330 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



^ept Notwithstanding every exertion on the part of our travellers, their labours 

 \-~v^ had not thrown much light on the geography of this part of the coast, nor 

 added any information that could be of practical use in directing the opera- 

 tions of the ships. The important question respecting a second passage 

 leading to the westward still remained as much a matter of mere con- 

 jecture as at first ; while the advanced period of the season, and the 

 unpromising appearance of the ice now opposing our progress, rendered it 

 more essential than ever that this point should, if possible, be fully decided. 

 Under this impression, it occurred to me that the desired object might pos- 

 sibly be accomplished, by pursuing the route along the head or western 

 shore of Richards' Bay, part of which I had already traversed on my former 

 journey, and found it much less laborious walking than that experienced by 

 Captain Lyon on the higher and more rugged mountains inland. I deter- 

 mined therefore to make this attempt, taking with me Mr. Richards and most 

 of my former companions, and proceeding in a boat as far as the isthmus 

 mentioned on the 17th of August, from whence our journey might at once 

 be advantageously commenced. 

 Tues. 3. This night proved the coldest we had experienced during the present sea- 

 son, and the thermometer stood at 24° when I left the ships at four A.M. on 

 the 3d, having previously directed Captain Lyon to remain as near their 

 present station as might be consistent with safety, and carefully to watch 

 for any alteration that might occur in the western ice. I also requested 

 Captain Lyon to render Mr. Fisher every assistance in his power in the tri- 

 gonometrical measurement of some high snow-capped hills to the north-west, 

 which at my desire he had undertaken. To the land on which these moun- 

 tains stand, and which the Esquimaux call Keiyuk-tarriioke, I gave the name 

 of Cockburn Island, in honour of Vice- Admiral Sir George Cockburn, one 

 of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, whose warm personal interest 

 in every thing relating to Northern Discovery can only be surpassed by the 

 public zeal with which he has always promoted it. 



Being favoured by a strong north-westerly breeze, we reached the nar- 

 rows at half-past six A.M., and immediately encountered a race or ripple so 

 heavy and dangerous, that it was only by carrying a press of canvass on the 

 boat that we succeeded in keeping the seas from constantly breaking into 

 her. This rippling appeared to be occasioned by the sudden obstruction 

 which the current meets at the western mouth of the narrows, aided in 



