we had
attempted to heave the Fury down, and which is very near the southern
part of the coast seen in the year 1819. It then sweeps round into a
large bay, formed by a long, low beach, several miles in extent,
afterwards joining higher land, and running in a south-easterly
direction to a point which terminated our view of it in that quarter,
and which bore from us S. 58 deg. W., distant six or seven leagues. This
headland I named Cape Garry, after my worthy friend, Nicholas Garry,
Esq., one of the most active members of the Hudson's Bay Company, and
a gentleman most warmly interested in everything connected with
northern discovery. The whole of the bays which I named after my much
esteemed friend, Francis Cresswell, Esq., as well as the land to the
southward, was free from ice for several miles; and to the southward
and eastward scarcely any was to be seen, while a dark water-sky
indicated a perfectly navigable sea in that direction; but between us
and the Fury there was a compact body of ice eight or nine miles in
breadth. Had we now been at liberty to take advantage of the
favourable prospect before us, I have little doubt we could, without
much difficulty, have made considerable progress.

'A southerly breeze enabling us to regain our northing, we ran along
the margin of the ice, but were led so much to the eastward by it,
that we could approach the ship no nearer than before during the whole
day. She appeared to us, at this distance, to have a much greater heel
than when the people left her, which made us still more anxious to get
near her. A south-west wind gave us hopes of the ice setting off from
the land, but it produced no good effect during the whole of the 24th.
We therefore beat again to the southward, to see if we could manage to
get in with the land anywhere about the shores of the bay; but this
was now impracticable, the ice being once more closely packed there.
We could only wait, therefore, in patience for some alteration in our
favour. The latitude at noon was 72 deg. 34' 57", making our distance from
the Fury twelve miles, which by the following morning had increased to
at least five leagues, the ice continuing to pack between us and the
shore. The wind, however, now gradually drew round to the westward,
giving us hopes of a change, and we continued to ply about the margin
of the ice in constant readiness for taking advantage of any opening
that might occur. It favoured us so much by streaming off i