532 THE FRANKLIN SEAECH— 18^8-51. 



advance or retreat." But he was equal to every required exertion. Eig- 

 ging a sail upon his sledge, he skirted along the coasts of the island, examin- 

 ing every indentation, and ever on the watch for a landmark ; but though 

 from day to day incidents and discoveries kept him ever cheerful and hope- 

 ful, he saw no evidence on these desolate shores to show that Franklin had 

 penetrated thus far west. On the 16th, the party passed through a gigantic 

 range of hummocks, twenty feet in height, and resembling a ruined wall. 

 The pressure required to pile up the level floe to this height must have been 

 enormous.' Arrived near Cape Bounty on the 19th, they got sight of a 

 herd of musk-oxen, and killed two of them, but obtained only 8 lbs. of fat 

 and 150 lbs. of beef from the two carcasses. From Cape Bounty he ad- 

 vanced past the Winter Harbour of Parry, and traversed the land on both 

 sides of Cape Providence, which was found to consist of ranges of hills with 

 a narrow belt of low land, containing many well-sheltered and comparatively 

 productive spots. "West of Cape Providence, the perpendicular cliffs rose 

 sheer from the sea to the height of 450 feet. Eounding Cape Dundas, 

 M'Clintock reached Cape James Eoss (lat. 74° 41' N., 114° 26' W.), the 

 most westerly point on this coast that had been visited down to the year 

 1851." In this neighbourhood he ascended a cliff 700 feet high, from which 

 he saw away to the south-west the mysterious Banks Land, with its lofty 

 and steep hills and large ravines. From this point a tract of the coast-line 

 of the island stretched away westward, and between it and Banks Land the 

 distance over the frozen sea was sixty-six miles. " The party," writes 

 Markham, "had now arrived at a distance of three hundred miles from the 

 ships in a direct line, when it became necessary to commence the return 

 home ; and accordingly they proceeded up Liddon's Gulf, and on the 1st of 

 June reached Bushnan Cove. Here it was that Sir John Franklin, or some 

 of his crew, if they had wintered anywhere on the north of Melville Island, 

 would have left some traces in an attempt to reach the continent of America ; 

 but not a vestige was to be found. In this picturesque spot Parry had left 

 his travelling cart on the 11th of June 1820, and Lieutenant M'Clintock 

 found the wheels, which he used for fuel, — several tin water-bottles, and even 

 the bones of the ptarmigan Parry had dined off. Thus, after an interval of 

 thirty years, did these explorers revisit the place where the first Arctic 

 travellers had encamped. Crossing the land from the head of Liddon's 

 Gulf, the party arrived at Winter Harbour on the 5th, and encamped near 

 the mass of sandstone at its entrance, on which the names of the ' Hecla ' 

 and 'Griper' were carved. The foundations of Parry's observatory were 

 found, with pieces of wood, broken glass, nails, and a domino — rare things 

 in these desolate regions ! Here also they found a hare, which dwelt 

 within twenty yards of their tent, and remained on the most friendly terms 

 with them during the whole of their stay, regarding them with the utmost 



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