Oct. 

 182t>. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 465 



In the execution of this necessary resolution, it was chap 



XII. 



some consolation to reflect, that from the nature of v-*v» 

 Captain Franklin's instructions, it was almost certain 

 that by this time he had either commenced his re- 

 turn or taken up his winter abode. He had been 

 directed to return to his winter quarters on the 

 15th of August, if he found the prospect of success 

 was not such as to ensure his reaching Icy Cape 

 that season, and if it should prove impracticable to 

 winter at an advanced station on the coast. We 

 were justified, therefore, in supposing that he had 

 already been either compelled to pause or to turn 

 back, as, in the event of the successful prospect 

 anticipated in his instructions, it could hardly hap- 

 pen, considering the open state in which we had 

 found the sea to the northward, that he should 

 not have reached Kotzebue Sound by the time the 

 Blossom left it. 



In taking our departure from these seas, some 

 general observations on the country, the natives, 

 the currents, meteorology, and other subjects, natu- 

 rally present themselves ; but as we returned to 

 the same place the following year, and extended 

 our experience, I shall defer them until a future 

 opportunity. 



Up to this period of the voyage, my instructions 

 had been a safe guide for my proceedings ; but be- 

 tween our departure from these seas, and our return 

 to them the following year, with the exception of 

 touching at the Sandwich Islands, there were no 

 specific directions for my guidance, and it became 

 me seriously to consider how the time could be 

 most usefully employed. It was necessary to re- 

 pair to some port to refit and caulk the ship, to re- 

 vol. i. 2 H 



