OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
31 
both sides of the Sound, and the difference in the character of the two shores 1819. 
was very apparent, that on the south consisting of high and peaked moun- ^v^' 
tains, completely snow-clad, except on the lower parts, while the northern 
coast, has generally a smoother outline, and had comparatively with the 
other, little snow upon it ; the difference in this last respect, appearing to 
depend principally on the difference in their absolute height. The sea was 
open before us, free from ice or land ; and the Hecla pitched so much from 
the westerly swell in the course of the day, as to throw the water once or 
twice into the stern windows, a circumstance which, together with other 
appearances, we were willing to attribute to an open sea in the desired 
direction. More than forty black whales were seen during the day. 
We had alternately fresh breezes from the westward, and calms on the morn- Tues. 3. 
ing of the 3d, when we had only gained eight or nine miles upon the Griper, 
which we observed coming up the Sound before an easterly wind, with all 
her studding sails set, while we had a fresh breeze from the westward. In 
the fore-noon we were between Capes Warrender and Osborn, and had a 
good view of Sir George Hope’s Monument, which proved to be a dark- 
looking and conspicuous hill on the main land, and not an island, as it 
appeared to be when at a distance, on our former voyage. 
A solitary iceberg being near us, Captain Sabine, Lieutenant Beechey, 
and Mr. Hooper, were sent upon it to observe the variation of the needle and 
the longitude, and to take angles for the survey, a base being measured by 
Massey’s log between the ship and the berg. We here obtained soundings 
in three hundred and seventy-three fathoms, the bottom consisting of mud 
and small stones, of which a small quantity was brought up in the clamms. By 
a boat moored to this instrument, a tide or current was found to set north 
65° E., at the rate of seven-eighths of a mile per hour; the variation observed 
upon the iceberg was 106° 58' 05" westerly. At noon, we were in latitude 
74° 25' 31", long. 80° 04' 30". 
Being favoured at length by the easterly breeze which was bringing up the 
Griper, and for which we had long been looking with much impatience, a crowd 
of sail was set to carry us with all rapidity to the westward. It is more easy 
to imagine than to describe the almost breathless anxiety which was now visible 
in every countenance, while, as the breeze increased to a fresh gale, we ran 
quickly up the sound. The mast-heads were crowded by the officers and men 
during the whole afternoon ; and an unconcerned observer, if any could have 
been unconcerned on such an occasion, would have been amused by the 
