The Captain's New Idea. 227 



down Fox Channel or the Frozen Straits into 

 Hudson's Bay, and thus home. I need not say 

 how anxious I am that he should adopt this route, 

 the discovery of which would be of the greatest 

 advantage to whalers ; and, from what we have 

 lately seen, the whales are all heading in that 





Prince Regent's Inlet — The " Arctic " fishing at the 

 edge of the floe. 



direction, so that we might fish as we go along. 

 At five this morning, a little south of Batty Bay, 

 some whales were seen, but only one small one 

 caught, though all the boats were away. Whilst 

 we were employed in flinching our fish, with the 

 help of one or two of the " Polarises " men, I got a 

 cast with the deep-sea lead, but no sounding's in two 

 hundred fathoms, temperature 29*8, surface 33*0, 



