ing, had providentially been effected
without injury to the ships, or suffering to the officers and men;
and we had now once more met with tolerable security for the
season. Above all, however, I derived the most sincere satisfaction
from a conviction of having left no part of the coast from Repulse
Bay eastward in a state of doubt as to its connexion with the
continent. And as the mainland now in sight from the hills extended
no farther to the eastward than about a N.N.E. bearing, we ventured
to indulge a sanguine hope of our being very near the northeastern
boundary of America, and that the early part of the next season
would find us employing our best efforts in pushing along its
northern shores.

CHAPTER VI.

Precautions for the Security of the Ships and their Stores--And
for the Health and Comfort of the Crews.--Establishment of
Theatrical Entertainments and Schools.--Erection of an Observatory
and House on Shore.--State of Health at this Period.--Partial
Disruption of the Ice in the Bay.--Anchors and Cables taken to the
Shore.--Gradual Increase of Cold, Appearance of the Aurora
Borealis on several Occasions, and various other Meteorological
Phenomena to the Close of the Year 1821.

Our operations at sea being now at an end for the season, my chief
attention was directed to the security of the ships, and to the
various internal arrangements which experience suggested as
necessary for the preservation of cleanliness, health, and comfort
during the winter, as well as for the economical expenditure of
provisions, fuel, and other stores.

The situation which circumstances obliged us to put up with for
our winter-quarters was by no means as secure as could have been
wished. The bay, though as fine a roadstead as could have been
desired if situated in a more temperate climate, was still only a
roadstead; and, being entirely open to the south, was exposed to a
pressure from the ice in that direction, unless the solid floe now
about to be formed round the ships should shortly become
sufficient to guard them from external injury. There was some
reason, however, to doubt the efficacy of this protection; for, as
the spring-tides approached, the numerous grounded masses around
the shores of the bay began to evince symptoms of instability, one
or two having fallen over, and others turned round; so that these
masses might be looked upon rather as dangerous neighbours, likely
to create a premature disruption of the