of Steering a Proper Course.--Arrival and Landing on Melville
Island.--Proceed to the Westward, and reach the Meridian of 110°
W. Long., the first Stage in the Scale of Rewards granted by Act
of Parliament.


A calm which prevailed during the night kept us quite stationary
till three A.M. on the 23d, when a fresh breeze sprung up from the
northward, and 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° 43' 15", the latitude
by observation being 74° 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