HORACE PEAKS—BOAT LOST. 391 
* Feb. 2d. Still very squally and unsettled. This gale began 
at N.N.W., and drew round to S.S.W. Much rain comes 
usually from the N.W. quarter; and as the wind draws south- 
ward, the weather becomes clearer. The squalls from the 
southern quarter bring a great deal of hail with them. 
*‘ 3d. I was enabled to take a round of angles from Horace 
Peaks, over the ship, the sky being clear near the horizon. The 
theodolite had been left near the top since the 28th, each day 
having been too bad to use it. These peaked hills required time 
and exertion in the ascent ; but the wide range of view obtained 
from their summits on a clear day, amply repaid us for both. 
If the height was sufficient, it gave a bird’s-eye view of many 
leagues, and showed at a glance where channels lay, which 
were islands, and what was the nature of the surrounding land 
and water. ‘The shattered state of all these peaks is remarkable : 
frost, I think, must be the chief cause. 
‘* After being deceived by the magnetism of Mount Skyring 
and other places, I never trusted the compass on a height, but 
always set up a mark near the water, at some distance, and 
from it obtained the astronomical bearing of my station at the 
summit. This afternoon we prepared the ship to proceed as soon 
as the master should arrive. 
“* 4th. Moderate weather. I was surprised that the master 
did not make his appearance; yet, having full confidence in 
his prudent management, and knowing that he had been all 
the time among islands, upon any one of which he could 
haul up his boat and remain in safety during the gales, I did 
not feel much anxiety, but supposed he was staying to take 
the necessary angles and observations, in which he had been 
delayed by the very bad weather we had lately experienced. 
«© At three this morning (5th), I was called up to hear that 
the whale-boat was lost—stolen by the natives; and that her 
coxswain and two men had just reached the ship in a clumsy 
canoe, made like a large basket, of wicker-work covered with 
pieces of canvas, and lined with clay, very leaky, and difficult 
to paddle. They had been sent by the master, who, with the 
other people, was at the cove under Cape Desolation, where 
