256 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779. the 21ft of July, to fleer to the Weft North Weft, through 
much looie ice. At ten at night, difcovering the main body 
Wednef. 21 . of it through the fog, right ahead, and almoft clofe to us, 
and being unwilling to take a Southerly courfe, fo long as 
we could poflibly avoid it, we hauled our wind, which was 
Eafterly, and flood to the Northward; but, in an hour 
after, the weather clearing up, and finding ourfelves fur- 
rounded by a compaCt field of ice, on every fide, except to 
the South South Weft, we tacked, and flood on in that di¬ 
rection, in order to get clear of it. 
Thurfday 22. At noon of the 22d, our latitude, by obfervation, was 
69° 30', and longitude 187° 30b In the afternoon, we again 
came up with the ice, which extended to the North Weft 
and South Weft, and obliged us to continue our courfe to 
the Southward, in order to weather it. 
It may be remarked, that fince the 8th of this month, we 
had twice traverfed this fea, in lines nearly parallel with the 
run we had juft now made ; that in the firft of thofe tra~ 
verfes, we were not able to penetrate fo far North, by eight 
or ten leagues, as in the fecond; and that in the laft we 
had again found an united body of ice, generally about, 
five leagues to the Southward of its- pofition in the preced¬ 
ing run. As this proves that the large, compact fields of 
ice, which we faw, were moveable, or diminiftiing; at the 
fame time, it does not leave any well-founded expecta¬ 
tion of advancing much farther in the molt favourable 
feafons. 
At feven in the evening, the weather being hazy, and 
no ice in fight, we bore away to the Weft ward; but, at 
half paft eight, the fog difperfing, we found ourfelves in 
the midft of loofe ice, and clofe in with the main body; we 
therefore flood upon a wind, which was ftill Eafterly, and 
kept 
