118 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



October tnree i ncnes and a quarter ; but being in some places much less, several 

 v-*"vw officers and men fell in and, from the difficulty of getting a firm place to rest 

 on, narrowly escaped a more serious inconvenience than a thorough wetting. 

 The whole sheet of ice, even in those parts which easily bore a man's 

 weight, had a waving motion under the feet, like that of leather or any other 

 tough flexible substance set afloat ; a property which is I believe peculiar to 

 salt-water ice. 



In reviewing the events of this our first season of navigation, and consi- 

 dering what progress we had made towards the attainment of our main 

 object, it was impossible, however trifling that progress might appear upon 

 the chart, not to experience considerable satisfaction. Small as our actual 

 advance had been towards Behring's Strait, the extent of coast newly dis- 

 covered and minutely explored in pursuit of our object, in the course of the 

 last eight weeks, amounted to more than two hundred leagues, nearly half 

 of which belonged to the continent of North America. This service, not- 

 withstanding our constant exposure to the risks which intricate, shoal, and 

 unknown channels, a sea loaded with ice, and a rapid tide concurred in pre- 

 senting, had providentially been effected without injury to the ships, or 

 suffering to the officers and men ; and we had now once more met with tole- 

 rable security for the ensuing winter, when obliged to relinquish further 

 operations for the season. Above all, however, I derived the most sincere 

 satisfaction from a conviction of having left no part of the coast from Repulse 

 Bay eastward in a state of doubt as to its connexion with the continent. And 

 as the mainland now in sight from the hills extended no farther to the east- 

 ward than about a N.N.E. bearing, we ventured to indulge a sanguine hope 

 of our being very near the north-eastern boundary of America, and that the 

 early part of the next season would find us employing our best efforts in 

 pushing along its northern shores. 



