Polar Explorations. 129 
On the 29th of July they found themselves in a clear sea, in 
73° 51’ N. lat. 67° 47' W. long. and no bottom with three hun- 
dred and ten fathoms of line. As the wind freshened the ice 
disappeared, and they seemed to have arrived at the head 
quarters of the whales, eighty two having been seen in one 
ay. They made good progress due west in lat. 74° meet- 
ing with no obstruction from the ice, and were sanguine in the 
belief that they had found the passage to the polar sea; but 
on the 6th of August, land was discovered ahead, which 
proved to be the first of a group of islands, commencing in 
lat. 74° 39’ N. on the north west side of Baffin’s Bay. 
were named the North Georgian Islands, by Capt. Parry. 
Their geognostical character, and their animal and vegeta- 
ble productions were minutely examined, and their precise 
latitude and longitude were ascertained, with a due atten- 
tion to every object interesting to science. 
On the 4th of September the expedition reached the 
110th degree of west longitude, and thus became entitled to 
> 
every thing which could conduce to their own and the peo- 
ple’s comfort. An observatory was erected on the ice, for 
astronomical purposes, and a snow house for magnetic ob- 
servations. Divine service was performed upon the sabbath, 
evening schools were established to instruct the men in read- 
Vor, XVI—No. 1. 17 
