88 
THE BOAT EXPEDITION. 
have the same rugged and dispiriting character. Be¬ 
sides, the ice-belt was still before us, broken sometimes 
and difficult to traverse, but practicable for a party 
on foot, apparently for miles ahead; and I felt sure 
that a resolute boat’s crew might push and track 
their way for some distance along it. I resolved to 
make the trial, and to judge what ought to be 
THE FORLORN HOPE. 
our wintering ground from a personal inspection of 
the coast. 
I had been quietly preparing lor such an expedition 
for some time. Our best and lightest whale-boat had 
been fitted with a canvas cover, that gave it all the 
comfort of a tent. We had a supply of pemmican ready 
packed in small cases, and a sledge taken to pieces was 
stowed away under the thwarts. In the morning of 
