not wish to pass Cape Prince of Wales in bad weather. To the outer harbour, which for convenience and security surpasses any other near this celebrated promontory, Captain Beechey gave the name of Port Clarence, in honor of our present most gracious monarch, then Lord High Admiral, and by whom he had recently been promoted. The inner haven, which is well adapted to the purposes of repair, and sufficiently deep to receive a frigate, he named Grantley Harbour, in compliment to his brother-in-law, the present Lord Grantley.
On her return from Port Clarence to Chamisso Island, the Blossom experienced very bad weather, lost one of her best seamen overboard, and narrowly escaped being wrecked upon a sand near Hotham Inlet. In the mean time, her decked boat, then under the command of Lieutenant Belcher, had proceeded along the coast to the north-eastward of Icy Cape, until stopped by the ice in 70° 41', when she returned to Kotzebue Sound, and there foundered, with three of her crew, in a gale which suddenly arose while that officer and Mr. James Wolfe, admiralty-mate, were employed in erecting an observatory upon a peninsula near the anchorage. On the 29th of September, a party of Esquimaux, from Escholtz Bay, made an attack upon some men employed in watering at Chamisso Island, and wounded with their arrows two sailors and four marines. Speaking of this occurrence Captain Beechey says:
“Until this time, they were ignorant of the effect of fire-arms, and no doubt placed much confidence in the thickness of their clothing; but seeing that furs availed nothing against a ball, they fled with precipitation to the hills. * * * We were sorry to find our musketry had inflicted so severe a chastisement; but it was unavoidable, and richly deserved. It was some consolation to reflect, that it had fallen upon a party from whom we had received repeated insult, and that it was not until after they had threatened our boat in Escholtz Bay, insulted us alongside of the ship, defied our party on shore, had twice drawn their knives upon our people, and had wounded several of them, that they were made acquainted with the nature of our arms; and I am convinced the example will have a good effect, by teaching them that it was forbearance alone that induced us to tolerate their conduct so long.”
On the 4th of October, the earth was deeply covered with
