1778.
Aug« It.
■Saturday 15.
.Sunday 16.
M o n d a y 1 7 .
faw more land, bearing North b y Eaft. Coming pretty fud-
denly into thirteen fathoms water, at two in the afternoon,
we made a trip o ff till four, when w e flood in again for the
lan d ; w h ich was feen, foon after, extending from North to
South E a ft; the neareft part three or four leagues diftant.
T h e coaft here forms a- point, named Point Mulgrme, which
lies in the latitude o f 67° 4 5 '; and in the longitude o f
J9 s-°5 1'- T he land appeared very low next the fea ; but, a
little back, it rifes into hills o f a moderate height. T h e
whole was free from fnow ; and, to appearance, deftitute o f
wood. I now tacked, and bore- aw a y North Weft by W e f t ;
but, foon after, thick weather with rain coming on, and the
wind increafing, I hauled more to the Weft.
Next morning, at two o’ clock, the wind veered to South
Weft by South, and blew a ftrong gale,, which abated at
n o o n ; and the fun ih in io g out, we found ourfelves,' by ob-
fervation, in the latitude o f 68° 18'. I now fleered North
Eaft, till fix o’clock the next morning, w hen I fleered two
points more Eafterly. In this run w e met w ith feveral fea-
horfes, and* flights o f birds ; fome lik e fand-larks, and others
no b ig g e r than hedge-fparrows. Some fhags were alfo
feen; fo that we judged ourfelves to be not far from land.
But as we had a thick fog, we could not expetft to fee a n y ;
and, as the wind blew ftrong, it was not prudent to contin
ue a courfe which was moll lik e ly to bring us to it. From
the noon o f this day, to fix o’clock in the morning o f the
following, I fleered Eaft by N o rth ; which courfe brought us
into fixteen fathoms water. I now fleered North Eaft by
Eaft, thinking, by this courfe, to deepen our water. Bur,
in the fpace o f fix leagues, it fhoaled to eleven fathoms ;
w h ich made me think it proper to haul jdofe to the wind,
tha t now b lew at Weft. Toward noon, both fun and moon
6 were
were feen clearly at intervals, and w e got fome fly in g ob- J778.
fervations for the longitude.; which, reduced to noon, w hen ■ ^ " r
the latitude was 70° 33', gave 197° 41'. T h e time-keeper,
fo r the fame time, ga ve 198°; and the variation was
350 1 '2 2 " Eaft. We had, afterward, reafon to believe, that
the obferved longitude was within a ve ry few miles o f the
truth.
Some time before noon, w e perceived a brightnefs in
the Northern horizon, lik e that refledted from ice, common
ly called the blink. It was little noticed, from a fup-
pofition that it was improbable we ihould meet with ice fo
foon. And yet, the iharpnefs o f the air, and gloominefs o f
the weather, for two or three days pail, feemed to indicate
fome fudden change. About an hour after, the fight o f a
la rge field o f ice, left us no long er in doubt about the caufe
o f the brightnefs o f the horizon. A t h a lf pall two,- we tack-
ed, clofe to the edge o f the ice, in twenty-two fathoms w a ter,
being then in the latitude o f 70° 4 1 ' ; not be in g able to
ftand on any farther. For the ice was quite impenetrable, and
extended from Weft by South, to-Eaft by North, as fa r as the
e ye could reach. Here were abundance o f fea-horfes;. fome
in the w a te r ; but far more upon the ice. I had thoughts
o f hoifting out the boats to k ill fome ; but the wind frefhen-
in g, I gave up the d e fign ; and continued to ply to the Southward,
or rather to the. W e ftw a rd ; for the w in d came from,
that quarter.
We gained nothing ; for,, on the 18th at noon, our lari- n.
3 a, 1 T u eW a y= .
tuae was 70 44 ;. and we were near five ■ leagues fa r th e r to
the Eaftward. We were, at this time, clofe to the edge o f the
ice, which was as comp.ait.as a w a l l ; and feemed to-be ten
or twelve feet h igh at lead.. But, farther North, it appeared
much.