238 CAPTAIN YOUNG'S JOURNEY. Chap. XII. 



placed tlieir depot upon the shore of Prince of 

 Wales' Land, about 70 miles S.W. of tlie ship. 

 Young found the ice in Bellot Strait so rough 

 as to be impassable, and was obliged to adopt 

 the lake route. Prince of Wales' Land was- 

 found to be composed of limestone ; the shore 

 was low, and fringed for a distance of ten 

 miles to seaward with an ancient land-flo.e. The 

 remaining width of the strait between this 

 land (North Somerset) and Prince of Wales' 

 Land 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 autumn from Cape Bird and Pemmican 

 Rock. His party lived in their tent, protected 

 from the wind by snow walls, and, like our- 

 selves, escaped with a few trivial frost-bites. So 

 far all was very satisfactory, the general health 

 good, and the eagerness of my crew to com- 

 mence travelling quite charming. 



Young proposed carrying out another depot 

 to the north-west, in order to explore well up 

 Peel Strait, and would have started on the 17th, 

 but the weather was too severe. The day was 

 spent in a fruitless search for three casks of 

 sugar — a serious and unaccountable deficiency — 

 but, as it was important to replace them with 



