Island across to Cape Hotham. Most men have, probably, at one time or other, 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. Our disappointment may therefore be imagined, when, in the midst of these favourable appearances, and of the hope with which they had induced us to flatter ourselves, it was suddenly reported from the crow’s-nest, that a body of ice lay directly across the passage between Cornwallis Island and the land to the southward. As we approached this obstruction, which commenced about Cape Hotham, we found that there was, for the present, no opening in it through which a passage could be attempted. After lying-to for an hour, however, Lieutenant Beechey discovered from aloft, that one narrow neck appeared to consist of loose pieces detached from the main ‘floes’ which composed the barrier, and that, beyond this, there was a considerable extent of open water. The Hecla was immediately pushed into this part of the ice, and after a quarter of an hour’s ‘boring,’ during which the breeze had, as usual, nearly deserted us, succeeded in forcing her way through the neck.[1] The Griper followed in the opening which the Hecla had made, and we continued our course to the westward, having once more a navigable sea before us. An opening was seen in the southern land, which I distinguished by the name of Cunningham Inlet. A bluff and remarkable cape, which forms the eastern point of it, obtained the name of Cape Gifford. To the eastward thereof, a thick haze covered the horizon, and it prevented us seeing more land in that direction; so that its continuity from hence to Cape Clarence still remained undetermined, while, to the westward, it seemed to be terminated rather abruptly by a headland, which I distinguished by the name of Cape Bunny.
“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 named after Rear-Admiral Edward Griffith.
“At 2 p.m., having reached the longitude of 95° 07', we came to some heavy and extensive ‘floes,’ which obliged us to tack, there being no passage between them. We beat to the northward during the whole of the afternoon, with a fresh breeze, in the hope of finding a narrow channel under the lee of Griffith Island. In this expectation, however, we were disappointed, for at 8 p.m. we were near enough to perceive, not only that the ice was quite close to the shore, but that it appeared not to have been detached from it at- ↑ The operation of “boring” through loose ice consists in entering it under a press of sail, and forcing the ship through by separating the masses.
