SLEDGE JOURNEYS. 543 



Young, sailing-master, was to trace the shore of Prince 

 of Wales' Land, from Lieut. Browne's furthest, and also 

 to examine the coast from Bellot Strait northward to 

 Sir James Ross's furthest; while Capt. M'Clintock in 

 person was to visit Marshal Island, and in so doing pur- 

 posed to complete the circuit of King William's Island. 



Hardly had the long darkness of the Arctic winter 

 passed away, when, in spite of a fearful temperature of 

 71 degrees below freezing point, Captains Young and 

 M'Clintock set out from the ship on preliminary jour- 

 ueys, with the view of making depots of provisions pre- 

 paratory to the search above marked out. Capt. Young 

 carried his depot across to Prince of Wales' Land, while 

 M'Clintock, accompanied by Mr. Petersen, the interpre- 

 ter, with two sledges drawn by dogs, went southward 

 toward the magnetic pole. On the 28th of February the 

 latter party reached a spot named Cape Victoria, on the 

 west side of Boothia Felix. Here they met some natives. 

 The poor creatures were at first very much alarmed, but 

 became reassured by the conciliatory manners of Mr. 

 Petersen. The fact of their having plent} 7 of wood for 

 sledges in their possession, convinced the gallant cap- 

 tain that they knew something of the ships he was in 

 search of; and as soon as their confidence was gained, 

 he obtained from them the information that many years 

 previously a ship had been crushed by the ice off the 

 northern point of a great island, which agreed with the 

 position of King William's Island, but that all her peo- 

 ple had landed in safety and gone away to the Great 

 Fish River, and there died of starvation. The wood that 

 had attracted M'Clintock's attention they had procured 

 from a boat which the "starving white men" had left 

 near the mouth of the Great River. 



Such was their tale. It explained in a measure how 

 a party of Europeans had reached Montreal Island, at 



