Voyag e of' Discovery to the Arctic Regions . ' 181 
to shut up this celebrated Sound. The decision of this long a- 
gitated question created, as might have been expected, much 
interest on board, and did not fail to excite those hopes of fu- 
ture success which a different result would have in a great mea- 
sure extinguished. The land which they passed on the 4th 
August, namely, from Brooking Cuming's Inlet to Cape Fell - 
foot , differed from any that had been previously seen. It ap- 
peared like an immense wall in ruins, rising almost perpendicu- 
lar from the sea to the height of about 500 feet. The surface 
of the precipice consisted of horizontal strata, some of which 
projected farther out than the rest, detaining the debris of the 
superincumbent rocks, and forming a succession of taluses of 
different inclinations. The precipices thus assumed a variety of 
shapes and sizes, and the whole of this bold coast had a very 
interesting appearance *. 
On the 5th of August, when they had nearly reached Prince 
Leopold's Isles , their progress to the west was completely 
checked by a compact body of ice, which it was impossible to 
penetrate. They had, therefore, no choice but to wait for 
the dissolution of this immense barrier, or to follow the open 
sea to the southward. They adopted this last alternative, and 
bent their course into the Prince Regenfs Inlet. Here they 
encountered vast numbers both of the white and black whales, 
and also several sea-unicorns or narwhals. 
The white or Beluga Whale, the average length of which was 
from 18 to 20 feet, astonished the sailors with a species of music 
which received the name of the Whale Song. 
“ Whilst we were pursuing them to-day,” says Mr Fisher, “ I 
noticed a circumstance that appeared to me rather extraordinary at 
the time, and which I have not indeed been able to account for yet 
to my satisfaction. The thing alluded to is a sort of whistling 
noise that these fish made when under the surface of the water ; it 
was very audible, and the only sound which I could compare it to 
is that produced by passing a wet finger round the edge or rim of 
a glass tumbler. It was most distinctly heard when they were com- 
ing towards the surface of the water, that is, about half a minute 
before they appeared ; and immediately when they got their heads 
above water the noise ceased. The men were so highly amused by 
it, that they repeatedly urged one another to pull smoothly, in order 
* Mr Beechey’s spirited sketches of this singular coast, given in Captain Parry’s 
work, will convey a correct idea of it to the reader. 
