on of the
existence of a great body of open water, north-west, and beyond the
barrier of ice which still existed in Wellington Channel.

I will not bore the reader with some days of hard labour, in which we
cut to the southward into the ice, whilst the water was trying hard to
get to us from the north; it eventually caught us, and (Saturday,
August 8th,) we were all afloat in open water, with a barrier of ice
_still southward towards Barrow's Strait_. The "Intrepid" had been
sent early in the week to look round the north end of Griffith's
Island, and reported a narrow neck of ice from the N.W. bluffs towards
Somerville Island. Eastward, and not westward, was, however, to be our
course, and we therefore remained where we were. On the 9th and 10th, a
general disruption of the little remaining ice took place: we made
gentle and very cautious moves towards Barrow's Strait; and, at last,
on August 11th, the ice, as if heartily tired of us, shot us out into
Barrow's Strait, by turning itself fairly round on a pivot. We were at
sea because we could not help it, and the navigable season was
proclaimed to have commenced.

[Headnote: _STEAMING FOR ASSISTANCE HARBOUR._]

Taking, like another Sinbad, our "Resolute" old burden behind us, the
"Pioneer" steamed away for Assistance Harbour, from whence, as we had
been given to understand some days previously, Jones's Sound was to be
our destination; a plan to which I the more gladly submitted, as I felt
confident, from all I had heard and seen of its geography or of that of
the neighbouring land, that it would be found to connect itself with
Penny's North Water: once in it we felt failure of our object to be
impossible; we had still three years' provisions, and nearly four years
of many things. One man had died, perhaps half-a-dozen more were
invalids, but the rest were strong and hearty: to be sure, we all
lacked much of that sanguineness which had animated us hitherto.
Repeated disappointment, long journeys in the wrong direction (as it
had proved), over regions which had, of course, shown no trace of those
we had hoped to rescue--had all combined to damp our feelings.

The morning fog broke, and a day, beautiful, serene, and sunny,
welcomed us into Assistance Harbour, which we found had just cleared
out of ice; and the "Lady Franklin," "Sophia," and "Felix," with
anchors down, rode all ready for sea. As we towed the "Resolute" up to
her anchorage, Captain Penny pulled past in hi