426 ABANDON JOURNEY TO POINT TURN AGAIN. 



veloped every thing in impenetrable obscurity. 

 No one of course can regret so much as I do 

 that the important and interesting object of 

 ascertaining the existence of a passage along 

 the coast to Point Turnagain was not accom- 

 plished ; but if there be any who think that 

 little was achieved, in comparison with what was 

 undertaken (though such a notion can hardly 

 with justice be entertained), let them reflect 

 that even in the ordinary pursuits of men, with 

 all the appliances of civilized life to boot, the 

 execution is rarely equal to the conception ; 

 and then also consider how much greater the 

 impediments must be in a climate where the 

 elements war against all intruders, and confound 

 the calculations and set at nought the talents 

 even of such men as Parry and Franklin. 



I had for some time cherished the notion of di- 

 viding the party, leaving four to protect the boat 

 and property, whilst the remainder, with Mr. King, 

 would have accompanied me on a land journey 

 towards Point Turnagain ; but this scheme was 

 completely frustrated by the impracticability of 

 carrying any weight on a soil in which at every 

 step we sunk half-leg deep ; destitute of shrubs or 

 moss for fuel, and almost without water ; over 

 which we must have travelled for days to have 

 made even a few miles of longitude ; and where, 

 finally, if sickness had overtaken any one, his 



