In the Arctic Regions. 235 
less than the direct distance between the Copper-Mine 
River and Repulse Bay; supposing the latter to be 
in the longitude assigned to it by Middleton. i 
When the many perplexing incidents which occurred 
during the survey of the coast are considered in con- 
nection with the shortness of the period, during which 
operations of the kind can be carried on, and the dis- 
tance we had to travel before we could gain a place of 
shelter for the winter, I trust it will be judged that 
we prosecuted the enterprize as far as was prudent, 
and abandoned it only under a well-founded conviction 
that a further advance would endanger the lives of the 
whole party, and prevent the knowledge of what had 
been done from reaching England. The active assist- 
ance I received from the officers, in contending with 
the fears of the men, demands my warmest gratitude, 
Our researches as far as they have gone, seem to 
favor the opinion of those who contend for the practi- 
cability of a North-West Passage. The~general line 
of coast probably runs east and west, nearly in the 
latitude assigned to Mackenzie’s River, the Sound 
into which Kotzebue entered, and Repulse Bay ; and 
very little doubt can, in my opinion, be entertained of 
the existence of a continued sea, in or about that line 
of direction. The existence of whales, too, on this 
part of the coast, evidenced by the whalebone we found 
in Esquimaux Cove; may be considered as an argu- 
ment for an open sea; and a connection with Hud- 
