As the summer advanced scurvy broke out, and it was only kept in check by the very large number of birds (2300) that were shot. A long lane had to be cut through the ice, and it was not until quite the end of August that the ships were clear of their winter quarters. Sir James Ross had intended to continue the search in Barrow Strait, but on the very day after leaving Port Leopold the ships were closely beset and drifted helplessly down Lancaster Sound into Baffin’s Bay. They were not released until September 24th, having been firmly fixed in the drifting ice for 24 days. There was nothing for it but to return to England, which they did in the full expectation that they would find the Franklin expedition safely returned before them. Bitter was their disappointment. In the spring of 1849 the old _North Star_ frigate, under Mr Saunders, the Master who served in the _Terror_ with Sir George Back, was sent out with stores to enable Sir James Ross to continue the search, but he too was unfortunate. Unable to get through the ice of Melville Bay in time, he was obliged to winter in Wolstenholme Sound on the Greenland coast. In the summer of the succeeding year Mr Saunders landed a depôt of provisions at Admiralty Inlet in Lancaster Sound and returned to England. The results of Sir James Ross’s expedition were the discovery of 150 miles of coast on the western side of North Somerset, the certainty that none of Franklin’s people had been to Fury Beach, and above all the experience gained by M’Clintock. Ross and Bird, who had commenced as Parry’s faithful and loyal midshipmen, had now completed their polar careers[128]. The country was now thoroughly alarmed when it was too late; the warmest sympathy was felt throughout the civilised world, and the Government was forced to take steps on a large scale. The _Enterprise_ and _Investigator_ were re-commissioned and despatched to search by way of Bering Strait, under the command of Captains Collinson and M’Clure, while the _Plover_ was stationed near Cape Barrow as a depôt ship. Two strong bluff-bowed, barque-rigged vessels of 410 and 430 tons, named the _Resolute_ and _Assistance_, were strengthened and fitted out in the yards of Green and Wigram respectively, and two sharp-bowed screw steamers were bought as tenders, and named the _Pioneer_ and _Intrepid_. These four vessels, under the command of Captain T. H. Austin, were to search by way of Lancaster Sound. Captain Ommanney was to have the _Assistance_, with M’Clintock, Mecham, and Vesey Hamilton. Sherard Osborn was to command the _Pioneer_, J. Bertie Cator the _Intrepid_. The Admiralty also bought two brigs, which were named the _Lady Franklin_ and _Sophia_, for another expedition under Captain Penny, a well-known whaling captain in those days. Old Sir John Ross, with some aid from Sir Felix Booth and others, managed to fit out a small schooner called the _Felix_, towing the _Mary_, a decked boat.