NORTHWEST PASSAGE — ROBINSON 231 



team of hungry Eskimo dogs. Since the ice was packed solidly to 

 the south, Larsen turned north along Cornwallis Island as far as Cape 

 Airy, where he found leads pointing westward toward Bathurst Is- 

 land, the south shore of which was obscured by a heavy snowstorm. 

 Despite being turned and buffetted by the ice, the St. Roch main- 

 tained a forward course, and Cape Cockburn was reached about noon 

 on August 23. Here solidly packed floes blocked further progress. 

 The tide set to the east, and the St. Roch was carried 20 miles back to 

 Ackland Bay before anchoring close to shore. Larsen's difficulties 

 were further increased by the failure of his magnetic compass, which 

 had pointed fixedly at the bow of the schooner for several days. For 

 the remainder of the voyage he had only his Admiralty charts and an 

 amazing sense of direction upon which to depend as navigation aids. 

 Even the sun was hidden by continuous snowstorms. 



Early in the morning of August 24 the St. Roch once more slipped 

 along the coast to Cape Cockburn and anchored, while a party went 

 ashore to look for Captain Bernier's cairn. No trace of the cairn 

 could be found, but numerous bear tracks in the area suggested that 

 these curious animals might have scattered it. Larsen left an 

 R. C. M. P. cairn near a conspicuous rock on the south side of the! 

 point and placed a record of their visit inside it for historical ref- 

 erence. From this high cape it could be seen that Viscount Melville 

 Sound was filled with ice to the horizon. The ice was broken but 

 tightly packed, and was pushed against the islands by a strong south 

 wind. Ice was also being carried southward by currents through 

 Austin Channel, west of Bathurst Island. 



Since he could not proceed westward, Larsen decided to try a route 

 north of Byam Martin Island. He experienced a great deal of 

 trouble near Graham Moore Bay on western Bathurst Island, owing 

 to the St. Roches drifting southward with the current each time she 

 was stopped by the ice. After patiently working back and forth from 

 one small opening to another, shoving the floes when possible, or let- 

 ting them drift by, the St. Roch made the north coast of Byam Mar- 

 tin Island on the evening of August 25. Here Corporal Hunt and a 

 party went ashore to build a cairn and leave a record of the patrol. 

 Because of a heavy snowfall, no observation of the surrounding land 

 could be made, but fresh caribou tracks were seen. 



August 26 began with clear weather and a fresh westerly wind. 

 After rounding the northern tip of Byam Martin Island, the expedi- 

 tion found open water to the westward. Melville Island was soon 

 sighted, near Consett Head, and the men saw a herd of 12 musk oxen 

 grazing on the grassy lowland. Other herds of musk oxen were seen on 

 the tundra farther south, proving that these protected animals, part of 

 the remnant of the species, had survived on their isolated sanctuary. 



