and it was more to our advantage than making 8 points leeway. By so doing we made a little S.W. offing, but were so uneasy, that I expected the masts to go every moment, and all hands were kept on deck in readiness. The tiller broke twice adrift, and two men were bruised. On the 30th, our noon latitude, 62° 14' 38", and long. 84° 29' 54", placed us exactly on Southampton Island, and two degrees eastward of Cape Southampton, as laid down in the charts.
“With a light wind, but heavy sea from the S.W., we made a N.W.b.N. course, over the place assigned to Southampton Island, with regular soundings, between 70 and 50 fathoms. At midnight, the wind came fresh from the westward with rain; and as I feared running over a spot where land is laid down as having been discovered, I lay-to until day-break of the 31st. The wind fell in the morning, and before noon a calm with thick fog set in. A light breeze after noon enabled us to keep N.W., as nearly as I could judge, and in the evening we made very low land, distant about 10 miles, its northern extreme bearing N. 23° 43' E.”
The situation of the Griper now became truly critical.
“We found ourselves settings as if with a current, towards the northern point, and were confirmed in this conjecture by evening sights, giving 12 miles casting since noon, although we had steered N.W. (true). Throughout the night we steered north-west by the polar-star, and ran under easy sail. Our soundings at 10 p.m. were 30 fathoms, between which and 28 they varied continually until 2-30 a.m., on the 1st of September, when we shoaled to 19. Fearing danger, I turned the hands up; but having shortly deepened to 27 and 25 fathoms, again sent them below. At 6 a.m., having quickly shoaled to 19, running N.N.W. from midnight, I shortened sail, but came to 17 at dawn, when we discovered land bearing N.N.W. and apparently not continuous to the right; but a thick fog which hung over the horizon limited our view. As our run had been about 50 miles N.N.W., and as I expected to find the American shore east of its position in the charts, I conceived that this would be Cape Fullerton of Middleton, and therefore kept it on our larboard hand, intending to pass it at 5 or 6 miles, which was its distance at this time. We soon, however, came to 15 fathoms, and I kept right away, but had then only 10; when being unable to see far around us, and observing from the whiteness of the water that we were on a bank, I rounded-to at 7 a.m., and tried to bring up with the starboard anchor and 70 fathoms of chain; but the stiff breeze and heavy sea caused this to part in half an hour, and we again made sail, to the north-eastward; but finding we came suddenly to 7 fathoms, and that the ship could not possibly work out again, as she would not face the sea or keep steerage way on her, I most reluctantly brought her up with three bowers and a stream in succession, yet not before we had shoaled to five and a half. This was between 8 and 9 a.m., the ship pitching bows
