OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



26 



suddenly, from forty-two to one hundred. The tide was tried twice in the 1821. 

 course of the day; at 11.30 A.M., it set S.S.W., nearly a knot; and at 

 1.10 P.M., N. 50° W., a mile and a half an hour; but the direction of it 

 was so irregular, that the ships were frequently hampered, and received 

 several heavy blows from the ice in consequence. After standing several 

 miles to the northward, along the edge of the ice, without meeting with an 

 opening, it began to lead us so much to the eastward that we tacked and 

 stood back to the W.S.W., to try what could be done by patience and 

 perseverance in that quarter. 



The Expedition being now about to enter upon ground not hitherto ex- 

 plored, it became necessary for me to decide upon the route it would be 

 most advantageous to pursue, for the accomplishment of the principal ob- 

 jects pointed out in my instructions. This route being, in a certain de- 

 gree, left to my own discretion, I must here interrupt, for a moment, the 

 narrative of our proceedings, as well to explain the grounds on which 

 my determination rested, as to establish and elucidate the connexion 

 between the researches of the present Expedition, and those of former 

 navigators. 



