OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



35 



nine till ten P.M., the tide rose one foot, the stream setting to the westward A 1821 ' t 

 in the offing, as, indeed, it had done ahout the same time for the two pre- ^1^1* 

 ceding tides, so that little doubt could be entertained of the flood-tide coming 

 from the eastward in this place. At eleven P.M., soon after we returned on 

 board, a fresh gale suddenly came on from the north-west, obliging us to 

 make the ships fast to the largest floe-piece that happened to be near us, as 

 the best means of holding our ground. 



On the morning of the 12th, the good effects of the north-westerly gale Sun. 12. 

 were very apparent ; for, although we had drifted two or three leagues back to 

 the eastward, the main body of the ice, consisting mostly of pieces smaller 

 than that to which we were attached, had gone much faster, leaving a large 

 space of clear water for us to work in. It may here be observed that, in the 

 course of our endeavours to get to the westward, as well in this voyage, as in 

 that of 1819-20, a westerly wind, though blowing directly against us, was 

 always found ultimately to be the most favourable to our purpose, as it 

 brings away large bodies of ice from that quarter, and consequently leaves 

 a considerable interval of open water. The most precious opportunity to 

 seize, therefore, in this navigation, is at the springing up of an easterly 

 breeze after a gale from the opposite quarter, at which time, if a ship be 

 fortunately unhampered, considerable progress may generally be made. 

 Not a moment of this favourable interval must be lost, as the ice invariably 

 closes again in a few hours after the change of wind, which is besides usually 

 attended by thick weather. 



The gale having somewhat moderated at noon, we cast off and made sail ; 

 and, after carrying a press of canvass during the day, had made considerable 

 progress by the evening, when the ice becoming close obliged us to make fast ; 

 in doing which the Hecla narrowly escaped a heavy " nip," by the sudden 

 meeting of two floes. The weather was beautifully clear, giving us a fine 

 view of the land, which now began to excite in us more and more in- 

 terest, almost at every step of our progress. A headland, bearing from us 

 S. 87° W., and named, by Mr. Hooper's desire, Cape Welsford, appeared 

 very decidedly to form the northern termination of Southampton Island, 

 leaving an opening of a league or two in width, but broken by two 

 or three islands between it and some high land to the northward; a pro- 

 montory on this shore, forming the northern point of the Strait, was named 

 after Mr. Deas Thomson, one of the commissioners of His Majesty's Navy. 

 This land, however, did not appear to join that which we had lately 



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