TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 67 
The south land, after passing Cape Castlereagh, 
trends to southward and westward, forming a large 
bay, the bottom of which was so distant from us, 
that it is presuming too much indeed to call it a bay, 
as it might, for aught we know, be a. passage to the 
southward. The land to the westward of this bay, 
or opening, appeared to be lower than that on the op- 
posite side of it, and the formation, or contour of it, 
differed also from that of the land to the eastward ; 
for it appeared somewhat like that which is called 
Table Land, whilst the land that we have passed is 
full of acuminated hills, rising one above another 
from the sea-side, tothe top of the mountains. On 
the north side, and a little to the westward of the bay 
or opening which I have just been describing, there isa 
similar gulf, or passage, and of greater extent than 
the above; our distance from the northernmost part 
of it was likewise too considerable to enable us to 
speak with certainty of the continuity of the land ; 
it appeared to us indeed as if it consisted ofa number 
of islands. The land to the westward of this opening 
differed also in its features from that on the north 
side of the entrance of Lancaster’s Sound, for its out- 
line appeared to be more regular, and less elevated 
than the latter, and it has much less snow on it. As 
we were sailing along this forenoon, we happened to 
pass close by an iceberg, to which a boat was sent to 
take some azimuths, and, to our surprise, the result 
of them gave less variation, nearly by two degrees, 
than we found in Possession Bay, notwithstanding we 
have every reason to think that we are approaching 
the Magnetic Pole; but these observations were taken 
rather too near noon, so that they are not so much 
to be depended on as those taken the other day. 
F 2 
