deemed worthy of notice as a landmark.

There being still no prospect of getting a single mile to the
westward, in the neighbourhood of Prince Leopold's Islands, and a
breeze having freshened up from the eastward in the afternoon, I
determined to stand over once more towards the northern shore, in
order to try what could there be done towards effecting our
passage; and at nine P.M., after beating for several hours among
floes and streams of ice, we got into clear water near that coast,
where we found some swell from the eastward. There was just light
enough at midnight to enable us to read and write in the cabin.

The wind and sea increased on the 19th, with a heavy fall of snow,
which, together with the uselessness of the compasses, and the
narrow space in which we were working between the ice and the
land, combined to make our situation for several hours a very
unpleasant one.

On the 21st we had nothing to impede our progress but the want of
wind, the great opening through, which we had hitherto proceeded
from Baffin's Bay being now so perfectly clear of ice, that it was
impossible to believe it to be the same part of the sea, which,
but a day or two before, had been completely covered with floes to
the utmost extent of our view. In the forenoon we picked up a
small piece of wood, which appeared to have been the end of a
boat's yard, and which caused sundry amusing speculations among
our gentlemen; some of whom had just come to the very natural
conclusion that a ship had been here before us, and that,
therefore, we were not entitled to the honour of the first
discovery of that part of the sea on which we were now sailing;