In sailing, westward, up the Sound, Captain Parry says that it is more easy to imagine than to describe the almost breathless anxiety which was visible in every countenance, as the breeze, which had hitherto impelled the vessels, increased to a fresh gale. The mast-heads were crowded by the officers and men looking out; and an unconcerned observer, if, on such an occasion, any could be unconcerned, would have been amused by the eagerness with which the various reports from those stations were received. After the vessels had proceeded a considerable distance, they passed some bold headlands, and high mountains. They also passed an inlet, to which Captain Parry gave the name of _Croker's Bay_, and which he is of opinion may, hereafter, be found a passage from Lancaster's Sound into the Northern Sea. They were thence carried along briskly for three days. On the 4th of August, there was, from the mast-head, an exclamation of "land!" and that sound, which, on ordinary occasions, is of all others the most joyful to a seaman's ears, was, on this, the signal for disappointment and mortification. The land, however, proved to be an island. The vessels continued their progress, and several bays, capes, and headlands, were successively discovered. On the 22d there was a clear and extensive view to the northward; the water was free from ice, and the voyagers now felt that they had entered the Polar Sea. The magnificent opening through which their passage had been effected, from Baffin's Bay, to a channel dignified with the name of _Wellington_, was called, by Captain Parry, _Barron's Straits_. In latitude 75 degrees 3 minutes, and longitude 103 degrees 44 minutes, an island was discovered; and Captain Sabine, with two other officers, landed on it. They found, in four different places, the remains of Esquimaux habitations. These were from seven to ten feet in diameter; and to each was attached a circle four or five feet in diameter, which had probably been the fire-place. The whole encampment appeared to have been deserted for several years; but recent footsteps of rein-deer and musk-oxen were seen in many places. The circumstances under which the voyagers were now sailing were, perhaps, such as had never occurred since the early days of navigation. There was land towards the north; ice, it was supposed, was towards the south; the compasses by which the vessels had been steered, now varied so much, that they had become useless; and all the surrounding objects were obscured by a dense fog: consequently, there was now no other mode of regulating the course of the ships, than by trusting to the steadiness of the wind.