48 NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



very low — 50°. Lieutenant Pirn and Doctor Domville, nine men and 

 six' dogs, assisted by Mr. Roche and ten men, left for Banks' Land. 

 Three miles from the ship, Pirn's sledge broke down ; sent him on with 

 another, which also proving weak, he sent the dogs back for another. 

 He encamped within abont eight miles of the shij). A furious northerly 

 gale came on during the night, which detained them in their tents for 

 four days. This was the earliest, and with the lowest temperature that 

 travelling has been attempted in these regions before. I communicated 

 with them on the fourth day ; —all well. No accident of consequence ; a 

 nipped finger, face, or ear, the greatest. On the 14th they made 

 another start, assisted as far as Point Hearne by a 10-man sledge. 

 Dogs doing wonders. One man sent back, another went on in his 

 place. The weather continuing beautifully fine and mild : temperature 

 zero. 



•' 19th April, 1853. This is really a red letter day in my voyage, and 

 shall be kept as a holiday by my heirs and successors for ever. At 

 nine o'clock of this day our'look-out man made the signal for a party 

 coming in from the westward. All went out to meet them and assist 

 them in. A second party was then seen. Doctor Domville was tlie 

 first person I met. I cannot describe to you my feelings when he told 

 me that Captain M'Chre ims amongst the next party. I was not long 

 in reaching him, and giving him many hearty shakes. No purer were 

 ever given by two men in the world. 



'' jM'Clure looks well, but is very hungry. His description of Pim's 

 reaching the Harbour of ^Nlercy would have been a fine subject for the 

 pen of Captain ]\Lirryatt, were he alive. 



" M'Clure and his'First Lieutenant were walking on the floe. Seeing 

 a person coming very fast towards them, they supposed he was chased 

 by a bear, or had seen a bear, and they walked towards him. On 

 getting within a hundred yards they could see from his proportions 

 that he was not one of them. Pirn began to screech and throw up his 

 hands, his face as black as your hat. This brought the captain and 

 lieutenant to a stand, as they could not hear sufficiently to make out 

 ids language. He was a considerable way ahead of his sledge— a 

 solitary man, and that man as black as Old Nick. M'Clure says he 

 would have turned and run if he had seen a tad or a cloven foot. At 

 length Pirn reached the party, quite beside himself. Stammered 

 out, (on M'Clure asking him, Who are you, and where are you come 

 from?') ' Lieutenant Pirn— //erfl/^— Captain Kellett.' This was the 

 more inexplicable to M'Clure, as I was the last person he shook hands 

 with in Behring Strait. He at length found that the solitary stranger 

 was a true Englishman ; an angel of light he says. He soon was seen 

 from the ship. They had only one hatchway ojien. The crew were 

 f.iirly jammed there in their endeavour to get up, to see — they (Hd not 

 know what. The sick jumped out of their liammocks, and the crew 

 forgot their despondency ; in fact, all was changed on board the Investi- 

 gator. One man had unfortunately died, by accidentally poisoning him- 

 self, the morning of Pim's reaching here. On the 15th of April 

 M'Clure had thirty men and three officers fully prepared to leave for the 

 depot at Point Spencer. What a disa{)i)ointuient it would have been 

 to them to find the miserable Mary yacht, and four or five casks of 

 provisions, instead of a fine large depnt. Another party of seven were 

 to have gone by M'Kenzie, with a request to the Admiralty to send out 



