TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 125 
way that they fell in with this lake, they of course can- 
not say in what direction it is, or how far it is off: they 
describe it to be about two miles in length and one 
in breadth. Before I conclude my account of the 
. mixed feelings and occurrences of this day, I cannot 
help mentioning an event that took place, which, al- 
though of no great moment in itself, yet, owing to 
the time that it happened, we could not avoid feeling 
as an additional misfortune. ‘he circumstance I 
allude to was an accident that happened to one of 
the seamen (named William Lancaster), who was in- 
advertently coming up the ship’s side with a pot of 
water off the ice, when one of the guns was fired to 
direct the parties on shore, by which he got his face, 
breast, and right arm very severely scorched. 
Tuesday, 14th. — It may be considered a very for- 
tunate circumstance that the stray party returned 
yesterday, as had they been out last night, it is more 
than probable that they would not have outlived it ; 
for it came on to blow very fresh after sunset, and 
the thermometer at three o’clock in the morning fell 
as low as 9°, and the average temperature ever since 
has been no more than 15°, so that we may very 
reasonably conclude that people exhausted in the way 
in which they were, would have had very little chance 
of withstanding the rigour of such weather for any 
length of time. 
Wednesday, 15th. — The weather being clear to- 
day gave us an opportunity of ascertaining the geo- 
graphical situation of this place. The latitude was 
found to be '74°27’N., andlongitude, by chronometer, 
112° PEW ysl 6 tis: perhaps, proper to remark, that 
