Nov. 1858. THE ADVANCED DEPOTS. 



18' 



20 yards in diameter; impelled by the storm — they knew 

 not whither, for the night was dark, and snow fell thickly — 

 it drifted across the mouth of a wide inlet, 1 nearly to the 

 opposite shore. The gale was quickly followed by a calm, and 

 an intense frost which in a single night formed ice sufficiently 

 strong to bear them in safety to the land, although it bent 

 fearfully beneath their weight. They suffered much from the 

 exposure, but their escape was indeed providential. 



The depots were eventually established in latitude 71!°; 

 beyond this Lieutenant Hobson did not attempt to advance, 

 not only because their remaining provisions would not have 

 warranted a longer absence, but because the open sea was 

 seen to beat against the next headland. They have lived in 

 tents only, and have not experienced the heavy gales so 

 frequent here, and which probably are mainly due to our 

 position in Bellot Strait, which performs the part of a funnel 

 for both winds and tides between the two seas. 



That the western sea should still remain open argues a 

 vast space southward for the escape of the ice ; our western 

 parties are thus prevented from carrying across their depot. 

 We must only be stirring earlier in the spring. I am truly 

 thankful for the safe return of our travellers — all this toil 

 and exposure of ten persons and ten dogs has only advanced 

 the depots 30 miles farther, /. e. from 50 to 80 miles distant 

 from the ship. 



Hardly a particle of snow remains upon the harbour-ice, 

 the recent gales having swept it away ; and the porch of my 

 snow-hut has been fretted away to a mere cobweb by the 

 attrition of the snowdrift ; the Doctor and I rebuilt it to- 

 day. Three reindeer and a wolf have been seen. 



1 Named after the late Lord Wrottesley, in remembrance of the sup- 

 port given by him to the expedition, his advocacy of it in the House 

 of Lords, and of the facilities granted me by the Royal Society — of 

 which he was President — for the pursuit of scientific observations. 



