Volume 4, 1951 - The Arctic Circle - Home

All our par.ty more or less agreed that local concentration
of oil or gas might exist if suitable structures
could be found, but in view of the very large dips seen at
various points th~oughout the journey these concentrations
woul~ probably tend to be highly localized and difficult
tb discover~
The discovery 01' Prince Charles Island
Vie have received permission from Captain W.A. Poole
to publish his account of the discovery of Prince Charles
Island, in eastern Foxe Basin. At the time Captain Poole
was in command of the C.G.S. Ocean Eagle. This aocount
'was written in 1932 and has not hitherto been publiehed,
though the ~scovery was recorded in the log of the
Ocean Ea~le , and a map showing the probable extent of
the new and was left in the Harbour Master's Office at
Churchill. Accounts of the sighting of Prince Charles,
Foley, and Air Force Islands by a R.C.A.F. photographie
aircraft in 1948 and of the Geographical Bureau's expedition
to these Islands in 1949 have been published in the
Circular (Vol. l (1948) pp. 73-5 and Vol. 3 (1950) pp.
26-31). The Geographical Bureau expedition, led by Mr.
T.H. Manning, travelled in the Nau,~, a peterhead boat,
and spent eighteen days expJ..oringt e Islands. On 14
August 1949 the party landed near the southwest point of
Prince Charles Island and then followed round the southeaet,
east, and north coasts to the northwest point. The west
coast, the only coast not surveyed by thls expedition, ie
that tirst sighted by Captain Poole and ie described by
him in the following account:
During September and October of 1931, and August
and September of 1932, l was sent with the C.G.S. Ocean
iag~e north from Hudson Bay into Foxe Channel and Foxe
asin to etudy the occurrence and motion of ice floes.
ln 1931 we were stopped by pack ice, completely
blocking Foxe Channel at ~bout latitude 66 0 25 N. ln 1932,
however, though occasional ice floes were eighted from.
63030 N. northward, there was no difficulty in sailing
1ithroughto Foxe Basin - apparently the.first steamship to
enter these waters. Because of fog and the lack of
adequate charts, it was necessary to proceed with caution.
. owever wi th frequent soundings we went as far as 68°10 N.,
~0050 W., and then along the edge of a large ice floe to
. 7 0 47 N., 78000 W. Both of the Spicer Islands were sighted
10ee to the position (68 0 00N., 78 0 40 W.) indicated on the
art. .