To avoid wintering at so great a distance from the scene of the explorations planned for the following spring, they recrossed the strait and approached the shore for the purpose of making a landing. Captain Kennedy, accompanied by four of the crew, cast off in a gutta-percha boat and made for the beach. Upon landing, Captain Kennedy ascended the cliffs of Cape Seppings, and decried Port Leopold free from ice. Hoping to put the _Prince Albert_ in this safe harbour, he at once made an attempt to rejoin his ship, but, upon reaching the shore, found to his consternation that, owing to the sudden moving of the ice-pack, he could not rejoin her and that she was being merrily carried down-stream in spite of every effort of the men on board to stop her progress. The shadows of night came upon them rapidly, and the tempestuous roaring, grinding, and tossing of the ice was all that could be seen or heard. A most uncomfortable night followed their unlucky adventure. Their boat was the only available shelter, and this served for a covering under which one man at a time took an hour’s uncomfortable rest, while the others exercised to keep their bodies from freezing. The next morning at dawn, upon mounting the cliffs once more, their alarm was increased by the melancholy fact that the ship had completely disappeared from view. No more forlorn castaways can be imagined. The only mitigating circumstance in their sorry condition was the knowledge that on the other side of the harbour at Whaler Point, Sir James Ross had left a deposit of provisions about two years before. To this point their steps were now directed, and upon reaching the depot their hopes revived somewhat when they found the condition of the provisions excellent. The house left by Sir James Ross was in fair condition, the flag and record were easily found, and, resigned to their fate, Kennedy and his companions determined to face the possibility of passing the long Arctic winter with the best possible grace.