came to the summit of a hill overlooking what appeared to be a
frozen sea before us. We then descended the hill, with the
intention of pushing forward to determine whether the white and
level space before us was the sea or not. We had not proceeded
far, however, when the clouds began to gather heavily in the
southeast, and shortly after snow and sleet began to fall. Being
unwilling, therefore, to allow the men's clothes to be wet when
there was no absolute occasion for it, we halted on a piece of dry
ground, and, having built a wall six feet high to shelter us from
the weather, pitched the tents very comfortably under the lee of
it till the weather should allow us to proceed.

At six P.M., the wind having gradually got round to the N.N.E.,
and the weather being more clear and cold, I set out, accompanied
by Messrs. Nias and Reid, and a quartermaster of the Griper, with
the intention of examining the situation and appearance of the sea
to the northward; leaving the rest of the party, several of whom
were suffering from snow-blindness, though otherwise in good
health, to remain quietly in the tents till our return. Having
travelled N.N.W. a mile and a half through much deep snow, of
which a good deal had fallen during the day, we came to some ice
thrown up on the beach, having cracks in it parallel to the line
of the shore, which we immediately recognised to be of the same
kind as those to which we had so long been accustomed in Winter
Harbour, and which are occasioned by the rise and fall of the
tide. We turned to the westward along the beach, and at the
distance of two miles ascended a point of land in that direction,
from whence we had a commanding view of the objects around us. As
soon as we had gained the summit of this point, which is about
eighty feet above the sea, we had an additional confirmation that
it was the sea which we had now reached, the ice being thrown upon
the beach under the point, and as far as we could see to the
westward, in large, high, irregular masses, exactly similar to
those which had so often afforded us anchorage and shelter upon
the southern shores of the island. Being desirous, however, of
leaving nothing uncertain respecting it, we walked out a few
hundred yards upon the ice, and began with a boarding-pike and our
knives, which were all the tools we had, to dig a hole in it, in
order to taste the water beneath. After nearly two hours' labour,
we could only get down as many feet, the ic