ELIZABETH HARBOUR DISCOVERED. 299 



westward into the Arctic— the Bellot Strait of Kennedy — yet he failed to 

 discover it, and erroneously regarded it as an inlet, which he named Brentford 

 Bay. At noon on the 17th, observations were obtained, giving lat. 71° 59', 

 long. 93° 32'. The dip of the magnetic needle gave 89° — the greatest dip 

 that had yet been observed. " As the variation also was westerly," says 

 Ross, ''we expected that we should find or pass over the magnetic pole, 

 which, under such a dip, could not be far distant." 



At night the tide rose and floated the iceberg to which the " Victory " 

 had been made fast, and Ross was obliged to cast off". Taking advantage 

 of a light air of wind, he stood out for an opening that seemed to lead to the 

 southward. Continuing to stand to the southward, at four o'clock on the 

 morning of the 19th, the "Victory" was steered between two large pieces 

 of ice which suddenly closed, so as to give the vessel a most alarming 

 " squeeze." She escaped, however, from the stern embrace. But it was now 

 evident to Ross that he had about reached the extreme limit of the clear 

 water. Before noon the ice came down on the " Victory " with great violence, 

 and it was with difficulty the rudder was unshipped in time to be saved. 

 After being drifted about helplessly along the shore for a number of days, 

 Ross left the ship to explore an inlet, which he had discovered in let. 70° 55'. 

 The inlet was a quarter of a mile wide, and soundings were obtained in 

 fifteen fathoms. Rowing up the creek for a mile, Ross was pleased to behold 

 it expand into a spacious opening, having twenty fathoms in the middle, and 

 shoaling gradually to the sides. Ascending a hill, the captain had a perfect 

 view of ,a harbour "not exceeded by any in the world." The discoverer 

 named it Elizabeth Harbour, and within it he found refuge for a few days. 

 But the season was too far advanced to remain in any harbour, except that 

 which was to form the home of the expedition during the winter. Accord- 

 ingly, though wind and current were unfavourable, Ross put out to sea, where, 

 without achieving any noteworthy result, he was buffeted and drifted about 

 for days. On the morning of September 11th, after having been moored 

 all night under the lee of an iceberg, the "Victory" Avas pushed out 

 from the shore to take advantage, if possible, of the fresh breeze that had 

 sprung up from the north-west. " The attempt, however," says Ross, " was 

 made in vain ; and after three hours of hard labour, we could neither 

 proceed nor extricate the ship, so that we were obliged to submit ourselves 

 to the ice, which was now closely packed in the whole channel which it 

 occupied. It was in vain that we> attempted to disengage ourselves, even 

 when it got into motion. . . . We therefore thought ourselves lucky 

 in getting hold of a grounded iceberg ; though the points of rocks were 

 appearing all around, and close by our ship. Unfortunately, however, a 

 wind springing up from the westward brought down an additional quantity 

 of ice before daylight, with a great increase of pressure, when the whole 



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