ven us hopes of finding a
westerly passage to the south of the ice along which we were now
sailing; more especially as the inlet began to widen considerably
as we advanced in that direction: but at three A.M. on the morning
of the 8th, we perceived that the ice ran close in with a point of
land bearing S.b.E. from us, which appeared to form the southern
extremity of the eastern shore.

With the increasing width of the inlet we had flattered ourselves
with increasing hopes; but we soon experienced the mortification
of disappointment. The prospect from the crow's-nest began to
assume a very unpromising appearance, the whole of the western
horizon, from north round to S.b.E., being completely covered with
ice, consisting of heavy and extensive floes, beyond which no
indication of water was visible; instead of which there was a
bright and dazzling iceblink extending from shore to shore. The
western coast of the inlet, however, trended much more to the
westward than before, and no land was visible to the southwest,
though the horizon was so clear in that quarter, that, if any had
existed of moderate height, it might have been easily seen at this
time at the distance of ten or twelve leagues. From these
circumstances, the impression received at the time was, that the
land, both on the eastern and western side of this inlet, would be
one day found to consist of islands.

A breeze sprung up from the northward on the morning of the 12th,
but the weather was so foggy for some hours that we did not know
in what direction it was blowing. As soon as the fog cleared away,
so as to enable us to see a mile or two around us, we found that
the floe to which we had anchored was drifting fast down upon
another body of ice to leeward, threatening to enclose the ships
between them. We therefore cast off and made sail, in order to
beat to the northward, which we found great difficulty in doing,
owing to the quantity of loose ice with which this part of the
inlet was now covered. A remarkably thick fog obscured the eastern
land from our view this evening at the distance of five or six
miles, while the western coast was distinctly visible at four
times that distance.

The weather was beautifully calm and clear on the 13th, when,
being near an opening in the eastern shore, I took the opportunity
of examining it in a boat. It proved to be a bay, a mile wide at
its entrance, and three miles deep in an E.b.S. direction, having
a small but snu