170 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
“ Disco , May 24. 
“ For the early part of this season I shall he among the whalers, 
leisurely following their motions, hut should they not persevere to the 
north as long as I think desirable, I must then judge for myself whether 
to persevere or return south with them, and seek a southern passage. I 
purpose sailing to-morrow morning. We shall long remember the kind¬ 
ness of Mr. and Mrs. Olrik and all here. 
“ Yours very sincerely, 
“ F. L. M‘Clintock.” 
“iV.-CAPTAIN M'CLINTOCK TO JOHN BARROW, ESQ, 
“ Arctic Yacht, ‘Fox? Holsteinborg, 
“April 28 to May 6, 1858. 
“My dear Barrow, —Never was there a more beggarly account of 
empty boxes. Our proceedings are a blank. It is not our faults, you 
will readily believe, but ice is as capricious as it is stubborn, and so we 
have found it. Melville Bay appears to me to be precisely in the same 
state that we found it in 1848, at the same date (15th of August). But 
last year the southerly winds blew so constantly that the ice became 
more and more close as the season advanced. But one opportunity of¬ 
fered, and, of course, I availed myself of it, by attempting to reach the 
north water. We thought we were safe; the water sky ahead was not 
far distant; but our enemy astern—the south-east wind—came on too 
rapidly, closed up the ice, and left us helplessly beset on the 18th of 
August! For nearly a month hope and fear alternated as we drifted 
slowly across Melville Bay, as the North Star did before us; but a 
severe September gummed us np, and left us, chafing with disappoint¬ 
ment, a legacy to the pack. From the near neighbourhood of Cape York, 
which was last seen bearing north-east in October, we drifted down past 
DeHaven’s position, andfinally made our exitfrom the pack in lat. 63° 35' 
N., and long. 58° 25' W. What a happy release, you will say; and truly 
so it was. Thank God, we have suffered neither sickness nor hardship ; 
no ice movement disturbed us during the winter, although near enough 
to excite feelings of gratitude for our preservation. We have lost one 
valuable man by an accident. He fell down a hatchway, and died of 
the injuries received. We have not had a single case of illness on board 
more serious than a cold or headach since leaving England. My crew 
are all I could desire; their zeal and cheerfulness are beyond all praise. 
I have sent for Lady Franklin a brief statement of our proceedings; how 
sincerely I sympathize with her, is more than I can express. However, 
I am not without hope that the loss of a year is the worst feature in the 
case. If it pleases God to permit us a moderate share of success, we 
shall turn out an efficient corps of travellers this autumn. We are now 
up to all the dodges: we can build our snow huts quite as quickly as 
even Bae’s people, having frequently done so during the winter in less 
than half an hour! Our provisions are excellent, and ample for another 
winter, and should we be forced to spend an additional one (that is, a 
third winter), we have enough of most things of our own, and shall take 
