34. 
VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
1819. visible. At noon, being in latitude 74° 15' 53'' N., longitude, by chrono- 
meters, 86° 30' 30", we were near two inlets, of which the easternmost was 
named Burnet Inlet, and the other Stratton Inlet. The land between 
these two had very much the appearance of an island. We rounded to, for 
the purpose of sounding, as well as to wait for our consort, and found no 
bottom with one-hundred and seventy fathoms of line, the water being of a 
dirty light-green colour. The cliffs on this part of the coast present a sin- 
Wed. 4. gular appearance, being stratified horizontally, and having a number of 
regular projecting masses of rock, broad at the bottom, and coming to a 
point at the top, resembling so many buttresses, raised by art at equal in- 
tervals. This very remarkable constructure, which continues with little varia- 
tion along the whole of this northern shore, will be best understood by the 
accompanying yiews by Lieutenant Beechey, which, from the accuracy with 
which the coast is delineated, will, I doubt not, be considered equally 
valuable by the geologist and the seaman. 
After lying-to for an hour, we again bore up to the westward, and soon 
after discovered a cape, afterwards named by Captain Sabine, Cape Fellfoot, 
which appeared to form the termination of this coast; and as the haze, 
which still prevailed to the south, prevented our seeing any land in that 
quarter, and the sea was literally as free from ice as any part of the Atlantic, 
we began to flatter ourselves that we had fairly entered the Polar sea, and 
some of the most sanguine among us had even calculated the bearing and 
distance of Icy Cape, as a matter of no very difficult or improbable accom- 
plishment. This pleasing prospect was rendered the more flattering by the 
sea having, as we thought, regained the usual oceanic colour, and by a long 
swell which was rolling in from the southward and eastward. At six P.M., 
however, land was reported to be seen a-head. The vexation and anxiety 
produced on every countenance by such a report, was but too visible, until, 
on a nearer approach, it was found to be only an island, of no very large 
extent, and that, on each side of it, the horizon still appeared clear for 
several points of the compass. More land was also discovered beyond Cape 
Fellfoot, immediately to the westward of which lies a deep and broad bay, 
which I named after my friend, Mr. Maxwell, to whose kindness and unre- 
mitting attention, I am more indebted than it might be proper here to express. 
At eight P.M., we cume to some ice of no great breadth or thickness, ex- 
tending several miles in a direction nearly parallel to our course ; and as 
we could see clear water over it to the southward, I was for some time in the 
