A THIRD WINTER APPROACHING. 433 



eating a mouthful or two of the raw meat. The wolves 

 had also become exceedingly bold, and tales are told of 

 the sportsman pulling at one end of a slain deer, and 

 the wolves at the other ! 



On the llth of April, 1852, a sledge excursion was 

 made to Winter Harbor, Melville Island, the old 

 winter quarters of Sir Edward Parry, and notice found 

 of Lieutenant M'Clintock's having been there from the 

 west, the previous summer. M'Clure here deposited a 

 notice of his own visit, under the same cairn that had 

 protected the notice left by his predecessor. 



It is remarkable that, shortly after M'Clure's visit to 

 this spot, a sledge-party from the Enterprise, which had 

 wintered at the south end of Prince of Wales Strait, 

 after having been up to near its northern extremity, and 

 having been foiled, like the Investigator, in getting into 

 Melville Strait, actually visited the same spot, without 

 either party knowing that the other was so close, so 

 great is the difficulty of meeting one another in regions 

 like those of the Arctic archipelago. 



Although the sportsmen continued to meet with great 

 success, and at one period no less than twenty head of 

 deer were hanging up round the ship, yielding a thou- 

 sand pounds of meat, scurvy began to show itself, and to 

 make marked progress among the crew. On the 1st of 

 July there were six men in their beds, and sixteen had 

 evident symptoms of debility, with incipient scurvy. 

 On the 16th open water was seen in the straits, but the 

 ice in the bay prevented their getting to it, and on the 

 24th the lead of water" had closed! It became too obvi- 

 ous that the winter was again setting in. All hope of 

 deliverance for another season was cut off! 



"On the 20th of August, 1852," says M'Clure, "the 

 temperature fell to 27, wrien the entire bay was com- 

 pletely frozen over ; and, on the 27th ; the temperature 

 28 



