338 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



passage ; but having at length, by the assistance of a plank, crossed the 

 v^vw loose pieces near the shore, we found the " young ice " connecting the rest 

 sufficiently strong to enable us to pass over it with ease, and we arrived on 

 the main-land about one P.M. At two we recommenced our walk along- 

 shore to the westward ; and as the extreme point of land seen from the ships 

 did not seem to be more than eight miles distant, and the ground was good 

 for travelling, I determined to leave our knapsacks and other baggage be- 

 hind, and was in hopes of being thus enabled to obtain a clear view round 

 the point before sun-set, and of returning to our tent at night. In this ex- 

 pectation, however, I was altogether disappointed ; for after three hours' 

 hard walking, we found the point was still at least five or six miles from us, 

 which obliged me to give up the attempt, and to return to the tent for the 

 night. 



7th. " The distance to the western extreme being greater than I could now 

 hope to travel in the time to which I was limited by my instructions, I 

 ascended a high hill at five A.M. on the 7th to obtain a view of the Strait. 

 The horizon, however, was so obscured by fog that we could only at inter- 

 vals see the tops of the northern hills. Our prospect to the westward was 

 also very limited, but as far as could be discerned, the ice appeared per- 

 fectly close and composed of high hummocks with a few heavy floe-pieces. 

 Proceeding on our return at eight o'clock, we reached Amherst Island by 

 noon, the young ice having every where become so firm that we might easily 

 have returned to the ships upon it, without the assistance of a plank. The 

 fog having now cleared away, gave us a good view from the west end of the 

 island, where we could perceive that no land was visible for three or four 

 points of the compass between the north and south shores of the Strait. In 

 this space nothing was to be seen but compact heavy ice, with a white haze 

 hanging over the horizon to the westward. Being anxious to examine also 

 the state of the ice on the north side of the island, I left the party, when two 

 miles short of the boat, and walked to a high ridge on that side, from which 

 I perceived a remarkable bluff* on the north shore of the Strait, appearing 

 to be detached from the other land, but this my position did not enable me 

 to determine. 



" I found the ice on the north side of the island perfectly close and much 

 heavier than on the opposite shore, being generally composed of large floe- 



* Afterwards called by Lieutenant Reid r Cape Hallowell. 



