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=_Elisha Kent Kane,[68] 1822-1857._=
From "Arctic Explorations."
=_272._= THE DISCOVERY OF AN OPEN SEA.
As Morton, leaving Hans and his dogs, passed between Sir John Franklin
Island and the narrow beach-line, the coast became more wall-like, and
dark masses of porphyritic rock abutted into the sea. With growing
difficulty, he managed to climb from rock to rock, in hopes of doubling
the promontory and sighting the coasts beyond, but the water kept
encroaching more and more on his track.
It must have been an imposing sight, as he stood at this termination of
his journey, looking out upon the great waste of waters before him. Not
a "speck of ice," to use his own words, could be seen. There, from a
height of four hundred and eighty feet, which commanded a horizon of
almost forty miles, his ears were gladdened with the novel music of
dashing waves; and a surf, breaking in among the rocks at his feet,
stayed his farther progress.
Beyond this cape all is surmise. The high ridges to the north-west
dwindled off into low blue knobs, which blended finally with the air.
Morton called the cape, which baffled his labors, after his commander;
but I have given it the more enduring name of Cape Constitution.
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