August 14-19, Lady Jane Sound

August 14—We have discovered a new channel to the south, and named it Lady Jane Sound. It is wide, but much ice clogged except down the east shore where there is open water leading to the tantalising unknown. I estimate that we are little more than 350 miles from the strait discovered by Simpson and Dease and where there should be open sailing along the coast. It is tantalising indeed and Crozier came over for a conference this evening. 

“It is opportunity,” he said. “This land offers precious few and we cannot afford the luxury of neglecting even one.”

I argued for pushing on to Cape Walker. “The open water is not wide and it may lead us into difficulties, and it is unpleasantly early to be beset for the season. Parry made considerable headway to the west before he wintered at Melville Island and we should follow his route farther before turning south for the coast.”

“Aye,” Crozier went on, “Parry did make many miles westward, but it was all along the Melville Island coast. He could make no headway to the south and reported remarkably heavy ice in that direction.

“But this is a warm season. That ice may well be broken up this year.” 

We fell to silence waiting for Sir John’s opinion.

“You both make good points,” he said thoughtfully. “But I am inclined to Mister Fitzjames’ view, not least because our orders require us to proceed past Cape Walker before turning for the continental coast. We cannot know what the ice will be this year and I am of a mind to follow our ordered route to the best of my ability before deviating from it. Should we return this way, Lady Jane Sound remains an option.”

I could tell that Crozier was not happy with Sir John’s choice or my arguments, but he held his peace. Only time will tell who is right.

August 15—Fair weather with only a slight breeze, yet in the morning it was enough to push us along at two or three knots. Spent the day taking readings. We have crossed the mouth of Lady Jane Sound and have Cape Walker close on our port beam. It is but an island off the coast of a much larger body of land lying off Somerset which we have named Wales Island. By afternoon the ice had thickened and we were forced to tack away from the coast and work with care. The ice is still very broken but heavy; thankfully, the weather is calm. If a wind got up we would have the devil’s own business not being severely battered by the ice.

August 16—What disappointment! All day the weather remained clear and the breeze fair although the ice remained heavy and we had to move onward with caution. At first we were encouraged by the land falling away to the southwest, but around 2 p.m. we espied a distant line of white in the water which could only be hard, pack ice. By 4 we were close up to it and our hearts fell. It is the heavy pack of Parry’s describing, a vast moving wall, a glacier on the ocean. Blocks of ice are thrust up to great heights and the whole moving mass is groaning and crying out as if in agony. It is as if the ice were a giant living thing which would crush us as thoughtlessly as we would step on an ant. I have seen nothing like it.

This must be the source of the ice which kept us pinned in our small bay but a few short days ago. We stood off and watched in silence. There is no way through. The ice river dashes any hopes of making progress to the south past Cape Walker. Consequently, we are now following the edge of the ice to the northward. Small floes and blocks of ice are continually being thrown off by the ice river and make a close approach impossible. Even at our distance of a few miles, we must pick our way with care and the going is slow, but we must stay as close as possible to see if there is a way through to the west. Was Crozier correct?

August 17—A frustrating day. The weather remains fair and the wind calm but favourable, yet all we can do is tack back and forth in front of this impenetrable wall. There is no way through, even where Parry progressed toward the shores of Melville Island. Byam Martin Channel is completely ice clogged too—discouraging, even though we know it would only lead to farther disappointment in the north were it open. A discussion at dinner resolved that we shall wait longer and see if a change in the wind will open a path for us. No one who has seen the ice river can believe that it will divulge a lead, yet we have no choice other than to retire with our tail between our legs. 

August 18—All day the ice being freed from the river increased around us, requiring a close watch be kept. Toward evening the wind swung round and large masses of ice were borne down upon us. It was almost as if the ice were reaching out to grasp and draw these two puny interlopers into its realm. We are retreating to the northeast as the wind freshens.

August 19—We continue to run before the ice and passed close by Lowther Island. This afternoon we examined Lady Jane Sound again through the telescopes, it being a considerable distance to the southward. It seems the wind has closed the lead we saw but three days ago—is this a missed chance or was the opening merely a siren attempting to lead us into the icy fastness of some blocked inlet? We shall not find out this season. We are finding some shelter behind Griffith Island and working in toward the south coast of Cornwallis Land where there is open water.