PLAN OF ESCAPE. 437 



upwards of two years in these dreary regions, and 

 three entirely upon their own resources, enjoying such 

 excellent health so joyful, so happy : indeed, such a 

 mirthful assemblage, under any circumstances, would 

 be most gratifying to any officer ; but, in this lonely 

 situation, I could not but feel deeply impressed, as I 

 contemplated the gay and plenteous sight, with the 

 many and great mercies which a kind and beneficent 

 Providence had extended toward us, to whom alone 

 is due the heartfelt praises and thanksgivings of all for 

 the great blessings which we have hitherto experienced 

 in positions the most desolate which can be con- 

 ceived.' 7 



So another winter passed. The spring again returned, 

 and the season rapidly approached when the crew was 

 to divide, and the travelling parties were to set out on 

 their long and perilous journeys : the one to return home 

 by the way of the Mackenzie River and Canada ; the 

 other to proceed to Cape Spencer (where a boat and 

 provisions had been deposited), and thence by Barrow's 

 Strait to make their way to the nearest inhabited coast. 

 That these journeys would prove long and dangerous 

 in the extreme, could not be doubted ; for the return 

 parties were composed of the most weakly hands, thirty 

 of the healthiest men being retained to stand by the 

 ship with the captain, and brave the rigors of another 

 Arctic winter. 



But, while M'Clure and his gallant comrades were 

 thus about to resort to their last desperate expedient 

 fur comiaunicating with the civilized world, relief was 

 at hand of which they had little expectation. Provi- 

 dential circumstances interposed to do away with the . 

 necessity of committing their forlorn hopes to the snow 

 and ice deserts of the polar regions. These extraor- 

 dinary circumstances will be narrated in another chapter. 



