June, 1859. ARRIVE ON BOARD THE ' FOX? 265 



the 1 8th June, and pitched our tent just as heavy rain began 

 to descend ; it lasted throughout the greater part of the day. 

 After travelling a few miles upon Macgregor Laird Lake, 

 further progress was found to be quite impossible, and we 

 were obliged to haul our sledges up off the flooded ice, and 

 commence a march of 16 or 17 miles overland for the ship. 

 The poor dogs were so tired and sore-footed, that we could 

 not induce them to follow us ; they remained about the 

 sledges. After a very fatiguing scramble across the hills and 

 through the snow valleys we were refreshed with a sight of 

 our poor dear lonely little ' Fox,' and arrived on board in 

 time for a late breakfast on 19th June, after an absence of 

 seventy-eight days. 



I may here, at the conclusion of our journey, and as the 

 result of our experience, express my opinion that, had the 

 barrier of ice which lay across the western outlet of Bellot 

 Strait permitted us last season to reach the open water 

 beyond, the chances would have been greatly in favour of 

 our reaching Cape Herschel on the S. side of King William's 

 Island, by passing (as I intended to do) along its eastern 

 side. 



The wide channel between Prince of Wales' Land and 

 Victoria Land admits a continuous stream of very heavy 

 ocean-formed polar ice from the N.W., which presses upon 

 the north-western shore of King William's Island; thus 

 opposing a formidable barrier to the descent of Victoria 

 Strait with ships, and involving to the navigator the very 

 heavy risk of drifting through in the pack. 



No one seeing Victoria Strait as we saw it could entertain 

 a doubt of this being the only way to get a ship through. 



From Bellot Strait to Cape Victoria we found a mixture 

 of old and new ice, showing the exact proportion of pack 

 and of clear water at the setting in of winter. Once to the 

 southward of the Tasmania Group, I think our chief dim- 



