RAE'S FARTHEST, MA Y 27, 1847. 417 



range of hills of from 500 to 800 feet high, which Eae named the Prince 

 Albert Hills. The party encamped at seven a.m. on the 27th, in lat. 

 69° 19' 39", long, about 85° 4'. 



The provisions which the three men had brought with them were now 

 nearly at an end, and Eae saw that he could advance only half a night's 

 journey farther to the northward, and return the following morning to his 

 present quarters. Accordingly, leaving one of the men behind, the leader 

 set out with the other at nine p.m. on the 27th. Snow fell heavily, and 

 progress was slow. Baker Bay was discovered and named, and the march 

 was continued for several hours afterwards. At four a.m. the sky cleared, 

 and Eae now found that he had reached the south shore of a considerable 

 bay. He also obtained a distinct view of the coast-line to the distance of 

 twelve miles beyond the bay. Of this farthest limit of his explorations Eae 

 writes : " To the most distant visible point (lat. 69° 42' N., long. 85° 8' W.) 

 I gave the name of Cape Elhce. . . . The bay to the northward and 

 the headland on which we stood were respectively named after the distin- 

 guished navigators, Sir Edward Parry and Captain Crozier. Finding it 

 hopeless to attempt reaching the strait of the Fury and Hecla, from which 

 Cape EUice could not be more than ten miles distant, we took possession 

 of our discoveries with the usual formalities, and retraced our steps, arriving 

 at our encampment of the previous day at half-past eight a.m." 



On the night of the 28th the march homeward was commenced. On the 

 morning of the 30th the three men had joined the other two who had been 

 left behind to hunt and fish, but who had been equally unsuccessful in both 

 pursuits. Eae had expected a good meal on his arrival, but found that the 

 men he had left to provide a store of food were themselves so ill-supplied that 

 they were on the point of boiling a piece of parchment-skin for supper. Under 

 certain circumstances scarcity of food may be borne for a time with equanimity; 

 but a man's lot is somewhat hard when he has fatiguing work to do, and at the 

 same time nothing to eat. " I have had considerable practice in walking," 

 writes Eae, " and have often accomplished between forty and fifty, and, on 

 one occasion, sixty-five miles in a day on snow shoes, with a day's provisions, 

 blanket, axe, etc., on my back ; but our journey hitherto had been the most 

 fatiguing I had ever experienced. The severe exercise, with a limited allow- 

 ance of food, had much reduced the party, yet we were all in excellent; 

 health; and although we lost flesh, we kept up our spirits, and marched 

 merrily on, tightening our belts — mine came in six inches — and feasting our 

 imaginations on full allowance when we should arrive at Fort Hope." 



It is needless to state that under such conditions the journey homeward 

 was a rapid one. The travellers were lucky enough to find that the small 

 stores of provisions which they had concealed at different stages of their out- 

 ward journey were inviolate on their return, and as a few ptarmigan fell to 

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