158 M'CLINTOCK, 1858-59. 



every tide." November 1st. — " Whenever we have a calm night 

 we can hear the crashing sound of the drift-ice in Bellot Strait, 

 which continues to open within 500 yards of the Fox Islands, and 

 emits dark chilling clouds of hateful, pestilent, and abominable 

 mist. 



On February 17th, 1859, the sledge-parties started to carry out 

 the depots. Advancing to the southward, the condition of the ice 

 is thus described : — " Throughout the whole distance we found a 

 mixture of heavy old ice and light ice of last autumn, in many 

 places squeezed up into the pack ; but as we advanced southward 

 aged floes were less frequently seen." On March 1st the neigh - 

 botirhood of the Magnetic Pole was reached, and the Eskimo seen. 

 The ship was reached on March 14th, having travelled 420 miles 

 in 25 days. Mr. Young and his party returned on board on March 

 3rd, having placed their depot on the shore of Prince of Wales 

 Land, about 70 miles south-west of the ship, the shore of which 

 was found to be " fringed for a distance of 10 miles to seaward with 

 an ancient land-floe." The remaining width of the strait was about 

 15 miles, and this space was composed of ice formed since 

 September last. This was the water we looked at so anxiously 

 last auturun from Cape Bird and Pemmican Rock. On April 2nd 

 Sir Leopold and Lieut. Hohson started : the load for each man to 

 drag was 200 lbs., and for each dog 100. On April 20th, in lat. 

 70^° n., the Eskimo were met with. They had been as far north 

 as lat. 71 i° hunting seals. Crossing a wide bay upon level ice, 

 indicating much open water here late last autumn, the neighbour- 

 hood of the Magnetic Pole was reached on the 24th, and a detention 

 of three days on account of a heavy north-east gale was incurred. 

 At Cape Victoria, Lieut. Hobson parted company, going direct to 

 Cape Felix. Sir Leopold struck across this strait for Port Parry ; 

 finding a rough pack it took him three days to traverse the strait. 

 Matty Island was reached on the 4th of May, and Point Booth on 

 May 10th, where a number of articles from the missing ships were 

 found. Crossing over to Point Ogle on May 12th, and Montreal 

 Island on the 15th. " Since our first landing on King William 

 Land we have not met with an} 7 heavy ice; all along its eastern and 

 southern shore, together with the estuary of this great river, is one 

 vast, unbroken sheet, formed in the earl} 7 part of last winter 

 where no ice previously existed." Crossing over to the mainland, 

 near Point Duncan, on the 18th of May, they followed the coast 

 as far as Barrow Inlet, from whence they returned to King 

 William Land. On May 25th, a short distance to the east of Cape 

 Herschel, a skeleton was discovered, which, from the documents 



