th of July kept up
to 57 degrees; this was the highest thermometric point observed during
the campaign. But on Thursday, the 5th, the wind turned to the
south-east, and was accompanied by violent snow-storms. The
thermometer fell during the preceding night to 23 degrees. Hatteras
took no notice of the murmurs of the crew, and gave orders to get
under way. For the last thirteen days, from Cape Dundas, the _Forward_
had not been able to gain one more degree north, so the party
represented by Clifton was no longer satisfied, but wished like
Hatteras to get into Wellington Channel, and worked away with a will.
The brig had some difficulty in getting under sail; but Hatteras
having set his mizensail, his topsails, and his gallantsails during
the night, advanced boldly in the midst of fields of ice which the
current was drifting south. The crew were tired out with this winding
navigation, which kept them constantly at work at the sails.
Wellington Channel is not very wide; it is bounded by North Devon
on the east and Cornwallis Island on the west; this island was long
believed to be a peninsula. It was Sir John Franklin who first sailed
round it in 1846, starting west, and coming back to the same point
to the north of the channel. The exploration of Wellington Channel
was made in 1851 by Captain Penny in the whalers _Lady Franklin_ and
_Sophia_; one of his lieutenants, Stewart, reached Cape Beecher in
latitude 76 degrees 20 minutes, and discovered the open sea--that
open sea which was Hatteras's dream!

"What Stewart found I shall find," said he to the doctor; "then I
shall be able to set sail to the Pole."

"But aren't you afraid that your crew----"

"My crew!" said Hatteras severely. Then in a low tone--"Poor fellows!"
murmured he, to the great astonishment of the doctor. It was the first
expression of feeling he had heard the captain deliver.

"No," he repeated with energy, "they must follow me! They shall follow
me!"

However, although the _Forward_ had nothing to fear from the collision
of the ice-streams, which were still pretty far apart, they made very
little progress northward, for contrary winds often forced them to
stop. They passed Capes Spencer and Innis slowly, and on Tuesday,
the 10th, cleared 75 degrees to the great delight of Clifton. The
_Forward_ was then at the very place where the American ships, the
_Rescue_ and the _Advance_, encountered such terrible dangers.
Doctor Kane formed part of this expe