The coast which we were passing greatly interested me. The trap formation of Disco Island reappears at Cape York, and the land presents a lofty, ragged front, broken by deep gorges which have a very picturesque appearance, and the effect was much heightened by numerous streams of ice which burst through the openings. One of these figures on the chart as Petowak Glacier. Measuring it as we passed with log-line and chronometer, it proved to be four miles across. The igneous rocks are interrupted at Cape Athol, on the southern side of Wolstenholme Sound, and the lines of calcareous sandstone and greenstone which meet the eye there and at Saunders Island and the coast above, toward Cape Parry, brought to my recollection many a hard struggle of former years. They were familiar landmarks.
At eight o'clock in the evening we were abreast of Booth Bay, the winter quarters in my boat journey of 1854. I could distinguish through my glass the rocks among which we had built our hut. They were suggestive of many unpleasant memories.
MEETING THE ICE PACK.
Soon afterward the sky became overcast, and a heavy snow began to fall. The wind dying away to a light breeze, we jogged on through the day, and, passing Whale Sound, outside of Hakluyt Island, were, at five o'clock in the evening, within thirty miles of Smith's Sound. Here we came upon an ice-pack which appeared to be very heavy and to stretch off to the southwest; but the air being too thick to warrant us in approaching near enough to inspect its character, we began to beat to windward with the hope of reaching the lee side of Northumberland Island, there to await better weather. In this purpose we were, however, defeated, for, the wind falling almost to calm, we were forced to grope about in the gloom, seeking an iceberg for a mooring; but the waves proved to be running too high to admit of our landing from a boat, and we passed the night in much uneasiness, drifting northward. Fortunately the pack was moving in the same direction, otherwise we should have been carried upon it. The breakers could be distinctly heard all the time, and on several occasions we caught sight of them; but, by availing ourselves of every puff of wind to crawl off, we escaped without collision. Once I was satisfied that we had no alternative but to wear round and plunge head foremost into the danger, rather than await the apparent certainty of drifting broadside upon it; but at the critical moment the wind freshened, and, continuing for a few hours, we held our own while the pack glided slowly away from us.
Our dogs had made a heavy drain upon our water-casks, and the watch was engaged during the night in melting the snow which had fallen upon the deck. We also fished up from the sea some small fragments of fresh ice with a net. By these means we obtained a supply of water sufficient to last us for several days.
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ENTERING SMITH'S SOUND.
The wind hauled to the northeast as the morning dawned, and the clouds broke away, disclosing the land. Cape Alexander, whose lofty walls guard the entrance to Smith's Sound, appeared to be about twenty miles away, and Cape Isabella, thirty-five miles distant from it, was visible on the opposite side. Holding to the eastward toward Cape Saumarez, we found a passage through the pack near the shore, but afterward the greater part of the day was passed in a provoking calm, during which, being embarrassed by a strong tidal-current that set us alternately up and down the coast, we were obliged almost constantly to use the boats to keep ourselves clear of the bergs, which were very numerous, and many of them of immense size. We were, however, at length gratified to find ourselves passing with a fair wind into Smith's Sound, the field of our explorations. Standing over toward Cape Isabella, we had for a time every prospect of good fortune before us, but a heavy pack was, after a while, discovered from the mast-head, and this we were not long in reaching.