OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
65 
In the evening a quantity of loose ice drifted down near the ships ; and, to 1819. 
avoid being beset, we made sail towards the island, our soundings being 
from thirty-five to seventeen fathoms : we were soon under the necessity of 
again anchoring to a floe, till the weather should clear, being in twenty-one 
fathoms, at the distance of three miles from the land. 
The weather cleared a little at intervals, but not enough to enable us to pro- Tues. 31. 
ceed till nine A.M. on the 31st, when we castoff from the ice, with a very light 
air from the northward. We occasionally caught a glimpse of the land through 
the heavy fog-banks, with which the horizon was. covered, which was sufficient to 
give us an idea of the true direction in which we ought to steer. Soon after 
noon we were once more enveloped in fog, which however, was not so thick 
as to prevent our having recourse to a new expedient for steering the ships, 
which circumstances at the time naturally suggested to our minds. Before 
the fog re-commenced, and while we were sailing on the course which by the 
bearings of the land we knew to be the right one, the Griper was exactly 
astern of the Hecla, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile. The wea- 
ther being fortunately not so thick as to prevent our still seeing her at that 
distance, the quarter-master was directed to stand aft, near the taffrail, and to 
keep her constantly astern of us, by which means we contrived to steer a 
tolerably straight course to the westward. The Griper, on the other hand, 
naturally kept the Hecla right a-head ; and thus, however ridiculous it may 
appear, it is, nevertheless, true, that we steered one ship entirely by the other 
for a distance of ten miles out of sixteen and a half, which we sailed between 
one and eleven P.M. It then became rather dark, and the water having 
shoaled from fifty to twenty-three fathoms somewhat more suddenly than usual, 
i did not consider it prudent to run any farther till it should become light and 
clear enough to see around us, as it was probable that we were approaching 
land of which we had no knowledge. We therefore hauled our wind to the 
S.S.E., on the larboard tack, and at midnight had deepened the water to fifty- 
two fathoms, being among rather close “ sailing ice*.” 
The wind died away on the morning of the 1st of September, and the fog Sept, 
was succeeded by snow and sleet, which still rendered the atmosphere ex- Wed - h 
tremely thick. At a quarter before four A.M., I was informed by the officer 
of the watch that a breeze had sprung up, and that there was very little ice 
* The monthly Meteorological Abstracts will be inserted at the end of each month, as 
being more convenient for reference than if placed in a continued series in the Appendix. 
K 
