46 
VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
1819. above the level of the sea, and which commands an extensive view to the west- 
ward, the prospect was by no means favourable to the immediate accomplish- 
ment of our object. No water could be seen over the ice to the north-west, 
and a bright and dazzling blink covered the whole space comprised between 
the islands and the north shore. It was a satisfaction, however, to find that 
no land appeared which was likely to impede our progress ; and we had been 
too much accustomed to the obstruction occasioned by ice, and too well aware 
of the suddenness with which that obstruction is often removed, to be at all 
discouraged by present appearances. 
On the top of this hill we deposited a bottle, containing a short notice of 
our visit, and raised over it a small mound of stones ; of these we found no 
want, for the surface was covered with small pieces of schistose limestone, 
and nothing like soil or vegetation could be seen. We found a great quan- 
tity of madreporite among the lime, and at the foot of the hill I met with one 
large piece, of the basaltiform kind. Several pieces of flint were also picked 
up on the beach. The insignificance of the stream which here emptied itself 
into the sea, formed, as usual, a striking contrast with the size of the bed 
through which it flowed, the latter being several hundred feet deep, and two 
or three hundred yards wide. 
The latitude of this place is 73° 33'' 15" N., and the longitude by our chro- 
nometers, 88° 18' 17" ; the dip of the magnetic needle was 87 3 35'. 95, and 
its variation 115° 37' 12" westerly. The tide was found to rise three feet from 
ten minutes past three till seven P.M. ; during the whole of which time the 
stream, within one or two miles of the shore, was carrying the loose pieces of 
ice to the southward, at the rate of about a mile and-a-half an hour. By 
observing the ships, however, at five miles’ distance in the offing, I had reason 
to believe that they were set in the contrary direction, and that the current 
observed by us in-shore, was only an eddy, and not the true direction of the 
flood-tide. The time of high water here, on full and change days of the moon, 
will probably be about eleven o’clock. A very large black whale was seen 
near the beach, and a great number of seals, though seldom more than two of 
the latter together. We saw one, of the kind called by the sailors, “ saddle- 
back,” ( Phoca Grcenlandica.) 
Mon. 16. The wind was light on the 16th, with cloudy weather, and occasional fogs, 
and we scarcely altered our position, being hemmed in by ice or land in 
almost every direction. At five P.M., it being quite calm, we had a good 
opportunity of trying the set of the tide, which, by the preceding day’s 
