434 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. XI. 



they did not occur ; the temperature descended to 

 35°, and the gales of wind became more constant ; 

 at night the water froze ; and the middle of August 

 having arrived, the winter might here be said to 

 have set in; the more early, probably, from the 

 vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, and the ex- 

 tensive swampy plains between them and the 

 sea. The men had suffered much from the hard 

 labour of pulling and dragging the heavy boats, 

 and from cold as well as fatigue. It will readily 

 be believed, from the character of the man, that it 

 was with no ordinary degree of pain, that Franklin 

 could bring himself even to think of relinquishing 

 the great object of his ambition, or of disappointing 

 the flattering confidence that had been reposed on 

 his exertions. " But," he says, " I had higher 

 duties to perform than the gratification of my own 

 feelings; and the mature consideration of all the 

 above matters forced me to the conclusion, that we 

 had reached that point beyond which perseverance 

 would be rashness, and our best efforts must be 

 fruitless." He therefore, with the full approbation 

 of his companions, set out, the 18th August, on 

 his return to the Mackenzie, from the extreme 

 point gained, named by him the Return Reef, in 

 lat. 70° 24' N., long. 149° 37' W. 



About this time, as it afterwards appeared, the 

 Blossom's boat, sent by Beechey from Behring's 



