84 VOYAGE TO THE POLAB SEA. July 



CHAPTER III. 



LEAVE UPERNIVIK — INTRICATE NAVIGATION — ' ALERT ' AGROUND — THE 

 'MIDDLE ICE' — MELVILLE BAY — CAPE YORK AND THE 'NORTH WATER' 

 — NATIVES OF CAPE YORK — BEVERLEY CLIFFS— CARY ISLANDS — 

 NORTHUMBERLAND AND HAKLUYT ISLANDS — CAPE ALEXANDER. 



The barometer remaining very steady at 30*5 inches, I 

 hastened to take advantage of the favourable weather. 

 Having succeeded in obtaining observations for correct- 

 ing the chronometers, the Expedition left Upernivik 

 on the evening of the 22nd. A thick fog to seaward 

 rendered it very nnadvisable to attempt a passage in 

 that direction, but the weather being perfectly clear in- 

 shore, with the assistance of an Eskimo pilot we passed 

 safely through the narrow and intricate channels leading 

 to Kangitok. The scenery in this passage is exceedingly 

 picturesque. At first starting it is necessary to pass 

 through a narrow rocky channel not more than fifty 

 yards broad, the dark-coloured rocks rising on the 

 left hand to above the mastheads, though on the right 

 sufficiently low to disclose the mainland beyond, which 

 presents a line of grand rampart-like cliffs rising for at 

 least 1,000 feet abruptly from the water's edge. The 

 giant portals on either side of the many glacier-cut 

 fiords which break the continuity of the coast, are 

 conspicuously marked by corresponding lines of strati- 

 fication. This narrow channel continued for about 



