172 THE PARRY ISLANDS 



happening to get through Bering Strait first, declined 

 to wait for his commanding officer, went off on an 

 expedition on his own account and, by a sledge journey, 

 joined Parry's track when in search of the North- West 

 Passage. 



Steering north-east from Franklin Bay, M'Clure 

 reached the south of Parry's Banks Land and followed 

 the coast north-eastwards, discovering Prince of Wales 

 Strait and making his way rather more than half-way 

 up, until, near Princess Royal Island in 72 50', he 

 was caught in the ice and imprisoned for the winter. 

 On Trafalgar Day, 1850, M'Clure left the Investigator 

 on a sledge journey up the strait, and at sunrise on the 

 26th of October, from Mount Observation in 73 30', a 

 hill six hundred feet above the sea, he looked over 

 Banks Strait and Melville Sound, and saw the coast of 

 Banks Land terminating about twelve miles further on 

 and thence trending to the north-west, while Wollaston 

 Land, as it proved to be, turned eastward on the other 

 side at Peel Point. That evening Banks Strait was 

 reached at Cape Lord John Russell, and the North- 

 West Passage by Prince of Wales Strait clearly 

 demonstrated. The spot was not bare of vegetation, 

 and there were many traces of animals, for, fortunately 

 for M'Clure, there was no scarcity of game during his 

 three winterings in Banks Land reindeer in herds, 

 musk oxen occasionally, hares in troops, ducks in 

 plenty, ptarmigan almost as numerous, and bears, 

 wolves, and foxes to feed on them ; for instance, the 

 weights of three items in the bag, 1945 Ib. of musk ox, 

 7716 Ib. of deer, and 1017 Ib. of hare, show fairly good 

 shooting. 



