RROGRESS TOWARDS THE WEST-LAND. 81 
bluish-black patch, amid the ice-blinks, enabled 
me to ascertain where the most water lay, and 
the nature of the obstacles that intervened. By 
this means only, I discovered a large opening im¬ 
mediately to the north-westward of the lake we had 
so long navigated, with a considerable expanse in 
the same direction, at a greater distance, bounded 
by sheets of ice that appeared to be of prodigious 
magnitude. This induced me to examine the ice 
very closely in this quarter, when, in the vefy spot 
marked by the blink as being the narrowest, the 
ice was found to be in the act of opening, so as 
to permit our passing through towards the north¬ 
west. At the extremity of the first opening, or 
lake, there was a compact barrier of floes, wherein, 
however, after a few hours detention, we discovered 
a narrow dubious channel, that eventually conduct¬ 
ed us into the expanse of water pointed out by re¬ 
flection in the atmosphere*. 
This opening we crossed towards the NW.,—a 
distance of nine or ten miles. Then, meeting 
with ice, amid which we coidd not discover a pas¬ 
sage, a thick fog having set in, we hove to for the 
night. Our advance towards the west, we could 
perceive, was bounded by a magnificent field, con- 
* The phenomenon of the ice-blink is more fully de¬ 
scribed in vol. i. p. 299. & j). 383. of the Account of the 
Arctic Regions. 
F 
