CAPTAIN Ross's ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 445 
Sound, which presented one impenetrable mass of ice, just as 
I had seen it in 1818. Here we remained in a state of anxiety 
and suspense which may be easier imagined than described. 
Al] our attempts to push through were vain ; at length, being 
forced by want of provisions and the approach of a very se- 
vere winter to return to Fury Beach, where alone there re- 
mained wherew^ith to sustain life, there we arrived on the 7th 
of October, after a most fatiguing and laborious march, hav- 
ing been obliged to leave our boats at Batty Bay. 
Our habitation, w^hich consisted of a frame of spars, 32 
feet by 16, covered with canvass, was, during the month of 
November, enclosed, and the roof covered with snow from 4 
to 7 feet thick, which being saturated with water when the 
temperature was 15 degrees below zero, immediately took the 
consistency of ice, and thus we actually became the inhabitants 
of an iceberg during one of the most severe winters hitherto 
recorded ; our sufferings, aggravated by want of bedding, 
clothing, and animal food, need not be dwelt upon. Mr. C. 
Thomas, the carpenter, was the only man who perished at 
this beach, but three others, beside one who had lost his foot, 
were reduced to the last stage of debility, and only twelve out 
of our number w^ere able to carry provisions, in seven jour- 
neys, of 62 miles each, to Batty Bay. 
We left Fury Beach on the 8th of July, carrying wdth us 
three sick men, who w^ere unable to w^alk, and in six days 
we reached the boats, where the sick daily recovered. Al- 
though the spring was mild, it was not until the 15th of Au- 
gust that we had any cheering prospect. A gale from the 
westward having suddenly opened a lake of water along the 
shore, in two days we reached our former position, and from 
the mountain w^e had the satisfaction of seeing clear water 
across Prince Regent's Inlet, Avhich we crossed on the 17th, 
and took shelter from a storm twelve miles to the eastward of 
Cape York. The next day, when the gale abated, we crossed 
Admiralty Inlet, and were detained six days on the coast by 
a strong N. E. vAnd. On the 25th we crossed the Navy 
Board Inlet, and on the following morning, to our inexpressi- 
ble joy, we descried a ship in the offing, becalmed, which 
proved to be the Isabella, of Hull, the same ship which I com- 
manded in 1818. At noon we reached her, when her enter- 
prizing commander, who had in vain searched for us in Prince 
Regent's Inlet, after giving us three cheers, received us with 
every demonstration of kindness and hospitality which hu- 
raanity could dictate. I ought to mention also that Mr. Hum- 
38 
