M'CLURE'S EXPLORATIONS. 413 



the eastward, to which M'Clure gave the name of 

 Prince Albert's Land. Several remarkable peaks ap- 

 peared to be of volcanic origin. 



On the 16th the Investigator was making slow 

 progress toward Barrow's Strait; and on the 17th of 

 September, 1850, they reached their most advanced 

 position, in latitude 73 10' north, and longitude 117 

 10' west, about thirty miles from the waters of that series 

 of straits, which, under the names of Melville, Barrow, 

 and Lancaster, communicate with Baffin's Bay. At 

 this tantalizing distance the ship ceased to drift, and 

 the ice appeared to have reached a point beyond which 

 some unknown cause would not allow it to proceed. 

 The heavy pack of Melville Strait, lying across the head 

 of the channel, was supposed to be the reason of the 

 ice of Prince of Wales Strait ceasing to move on to 

 the north-east ; and the impassable nature of the pack 

 in the same direction, in the following year, confirmed 

 this hypothesis. 



On the 9th of September M'Clure tells us he had de- 

 bated in his mind whether to abandon all hope of reach- 

 ing Barrow's Strait that year, and retrace his course 

 southward in search of a wintering place, or to hold on, 

 so far as he might, and run the risk of wintering in the 

 pack. " I decided," he says, " on the latter of these 

 two courses ; 7 and the consideration which influenced 

 him in this difficult choice was, " that to relinquish the 

 ground obtained through sc much labor and anxiety, for 

 Hie remote chance of finding safe winter quarters, would 

 be injudicious, thoroughly impressed as I was with the 

 absolute importance of retaining every mile to insure 

 any favorable results while navigating these eeas." 

 Besides this, it was desirable to hold as advanced a 

 position as possible, in order that the spring sledge- 



