500 THE FRANKLIN SEARCH— lS48-b\. 



Penny, who for the time had ceased to be a whaler and had become an ex- 

 plorer, was borne on his way with a favourable breeze. A sudden shift of 

 wind, however, blowing off Navy Board Inlet, forced him to stand to the 

 northward, and he sailed in this direction until he could make out the head- 

 lands of the northern shore. On the morning of the 4th the air thickened 

 with fog, and there was a heavy sea and a rising gale. At six a.m. the ship had 

 to be hove to, under close-reefed main-topsail. At ten a.m. heavy " wash- 

 ing ice," or pieces over which the waves washed and broke, was met with, 

 and the remainder of the day was spent in manoeuvring against ice and 

 wind. On the 5th, the " Advice " got so far to windward that Captain Penny, 

 after passing Cape York, sighted Leopold Island from the mast-head. At 

 this point progress was arrested. "All hope of proceeding farther," wi'ites 

 Goodsir, " had now to be given up, and we at once commenced to ply our 

 way out of the sound, deeply chagrined at having to renounce our search. 

 For my own part, I was miserably distressed : I had failed in achieving the 

 only object of my voyage. But Mr Penny has scarcely another course open 

 to him : he was not authorised to prosecute the search, or to go out of his 

 way in obtaining information regarding the expeditions. . . . The next 

 three days were melancholy enough ; we were now retracing our steps ; 

 there was no hope of future success to sustain us now." 



In the voyage up Barrow Strait, as well as on the return voyage. Cap- 

 tain Penny deposited casks containing letters, newspapers, etc., and sur- 

 mounted by long poles, with red vanes as signals, on several of the promi- 

 nent headlands. For this, and for his endeavours to carry succour to Sir 

 James Eoss's expedition, he received, in due time, the substantial acknow- 

 ledgment of Government. 



Eepassing Pond's Bay, and stretching away on a south-east course, the 

 " Advice " reached Home Bay. Thence, after capturing a white whale. 

 Penny slowly worked his way south. After a run of a few days in this 

 direction, the captain, who was not yet quite "full," was delighted to see the 

 horizon chequered by the spouting jets of numerous whales. " All sail was 

 crowded on at once, though there was a strong breeze blowing ; but there 

 being three or four other vessels in company, it was of course necessary," 

 writes Goodsir, "to be ahead of them. This we accomplished in gallant 

 style; the good old 'Advice,' when well handled, clumsy as she looked, 

 could still sail well, and, indeed, throughout the whole voyage, when we 

 were in company with the others, I think we showed as good a pair of 

 heels as any of them. Well, we got into the midst of the black floundering 

 masses ; one, two, three boats were in an instant lowered, and in five 

 minutes one of the largest of the oily giants was writhing and struggling 

 under the tortures of a deeply-planted harpoon. ' She ' made rather a long 

 and hard fight, but was ultimately subdued." The " fish " was soon got 



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