112 PROGRESS TOWARDS 



1824. After noon^ on Wednesday, September 

 Sept. i5th^ 1824, with a sad heart, I bore up and 

 steered w.b.N.^ by compass, which I believed 

 to be about south, (time,) for there was no sun 

 to assist us, although a *^ blink" over the dis- 

 tant snow-covered land astern, afforded a mark 

 by which we steered for a few hours. At 

 eight P.M., having run twenty-five miles, and 

 not daring to trust to the compasses, I hove 

 to, and our soundings, as we drifted, increased 

 gradually to seventy fathoms, on the mornmg 

 of the 16th^ when the moon was seen at times, 

 and by her we bore up and steered s.s.e. In the 

 space of half an hour all three compasses took 

 a sudden turn from ^est to east, and, as they 

 continued steady, I was led to suppose they had 

 resumed their errors as shewn on the 5th and 

 6th*, when we were not far from our present 

 situation. By the sun at eight A.M. this was 

 most accurately confirmed, but while running 

 during the forenoon, the compasses again be- 

 came unsteady. A light breeze springing up 

 in the afternoon, from s.b.E. (true,) gave our 

 head E.b.s. (true,) yet the three compasses 

 agreed in shewing a variation of three points 

 and a half easterly on this course. 



Our run at noon having given us one hun- 

 * Vide Appendix. 



