An unlikely tale told to old Sir John Ross by the Eskimos near Cape York, to the effect that in the winter of 1846 two ships were wrecked in the ice off Cape Dudley Digges and afterwards ransacked and burned by the natives, and the crew massacred, determined Sir John to investigate the story as closely as possible and then return in the _Felix_ to England. Even after his return home, he seems to have been firm in the belief that Sir John Franklin and the crew of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ perished in Baffin Bay. Having made a close inspection of this bay before his return, he describes the results of his search as follows: “Many important corrections and valuable additions were made to the charts of the much frequented eastern side of Baffin Bay, which has been more closely observed and navigated by this than any former expedition; and, much to my satisfaction, confirming the latitude and longitude of every headland I had the opportunity of laying down in the year 1818.” We turn now to continue the story of another expedition. The little _Prince Albert_, which spoke the _Advance_ and _Rescue_ in Baffin Bay, July 12, 1851, on her return trip to northern waters, had been most carefully overhauled and refitted for her arduous enterprise. Her commander was Captain Kennedy, and second in command was Lieutenant J. Bellot, a young French officer noted for his adventurous spirit and charming personality, who had volunteered his services. Among the crew, all of whom were picked men, was John Hepburn, who had accompanied Sir John Franklin on that first land expedition which came near proving fatal to the entire party. Another of the men had accompanied Dr. Rae on his first journey to Repulse Bay, and a third had accompanied Sir John Richardson in his boat journey through the interior of America. Discouraging conditions of ice and weather met the gallant crew in Prince Regent Inlet. Ploughing a way through a tortuous course, the _Prince Albert_ succeeding in reaching Elwin Bay only to find it ice-bound and impassable. Batty Bay and Fury Beach were also impossible of access, and now the condition of the ice becoming so alarming, they gave up an attempt at the west side of the inlet and made a hasty retreat to Port Bowen,—where traces of Sir Edward Parry’s party, which wintered there in 1825, were still discernible.