OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
27 
the eastward of that obtained on the same spot, by No. 509 of Earnshaw, 1819 . 
the preceding year. The dip of the needle was 86° 03' 42", and the variation 
108° 46' 35", westerly, agreeing nearly with that observed by Lieutenant 
Hoppner, in 1818. At half-past ten A.M., when we landed, the tide was 
falling by the shore, and continued to do so till about half an hour before 
noon ; the surf on the beach, however, did not allow me to determine the 
time with very great precision. By the mean of our observations made now, 
and in the foregoing year, the time of high water on full and change days, 
would appear to be about a quarter past eleven. At two P.M., the water 
had risen two feet and a half, and the whole rise of tide, as nearly as we 
could judge from the marks on the beach, may be from six to eight feet. 
The stream certainly came from the northward and westward along the shore 
of the bay, during the time that the tide was rising ; and Lieut. Beechey 
observed, that, in running along shore, in a south-easterly direction, the 
ship seemed to go much faster by the land than she sailed through the water. 
It is more than probable, therefore, that the flood comes from the north- 
westward on this particular part of the coast. Near the spot on which we 
made the observations, a bottle was buried containing an account of our visit, 
and a pile of stones and earth raised over it. 
In approaching Possession Bay, the colour of the water was observed to 
change to a light green, at the distance of two or two and a half miles from the 
shore, but there was no other appearance of shoal water, and we could find no 
bottom with sixty and seventy fathoms of line, well within it ; we had four- 
teen fathoms, on a sandy bottom, at a cable’s length from the beach. 
Having finished our observations, we returned on board, and made all sail 
for the Sound ; but the wind blowing still from the westward, the progress of 
the ships was but slow in that direction. The sea was perfectly free from 
ice, except a single berg, and one or two narrow though heavy ^streams, 
which offered, however, little or no obstruction to the navigation. 
Annexed is an abstract of the Meteorological Journal for the month of 
July. 
E2 
