104 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



1821. no longer be found in any direction. There was also so much young ice in 

 v-nrv every small interval between the loose masses, that the boats were much cut 

 about the water-line in endeavouring to force through it. We were now 

 abreast of a remarkable bluff, called, after the master of the Fury, Allison's 

 Bluff, and forming the northern point of an open bay, in which alone there 

 was the smallest pool of clear water to be seen. In order, therefore, to 

 avoid the risk of being altogether driven from the shore, I determined to 

 attempt a passage into the bay, which was three quarters of a mile distant ; 

 and in this, after two hours' labour, we at length succeeded. The tents 

 being pitched and the boats hauled up, a part of our hands Avere employed 

 in repairing the damages occasioned by the young ice, while the rest were 

 despatched inland in search of game : in this pursuit they were not suc- 

 cessful, only one hare being brought in before dark. Finding that the ice 

 was likely to prove an obstacle of which we could not calculate the extent 

 or continuance, we began at once to reduce our daily expenditure of provi- 

 sions, in order to meet any contingency. 

 Mon. 17. Ascending the hill at daylight on the 17th, we were much disappointed in 

 finding that, though the ice continued to drive a little to the S.E., it was 

 even more compact than before, the loose masses through which we had 

 sailed the preceding day being now closely set together. Our people were 

 to-day rather more successful in pursuit of game, bringing in seven hares 

 before sunset. These animals were quite white, presenting so strong a con- 

 trast with the colour of the ground on which no snow as yet remained, as 

 to render them very conspicuous at a distance ; and we often killed them 

 on landing, by having observed their situation while rowing along-shore at 

 the distance of half a mile or more. Several of the ermines also which we 

 had procured for the last week or two were entirely white, except the little 

 brush at the tip of the tail, which was black. In other specimens of this 

 animal, however, the back was quite broAvn and the belly of a delicate light 

 straw or sulphur colour. 

 Tues. 18. It was high water on the morning of the 18th, at four o'clock, being some- 

 what earlier than the preceding tide ; a kind of irregularity Avhich was very 

 common about the mouth of Lyon Inlet at this season, rendering it impossi- 

 ble by one or two observations to calculate the true time of tide on the full 

 and change days of the moon. As soon as it was light enough to make out 

 the situation of the ice, which had now drifted considerably to the south- 

 ward, we left the bay with a fresh and favourable breeze, and at a quarter 



