st decide one way or other. He heaved about, and struck out south.
The width of Prince Regent's Channel is about the same from Port
Leopold to Adelaide Bay. The _Forward_, more favoured than the ships
which had preceded her, and of which the greater number had required
more than a month to descend the channel, even in a more favourable
season, made her way rapidly amongst the icebergs; it is true that
other ships, with the exception of the _Fox_, had no steam at their
disposal, and had to endure the caprices of an uncertain and often
foul wind.

In general the crew showed little wish to push on with the enterprising
Hatteras; the men were only too glad to perceive that the vessel was
taking a southerly direction. Hatteras would have liked to go on
regardless of consequences.

The _Forward_ rushed along under the pressure of her engines, the
smoke from which twisted round the shining points of the icebergs;
the weather was constantly changing from dry cold to snowy fogs. The
brig, which drew little water, sailed along the west coast; Hatteras
did not wish to miss the entrance to Bellot Strait, as the only outlet
to the Gulf of Boothia on the south was the strait, only partially
known to the _Fury_ and the _Hecla_; if he missed the Bellot Strait,
he might be shut up without possibility of egress.

In the evening the _Forward_ was in sight of Elwin Bay, known by its
high perpendicular rocks; on the Tuesday morning Batty Bay was sighted,
where the _Prince Albert_ anchored for its long wintering on the 10th
of September, 1851. The doctor swept the whole coast with his
telescope. It was from this point that the expeditions radiated that
established the geographical configuration of North Somerset. The
weather was clear, and the profound ravines by which the bay is
surrounded could be clearly distinguished.

The doctor and Johnson were perhaps the only beings on board who took
any interest in these deserted countries. Hatteras was always intent
upon his maps, and said little; his taciturnity increased as the brig
got more and more south; he often mounted the poop, and there with
folded arms, and eyes lost in vacancy, he stood for hours. His orders,
when he gave any, were curt and rough. Shandon kept a cold silence,
and kept himself so much aloof by degrees that at last he had no
relations with Hatteras except those exacted by the service; James
Wall remained devoted to Shandon, and regulated his conduct
accordingly. The r