Mindful of the possibility that Captain Collinson might reach Melville Island in the _Enterprise_, Captain Kellett built a large house, 40 feet by 14, of stone with a wooden roof covered with painted canvas, in which a depôt was placed of seven months’ provisions for sixty men, and a cairn was built on Dealy Island, 42 tons of stone being used in its construction. [Illustration: Lieut Cresswell’s party sledging over hummocky ice] In August, 1853, the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_ broke out of winter quarters, but it was an ice-encumbered season, and by November 11th the two vessels were again fixed in winter quarters 26 miles S.W. of Cape Cockburn on Bathurst Island. The _Assistance_ and _Pioneer_ had also left their winter quarters at the west end of Grinnell Land (a prolongation of North Devon) and had attempted to come down Wellington Channel. They too, however, had been stopped by the ice, and had to winter 52 miles north of Beechey Island. The winter passed happily enough on board the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_, but it was necessary to report to Sir Edward Belcher, and Hamilton was accordingly despatched with two men and a team of nine dogs. He brought back an order to abandon the ships. It was not explicit, however, and it assumed that Captain Kellett was of the same mind. M’Clintock then returned and tried to persuade Sir Edward Belcher not to commit what amounted to a crime. He told the intending perpetrator that there was every reason to expect that the ships would get clear, but the only result was an explicit order to abandon them! It was mainly during these journeys that M’Clintock gained his experience in the use of dogs. He covered the distance from the _Resolute_ to the _North Star_ in five days, and the 52 miles thence to the _Assistance_ in 24 hours. The whole distance there and back was 460 miles, occupying 15 days, an average of 31 miles per day. Wrangell, on the coast of Siberia, made an average of 29 miles a day for 22 days. M’Clintock had one man with him, and a team of twelve dogs. He found that two dogs require the same weight of food as one man, and when properly fed and not overworked, a dog can draw a man’s full load for a distance about one-fourth greater than a man would. If both man and dog are lightly laden, a dog will double the distance which the man could do. The final conclusion was that for a very long period and a very long distance men are superior to dogs. At their best, dogs should be well fed and well treated, and should not be overworked. Then they are invaluable for keeping up communications to distances not exceeding 300 miles.