10'.
_Sept_. 9th.--I shall, doubtless, be readily excused for not having
entered in this journal a detailed narrative of the obstacles we met
with, and of the unwearied exertions of the officers and men to overcome
them, during the tedious eight weeks employed in crossing this barrier.
The constant besetment of the ships, and our daily observations for
latitude and longitude, afforded a favourable opportunity for
ascertaining precisely the set of any currents by which the whole body
of ice might be actuated. By attending very carefully to all the
circumstances, it was evident that a daily set to the southward obtained
when the wind was northerly, differing in amount from two or three, to
eight or ten miles per day, according to the strength of the breeze; but
a northerly current was equally apparent, and fully to the same amount,
whenever the wind blew from the southward. A circumstance more
remarkable than these, however, forced itself strongly upon my notice at
this time, which was, that a _westerly_ set was very frequently
apparent, even against a fresh breeze blowing from that quarter. I
mention the circumstance in this place, because I may hereafter have to
offer a remark or two on this fact, in connexion with some others of a
similar nature noticed elsewhere.
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