all sail was made for Cape Hotham, to the southward
of which it was now my intention to seek a direct passage towards
Behring's Strait. Wellington Channel, to the northward of us, was
as open and navigable to the utmost extent of our view as any part
of the Atlantic; but as it lay at right angles to our coarse, and
there was still an opening at least ten leagues wide to the
southward of Cornwallis Island, I could have no hesitation in
deciding which of the two it was our business to pursue. It is
impossible to conceive anything more animating than the quick and
unobstructed run with which we were favoured, from Beechey Island
across to Cape Hotham. Most men have, probably, at one time or
another, experienced that elevation of spirits which is usually
produced by rapid motion of any kind; and it will readily be
conceived how much this feeling was heightened in us, in the few
instances in which it occurred, by the slow and tedious manner in
which the greater part of our navigation had been performed in
these seas.

At noon we had reached the longitude of 94 deg. 43' 15", the latitude
by observation being 74 deg. 20' 52", when we found that the land
which then formed the western extreme on this side was a second
island, which I called GRIFFITH ISLAND. The ice in this
neighbourhood was covered with innumerable "hummocks," and the
floes were from seven to ten feet in thickness.

After various unsuccessful attempts to get through the ice which
now lay in our way, we were at length so fortunate as to
accomplish this object by "boring" through a number of heavy
"streams," which occasioned the ships to receive many severe
shocks; and, at half an hour before midnight, we were able to,
pursue our course, through "sailing ice," to the westward.

The weather was at this time remarkably serene and clear; and
although we saw a line of ice to the southward of us, lying in a
direction nearly east and west, or parallel to the course on which
we were steering, and some more land appeared to the westward, yet
the space of open water was still so broad, and the prospect from
the masthead, upon the whole, so flattering, that I thought the
chances of our separation had now become greater than before; and
I therefore considered it right to furnish Lieutenant Liddon with
fresh instructions, and to appoint some new place of rendezvous in
case of unavoidable separation from the Hecla. At ten o'clock,
after having had a clear view of the ice