HUDSON'S STRAIT. 135 



The wind had fallen considerably at daylight, 1S24. 

 on the 30th, and land was seen indistinctly October, 

 at about twenty-five miles to the northward. 

 A thick fog continued with but little intermis- 

 sion all day, and when it cleared in the even- 

 ing, the wind settled from the south-east, and 

 we obtained corrections for the compasses. 

 In the course of the day, we had passed several 

 bergs, and one small piece w^hich we picked up 

 yielded us a valuable ton of water. The breeze 

 continued in our favour all the 1st of October, 

 during which we had an indistinct view of the 

 land. On the morning of the 2nd, land was 

 seen distant and indistinctly to the north-east- 

 ward. This must have been somewhere near 

 Hatton's Headland ; but as it was of the ut- 

 most importance that we should clear the 

 strait while the breeze was favourable, I did 

 not approach it. While running to the south- 

 east with rather a heavy sea, we observed seve- 

 ral flocks of rotges, which had been very 

 numerous all the day, to fly directly against 

 the steep sides of a wave, and bury themselves 

 headlong in a moment ; a manner of diving I 

 had never seen adopted by any other northern 

 birds. In the evening we made and passed 

 the northernmost of the bold precipitous 

 group of Button's Islands. The night was 



