252 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



July." 11 recorded ' he sent b Y one of the m en as he left the ship a piece of seal- 

 v-nrO skin, as a present to Parree, being the first offering of real gratitude, and 

 without any expectation of return, that I had ever received from any of 

 them. I never saw them express more surprise than on being assured that 

 we had left Winter Island only a single day ; a circumstance which might well 

 excite their wonder, considering that they had themselves been above forty 

 in reaching our present station. They had obtained one rein-deer, and had 

 now a large seal on their sledge, to which we added a quantity of bread- 

 dust that seemed acceptable enough to them. As our way lay in the same 

 direction as theirs, I would gladly have taken their whole establishment on 

 board the ships to convey them to Amitioke, but for the uncertain nature of 

 this navigation, which might eventually have put it out of my power to land 

 them at the precise place of their destination. The ice again opening we 

 were now obliged to dismiss them after half an hour's visit, when, having run 

 to the Hecla's bows to see Captain Lyon and his people, they returned to 

 their sledge as fast as their loads of presents would allow them. I here 

 annex a chart drawn by Ewerat, which served as satisfactory confirmation of 

 Iligliuk's. 



After sailing two miles towards Cape Wilson, we found the ice again closing 

 in with the land-floe and drifting to the south-west with this extraordinary 

 flood-tide, which we here found to monopolize full three-fourths of the four- 

 and-twenty hours, besides running in general much more rapidly than the 

 other. After the Fury was secured, the ice swept the Hecla alongside of her, 

 before Captain Lyon had time to secure his hawsers, the tide running full 

 a knot and a half. Much havoc is usually to be apprehended in such cases ; 

 after some grinding and squeezing, therefore, we considered ourselves to 

 have escaped very well with the loss of one of the Hecla's boats torn to pieces 

 by the Fury's anchor ; but were soon afterwards much mortified in disco- 

 vering that the latter was rendered unserviceable also, by being badly 

 cracked in the shank. 

 hur.4. At midnight the ice began drifting to the north-east with the ebb-tide, 

 which seemed to set more in earnest than we had ever seen it do before, 

 though for what reason was not apparent. In consequence of this movement, 

 a number of heavy floe-pieces came with great violence against our sterns at 

 fifteen minutes past one A.M. on the 4th, setting along the edge of the land-ice, 

 and threatening to carry us away, with an equal strain on each of five stout 

 hawsers. The uncertainty respecting the soundings off Owlitteeweek, where 



