242 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
a garden was laid out with all the flora of North Devon. 
The naturalist had a station at Cape Riley. Shooting 
camps were formed at Cape Bowden to the north, and 
Caswall's Tower to the east, sending in supplies of fresh 
food for the ships' companies. But a cloud loomed upon 
their horizon, for the terrible discovery was made that 
the greater part of the tinned provisions were unfit for 
food. A third winter would be fatal. 
Three men died during the winter, but on the whole 
the explorers must have emerged from their winter- 
quarters full of hope and bright anticipations. The 
water was making fast in the offing. A canal was cut 
to the edge of the ice, and at last the good ships were free, 
A record was certainly left in the cairn, but it was never 
found. We do not know whether any attempt was made 
to push westward from Cape Walker, in accordance with 
the instructions. If so, the impracticable character of the 
ice would soon have been discovered. Then the ex- 
plorers would turn for a passage to the east of Cape 
Walker. Parry had seen this cape as a distant land to 
the south. Probably he saw a coast as well, which led 
him to call it a cape rather than an island. Nothing was 
known between the north coast of North Somerset and 
Cape Walker. It was evidently a very open season. 
The ships sailed on without hindrance, making discoveries 
of land on either side, all on board full of excitement 
and hope. At length they reached the latitude of Ross's 
magnetic pole. Then the fatal choice was made. 
It was all open to the south. If they had continued 
on their southerly course the two ships would have 
reached Bering Strait. There was the navigable passage 
before them. But alas! the chart-makers had drawn 
an isthmus (which only existed in their imagination) 
connecting Boothia with King William Land. So the 
explorers thought that the only way was round the 
western side of King William Land. They altered course 
to the west, and were lost. For they were soon beset 
in that mighty ice-pack which flows down from the great 
polar ocean and impinges on the north-west coast of 
King William Land. The ships were in a precarious 
position, yet they must still have been full of hope that 
they would reach the coast of North America in the next 
