ory gulls, together with terns and northern divers. Some laughing
geese passed to the northward in the evening, which may be considered as
a sure indication of land in that direction. The sea-water at Atkinson
Island being quite salt, and the ponds on the shore brackish, we had
recourse to the ice that lay aground for a supply of fresh water. Strong
gales of wind, with heavy rain, continued all night.

[Sidenote: Friday, 14th.] The rain ceasing at four o'clock in the
morning of the 14th, we embarked, and pulled along a sandy bar which
projected five or six miles from Atkinson Island, and was covered by
masses of ice. We had not left the beach above an hour, when a thick fog
hid the land from our view, and a noise of breakers being at the same
time heard, we deemed it prudent to moor the boats to a piece of
grounded ice, and wait for clear weather. After a time, the fog
dispersing partially, we made sail before a fresh breeze towards the
most easterly point of land in sight, but we had not advanced above five
or six miles before the looming of the shore on the larboard bow made it
necessary to haul to the wind; and the fog becoming as dense as ever, we
ran aground on some flats, where the surf nearly filled the boats. On
lowering the sails, deeper water was attained, but the wind began to
blow hard directly upon the shore, and we could not discover a
landing-place, nor did we even know our distance from the beach. In this
dilemma we saw a long line of floating sea-weed, and Ooligbuck
suggesting that it came from the mouth of a river, we followed its
direction, and, with the aid of the sounding lead, groped our way
betwixt two shoals into a well sheltered inlet. Here there was a good
landing-place, and we deemed ourselves peculiarly fortunate in reaching
so snug a harbour, for the fog continued all day, and the wind increased
to a heavy gale.

The inlet was named Browell Cove, in honour of the Lieutenant-Governor
of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, and the bay to the westward of it,
M'Kinley Bay, out of respect to Captain George M'Kinley, of the Naval
Asylum. The latitude of the mouth of Browell Cove is 70 degrees N., and
the longitude 130 degrees 19 minutes W. We did not ascertain its extent,
but as its water is brackish, it probably communicates with Esquimaux
Lake, which, according to Indian report, lies behind the islands that
form this part of the coast. Several large basins of salt water
communicate with the cove.