purpose. 



