FRANKLIN, 1846-47— M'CLINTOCK, 1858. 157 



The canoes were so leaky, that Mr. Anderson determined upon 

 settino- out on foot, and reached Maconochie Island on the 8th. 

 " It was impossible to cross over to Foint Richardson as I wished, 

 the ice driving through the strait between it and Maconochie 

 Island at a fearful rate." " No party could winter on this coast. 

 In the first place, there is not enough fuel, and secondly, no deer 

 pass." Returning up the river, Lake Aylmer was reached on the 

 31st, and Old Fort Reliance on September 11th. 



Victoria Strait and Franklin Channel.— The record brought back 

 by Sir Leopold M'Clintock informs us that H.M. ships Erebus and 

 Terror wintered in the ice in lat. 70° 5' x, and long. 98° 23' w., 

 and that the vessels reached this position in one season from 

 Beechey Island: whether by Franklin or M'Clintock Channel 

 is not known, but most probably by the former. The ships, 

 it appears, were beset on September 12th, 1846, and during the 

 following eighteen months were drifted only 12 miles to the 

 south-west, when they were finally abandoned on April 12th, 1848. 

 The following are a few extracts respecting the state of the ice 

 in Franklin and Victoria Channel, from Sir Leopold M'Clintock's 

 interesting journal. On August 21st, 1858, the Fox reached a 

 position half-through Bellot Strait, which is scarcely one mile wide 

 at its narrowest part. At the turn of the tide the vessel was carried 

 back to the eastward at the rate of 6 miles per hour. " The tide 

 runs through to the west from two hours before high-water to four 

 hours after it : that is to say, the tide comes from the west, as is the 

 case in Fury and Hecla Strait : the rise and fall is less on the west 

 side than upon the east. On September 29th, the view from Cape 

 Bird is thus described : — " There is now much water in the offing, 

 only separated from us by the belt of islet-girt ice scarcely 4 miles 

 in width." " The water runs parallel to the coast, and is 4 or 5 

 miles broad." On the 28th, the Fox was compelled, by the freezing 

 of the ice, to take up her winter-quarters in Fort Kennedy. Lieu- 

 tenant Hohson, who had left the ship with sleighs on the 25th 

 instant, returned to the ship on October 6th, having been stopped 

 by the sea washing against the cliffs, in lat. 7U°. On the L9th, 

 Lieutenant Hobson started again, and returned on November 6t h. 

 On the 25th, they camped on the ice; a north-east gale sprang 

 up, and, detaching the ice, blew them off shore, and they were no1 

 able to regain the land for two days. 



The following records are made of the state of the ice in Bellol 

 Strait during the winter:— October 7th.— "The weather is mild; 

 Bellot Strait is almost covered with ice, which drills lively with 



