In the Arctic Regions. 445 
we stood under sail along the coast to about five miles 
beyond Point Stokes ; but there we were again com- 
pelled by the closeness of the ice to stop, and from the 
top of a sand-hill we could not discover any water in 
the direction of our course. The tents were therefore 
pitched, and the boats unloaded, and hauled on the 
beach. Heavy rain came on in the evening, by which 
we indulged the hope that the ice might be loosened. 
We were encamped on a low bank of gravel which 
runs along the base of a chain of sand-hills about one 
hundred and fifty feet high, and forms the coast line, 
The bank was covered with drift timber, and is the 
site.of a deserted Esquimaux village. The snow still 
remaining in the ravines was tinged with light red 
spots. The night was calm, and the ice remained in 
the same fixed state until six in the morning of the 
17th, when, perceiving the pieces in the offing’to be 
in motion we launched the boats, and by breaking our 
way at first with hatchets, and then forcing with the 
poles through other streams of ice, we contrived to 
reach some lanes of water, along which we navigated 
for four hours. A strong breeze springing up from 
seaward, caused the ice to close so fast upon the boat, 
that we were obliged to put again to the shore, and 
land on a low bank, similar to that on which we had 
rested the night before. It was intersected, however, 
by many pools and channels of water, which cut off 
