1853.] NO ACCOUNT OF WESTERN DIVISION. 5 



The receipt of despatches, private letters, newspapers, 

 etc., occupied us closely until long after midnight, and 

 afforded, for some days, matter for serious thought. That 

 most pressing and most important, was the entire dearth 

 of information respecting the Western Division, and, from 

 all the information brought to me, there was neither an 

 indication, nor any hope, of open water in the direction 

 of Barrow Strait ; however, we are now too well aware, 

 even from heights greater than that of Beechey Island, 

 that water sufficiently open for navigation may pass to- 

 tally unperceived at ten miles to the southward of the 

 island ; and, looking to probabilities, it is just possible 

 that the very cause which pressed the pack to us in this 

 direction (viz. the gale of the 18th of August) would 

 have left open water to the other vessels, by skirting 

 Leopold Island and sticking to the southern shores of 

 Lancaster Sound, by which Sir Edward Parry, Sir James 

 Ross, and others, have easily effected their passages as 

 late as September. Indeed this is the only reasonable 

 chance at a late season, as the main current sweeps along 

 that coast with great force, driving Sir James Ross, I am 

 informed, forty miles to windward during a strong gale ! 

 Even if the 'Resolute' did not proceed, I think it pro- 

 bable that Commander M'Clintock, with the Intrepid,' 

 and having on board the crew of ' Investigator,' would 

 naturally cling to that shore, and, finding access to Bee- 

 chey Island impossible, move on to England. Such in- 

 deed would be my wish ; but this I do not now think 

 probable, as Commander Inglefield found the entire 

 Strait impeded by ice, and, from the effect of south-east 

 gales on the ice, driven from Prince Regent Inlet, it 



