54 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



1821. ingly we here found a more than ordinary degree of sluggishness in the 

 -*y>«* compasses, both on board the ships and on shore. The Fury's head was to- 

 day constantly north-west on one tack and north-east on the other, the 

 wind remaining steadily fixed in the northern quarter ; and in making obser- 

 vations for the dip on shore, it was with considerable difficulty that the true 

 direction of the magnetic meridian could be determined, the small horizon- 

 tal needle attached to the instrument for that purpose having become alto- 

 gether useless, and one of Eater's differing several degrees in two or three 

 ^succeeding observations. 



From our place of observation on shore we had a distinct view of Cape 

 Hope, which is high and bluff, as well as of the land to the eastward of it, 

 running towards Beach Point, which becomes lower, as described by Cap- 

 tain Middleton. Indeed the whole account he has given of this bay, with 

 the exception of its geographical position, is in general very accurate, par- 

 ticularly in the appearance of the lands, their relative situation, and in 

 the nature and depth of the soundings. With respect to the Frozen 

 Strait, through which we passed with less difficulty than usual in the 

 navigation of those seas, — thus, for the first time, determining by actual 

 examination the insularity of that portion of land which by anticipation 

 has long been called Southampton Island, — there can be little doubt that the 

 account Middleton has given of its appearance, as seen from Cape Frigid, is 

 in the main a faithful one. In that view it would seem to be " almost full of 

 long small islands ;" nor is there any improbability of its having been, at the 

 time of his visit, covered with ice, which might appear to be " fast to both 

 shores," presenting to a person so situated a hopeless prospect of penetrating 

 through it to the northward. Above all, the accuracy of Captain Middleton 

 is manifest upon the point most strenuously argued against him by Mr. Dobbs; 

 for our subsequent experience has not left the smallest doubt of Repulse 

 Bay and the northern part of the Welcome being filled by a rapid tide flowing 

 into it from the eastward through the Frozen Strait. 



From twenty-two minutes after seven A.M. till twelve minutes past one 

 P.M., when we left the shore, the tide was constantly ebbing, and fell seven 

 feet three inches in that time, from which I concluded the time of high water 

 this morning to have been about ten minutes past seven, and a quarter after 

 eleven on full and change days. The tide was tried on board every hour 

 during the forenoon, and found to set as follows : 



