from the natives, with whom they had frequent intercourse as they proceeded along the coast, sometimes meeting with very numerous parties. Their progress to the westward, however, was very slow, owing to the unfavorable state of the ice and weather; and it was the 31st of July before they reached long. 141°, which is the boundary between the British and Russian dominions on the northern coast of America. The following extracts from Captain Franklin’s narrative, will shew the nature of the difficulties he had to contend with in the summer of 1826:
“This point seems to be much resorted to by the Esquimaux, as we found here many winter houses, and four large stages. A favorable breeze now sprang up; and having ascertained that there was still a channel of open water between a low island and the main shore, we set sail to follow its course; but at the end of three miles we found the depth of water gradually decrease from three fathoms to as many feet, and shortly afterwards the boats repeatedly took the ground. In this situation we were enveloped by a thick fog, which limited our view to a few yards. We therefore dragged the boats to the land, until we could see our way; when it was discovered from the summit of an eminence about two miles distant, that, though the channel was of some extent, it was very shallow, and seemed to be barred by ice to the westward. We also ascertained that it was bounded to seaward by a long reef. The night proved very stormy, and we were but scantily supplied with drift wood.
“Though the 1st of August commenced with a heavy gale from E.N.E. and very foggy weather, we proceeded to the reef, after much fatigue in dragging the boats over the flats, supposing that our best choice of getting forward would be bypassing on the outside of it. But there finding heavy ice lying aground, and so closely packed as to preclude the possibility of putting the boats into the water, it was determined to examine the channel by walking along the edge of the reef. An outlet to the sea was discovered, but gulls were, in most parts, wading across it; and there was, therefore, no other course than to await the separation of the ice from the reef. On the dispersion of the fog in the afternoon, we perceived that some of the masses were from 20 to 30 feet high; and we derived little comfort from beholding an unbroken surface of ice to seaward.
“The gale blew without the least abatement until noon of the 2d, when it terminated in a violent gust, which overthrew the tents. The field of ice was broken in the offing, and the pieces put in motion; in the evening there appeared a large space of open water, but we could not take advantage of these favorable circumstances, in consequence of the bergs still closely besetting the reef. The astronomical observations place our encampment in lat. 69° 43' N., long. 141° 30' W.
“On the morning of the 3d, a strong wind set in from the cast, which
