_Saturday, August 16th, 1851._--The sound is evidently narrowest about the entrance; from a point to the N.W. of us it evidently increases in width; loose patches of ice are occasionally met with, and the tides seem somewhat strong, judging by the set of the vessel. The scenery is magnificent, especially on the south shore, where some ten miles in the interior a huge dome of pure white snow envelopes land some 3000 or 4000 feet high, which Captain Austin has named the Trenter Mountains, in compliment to the family of Sir John Barrow (that being the maiden name of the Dowager Lady Barrow). From this range long winding glaciers pour down the valleys, and project, through the ravines, into the deep-blue waters of this magnificent strait. Northward of us the land is peculiar, lofty table-land, having here and there a sudden dip, or thrown up in a semi-peak. The draught of the wind has blown constantly down the strait. Such are my rough notes made during the day, as the "Pioneer" and "Intrepid" worked to the westward; but as evening drew on, the increasing smoothness of the water, and a hard icy blink to the west, prepared us for a report which came from the crow's nest about midnight, that there was very much ice to the windward of us. [Headnote: _STOPPED BY ICE-FIELDS._] Next day, 17th, after a fog which caused some delay had cleared off, the disagreeable truth revealed itself: from a little beyond a conical-shaped island on the north shore, the sound was still barred with floes, although at this point it increased at least twelve miles more in breadth. Going up to the floe-edge, the steamers crossed to the S.W., following the ice carefully along until it impinged upon the southern shore. The night was beautifully serene and clear; and, as if to add to our regret, four points and a half of the compass, or 54 deg. of bearing to the westward, showed no symptom of land. The northern side of the sound trended away to the west, preserving its lofty and marked character; whilst on the south the land ended abruptly some fifteen miles farther on, and then, beyond a small break, one of those wedge-shaped hills peculiar to the limestone lands of Barrow's Strait showed itself at a great distance; and the natural suggestion to my own mind was, that the opening between the said wedge-shaped hill and the land on our southern hand would have been found to connect itself with the deep fiords running to the northward from Croker Bay, in Lancaster Sound; and for an opinion as to the direction of Jones's Sound, whose frozen surface forbade us to advance with our vessels, I was, from what I saw, fully willing to believe in the report of my ice quarter-master, Robert Moore, a clever, observant seaman, as the annexed report will show:-- "SIR,