40 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
had fine horns. Being nearly becalmed at the 
time, I dispatched a boat in pursuit; but they 
were so shy and active, that they all escaped us. 
The narwal being often the harbinger of the 
whale, and the green coloured sea, with the fa¬ 
vourable character of the ice, affording an addi¬ 
tional probability of finding whales, we cruized 
the whole of the day, when we had a breeze, 
among the intricacies of the ice, in search of these 
animals, the capture of which constituted the 
grand object of the voyage. Our researches 
throughout a fatiguing day and night, in a diffi¬ 
cult navigation, were unsuccessful; but at two 
o’clock of the following morning, the first whale 
was seen. Though the weather was far from be¬ 
ing fine, there being now a fresh of wind, with 
considerable sea, and thick snow, we could not 
resist the pursuit: two boats were therefore dis¬ 
patched, which continued the chase for three 
hours, and then, the prey having escaped them, 
were recalled. 
The two following days, we continued cruizing 
off the face of the western ice, and sometimes 
within streams and patches lying off the main 
body, which afforded us shelter during a gale of 
wind from the ENE. that prevailed on the 4th. 
On this day we descended to latitude 78° 26'; 
but having spoken a ship that had made fruitless 
