CAPTAIN M'CLURE'S PROGRAMME. 541 



" Investigator " first felt the influence of the north-east trade-wind of the 

 Atlantic, and on the 28th March she passed out of the southern tropic in 

 the South Atlantic Ocean. On the 14th April M'Clure reached to within 

 ninety-one miles of the Strait of Magellan, in long. 67° 57'. At this point 

 the officers and crew became entitled to " double pay," writes Surgeon Arm- 

 strong—who sailed with M'Clure, and who writes a " Personal Narrative of 

 the Discovery of the North- West Passage," — " in accordance with the orders 

 of the Admiralty that it {the increased rate of payment) should commence on 

 attaining the meridian of Cape Horn, which we had then reached." On 

 the 17th the " Investigator" joined the " Enterprise " in Fortescue Bay in 

 Magellan Strait, and it was found that, though the vessels had parted company 

 early in February, and from that period had never sighted each other, they 

 both had crossed the line on the same day. On the 19th the discovery vessels 

 set sail in company, but in the evening a fresh gale springing up from the 

 north-west, the vessels parted company, never more to rejoin. For ten days 

 the " Investigator " was driven about in the gale, and it was only on the 30th 

 April that M'Clure was able to resume his course for the next rendezvous — 

 Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands. 



Honolulu was reached on the 1st, and left on the 4th July. On the 28th 

 Behring Strait was passed, Arctic circle was crossed, and the Admiralty 

 clothing for the use of the seamen in the far north was issued to the crew. 

 "Arctic sights," writes Sherard Osborn, "now rapidly accumulated to 

 interest the many novices in the ' Investigator,' and to awaken in the mind- 

 of their commander recollections of his former trying and unsuccessful 

 voyage on the opposite side of America into that same frozen sea." This 

 first issue of warm clothing, we are informed by Armstrong, consisted of 

 " one complete suit of blue double-milled box-cloth, boots, stockings, boot- 

 hose, comforters, mits, and caps ; all of excellent quahty, and well adapted 

 for Polar service." At eight p.m. on the 28th, M'Clure observed a sail 

 bearing down upon him, and was delighted to find that the stranger was the 

 Arctic store-ship " Plover " (Captain Moore), which had passed the winter 

 of 1849-50 in Kotzebue Sound. From Captain Moore the " Investigators " 

 learned that the " Enterprise " had not yet been met with in the Polar Sea, 

 and that the ice beyond Kotzebue Sound was so heavy as to be impenetrable. 

 Bidding adieu to the "Plover," M'Clure pushed on northward for Cape 

 Lisburne. 



The " Investigators," however, did not miss the opportunity of sending 

 their last words to friends in England by the " Plover," and among other 

 letters, M'Clure sent home to the Admiralty one of the most vigorous 

 despatches it has ever been our fortune to read. In it are discernible all 

 the courage, the ambition, and the inflexible resolution which were after- 

 wards displayed in accomplishing the North-West Passage. Captain 



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