6 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



1821. one of them for this purpose, whenever the wind and weather would permit. 



J^!^ So unfavourable, however, did these prove, and so often were we interrupted 

 by the closing of the ice upon the ships, that little progress could be made in 

 our work for several days. The difficulty of accomplishing this was consider- 

 ably increased by the attention necessary to keep the Nautilus from injury, 

 which, however, the strenuous exertions of Lieutenant Scrymgour and his 

 people happily effected, and the removal of the stores was completed by the 

 evening of the 30th ; when, having sent our despatches and letters on board 

 the Nautilus, and made every other arrangement, I gave Lieutenant Scrym- 



Sun. I. gour his instructions to return to England; and at one A.M. on the 1st of 

 July, he parted company, while the Fury and Hecla stood in towards the 

 ice. A whaler, deeply laden, and apparently homeward bound, was at this 

 time in sight to the eastward". 



Towards noon we made the ice, being in lat. 62° 08' 37", long. 62° 22' 49", 

 and ran along its edge, keeping as much to the westward as the trending 

 of it would allow. We thus continued to run through " sailing ice " all 



Mon. 2. night, till, having by the chronometers nearly reached the longitude as- 

 signed to Resolution Island, and the weather becoming thick, we hove to 

 on the morning of the 2d, to await the fog's clearing away, that we might 

 see the land. Finding soon afterwards that the ships drifted considerably, 

 the wind being fresh from the eastward, or directly towards the shore, we 

 made fast to an iceberg for better security. On the weather clearing up about 

 noon, we found ourselves close to Resolution Island, which bore from S. 21° E. 

 to S. 77° W. a very remarkable piece of land called by our fishermen, on 

 account of its peculiar appearance, the " Black Bluff," being distant from us 

 five or six miles. Our latitude by account, at this time, was 61° 59' 49", 

 and long. 64° 47' 50", the soundings being one hundred and sixty-four 

 fathoms, on a rocky bottom. The greater part of this land was now clear 

 of snow, which, however, still filled many of the valleys, and, together with 

 the fog that hung over it, rendered the scene before us indescribably dreary 

 and disagreeable. It requires a few days to be passed amidst scenes of this 

 nature, to erase, in a certain degree, the impressions left by more animated 

 landscapes ; and not till then, perhaps, does the eye become familiarized, 

 and the mind reconciled, to prospects of utter barrenness and desolation such 

 as these rugged shores present. 



Some clear water appearing to the southward, we made sail along the 

 island in that direction, passing a great many ice-bergs, of which Captain 



