392 SIR EDWARD BELCHER'S EXPEDITION. 



powder in the ice to relieve the pressure upon her, 

 and by the end of the day it was agreed that her injuries 

 could be repaired, and her crew went on board again. 

 But the next morning there was a fresh wind, the Mc- 

 Lellan was caught again, and the water poured into her, 

 a steady stream. She drifted about, unmanageable, now 

 into one ship, now into another ; and the English whale- 

 men began to pour on board, to help themselves to such 

 plunder as they chose. At the captain's request, Sir 

 Edward Belcher, to put an end to this, sent sentries on 

 board ; and he also sent working parties, to clear her as 

 far as might be, and keep account of her stores. In a 

 day or two more she sank to the water's edge, and a 

 charge or two of powder put her out of the way of 

 harming the rest of the fleet. After such a week spent 

 together, it will easily be understood that the New 

 London whalemen did not feel strangers on board one 

 of Sir Edward's vessels, when, as we shall see, they 

 found her " ready for occupation/' three years and more 

 afterwards. 



On the 10th August the squadron reached its ap- 

 pointed head-quarters at Beechey Island. The season 

 was remarkably open ; Wellington Channel and Bar- 

 row's Straits were equally clear of ice. On the 14th Sir 

 E. Belcher, with the Assistance and Pioneer, stood up the 

 channel ; and the following day Capt. Kellett, with the 

 Resolute and Intrepid, sailed in open water for Melville 

 Island. In this position we leave the expedition for the 

 present, and proceed to give an account of the next that 

 entered the field. 



In consequence of the report, set afloat by Sir John 

 Ross, on the authority of his Esquimaux interpreter, 

 that Franklin and his crews had been murdered, by the 

 natives, at Wolstenholme Sound, Lady Franklin refitted 

 the Isabel screw-steamer, and sent her out, under Com- 



