OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 231 



shoals, of about four or five miles in length, from N.E. to S.W. Leaving the ^^22. 

 hill we proceeded N.E.b.N. until half-past nine P.M., and then pitched our ^nJ 

 tent. We were on a rising ground, and the wind was painfully severe from 

 the north, with the thermometer at 18°; at midniglit the temperature fell to 

 12°, and at six A.M. on the 11th it was 14°. At thirty minutes past seven II. 

 A.M. we. again crossed the hills, and at ten saw a bay before us, having a 

 gradual descent from the hills to its head, at which we stopped a little before 

 noon, having come about N.N.E. over the high ground. At noon the ther- 

 mometer was 22°. 



" By meridian altitude the latitude was 66° 31' 20", and by sights for the 

 chronometer the longitude was 0° 00' 50 ' west of the ships. Five of our 

 party here suffered most severely from snow-blindness, notwithstanding the 

 constant care which had been taken to shade their eyes. It was now im- 

 possible to proceed, and before night two men became quite blind. All suf- 

 fered the most acute pain, and their faces and eyes were much swollen and 

 inflamed. As we could only obtain water by thawing snow, and as we were 

 limited in the expenditure of our small stock of fuel, it was out of our power 

 to afford enough to bathe the eyes of our invalids. The wind gradually sub- 

 sided on the 12th, thermometer at six A M. 14°, and at noon 22°. The people l?. 

 continued to suffer all' day, but in the evening, the snow having melted a 

 little on the rocks, they were enabled to bathe tlieir faces, which afforded great 

 relief. Near our tent were some Esquimaux land-marks, and a mass of stones, 

 built in the form of a grave ; one flat slab which composed a side was about 

 five feet by two ; we searched for the body, but the ground was too much 

 frozen to be broken up. From an eminence two miles north-east of the tent 

 Ave found that the southern boimdary of this place (which I named Blake's 

 Bay,) bore S.iW. ; thermometer at nine P.M. 18°, at midnight 8°. 



" Early on the morning of the 13th seven deer passed near the tent ; at six 13^ 

 A.M. thermometer 10°. Althougii the eyes of the people were not by any 

 means free from inflammation, yet they were so far recovered as to enable us 

 to proceed, the suft'erers beingdirected by looking down on the sledge imme- 

 diately before them. Having rounded the bay by half-past seven, we walked 

 along a very flat beach, off which at the distance of a mile was a continued 

 chain of low islands and shoals for two or three leagues. At tlie expiration 

 of four hours we stopped on a rocky point, round which were the remains of 

 several Esquimaux summer habitations. Thermometer at noon 24°. This 

 was the first day wc had obtained water sufficient for our consumption. 



