Ilatsiak - 14

There had been signs in the air for several days that the ice locking the two ships in their winter quarters behind Beechey Island was about to break up. Already Lancaster Sound was nearly clear of ice right across to the headlands on Somerset island to the south. A lookout had been kept from the plateau on top of the island for two weeks now. Franklin had ordered that the two crews begin sawing passages through the ice leading the ships to open water. On the night of July 6, 1846, the high tides began breaking-up the ice so fast that men on shore duty were barely able to get themselves down to the beach and over the ice and onto the ships. In order to avoid being wrecked on the eastern shore of the bay as they lie, sails were set and together with the ice, the little fleet departed winter quarters. The second season had begun. In a few short months, it was expected by everyone that their health would improve and they would be in the Pacific, sailing in the warm sun for Hong Kong and immortality.
The ships moved out into Barrow Strait and all hands were amazed to see clear sailing in all directions. The last news from the lookout atop Beechey Island showed some smaller amounts of ice streaming in from the west. True there was ice blink far to the south as the stream of polar ice made its way out towards Lancaster Sound, but it was clear to the west and that is where they headed.
Franklin was in a buoyant mood and David was relieved of much of the drudgery he had put up with all winter long. Still, he was beginning to miss the rollicking music and theater pieces which had made up the entertainment during the winter. Oh what he had learned about telling stories and performing that winter! John Asham’s magic tricks had been the best and David now knew how to perform nearly all of them. Helping Mr. Goodsir was also a joy as he was a fellow Scot as well as being the naturalist on board. David had learned much from him, this time about the plants and animals they had seen on their many hikes and especially the odd life forms they had hauled up out of the depths of the anchorage at Beechey Island. Best of all was the chance to again speak in Gaelic again, his mother tongue.
The third day of sailing brought a change in both weather and ice conditions. The sunny days and steady winds gave way to overcast, dull weather with long periods of calm. It became necessary to run the engines for longer periods as the day progressed. This was especially the case when the ice began to thicken. Franklin began inching southward in the realization that if he was to join his present position to the last one he had made at Point Turnagain in 1821, then he must begin heading south into one of the openings which could be seen on the horizon.
In the distance almost directly south of their present position, he could see the headlands of Somerset Island close up for the first time. It’s eastern coastline led into Prince Regent Inlet where his friend Captain Sir John Ross had explored and spent four winters. To the west, curving in exactly the direction he wanted to go lay the west coast where no one had managed to go before. It was beckoning him, the dull blue-grey, ice sprinkled water began pulling him in, promising success and an easy passage westward.