1854.] PORT LEOPOLD BARRED BY ICE. 233 



in this I was disappointed, the floe barring a nearer ap- 

 proach than fifteen or twenty miles from the nearest part 

 of the island. 



This forcibly brought to my mind the utter fallacy of 

 any opinions formed on ice matters, and more especially 

 as to the distance of open water, so constantly asserted 

 to be viewed from elevated positions. Some had ven- 

 tured to see up Barrow Strait, and that open water ex- 

 tended from Beechey Island to the southern coast. 



But leaving opinion to its fate, what was the fact ? 

 Until we reached one hour's run with vessels in tow, the 

 floe-edge was not discovered from the crow's-nest, and 

 how distant ? Certainly not five miles ! That ice would 

 not permit Barrow Strait to be relieved until it drifted 

 away. Are we entitled, after such a glaring fact before 

 us, to attach any credit to imagination, or that Barrow's 

 Strait, at the time we left, exhibited any ground for hope 

 that the ice would rush out and deliver to us the vessels 

 on which our thoughts were so anxiously bent ? 



Giving up all further idea here, and impressed with 

 the probability of another severe and early winter, my 

 thoughts led me to seek Port Dundas ; not indeed to risk 

 the remains of our Squadron, but to communicate by 

 boat with the natives, and ascertain, if possible, whether 

 they had ever seen the ' Erebus' or ' Terror' sail up or 

 down. Further, I had been given to understand that 

 some one on board the 'Phoenix' had recognized the 

 natives as belonging to the Pond's Bay tribe, and, under 

 my original interest in the story raised by them in 1849, 

 I was most anxious to probe this matter more deeply ; 

 and as they had found a purchaser for one of the records 



