OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
197 
which, finding good ground for the tents, and plenty of water, we halted at 1820. 
a quarter-past seven, being in latitude by observation 75° 20' 54", the longi- 
tude by account 111° 42' 15". 
The weather continued hazy, with snow occasionally, but our clothes 
dried in the sun towards noon; soon after which, however, the snow 
became more thick and constant, so that we could scarcely see a hun- 
dred yards around the tents. We waited for some time in hope of the 
weather clearing, and then, at a quarter past five, continued our journey; 
as we were under the necessity, however, of directing our course entirely 
by compass, which is here a very uncertain and deceitful guide, we made 
but a slow and tedious progress. The wind freshened up to a gale from the 
S.E. soon after we had set out, which made it impossible for us any longer 
to pursue our journey, and we began to look out for a spot on which the 
tents could be pitched, so as to afford us a dry flooring, if not shelter, 
during the gale. Having crossed three ravines within a mile and a quarter, 
we at length came to a very deep one, which was nearly perpendicular 
on each side, with the snow over-hanging in some parts, so as to make 
it dangerous to go near the edge of the bank. We were at length for- 
tunate in finding a narrow, sloping ridge of snow, leading down to the 
bottom of the ravine, and having descended this with some difficulty, we 
found such good shelter as to determine me to halt here for the night, 
which now became more and more inclement. The bottom of the ravine, 
in which there was not much water, abounded with schistose sandstone, 
with which a dry and comfortable flooring was soon paved for the tents, 
taking care to pitch them at a sufficient distance from the north bank of the 
ravine, under which a number of large masses of snow were lying, which 
had lately fallen from the over-hanging part of the cliff, not less than eighty 
or a hundred feet perpendicular in this place. 
The weather continued very inclement during the night, but we were soSun.ii. 
well sheltered, as to be very comfortable in the tents, which answered every 
purpose for which they were intended, and without which no warmth 
could have been obtained while resting. I may also here remark, that 
the mode we had adopted with the blankets, of making them into bags, 
appeared the warmest, and in every respect the most comfortable as well as con- 
venient which could have been devised. The wind gradually veered to the 
N.N.W. in the morning, and the weather having cleared up about half-past 
four, we struck the tents, and set off to the southward. The south bank of the 
