ere able to avail ourselves of this but
slowly, however, in consequence of a light southerly breeze still
blowing against us.

The land here, when closely viewed, assumes a very striking, and
magnificent character; the strata of limestone, which are numerous and
quite horizontally disposed, being much more regular than on the eastern
shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, and retaining nearly their whole
perpendicular height of six or seven hundred feet close to the sea. I
may here remark, that the whole of Barrow's Strait, as far as we could
see to the N.N.E. of the islands, was entirely free from ice; and, from
whatever circumstance it may proceed, I do not think that this part of
the Polar Sea is at any season very much encumbered with it.

It was the general feeling at this period among us, that the voyage had
but now commenced. The labours of a bad summer, and the tedium of a long
winter, were forgotten in a moment when we found ourselves upon ground
not hitherto explored, and with every apparent prospect before us of
making as rapid a progress as the nature of this navigation will permit,
towards the final accomplishment of our object.

A breeze enabling us again to make some progress, and an open channel
still favouring us, of nearly the same breadth as before, we passed,
during the night of the 25th, a second bay, about the same size as the
other, and also appearing open to the sea; it lies in latitude (by
account from the preceding and following noon) 73 deg. 19' 30", and its
width is one mile and a half. We now perceived that the ice closed
completely in with the land a short distance beyond us; and, having made
all the way we could, were obliged to stand off and on during the day in
a channel not three quarters of a mile wide.

A light southerly breeze on the morning of the 28th gradually cleared
the shore, and a fresh wind from the N.W. then immediately succeeded. We
instantly took advantage of this circumstance, and, casting off at six
A.M., ran eight or nine miles without obstruction, when we were stopped
by the ice, which, in a closely packed and impenetrable body, stretched
close into the shore as far as the eye could reach from the crow's nest.
Being anxious to gain every foot of distance that we could, and
perceiving some grounded ice which appeared favourable for making fast
to, just at a point where the clear water terminated, the ships were run
to the utmost extent of it, and a boat prepared from each t