264 
VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
Having again got sight of the land at half-past two A.M., on the 29th, we 
bore up for it, along the edge of the ice, which completely surrounded 
29 . Lowther Island, but left us a free passage to the eastward. The land, dis- 
covered the preceding evening, proved to be an island, about a mile and a 
half in length ; and being rather high, and remarkably bluff in every view, 
appeared to have deep water all round it. We were abreast of it at half- 
past five, and I named it Browne Island, out of respect to my much- 
esteemed friend, Mr. Henry Browne, of Portland-Place. The ice then led 
us in a S.E.|E. direction, towards another island, distant from the first three 
miles and a half, bearing S.S.E. It was named after my friend Dr. Somerville ; 
and is low at both ends like Garrett Island. When we first bore up in the 
morning, we had indistinctly seen land from N.N.E. to E.N.E., at the dis- 
tance of four or five leagues. As we advanced, and the day became more 
clear, we found it to extend much farther to the eastward, and afterwards 
ascertained that it formed a part of Cornwallis Island, not before seen. At 
six o’clock we made Griffith Island, between which and the ice we found the 
navigable channel narrowed in one part to a mile, at which distance from 
the shore, we could obtain no soundings with forty to fifty fathoms of line. 
The whole of the shore of Griffith Island seemed to be bold, the land being 
steep and bluff, especially towards its south-east end, where the strata, 
which appeared to be of sandstone, were observed to dip at a considerable 
angle to the S.E. 
At half an hour before noon, the weather being alternately thick and clear, 
from occasional showers of snow, a deeper bight than usual was perceived in 
the ice, which had hitherto been nearly as compact as if it were composed of 
a single floe. As I had always entertained an 'idea, that there was no part 
of this sea, in which we were more likely to get to the southward, than im- 
mediately to the westward, of Cape Bunny, I was desirous of thoroughly 
examining the state of the ice in this neighbourhood, and bore up to thS 
southward, under all sail for that purpose. After running two or three 
miles, however, we were again stopped at twenty minutes past noon; and 
the weather having now cleared up, we perceived that the ice was as compact 
as before, except that there was one hole” of water about a third of a 
mile wide just within its margin, but beyond this it was quite close and 
impenetrable. We were, therefore, under the necessity of again hauling to 
the eastward, along the edge of the floes, which lay in a direction nearly 
parallel to the southern shore, and at the distance of seven or eight miles 
