_The Dobbs_ galley, under Captain Moore was one hundred and eighty tons; _The California_, Captain Smith, one hundred and forty tons; and to the crews of both, rewards for the discovery of the Passage to the South Sea were to be given ranging from £500 for the captains to £200 to be divided among the sailors. Henry Ellis went as agent for the Dobbs Company. The name of _The California_ was indicative of where these argonauts hoped to sail. Oddly enough, that Captain Middleton, whom the Dobbs forces had so mercilessly belabored—accompanied the explorers some distance westward from the Orkneys on _The Shark_ as convoy against French pirates. After leaving Middleton, one of the vessels suffered an experience that very nearly finished Arthur Dobbs’ enterprise. “Nothing had occurred,” writes Ellis, “till the 21st of June, at night, when a terrible fire broke out in the great cabin of _The Dobbs_, and quickly made progress to the powder room, where there were not less than thirty-six or forty barrels of powder besides other combustibles. It is impossible to express the consternation. Every one on board had every reason to expect that moment was their last. You might hear all varieties of sea-eloquence, cries, prayers, curses, scolding, mingled together. Water was passed along by those who still preserved their reason, but the crew were for hoisting out the boats. Lashings were cut, but none had patience to hoist them out. The ship was head to wind, the sails shaking and making a noise like thunder, then running right before the wind and rolling, every one on deck waiting for the blast to put an end to our fears.” The fire was put out before it reached the powder, but one can guess the scare dampened the ardor of the crew. Very little ice was met in Hudson Straits and by August 19, the vessels were at Marble Island. The season was too late to go on north, so the ships sailed to winter at York (Nelson) on Hayes River. Here, the usual quarrels took place with the Hudson’s Bay people—buoys and flag signals being cut down as the ships ran through the shoals of Five-Fathom Hole, five miles up Hayes River. A fort called Montague House was built for the winter on the south side, the main house being a two-story log-barracks, the outbuildings, a sort of lean-to, or wooden wigwam banked up with snow, where the crews could have quarters. The harbor was frozen over by October 8. Heavy fur clothing was then donned for the winter, but in spite of precautions against scurvy—exercise, the use of spruce beer, outdoor life—four men died from the disease before ice cleared from Hayes River in June.