A gale of wind from the southward occurred, and I was extremely anxious to see whether it would bring over the ice from the opposite shore, as the croakers in Assistance Harbour, unable to deny the existence of water along the north shore of Barrow's Strait, consoled themselves by declaring that the floe had merely formed itself into pack, and was now lying along the coast of North Somerset, ready at an hour's warning to spread itself over the waters. The southerly gale, however, piped cheerily. A heavy swell and surf--Oh! most pleasant sound!--beat upon the fixed ice of Assistance Harbour; yet no pack came, nor floe-pieces either, and thus was placed beyond all doubt the fact that, at any rate, as far west as Griffith's Island, Barrow's Strait was clear of ice. In an angle formed between Leopold Island and North Somerset, there was evidently a pack; for an ice-blink, which moved daily about in that direction, showed that the mass was acted upon by the winds; and at last the southerly wind drove it up into Wellington Channel. To be condemned to inactivity, with such a body of water close at hand, was painful to all but those whose age and prudence seemed to justify in congratulating themselves on being yet frozen in; and trying as had been many disappointments we experienced in the Arctic regions, there was none that pained us more than the ill luck which had consigned our squadron, and its 180 men, to inactivity, in an icy prison under Griffith's Island, whilst so much might have been done during the thirty days that the waters of Barrow's Strait, and God only knows how much more beside, were clear from ice in every shape, and seeming to beckon us on to the north-westward. It was now we felt the full evil result of our winter quarters. Boats could not be despatched, I suppose, because the ships might at any time in July have been swept by the ice whither it pleased, and the junction of boats and ships rendered uncertain. Future expeditions will, however, hit this nail on the head, and three distinct periods for Arctic exploration will be found to exist, viz.:--The spring, from April to June 25th, for foot journeys; from June 25th to the first week in August, for boat expeditions; and then six weeks (for steam vessels) of navigable season. [Headnote: _BARROW'S STRAIT CLEAR OF ICE._] Unable to remain with satisfaction away from our squadron, to be daily tantalized with looking at a sea which might as well not have existed for us, we returned to the "Pioneer," calling the attention of the officers of Penny's squadron to the possibility of a vessel from England, sent to communicate with the squadrons, actually running past us all, and reaching Melville Island, mayhap, without detecting our winter quarters; an opinion in which all seemed to concur; and a large cairn was therefore afterwards erected upon the low land, in such a position as to attract the attention of a craft bound westward.