290 VOYAGE TO THE 



CHAPi very probable that it could now appear ; and we could 

 only hope, as the time had arrived when it would be 

 imperative on us to withdraw from him the only relief 

 he could experience in these seas, that he had met with 

 insurmountable obstacles to his proceeding, and had 

 retraced his route up the M'Kenzie River. 



Anxious, however, to remain to the last, on the 

 chance of being useful to him, I again solicited the 

 opinions of the officers as to the state of the season, 

 and finding them unanimous in believing the winter 

 to have commenced, and that the ship could not re- 

 main longer in Kotzebue Sound with safety, I deter- 

 mined to quit the anchorage the moment the wind 

 would permit. Weighing the probability of Captain 

 Franklin's arrival at this late period in the season, no 

 one on board, 1 believe, thought there w^as the smallest 

 chance of it ; for, had his prospects the preceding 

 year been such as to justify his wintering upon the 

 coast, the distance remaining to be accomplished in 

 the present season would have been so short that he 

 could scarcely fail to have performed it early in the 

 summer, in which case we must have seen him long 

 before this date, unless, indeed, he had reached Icy 

 Cape, and found it advisable to return by his own 

 route, a contingency authorised by his instructions. 

 Upon the chance of his arrival after the departure of 

 the ship, the provision that had been buried for his 

 use w^as allowed to remain, and the billet of wood was 

 again deposited on the island, containing a statement 

 of the behaviour of the natives, and of other particu- 

 lars, with which it was important that he should be 

 made acquainted. 



On the 6th, sharp frosty weather continuing, we 

 weighed from Chamisso, and beat out of the sound. 



