“On the morning of the 20th of February, a scene of general bustle and excitement showed that all our arrangements had been completed, and that the long-deferred start for the grand journey was about to take place. A detachment of five men, Mr. Bellot, and myself, were all that could leave the ship at this time; the others appointed to join us being still under the doctor’s attendance for slight and temporary inconvenience, frost-bites, etc. The whole crew, however, had mustered to see us as far as the south point of Batty Bay, all but our dear Hepburn, who, unable to control his manly emotion at parting with so many old friends, and above all at being unable to accompany us, took a touching farewell of us at the vessel: ‘God bless you,’ said he, grasping my hand with affectionate warmth, ‘I cannot accompany you, and I cannot let all these men witness my emotion: let me part with you here, and may God grant that we meet in life and health, after the long and hazardous journey you are about to undertake.’ Though this veteran hero saw much hardship and hazard in store before us, he would have seen none whatever had he been allowed to accompany us, but I could not for a moment entertain the idea of employing him on a journey, when there were so many younger men all emulous to be engaged on it, and more particularly when his services on board ship were so indispensable; and, by his kindly consenting to remain, I was relieved of all anxiety as respected the _Prince Albert_. “Reaching the south point of Batty Bay, with our friendly escort, our two parties once more separated with many kindly and touching farewells and then, with three hearty cheers, diverging in our different routes, we were soon lost to each other in the mist and snow.” The fury of the equinoctial gales greatly impeded the advance of the party, frequently detaining them for several days at a time. Sledges, moccasins, and snow-shoes were greatly damaged under the hard conditions of travel, and it was found necessary when the whole party had assembled at Fury Beach to send back to the ship for additional supplies. They also made use of the excellent stores found at the Fury Beach which had been left there thirty years before. It was decided, after careful calculation, that six men could carry provisions for the proposed journey of three months’ duration; that fourteen men should travel as far as Brentford Bay, at which point eight would return to the ship, the remaining six to proceed, carrying with them all provisions and necessaries for the remainder of the trip. The total dead weight of this equipment, including sledges and tackling, might be estimated at about two thousand pounds. “The whole was lashed down,” writes Kennedy, “to the smallest possible compass on four flat-bottomed Indian sleighs, of which our five Eskimo dogs, assisted by two men to each sleigh, took two, while the rest of the men took the other two.”