202 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



been made in Arctic geography. An open- 

 ing on its eastern side has received the appella- 

 tion of Inman Harbour, after my friend the Pro- 

 fessor at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth ; 

 and to a group of islands to seaward of it, we 

 gave the nam.e of Jameson, in honour of the dis- 

 tinguished Professor of Mineralogy at Edinburgh. 

 We had much wind and rain during the night ; 

 and by the morning of the 26th a great deal of 

 ice had drifted into the inlet. We embarked at 

 four and attempted to force a passage, when the 

 first canoe got enclosed, and remained for some 

 time in a very perilous situation : the pieces of 

 ice, crowded together by the action of the current 

 and wind, pressing strongly against its feeble sides. 

 A partial opening, however, occurring, we landed 

 without having sustained any serious injury. Two 

 men were then sent round the bay, and it was as- 

 certained that instead of having entered a narrow 

 passage between an island and the main, we were 

 at the mouth of a harbour, having an island at 

 its entrance ; and that it was necessary to return 

 by the way we came, and get round a point to the 

 northward. This was, however, impracticable, 

 the channel being blocked up by drift ice ; and 

 we had no prospect of release except by a change 

 of wind. This detention was extremely vexa- 

 tious, as we were losing the benefit of a fair 



