NORTHWEST PASSAGE — ROBINSON 225 



Supplies were loaded into the St. Roch at Port Brabant on August 8, 

 and the vessel left for Coppermine to fulfill her freighting duties. 

 Scattered ice, rain, and fog made travel to Baillie Island difficult, while 

 large unbroken fioes extending eastward to the horizon forced the 

 schooner to travel along the shallow shores. Open water was finally 

 reached in Dolphin and Union Strait, and the vessel arrived at Cop- 

 permine on August 12. Coronation Gulf favored the St. Roch with 

 good weather and open water, and she anchored in Cambridge Bay 

 early on August 16. 



Since the detachments had now been given their year's supplies, 

 Larsen decided to continue eastward and attempt the Passage around 

 King William Island and through Bellot Strait. On August 19 he 

 left Cambridge Bay, but strong westerly winds, rain, and fog were 

 ill omens. Larsen was forced to anchor in the shelter of Lind Island 

 and was held there until August 24. The compass was now useless, 

 owing to the proximity of the Magnetic Pole, and navigation through 

 island-studded Queen Maud Gulf was by experience and seaman's 

 "sixth sense." The St. Roch proceeded cautiously toward Simpson 

 Strait, south of King William Island, taking soundings continually, 

 since no vessel of her draught (121/^ feet) had ever been in these 

 waters. Because Simpson Strait is narrow and full of small rocky 

 islands, Larsen sent the motor launch ahead to sound a course. The 

 bottom was uneven, with depths averaging from 6 to 8 fathoms, and 

 with several shallow places of 3 fathoms. On August 26 the vessel 

 remained at anchor during a thick fog. The next day she proceeded 

 carefully and reached Gjoa Haven (Petersen Bay) in the afternoon. 



The seafaring policemen left this trading post on August 30 and 

 were soon inching their way through shoal water and strong tide 

 rips in Rae Strait. A northwesterly storm, accompanied by hail and 

 snow, forced the schooner to the coast in the shelter of Mount Mathe- 

 son, on the eastern tip of King William Island. Here she pitched and 

 rolled for a day before proceeding northward, with one man con- 

 tinuously sounding with the lead and another at the masthead on 

 the lookout for shoals. East of Matty Island large shoals, which rose 

 abruptly from 10 to 2y 2 fathoms, forced the schooner to seek deeper 

 water. 



In the narrowest part of James Ross Strait, northeast of Matty 

 Island, the St. Roch was stopped by a solid wall of grounded ice 

 extending from shore to shore. Since the vessel was not built or 

 powered to break such a barrier, she was anchored nearby to wait 

 for the tide to change direction. Early in the evening the ice began 

 pushing southward in a strong current. The only shelter available 

 was in the lee of a small rocky islet only slightly larger than the 

 schooner herself. A snowstorm shut off visibility, and throughout 



