The squadron reached its headquarters at Beechey Island, August 10. Wellington Channel and Barrow Strait were found free from ice, and on the 14th, Sir Edward Belcher, with the _Pioneer_ and _Assistance_, proceeded up the Channel. The next day Captain Kellett, with the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_, sailed in open water for Melville Island. [Sidenote: _INGLEFIELD_] While Sir Edward Belcher’s squadron was making its arduous passage to Beechey Island, Lady Franklin had refitted the screw-steamer _Isabel_ and placed it under Commander Inglefield, R. N., with instructions to investigate the rumour brought home by Sir John Ross to the effect that Franklin and his crew had been murdered by natives at Wolstenholme Sound. Setting sail from England, July 6, 1852, the little _Isabel_ made for the northern shores of Baffin Bay, reached a higher latitude up Whale Sound than any previous vessel, and later pushed through Smith Sound as far as latitude 78° 28´ 21´´ N., without discovering any opposing land. Captain Inglefield discovered that Smith Sound, generally supposed to be narrow, was at least thirty-six miles across, expanding considerably to the northward. The shore seemed comparatively free from snow, and the rocks appeared of their natural colour. Ice was met in considerable quantities, and though Captain Inglefield was ambitious to steam through, a fortunate gale arose which blew with such violence that the _Isabel_ was forced back, thus saving her in all probability from a dreary winter in the ice. By the 7th of September, the _Isabel_ sighted the _North Star_ at Beechey Island. “When we were near enough to see from our crow’s-nest the mast heads of the _North Star_, I had ordered one of the twelve pounders to be fired, and the people who were working on shore were greatly puzzled at hearing such a sound, as they believed that nothing human but their own party could be within hundreds of miles of them.” Captain Inglefield soon “waited upon” Captain Pullen, and the letters for Sir Edward Belcher’s squadron brought out by the _Isabel_ were placed upon the _North Star_. A few hours later the _Isabel_ put off to sea, carrying letters from officers and crew of the _North Star_ to relatives and friends in England. By the 12th the _Isabel_ stood off Mount Possession, by the 14th Cape Bowen, and here Captain Inglefield landed to look for traces and erect a cairn; nothing was discovered but the bold footprint of a huge bear and the tiny tracks of an Arctic fox. The 23d found them in Davis Strait. Here a terrific gale was encountered, which lasted four days and “accompanied,” writes Captain Inglefield, “with the heaviest sea I had ever seen, even off Cape Horn....”