﻿OBJECT OF THE OVERLAND EXPEDITION. 23 



known tract interposed between Cape Walker and 

 Banks's Land, into which Sir John Franklin was 

 expressly ordered to carry his ships. Should he 

 have done so, and his egress by the way he entered 

 be barred by the ice closing in behind him as 

 already suggested, there remained a probability 

 that the annual progression of the ice southwards 

 would eventually carry the ships into Coronation 

 Gulf, or, if abandoned before that event, their 

 crews were to be sought for on their way to the 

 continent. 



At the time when Sir John Franklin left Eng- 

 land, two other openings from the north into 

 the sea washing the continental shores were sup- 

 posed to exist. The most westerly of these is be- 

 tween Boothia and Victoria Land, and it was part 

 of Sir James Ross's plan to examine the whole 

 western side of Boothia and North Somerset by 

 one of his steam-barges. 



The other supposed entrance was by Regent's 

 Inlet. Dease and Simpson had left only a small 

 space unsurveyed between that inlet and the sea, 

 which was known to afford in good seasons a pas- 

 sage all the way to Beering's Straits ; and this 

 might have recommended the route by Regent's 

 Inlet for trial. But, exclusive of its being abso- 

 lutely prohibited by Sir John Franklin's instruc- 



c 4 



