246 THE STAET. Chap. XIII. 



completed tlae exploration and circuit of King 

 "William's Island, passing on foot through the 

 only feasible North- West Passage ; but all this 

 is as nothing to the interest attached to the 

 Franklin records picked up by Hobson, and 

 now safe in my possession ! We now know 

 the fate of the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror.' The 

 sole object of our voyage has at length been 

 completed, and we anxiously await the time 

 when escape from these bleak regions will be- 

 come practicable. 



* * * * * 



The morning of April 2nd was inauspicious, 

 but as the day advanced the weather improved, 

 so that Hobson and I were able to set out upon 

 our journeys ; we each had a sledge drawn 

 by four men, besides a dog-sledge, and dog- 

 driver. Mr. Petersen having volunteered his 

 services to drive my dogs, — an offer too valu- 

 able to be declined, — managed my dog-sledge 

 throughout. Our five starveling puppies were 

 harnessed, for the first time in their lives, to a 

 small sledge which I drove myself, intending 

 to sell them to the Esquimaux, if I could 

 get them to drag their own supply of pro- 

 visions so far. The procession looked imposing 

 — it certainly was deeply interesting ; there 

 were five sledges, twelve men, and seventeen 



