128 MR. RAE'S EXPEDITION. Aug. 



it would be a useless waste of time to wait any longer in 

 hopes of being able to cross to Wollaston Land ; I there- 

 fore gave orders for our return towards the Coppermine, at 

 which I did not expect to arrive in less than a week, as the 

 ice wore as unfavourable an aspect as it did last year. 



"At an early hour on the 23d the men commenced 

 carrying the baggage to Point Lockyer, still more than a 

 league distant, and afterwards hauled the boat to the same 

 place ; doing this gave all the party ten hours' hard work ; 

 but our fatigues were soon forgotten on finding some open 

 water on the south side of the point, in which we were 

 speedily afloat and sailing before the fast- decreasing breeze. 

 It fell calm in half an hour ; but we plied our oars to such 

 good purpose, that we pitched our tents late at night on 

 Cape Hearne. Here I had expected to find the ice close 

 packed on the shore, and quite impassable, but I was 

 agreeably surprised to discover as we advanced, that there 

 was a lane of open water between the beach and the pack, 

 wide enough for us to pass through. The only way that 

 I can account for this is, by supposing that the gale of 

 wind that had been blowing from north-east and east- 

 north-east had shifted to the north and north-west as it 

 approached the land, and carried the ice along with it. 



" By working seventeen hours next day we came to the 

 mouth of the river, and on the following morning ascended 

 to the Bloody Fall. Here fish were still very numerous, 

 and whilst some of the party were cooking, others set a 

 couple of nets to obtain a supply for some days. I may 

 here mention, that when on the coast, we obtained as 

 many salmon and herring as we could consume, wherever 

 there was a piece of open water large enough for setting a 

 net to be found. 



"Dease and Simpson, after hauling their boats over the 



