to steam, that obedient force which so many of our
Polar sea navigators have had to do without, she appeared to be playing
in the midst of the moving rocks. She seemed to recognise the hand
of an experienced master, and like a horse under an able rider, she
obeyed the thought of her captain. The temperature rose. At six
o'clock in the morning the thermometer marked twenty-six degrees,
at six in the evening twenty-nine degrees, and at midnight twenty-five
degrees; the wind was lightly blowing from the south-east.

On Thursday, towards three in the morning, the _Forward_ was in sight
of Possession Bay, on the coast of America. At the entrance to
Lancaster Strait, shortly after, the crew caught a glimpse of Burney
Cape. A few Esquimaux pulled off towards the vessel, but Hatteras
did not take the trouble to wait for them. The Byam-Martin peaks,
which overlook Cape Liverpool, were sighted to the left, and soon
disappeared in the evening mists, which also prevented any
observation being taken from Cape Hay. This cape is so low that it
gets confounded with the ice on the coast, a circumstance which often
renders the hydrographic determination of the Polar seas extremely
difficult.

Puffins, ducks, and white sea-gulls showed up in very great numbers.
The _Forward_ was then in latitude 74 degrees 1 minute, and in
longitude 77 degrees 15 minutes. The snowy hoods of the two mountains,
Catherine and Elizabeth, rose up above the clouds.

On Friday, at six o'clock, Cape Warender was passed on the right side
of the strait, and on the left Admiralty Inlet, a bay that has been
little explored by navigators, who are generally in a hurry to sail
away west. The sea became rather rough, and the waves often swept
the deck of the brig, throwing up pieces of ice. The land on the north
coast, with its high table lands almost level, and which reverberated
the sun's rays, offered a very curious appearance.

Hatteras wanted to run along the north coast, in order to reach Beechey
Island and the entrance to Wellington Channel sooner; but continual
icebergs compelled him, to his great annoyance, to follow the southern
passes. That was why, on the 26th of May, the _Forward_ was abreast
of Cape York in a thick fog interspersed with snow; a very high
mountain, almost perpendicular, caused it to be recognised. The
weather cleared up a little, and the sun, towards noon, appeared for
an instant, allowing a tolerably good observation to be taken; 74
de