182 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
The clear interval between this cape and the dis¬ 
tant land proved to be a wide inlet, penetrating 
to a great but unknown extent to the westward. 
The height of the land near us,—its dark' co¬ 
lour, deepened by contrast with a few patches of 
snow,—its precipitous sides,—sharp aud rugged 
summits,—with the abrupt terminations of the 
northern parts of Raffles’ Island and Cape Hodg¬ 
son,—gave it a character at once interesting and 
sublime. 
The wind blowing fresh, with a good deal of 
sea, I could not carry on the survey of the land, 
by bearings taken at the mast-head. And as no 
bearings taken about the deck of the ship could 
be depended on, because of the great “ deviation,” 
and its varying quantity on different parts of the 
deck, I was obliged to take all the required angles 
by a sextant, and to connect the series with an 
azimuth of the sun. The angular distance be¬ 
tween the sun and Cape Swainson being thus 
obtained, and the same reduced to the horizontal 
angle by calculation; this angle was applied to 
the sun’s true azimuth, likewise obtained by cal¬ 
culation, which of course gave the true bearing of 
Cape Swainson. And by the application of the 
observed angle between this cape and other head¬ 
lands, to the position of the cape deduced from 
the sun’s azimuth, the true bearings of these head¬ 
lands were likewise determined. 
