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Tais 
 
 ARCTIC REGIONS: 
 
 DEUTO AX AOOOVWT OF THB 
 
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 AMERICAN EXPEDITION 
 
 IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 
 
 TTNDER THK PATROXAOB OF ^ 
 
 HENRY GRINNELL, Esq. 
 
 OF NEW YORK, 
 
 
 Miserable they, 
 Who here entangled in the gathering ice, 
 7r»ke their last look ol the dasccndin^ sun. 
 ^ Cowraa. 
 
 BUFFALO: 
 
 DERBY, ORTON & MULLIGAN. 
 
 AUBURN: 
 
 DERBY & MILLER. 
 
 ^ 
 
 1853. 
 
Entered sccurding to Act of Cougress, in the year Miti, by 
 
 GEO. U. DERBY AND CO. 
 
 in tti« Clerk'i Office of tlie Diatrict Court for tlic Northern District 
 
 of N«w York. 
 
 ^:^ 
 
 
 B E A D L K A n II C) T H E R, 
 B r K I A I. o . 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ 
 
TO 
 
 ?IENUY GRINNELL, ESQ., 
 
 THIS FIRST AMERICAN EDITION 
 OF 
 
 UB JORH FKANKLIN AND THE ABOriO BEOIOHI, 
 
 IS RESrECTPrLLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY nis 
 
 HUMBLE SERVANTS, 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
PUJiLlSllElliS' XOTICK 
 
 
 Thfi ex))lorations of the Arctic Rotrions, made durini!; tlio last 
 tlirt'(3 ccuturii's, liiivc lucii inompti'il l.y the most cuinmcutlablo 
 sjiirit, and liavo called into n'ijiii>itiun, and strikinudy dovelojx'd, 
 traits of cliaract<M- of a liiuli ordt-r. The Arctic navii^ators liavo 
 usually been mini of i-xtrcnie darinir, wonderful I'crsoveranco 
 and sublime fortitude; and a (li';*'"! of tlieir lieroic toils in tlio 
 path of g(joi^rai»liical dis(.overy, abounds with scicntitic facts, 
 and examples uf manly couran'e and exalted virtues, potential 
 in their nature, and hijxhly salutary in their tendency. 
 
 These considerations have impressed us with the importance 
 of reitublishino^ this work. lUit as the Eui^lish edition containr 
 but slieht reference to American enterprise and zeal in tlii 
 seareli for the long absent ships, under the command of Si? 
 John Fianklin, we have deemed it proper to add an account of 
 the expedition sent out under the patronage of Henry Grinnell 
 Esq., who is doinfj more than any other man in our country to 
 entitle modern merchants to the appellation given to those of 
 Tyre, in her best days — "the honorahh of the earth." Tho 
 account of the expedition which he sent out, is copied from 
 Lossing's article, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine. The other 
 additional matter will, we trust, be found pertinent, entertaining, 
 and valuable. The work, in its present form, must, we feel 
 assured, meet the apj)roval of a discriminating public 
 
 I 
 
 %' 
 
PllKFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 Tuv viesirc for information, fidt all over this country, anil, inileod, I 
 niAV >.li x.st s'ly tliron<,'lioiil tlu' fiviiizcd wuiM, res|)i.'ctini( tiie fate of tho 
 niisxiii!* cxjH'dition inulfr Sir .lolm Franklin, is v» ly >^r«'af, and j-ontinues 
 t<» becoMU' more and inoru intense, as tlic lapse of time lessens the probii- 
 liility of their rctnrn in saft-ty. The liirtje nnmher of irKMviiluais now 
 tni;a:,fe<l in pioseentinir tlie seaivii for tiicni in the arctic regions, and tho 
 de» p anxitty nianilVstrd by the frieixl* and relatives whom tliese freriii 
 explorers have left lirhind, has turned tiie attention of thon.s;»nds to this 
 inlio-ipitahle and comparatively little known iinaitur of the jjlobo, servinjr 
 to lend an added interest to every bu(»k descriptive of the |Kjiar seiis itnu 
 t9 holes. 
 
 Ainoni,' the publications which have from time to time ajipeared, tliero 
 Reeins to have been no popular narrative, especially treatini^ of the voy- 
 ai,'e> and journeys of discovery and research prosecuted in the nineteenth 
 century towanj the North I'ole, embracinij accounts of all the recent 
 public and private soiirchiii;^ expeditions after tlie lost ships, and adapted 
 in price to the bulk of tiie community who so eJigcily seek information. 
 'I'o meet this want 1 have been induced, at the solicitation of my jnb- 
 lisliers, to undertake the conij)ilation of tlie following; work, in whicii I 
 have brou^dit into one ''jw all that is really im|)ortaiit to be known by 
 those who desire to form a correct opinion of the present state of tho 
 case, and to makw themselves ac<|uainte<l with what hav really been done 
 in the ])roirress of discovery for a northwest passaufe, and what nioasiires 
 have-been adopted for the relief of our in>pris«nied seamen. Much of the 
 material thus condensed is to be found -tcattered throuifh a variety of 
 publications, hujjfc and expensive quart* \' luines of voyatjes, now scarce 
 or out of juint, ])ailiamentary ])a|ieis and returns, foreij^n journals, itc, 
 but the larj^est portion of this iniorm;ition isentirely new. In condensini^ 
 from the voluminous Blue JJooks on this suliject that liave been published 
 durini,' the last few years, my chief object has been, avoiding? rash and 
 specidative opinion, to direct the reader's attention as much as])ossible to 
 matters of fact ; to place before him all that is really jtractical, iinpi>rt.iMt, 
 •ind interestintr, and especially to put him in possession of what is known 
 of the result of the recent voyai^us. and the Iat«'st position and inlcnded 
 plan of operations of the numerous vessels at present out on lln^ search 
 for the Krebus and Terror. 
 
 In puttinjj myself in communication with those best informed on the 
 8uV)ject of which this volume treats. I have to acknowledi^e myself 
 deeply indebted for much jiolite attention an<l valuable infonnation to 
 Lady Franklin and her niece .Miss rracroft. to John Harrow. Ks(|.. of tiie 
 Admiralty, to ("apt. rn'cclnr, ]'. X.. the talented edittir f)f the Nautical 
 Mairar.ir.e, to Coniniunder ( ". ('. Forsytii. K. X.. and to Dr. Shaw, the Sec- 
 retaiy of the Royal (u'tiL,naphi('al Society of London. 
 
 In conclusion, I may stale that, as the son and grandson of very old 
 
VI 
 
 r K i; !• A r V. 
 
 Lietitunnntx in tlio Iloyal Xavy, luivinp; ln'orj rtrij^inally in tlie ««'nica 
 iiiyKcir, Iwiviiifr tivf Itriitlit'is atlnnt, aixl a lar<^'<> niiiiilHT nt' olli(>t' n>iutivt!H 
 lioliiiii^ InT Maji'Hty's »'<)niinissiiiii, I 1'«m1 a il»'<'|i |»i<if)'s»*itiiial inten'^t in 
 hi'arin); tidirifTH of thu HaiVty of Sir John Kranklin an<l liis gallant coni- 
 rnduH, an<l uni but too liappy to aid in witistyini; tliu public deHiru for 
 information, by contribntin^f my mite in the pnblinition of the following 
 narrative of voyaf^es and traveU in the arctic rejfions, with the appeiid«-d 
 Hu^^fHtioiiH and (tpinioiis of ex|K!rienced otiicerN and rom|M>tent particH. 
 I'o the intrcitid veteran and navigator, whose name fif;uri'HHofre(piently 
 and 8o honorably in these iwgeH, 1 Iiojmj wc may yet bo able to JiJ)ply, 
 with the few slight verbal ultenititin.s 1 )iav*> made, the following lines, 
 which were ori^jinally addn-swd to Dr. Leichardt, who, after two years' 
 absence on a journey t)irout,'h the unexplortMJ reijionsof Australia, rt'tuniiKl 
 to Siflnoy, when all Iiojm's of his wifety had been (fiven up, and his dirj^e 
 had' been sun^ by ]iis friends. Tliat bold traveler is a^ain absent on u 
 S(!C()n(l journey in the interior of that vast continent, and has not been 
 heard of for more tlian two years. May He.'iven fjrani to each and all of 
 our care-worn traveleix by S4'a and land a speedy deliverance from the 
 ()crils which environ them, and a safe return to their friends and native 
 country — a wish to which all my readers will, 1 am sure, most hearnly 
 re8])ond, "So mote it be ! " 
 
 "Thy fii<)tHt»>pH Imvc rt-tumfld .iifnin, tlioti wanderer of the wild, 
 AVIhtc Niifurt' from licr iiortlii'rii tlininc in sili'iit lioimty siiiiJed, 
 Piljfriiii of iiiiKlit.v wiistos, iliitroil liy liiitiiaii foot licforc, 
 Triunipliuiit o"cr Frost's wildi-riicKS, tliy wciiry jounioy 'ho'ot. 
 
 Thou hast hattled witli Iht* daii^'iTS of tlic icol>«>r>r and the tlood, 
 Anil uiiiid th«! i-ry.Htal d«'s«'rt a, I'lnujiKTi^r hast Ktood ; 
 Thou liatit triuniphi'd ot-r the jhtiIs <jf tht* glacier and the main, 
 And a uation'M sniiiiiig wclcoinv is the greetiu); liumu a(;uui. 
 
 Loni; ha<l wo inoiiru'd witli Horrowin);, and plaintive dirs^a sung, 
 For fatn a wild, niysturiouM vail around thy name had Hung; 
 And hopp'rt dci-linin); «'norjries with feeble ert'ort strove 
 AgaiuMt the bodin); voice of fear that liauntH the heart of love. 
 
 And Rtmior with lier Inmdred tongues, her vajfue and ))li;.''htin^' breath 
 Iliul whispered tidings Had and drear, dark tales of IiIoikI and death; 
 Till tortiu'ed fancy ceiused to ho]ie, and all despairiii); pivo 
 Thy name a haliow'd memory — thy hones u polar jjrave 
 
 But no! that i>roud, intrepi<l heart still held its piirpofie high, 
 Like Afric's martyr traveler, resolved to do or (lie ; 
 Like him to find a lonely frravr, in tlesert lands of flame, 
 Or win a bright eternity of high and gkirious fame! 
 
 Oft amid famine, dMn;:<'r. death, when meaner spirits qnail'd. 
 Have thy unfailing energies to cheer and soothe prevaii'd; 
 For well thy liope-inspiring voice could speak of perils past. 
 And bid each coming one ap]iear less |iainfiil than the last. 
 
 And oft e'en that brave lieart of thine has Mdden'd to desjiair. 
 When r)'er some wild and ice-clad scene, the sunlight shining fiur 
 Hath bid thy softened sjiirit feel how lonely was thy lot. 
 To die, thy mission nnfiiltiird, uJiknown, unwei)t, forgot. 
 
 Proud man ! in after ages the story sIl-vII be told. 
 
 Of that advent'rous voyager, the ;reneroiis. the bold. 
 
 Who. scorning hope of selfish gain. <li>daining soft repose. 
 
 Went forth to trace a pathway through unyielding ice and snows." 
 
 P. L. SIMAIOx^S. 
 
 S Barge- Yard, City. 
 March, 1851. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 fntiodiictioii to tlic AmfiicnM IMilioti 
 
 Iiitroiliii'tnrv l{<'iimrks 25 
 
 Little l%iiiiwii "I" tti»« Arcth' Hfu'ioim— Niitire .it'Caiit. I>lii|>|iH' V(>>a>r« — Pnrry'd and 
 FrmiUlin* >ij«iiiti>ii^ mi ii niTthuft |i;ih»,ii;i- — .\li«.ti-:Mt i>t' Sir Joiiii Harrow 'a nurkauu 
 Arutic Uim-uviTV — Knirliiiiir.H lu-tflect nt' h-r iiHutir:il iicrova. . 
 
 (';it«t;iin S^ir .lulm IJ.iv--'^ V.iva:^..' in tin- Isjilu'lla and Alexander to 
 Iliii|,s..i,'rt l'»\y ill l«^M....' 37 
 
 NatTicH iif tlio ollW'iTK uiiil iiu'ii — Sliijis ^initnl liv tin* nntivt'H of <iri>ciiliiiiil — Almn- 
 (Iniu'f i.t' liiril "II this coast— (inli- I'f wiii'l— Ucil >.iinw — l^iiKiistt'i- SdiiikI — Tlie liibu- 
 U)Ui* (-"riiU'T iii">iiiitaiiis--.Vi;ii<"iiiii>iiiiiiiiiit — Liiri,'!' Umi- hliot— Hi-fiirii hmii.'. 
 
 VovuiTd n( I'ucliriM ainl I'lankliii in tlio Donttlu'a and Trent, to 
 Sjiifzl>cT<,'on, iVi'., If^lH, 4r> 
 
 NiimcM lit' <iHl( iT.t (unl cii'Miplcnii'tit, \c. — rim-il'iil ujipc'irancc i>(' jccIiit;;)* — Sliipt 
 arriw' ,.t Siiit/.liHru'i'U — Am liur in MaTiliIiii ll.iv — llaii.'iii'j- icftn-i-Lr-i— Iiiiiik'Iihc IIuckm 
 ol'I'ii iN -Daiiu'i'iMHisati lilt cif U>it'.i' Hill - AttacU (ifwalriix't -Siirpri'W'cl l>v iiiiIohUimI- 
 fiir \i iliir-i- I'lVniit tiM'liu:,' i<\' rccliiM's— K\ii<'ilitiiin jiiits to sm ii:,Min — I'lirtv loan 
 tliciii-.i'|M.ii)ti till- ii'i' -SIii|i-ii|,iiil:i;r'''l l'\ tlic |irc'«>iirr o; t'w llm'M — l)aii;;<'roiis poHitlon 
 lit' till- Oiips—'I'lK'.v laUf ^(■t^l■.■(• in llic main |iai'li cif ii-i'liiTtfs — Vessels put into Fair 
 Ilavuii to stoji li':iL.> and relit — Ucturn In. me. 
 
 Franklin's First Land Kxpedltinn, 1 > |'»-21 CI 
 
 Tarty Ii>nvo Kti^^Iaui! in tlie rritice of Wa!r< — Keneli IIikNoh'h liny factory by tlio 
 finl of Anu'ii'^t-l'iocti'il liy the i i\ers :m<l I lUfs to <^Mnilierhiiii| House — Arrive at Fort 
 CliijH'xvyan »t>er a winter ionri.ey of s.'>7 mili-s — Ki^'aire voyai.'eurs anvl k'<ii<l^:< — Mak4 
 the aci|nai'itan''e of Akaitelio. tlie Iixlian cliief— I'msIi mi for I'lirt Knterpriso. wliirh 
 is mailc their winter ri'^iilence al>rr a v^vaiji' of .'itill ini'es — ]''\|i!oriiii;e\enrsionsoar- 
 rieil nil iluriie.; the winter — "(iriTO St.i''!>iii'.'s, ' the Imliati lieauty — Stores nnil Ksiiui- 
 nianv iijti'i jirettos mrive — S<'Veiity of tin- \'. inter — Strlrriii'/s of tlie Imlians — I'arty 
 M't ont f >!■ the I'olar Si-a— 1> aniim- the rna't we^twaiil of Point Turiiairain — Dreadful 
 liaiil -hips anil siiH('ri!i„'s i-niluii'd 4in ihrir rcnirii journey, from faiiiiiie and tati^rne— 
 Dealh of several of thr part\— Mr llond is iniirderril hy Miiln-I the lro(|iiois. who, 
 for thiir mntua! .snt'e'\, is killed hy Dr. HiihardrMju— IIuii^mm' and faliiitie endured by 
 the p.irty — Their ultimate rolii'f 
 
 ]'ruTv's First V<iya;;o in llu; lloda ami (Iripor, 1^10 20,... 
 
 • . . . . o3 
 
 y'lines of oHicers servin?, A;e. — Enter Lancaster Sound — The f'roker ninuntaina 
 prove to hf fiijlaciotis—l'arry discovers and enters Ke'.rcnt Inl"t — .VIso discovera and 
 names various islatMN. c.ipes. .ami cliamiels-Kcachi's Mch i!'e N'and— K\)ieilition ero«a 
 the iiifridian of 11(1- W., and 1 ecoisic eiitit'cd to the I'arli.iTiieiitary reward of XotNMI 
 — Drop anchor fi,r theth-t time — I.ai'.d on the i-'and— Ahandaiu-e of animals found — 
 An evp'orin;.' party lo .• tliemselTc ; for three dayx. hut are re<'overed and liroui;ht 
 back — \o--.e!i i.'ct into w int.r-'iuarfer-. - A MS. newspaper jiuhlishi'il — nitiafour jilaya 
 perforinccl— ()h>ervatiiry dr'-tro.vcd hy fire- Scurvy makes its appearance— Crews put 
 on short allowance — An exciirion of a foi ini.'ht made to examine fb* inland — Shipa net 
 riear of thr ice— l?uf are uniiMe to in.ake l\uther proj.'res« to tlie westward, and their 
 ratnrn to Entjland is d'*tP'inin''d on. 
 
Vlll 
 
 C u N l K M 1 t* 
 
 Parry'H Scroml Vnyiij,'^ in tlie Fiiiy nn.l Hi". !a, I«ai-33 101 
 
 IliM oitliiioii fiM to u iiortlitvi'st |>aMiu;fi'— MitUi* l(>>«<>Iiiti<>ii itliiinl, nt tlii< mitritiico nf 
 HucIhoii H Mr, kit -Diiiiifi'i << II till' ii'f— I'.ill ill u iili IIii'Im>ii° iilln\ ('iiiii|i{iiiyit ^lli|lH, nml 
 
 fllliKrailt ViviSfl, MJtll Itlltrh fiiliilli.tt.'i fil'iiirr.lill;; t.i Knl Hivi'l -T*\ii illillli-IIM' liriir* 
 
 killi'il — |>t>Hcri|iti<<ii III' till' l'I.4iiuitiit>u\— Sut'\i'\'> iiiaili' lit' all llm lii'li'iit.iliniix iiml ruaiiti 
 ol'tliiH lii('Alit,\ — MliipH ilriM'ii liai'U li,v tlic I'urri'iit iiiiU itnit-ii i' — Tiiki) iiii tlii-ir wiiitcr- 
 i|Uarti'rH — Ai'iil rcmiit tii tlii-atiiciil uiiiUM'iiii'iit.s a^-iiu — N lionl.-i i»tul iihiiril — ilrcat 
 •••viTit)' ot till* uiiitiT — Sur\(>iii^' niirrutiDim ii'-iiiin'il — liitrllii{riit I'Souiiiiaiit ti'inalo 
 KttiirtJM vuliiiililr li,\ilr<>|fi'a|iliirul iiit'iiriii.tliiui — I'l'rilnim ii<»itiiiii iit' llif llci'la— -Her 
 liiiritciiliiiiH rrli'aM>~.s|ii(is |i:iK)t Hii'ir ht-i iiml wiiilir at iKliiiilii\ — 'I'lic Fiirv ainl Hfrla 
 Htruit exMiiiiiK'il— Iit Inr.ik.'i up— Nliip.-t tlrivt'ii ulioiit li^' thu cui'i'fiit I'l/r Uiirtjr-tivo 
 dii^it — At Uait h'lti" tl'*' AtLuitii' uiid luulvv tur Lti(;!itiiU. 
 
 Clavering'8 Voyngo to Siiitzborgoii nnd (Irecnlaud iti thu Griper, 
 1823 126 
 
 Couvoyd «iut CH|)t. Siiliiiif to rimke obKPrvatiniis—Ilfai'h Spit zIhtrimi — I'rorci'd thf np« 
 to HdnUiiluni ImUukIh — NnrtlivaHtiTii coast of <irf<>iilaii(l Kiirx'.vril— ('aptuiii ('lavrriti|| 
 and a party of iiiiu't<*rii iiumi rarrv on an cxplnriii;; cNpi'ilition for a fortiiiK'lik— Mei>i 
 with H trilio of KMi|niiiianx — Sliip pnfn to Hfa — Make fcir tin* coast of Norway — Ani'lior 
 lu Drouthuiin Fiorii — <)ll^t>rv^tioll» bt-iug cuinpli'li'il, ^h\[> rctiiri:)t to EuKlat'iil. 
 
 Lyon's Voyn^o in the (irijwr, 128 
 
 Ir «ent toiiiir\^.v anil oxainin*' llii> KfraitH iiml ulioriH of Arctio Ainvrica — Arrives in 
 the cliaunelluiown nn !{o»''k Wciconu' — KiinmntiTM atcnittc kuIc — Niii iniiiiiii)>iit rlnn- 
 ger In tlie llav of (foil's Mi'rr.v— SiiiVorH fi-uni Mimilu'r fi-arfiil fttorni — Tha nhip lieiiig 
 quito cripiilvj, und liuviii}; IomI uU her Kni'lior!), &«:., is ubli|,'C'd tu return lioniu. 
 
 Parry'8 Third Voyago in tho Hicla and Fnrv. 1821-25 130 
 
 Names nnd nnniber of the i)tllri'ri», itc— llfcia laid on her brnndxide by the icc — 
 Ships reach IjincoHter Sound— Kiiti'r Hi'vtcut Inlet, and winter ut Port Howimi — Dreary 
 «'hiir»i»ter of the arctic! winter— Former aniUKi'incnts worn threadbare — Polar Kal 
 Maiir|T}t f;iit up — Explorini; parties M>iit out inluiid and aloiiK the coast— Ships ore 
 re!eui»ea, but iR'set by the ice, and curried by the jiack down the inlet — Fury driven ou 
 shore and abandon eu — Return voyaKO necessarily deterniiiied on — Scarcity of animal 
 food in this locality — Heclu arrives ut I'ctcrheud— Parry's opinions of the northwest 
 pUMKe. 
 
 Franklin's Second Land Expedition, 1825-2G 137 
 
 Names of tlie officers arronipanyinir him — Arrive in New York and ]troceeii thrnn(;ti 
 the Hudson's Hay Comimny's territories— Winter af l-'ort Franklin on (Ireat Hear 
 Lake — A pioneer party iiroceeils to c\aniiiie the state of (be I'olar Sea — lietnrn and 
 pass the lonjj winter— l)es<'eiid tlie Mackenzie in the spiinir— Party divide ; Franklin 
 and Hack jiroceedinj; to the westward, while I»r. Kicliardson and Mr. Kendul, iVc, 
 £)llow the ('oj)periniiie Kiver — Franklin eiicoiinterH a tierce tribe of Ksijuiniaux ut the 
 sea — After u month's survey to tlie eastward. I''i'anklin and bis |iarty retrace their steps 
 — Find Uichardson and Kendal bud returnd bet'oie tbeiii. alU-r reaching' and e.xplor- 
 Inir Dolphin und I'nioii Strait — .Xiiotber winter *peiit at Fort Franklin — Intensity of 
 the cold — I.arj:e collection of olijects of natural history iiiadu by Mr. Druinmond— 
 Fraukliu's 8truj,'R;!e between ulfectiou and duty— Party return to En>,'land. 
 
 11 
 
 Captain Beechey's Vovago to Beliring'.s Strait in the I31o.ssom, 
 1825-26 '. 140 
 
 Anchors off Petropaulowski— Receives intellij^ence of Parry's s.ife return— Interview 
 with the natives — Correct liydro;i;raphical descripticns (jiven by the Ksiiuimau.T — 
 Ship • boat pushes on to the eastward as far as Point Harrow, to communicate with 
 Franklin — Crew in dantjcr from the natives— t)bli;red to return to their shijis — The 
 Blossom proceeds to the I'acitlc, to replenish her provisions— Returns to Kot/cbue 
 Sound in the stimmer — Shii> prounds on a saiid-banK, but is jrot otf— Hoat sent out to 
 learn tidin^cs of Franklin, is wreclvcd- Crew come into collision with hostile nativas, 
 and are wounded; picked up by the ship- Dispatches left for FronkJin, and the s]i-9 
 rvturus to England. 
 
 i 
 
TON I i; SI a. 
 
 ix 
 
 37 
 
 I {car 
 
 ill id 
 
 ikliit 
 
 ."ti-., 
 
 the 
 
 ttvpa 
 
 jlf)r- 
 
 of 
 
 iid- 
 
 140 
 
 I'arry'ji Fnunh or I'ulur \ ..mi^'i- in ll»u lUvIa, \(*)i' 144 
 
 PUiii uiiil hiiu'kri'ttiiiiiH III' S<'iirfiil<\, lli'Kuti>,v iiml KraiiUliik fur trntfliiiK In iilf(l({«M 
 over till' ill* — Nutticn of tlo* oilii ith <-iii|>l<i_vtii|— Miip ciiiluirkit ri'iii'licr on the Norniiy 
 I'UMt — Lk|i«'rl<'nrt'ii ii IriMni'ii'lHiiit ti.klc — llrM't li,v iri> I'ur it iiiuutli — AiichnrH at >i<lt4- 
 Ikt^'Ii- >ti '1/<'-Im>iiU |iir|<un'i| lor the id' jourui'* - |)« m ri|itiiiii o|' tlifin— Niitht 
 turtii'il iiili> ila>-Mntv |iroi.'r('iiH— (><'( n|iatliiiiii of tin- |.art; — I.<mm< Kniiiiiil hy tlia 
 tiiiitlm.irit ilnit of ihi* he — lii'ur uliot ■ -Notuiii il'iiiiiiiuU mtii— Itciirh niirthiTiiiiioitt 
 kiioxMi htiiil -Till' l>U't iiaiiii'il nilrr Hum- Ki'tiini to ihu i>hi|i— ru'r,>'ii hiiliiM-tjui-nt 
 •Un't;|'^Iil>llH oil ilitH iiiimIc III tru>i-liii){— i^ir John lliirrow h ('oiiiiii<>ni» thcrvuii— Ojtiu- 
 loiia uf .thit |i«'rilous ice journey — UtivU-M of rurr^'fc lirLlii' KtTVii'i'it. 
 
 .ir.5 
 
 Captain Joliii IIojw'h Stroud Voynj^o in tlm Victory, 18iJI)-33 
 
 K.iHs si'i'Uh nttii ill! ciiiiilii^iiu'iit from thi- Ailiniruliy on unotlitT :ir<tio voya^fo — ia re- 
 f>i'^i| — Fiiiiili* m«' riinii-<hr<l li\ Mr. Kflix llootli— 'I'Ih' \ ictory Mtvaiiu-r (mrchuNt'd— 
 F.ii'.cit^i'N hi» iii'|'hi'», <''>iii<iiunilrr .laiiii'x Kim:', itx hi'< i<i'i'iiiii| in riiinniiuiil — Liat of 
 uthiT I'fhii'rn — >iii|i I'lii iiinitfrs n kaU-, iin<l i< olili;ri'c| t'> |iiil into lloUtt'inluTH to relit 
 — I'rorc.'il on tlinr \ii\ii).'<' — I'liitcr l.anriu<ti'r ^uniul iinil IdKi'iit Inh't — Itruch Kury 
 lie.ii h — l''iiiil iiliiiiiilaiii'c of Klmcn llii'ic, ami prcMTVctl uifut in excellent cullihtiiin— 
 Ufjplciii.'.h tlii-ir ^Il'cl^ — rriMi'cil iluwn the Inlet —I'eriU of the ice — Vemtel it'curediii 
 Felix llarhur I'mt the winlfr — KHjnunaux viiit the Hhi|i — Fnrni;<h very <'orrect aketcliea 
 of the ciia^t— '^^iinni.iiiiliT .laincH Uhhm tnakert many uxciirNioriH iiilniid and alonK tbo 
 liavH and inleU — KxfilureH Khmi'h .Strait, and |in-'lien mi to Kin)( Williani'H l^iid— i>ilU- 
 I'Uliy of i|i>tinkMiii«hiiJu' land frnni ^eu — Ke.n Iu'm I'oint Virti'ry unil tiirim lutck — iiM{> 
 p't.H clear of the ice. at^i'r ele\eii iiinnth-'' ini)>riHoninent, luit in a week iit n^ain fro/.en 
 in, and (lie li.irt.\ are ilel. lined duriii.: annthei he\ere winter— Further <hM'o\erioa niudc, 
 and ('diiiiii iiider Ko^n plant.'* the Hritish tl.u' on Hie north niau'nelic |iole— In An^UHt, 
 ls:t|, the >lil|i is warjied ont, and inakeN s^iil. I>iit alter leatiii;,' alioiit for a month, ia 
 a^^kiii fi'ii/eii in; and rather than K|M'nd u fnnrth winler, there heiii); no proMjiect uf 
 rvlea.siii;: the Khi|i, aIic is ahundiuied, and the crivv ni.ike fur Knry Heach — I'roviHioiia 
 I liii.tt.' taken on with };reat lalior — I'.irlv ere,! a canva.s hilt, which they name Soin- 
 
 ael 
 
 ^••i*« i«»i'XF» ai>i«^> 11111 iai (III* (1.-1 iiiiit viiiixai kdi^i i«t«iai>k'i'a«a 
 
 crset Mouse— 111 a ni>iiilh, the hoal.s hein^ |iri'|'aii'd for the \oyap>, the party emhark, 
 and reach the mmith of thi' iiilel -lt.irr<'W .s istralt is found one compact iiia».s of ico— • 
 They are ohlij;ed t" tall hack uii the >tores at I'nry lleach t<l^pend their fourth winter— 
 I'Ltced on slmrt allowance— In the Hpriic/ they ui;ain emhurk in their houtHUiid miccee^ 
 in rcachini; Uinciu-ter .Snnnd — Kail in with wlialeri* — Are received on hoard the Isuhello, 
 Cu|>lain Kowi's old hhip — .Arrive home— rnidic rejuicingh for tla'ir aafet^'— UuwurUA 
 granted — Itetume of (.'aptaiii Juhu Koiii>'it avrvii'i's. 
 
 I'aidain Hack's Land Joiuii(>y in warcli of Kos.s, 1S33-31 168 
 
 Attentliin called to the missin({ exnedition hy Dr. Kichardson — I'luna of relief huj{- 
 (jesled — I'nhlic meeting: held to con.siiler the l.ci-t nieasure.H — .\ni|>le I'lindH raised — Cnpt. 
 Hack Milnnteers -l>'a\eM Kn^'land with Dr. Kitiir— \ lyau'eiirMind )rnidex, \c., en)fHXvd 
 ill Canada — Party pu^h tliron;;li the northwest cuuritry — Dreadful HUtleriiiKa fr<»iu 
 liiKect pest-t — Ueach Kurt Kcfiiilntion, on Ureal Slave Ijike— .Mutley description of the 
 traxelers and their »'ncanipnicnt — .\rraiivrenientr< are completed, and tlie journey in 
 tfiarch iif the (iieaf l''i>h Kiver coiiiiiienced — l''ri;;htfnl nature of the jirecipieea, rap- 
 id.H, falls, ravines. \r. — Meet with nld aciinaint.inces — <)liliL.'id to return to their winter 
 'piarteis— Dreadful sulleriiiirH ot the Indiaii.-i— Famine and intensi' cold — Nohle conduct 
 of .Xkaitcho, the Indian chief — News received of Capt.un Koss's ..afe return to EliKliiiid 
 — Fiaiiklin's faithl'ul Ks.jMiiiiaiu interpreter, .Ait^ustiis, end'avorin;; to joii' ttack, in 
 fro/en to death — .\ fre.sh journey tovvanl the sea is resoived on -riovisioiiR for threa 
 months taken — Indian encampment -(Jreen ."»tockini:s, the heanfy — Interview with the 
 < liief. .Ak.titi'ho — .\iiliioiis and perilou.s pro'j:ress tow. ml Ihu >i'a— I'illeriu;; propensi- 
 ties of the Indians —.Meet with a larjjL' fi iendly trilic of i;s,(uiiiian\ — Keach the wa, 
 and proceeii aloiiK the co.i^t to the eastward, niiahle to nrriM' at the Point 'ruriia^ain 
 jf Franklin- I'l ivations of the party mi their return Journey — Dilliculties finroimtercd 
 in re■ascendin^r the river— Keach Fort Kcliance aftrr four montlis' ahseiicc— 1'a.sH the 
 winter there — Capf-i^n Hack arii>es in Flntrland in Septenilier, after un ahseuce of 
 two ,\earK and a half— Dr. King folluwii him in tlic lludions Bay spring shipa. 
 
 Back's Voyage in tliu IVrror up Iliulsoir.s Strait, 183G 186 
 
 Ship arrives at S.ilishury Island— Proceeds up Frozen Strait— I:i blocked up hy the 
 iep. and driven alioiit ii(iwcrles.s for more than six months — Cast on Iior heumends 
 for three da>s— F'roin the crijiplnd .state of the ship and the insunnountuhlcdidicultieB 
 if the navication, the return to England ia determined on— Summury t»f Captain 
 Uuok'e ajsfi^. sfinccs. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Messra. Dea?e and Simpson's Discoveries on the coast of Arctic 
 America, 1836-39 187 
 
 Descend the Mackenzie to the sea — Survey tlio western part of tlie shores of North 
 America from Return Reef to Cai)e Harrow— Discuvfr two new rivers, tlie tlarry 
 and Colvilie — After reaciiiiij; Klson IJay, return to winter at Fort Contideiice, on Ureat 
 Bear Lake — Survey resumed in tiiu ensuing spiiiii,' — Daiifreroiis rapids on the O.pper- 
 uiine river — Encamp at its moutli — Copper ore found here — Victoria Land discovered 
 and 1 10 miles of new coast traced — lii--ascciit of tlie (Vijipermine ciiinmeiiced — HoatM 
 abandoned, and tlie Barren grounds traversed on focjt — Spend anotlier winter at Fort 
 Confidence — Tlie followinj? season a tiiird voyajro comnieni'ed— Richardson's River 
 •xauiined — Coronation Gulf fcui d clear of ice — Coast survey to the eastward prose- 
 cuted — Simpson's Strait disco.cijd— Back's Hstuary reached — Deposit of ]iroTisiona 
 made by Back five years previous, found — Alierdoen Island, the extreme point reached 
 —Parts of co.asts of Boothia ami Victoria Land traced — One of the boats abandoned- 
 Descent of Mio Cojjper'niue, and safe arrival at l''ort Coiilidciice. 
 
 Dr. John Rae's Land Expedition, 1 84(5-47 192 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company disiiatch R:ie and a j)arty of thirteen men to complete the 
 Burvey between Dease and Sinipson's furthest, JUid tlio Fury ana Ilecla Strait — Expe- 
 dition leaves Fort Churchill — Reaches Waj;-er River — Boats taken across Rae's Isthmus 
 — Winter re8i<leiice constructed — Short commons— West shore of Melville Peninsula, 
 &c., examined — Party return to their encampmeut, and proceed to Fort Cburclull — 
 Gratuity of X'iUV awurdid to Dr. Kae. 
 
 Captaia Sir John Frankliu's Last Expedition in tlie Erebus and 
 Terror, 1845-51 19G 
 
 Probability of the safety of the expedition — Montoromery's lines on ice-imprisoned 
 vessels — Lady Frankliu's devotion and enthusiasm — Verses — Her appeal to the north — 
 Sir E. Parry's opinion — Outfit and dispatch of Franklin's exjiedition — Names of the 
 officers employed — Outline of Franklin's services — Notices of the services of other of 
 the officers — Soarchin>; expeditions sent out in 18 IH — UilVerent volnuteers offer — Ab- 
 tence of intelligence of Franklin — His latest dispatches and letters — Copper cylinders 
 — Franklin's views and intentions — Letters of Captain Fit/james — Get; -ral opinions of 
 the most exp«riencod arctic ofiicers as to Franklin's safety — Oll'er of services and sug- 
 gestions by Dr. Kin;^ — Opinions of Captains Parry and James Ross th'M«>on — Consultrt- 
 tdon of officers at tlia Admiralty — Report of the hydr(i,;,'r»pher — AiUicc tendered by 
 those consulted — Views of Mr. Snow and Mr. McLean — Public and ])r:vate rewards 
 offered for discovery and assisfcmce to be rendered — Second report of Admiral Beaufort 
 to the Lords Coramissioners of the Admiralty — Various i)rivate ami oliii'ial letters and 
 dispatchas, pointiaf;^ out, or commenting on plans and modes of lelief— Abundance of 
 animal food found in the arctic rejjious — A ballad of Sir John Franklin. 
 
 The GoTernnaent and private Searching Expeditions 281 
 
 List of the vessels and commanders, &c., now employed on the search in the arctio 
 TSg^ons — Notices of those returned home. 
 
 Voyage of the Entorprise and Inve.stigator under Captains Sir J. C. 
 Rosa and E. J. Bird, 1848-49 281 
 
 Names of the officers employed in this expedition — Ships arrive at Uppemavick— 
 Proceed on their voyasje— Force a passage tliroujrk the ice— Enter Barrow's Strait- 
 After being driven about in the pack, take shelter for the winter in the harbor of Port 
 Leopold — Surveying trips carried on down the inlet, aud round the northern and 
 western shores of Boothia — Foxes trapped .and liberated with copper collars on — Furj 
 open water — Beset by the loose pack, and the temperatire falling, the wliole body of 
 ice is formed into one solid mass, and the aliips are drifted with the field into Bajfin'i 
 Bay— The return to England determined on— Outline of Sir James Ross's arduous 
 services in the polar regions. 
 
 Voyage of the transport, North Star, 1849 S'lO 
 
 Names of th« officers of the ship— Official dispatch from ths Commander- *»Ip 
 
C O N T E N T S . 
 
 XI 
 
 281 
 
 ck— 
 ait- 
 Port 
 and 
 ?iiry 
 Iv of 
 Itfin'i 
 iioua 
 
 p)0 
 IScilp 
 
 beset in iiii if J^^•l.l in thf northern j.art «f Hiirtiii's I?;iy— Prifte<l with it for glxty-two 
 days — Wiiiti-ik in \V».l<t«-iihi>iiiiP Snuii'i— l)e;ii t!i of aniinals tlicrc — Sliip pets I'lcar of 
 ii'i,' ami makes tor f ;inr:i.-t<-r ^>ouIKl— '1 In- I.ailv KiaiiKlin and Kt-lix me siioken with — 
 Beiii)j iircvtMiti rl hy 'ill- i.e troni ri-a« liinir 1 oi t H,.\mii or I'ort Neill, the ]>rovisi(>nt 
 tikeii out I'V til.' Nort:> Stir are Uii'leil at Na\v Hoard hilct— Spi aks the I'riiiee A!l)*rt 
 — Keceiic> ili>|iat> hes lor CngLui:d — Keturiis home — Coiiiinaiider Suuiulera appointed 
 to Malta Dotk-yanl. 
 
 Vovntje of tlio Plover, and I?<i.it Expoilitidiis under Commander 
 TuUen, l^ H-f)! 307 
 
 Purport of iM>trurtioii.s i-'>iied from the A(hiiiialty — Sliij> ai riM'S in Hi'lirii vr's Strait 
 
 -Discovers nrw land and i>iaiid> to the north of the Strait— AViirers in Kot/i'l)uo 
 
 fioniid — Lieutenant I'liIIen anil | arty j'Toi < <'d in I (iat> aioii^; the loa.-t to (lie Mai kenzie 
 
 Kiver — No tidinirn aicancd of Kianklin"r..-lii|is — Lfttcr tioiii l.itiit. H' opcr — Latest otti- 
 
 ciid dispjit'-li from Commander Pulien — His iiitei:tion.-.— Sir John liichurdsou'ii iidvice. 
 
 Voyasjo of the Lady Franklin and Soj)liia, ptnchascd government 
 ships, under the command of Mr. P<Miiiy 312 
 
 Nature of the instructions •i\\fu — Printinu' lVes< sny.plied — Shii'S sail and reach 
 WoUtenhnlmo Sound — Prevenfed hy the ice from evaminiiiLT Jones' Sound — Keach 
 Wellington Channel, and are left tliere hy the Priin'e Alhert. 
 
 Voyaire of the Resolute and A^istance, under comiiiatid of Captain 
 Austin, with tln'ir steaiu tendi-rs, Pioneer and Intrepid, l^T)!)-.")! . . .313 
 
 Ships purchased and are renamed hy tlie jrovernment — Ollicers en;plf.> i d — Itistnu- 
 tii>ni> sriven to »i:'arch Wellinjrton ('hannt-l. and pn?.h on to Melville IsIiiMl- • Mticial 
 dispatch ft-om Captaiu Oumumey — MS. newspaper started on liourd the A:siitunce— 
 E.vtracts therefrom. 
 
 Vovacre of Captain Sir Juliu Ross iu tlio Felix iirivato s<lnioner 
 1850-1 319 
 
 Ls fitted out hy the Hud:-on"s Ray Comiiany .and ]iri\ate suhscriiitiou — Arrives at 
 ^Vhal^•ti^h l.-Iand-i. and overtakes th" Advance ainl IJcxjI'ite — I'l'ocecils in company — 
 EsiiuiniauT reports of tlie destruction of Franklin's ships, and murder of the cre*^— 
 Proved hy investi;.';;tion to he devoid of ll>undati(iu— Letter of feir John Iloss to tho 
 Secretary ot' the Ailmiralty. 
 
 American Gf)veniment Searchinc; Kxpedition in the L'nited States 
 ships Advance and Rescue, under the command of Lieutenant Do 
 Have n, 1 ^50-5 1 323 
 
 Lady Franklin's appeal to the Aniericaii nation — Mr. Clayton's reply — Second letter 
 of I.ady Franklin to the Pre.-i.lent— Sii'.';H->tions of Lieutenant S. <)^l'urn, K. N.— De- 
 bate in Congress — Kesolntions a.'recd to — Munificence of Mr. H. (irinnell— Ships fitted 
 out and dispatched — Names of oUicers employed— Dispatches from the coniniander. 
 
 Remarkable Voya2;e of the private ship Prince AlV>ert, under the 
 cornmaiul of Captain Forrivth, R. N., to Regent Iidet and back, 
 1850 .' 343 
 
 Fitted out by Lady Franklin and by private suhseription — Reasons for the expedition 
 — Officers .-xad crew — Discover traces of Franklin — Fall in with other ships — Visita 
 Regent Inlet — Is forced to return homo — Heiuarks on this voyajre — Position of tb« 
 y«8sel£ of the squadrou— Liues to th« expeditious iii seartli of Sir John tVauklin 
 
 1. 
 
 ^ — ' 
 
-# 
 
 X 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 
 ^^f 
 
 The interest aroused both in this country and 
 Europe, in regard to Sir John Franklin and his 
 associates, has in no degree diniinislied by the fail- 
 ure of the various Exploring Expeditions, to ascertain 
 the fate of the great navigator. His well known 
 intrepidity, his great experience and knowledge of 
 the Arctic regions, the abundant supplies with which 
 he was furnished, the various casualties which may 
 have excluded liim from the observation of subse- 
 quent navigators, and above all, the traces which 
 have been discovered of him, have kept alive hopes, 
 which, under other circumstances, in the long lapse 
 of time would have been utterly extinguished. The 
 
XIV 
 
 I NT liU DUCT lux. 
 
 heroic woman, whose devotion to her gallant huit*ind 
 has made her name a household word in two conti- 
 nents, whose appeals in his behalf have touched all 
 hearts, and filled all eyes with teai*s, whose conduct 
 has added another illustration of conjugal affection, 
 of indomitable perseverance and courage, to the loi]i«f 
 list of examples of woman's faith and woman's forti- 
 tude, the wife of the lost Franklin still hopes. 8ho 
 cannot believe that the sea has swallowed the gallant 
 company under the guidance of her husband, or that 
 the frosts of the Pole have benumbed their energies; 
 no mounds of snow and ice are seen by her, as 
 marking the place where they await the voice of the 
 Archangel, and the trump of God ; before the vision 
 of her mind, the frost-bound voyagers still appear, 
 watching for some friendly sail in the open channels 
 of the frozen seas, still husbanding their resources, 
 still hoping against hope. She beholds them man- 
 fully struggling with the difficulties of their position, 
 seeking, during the short summer of the high latitudes, 
 an avenue of escape, and engaged in the winter in 
 protecting themselves from the cold, by walls of 
 snow, and renewing their clothing with the spoils 
 of the shaggy monarch of those solitudes, the polai 
 bear, whose capture stimulates their energies and 
 
INTIIODVCTIOX. 
 
 xv 
 
 5 
 
 m 
 of 
 
 Lai 
 nd 
 
 invigorates their powers. While such a hope is strung 
 in tlie soul of this noble woman, it will live in the 
 hearts of all Christendom until the lost are restored 
 to home and Jdndred, or their graves are found, and 
 their forms, untouched by decay, recognized by the 
 hardv mariners wlio brave the dauijers of an Arctic 
 Sea. Wiio can tell if tliis lost company have not 
 broken through into that open Ocean which is said 
 to si)read out beyond the barrier of ice, and found 
 there a new world from which they cannot return to 
 relate the story of tlieir marvelous voyaged Who 
 knows if they are not now re^wsing upon some island 
 of that unknown Sea, where a modified climate, and 
 a fertile soil furnish all the necessaries of life, or 
 are vainly coasting along that wall of ice through 
 which they unexpectedly entered, and from which 
 tlioy hope to escape by some opening like that in 
 which they came ? Perhaps, curiosity overcoming love 
 of home and kindred, they liave explored or are 
 now exjiloring the unknown world upon which they 
 have been permitted to enter, mapping its islands 
 and bays, or passing on to the pole itself, full of 
 high thoughts of the undying fame that will reward 
 their toils, when the story of their return and their 
 discoveries shall astonish the world, as when the 
 
tr 
 
 .<vi 
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 daring Genoese brought back to Spain and Europ.. 
 the i)roofs of the existence of the continent which 
 sh(juld have borne his name. 
 
 The discovery of a northwest passage to the Indies, 
 was the first object of the daring navigators who 
 explored the northern seas ; the pursuit of the whale 
 lias since led a multitude of vessels among the ice- 
 bergs and ice-fields of the frozen ocean. Any furthei 
 expenditure of treasure, or hazard of life for the 
 former purpose is imcalled for — a mere waste of ma 
 terial and a tempting of providence. Enough is 
 known to settle the question that any passage forced 
 through those seas to Asia, would be too hazardous 
 and too uncertain to render it of the least com- 
 mercial advantage. The path to China marked out 
 by nature, or rather by the God of nature, is by the 
 isthmus which separates North and South America, 
 and all ideas of an available northwest passage are 
 simply Utopian. For the perfecting of the geography 
 of the earth, for the purpose of ascertaining whethei 
 an open ocean, and a modified climate, and a pro- 
 ductive soil are to be found beyond the fields of ice, 
 may be worthy the efforts of civilized nations, yet it 
 might be questioned whether the hardships of the 
 navigation, and the risk of life in those remote 
 
 I 
 
 .J5^ 
 
1 N T IJ O D U C T 1 O N . 
 
 xvn 
 
 pro- 
 ice. 
 
 solitudes, would not justify an abandonment of a re- 
 gion nruarded by such awful barriers, which could only 
 be pasr^ed occasionally in the lapse of years. If it 
 should appear, that a land like the garden of Eden 
 lay l)oyond the domain of frost, how could it bo 
 made practically accessible, or used for the benefit 
 of mankind ? Would it not fjrever remain like that 
 hidden city in the desert, which, according to the 
 eastern fable, is concealed from all passers by, and 
 only some favored traveler is perhaps once in a 
 century permitted to gaze upon its deserted streets 
 and behold its towers and palaces; or like the I6st 
 Atlantis, would it not be discovered only to disap 
 pear forever? 
 
 For the rescue of the long lost company of Sir 
 fohn Franklin, or for the purpose of ascertaining 
 heir fate, too much can hardlv be done. In sudi 
 an enterprise, the noblest sympathies of our nature 
 cannot ftiil to be enlisted, and higher and more 
 worthy of remembrance than the conflict of arms, or 
 the rivalry of the nations in their fabrics at the 
 recent great fair of the world in the modern Baby- 
 lop, Lias been the competition between England and 
 the United States, in the voyages of discovery tor 
 the great arctic navigator, and his companions. In 
 
f f 
 
 f 
 
 will 
 
 I N T 15 <»1) Ll TI ON . 
 
 pucli a contest the bonds of national brutlicrliood aro 
 stR'ngthoned, the fViendsliip of tlie two great brandies 
 of tlie Anglo-Saxon race, who, descended from the 
 same ancestry and speaking tlie same tongue, Iiavo 
 been intrnsted by the divine providence with the 
 guardianship of civil and religions freedom, is 
 cemented and made to soar above the petty rivalries, 
 and the i)etty provocations, which have heretofore so 
 often disturbed the <;ood nnderstandin*]: which ou«jht 
 ever to prevail between those who are brethren in 
 l)lood, wdio have a common ancestry, a common lan- 
 guage, and a common faith. Despotism like a dark 
 cloud is gathering over Europe ; France, after numer- 
 ous revolntions, and a multitnde of grandiloquent 
 protestations for freedom, has tamely yielded to a 
 military dictatorship more degrading than the rnle 
 of her most despotic monarchs, and nothing marks 
 her incapacity for liberty, her profound social cor- 
 ruption and the utter loss even of the heroic element 
 tliat characterized her in the worst days of the Bour- 
 bon dynasty, than the character of the man who 
 has seized the reins of government. The shadow, or 
 rather the mockery of a great name, with no rejui- 
 tation as a soldier, with no ability as a statesman, 
 the dissolute and degenerate nephew of the gro**- 
 
 L 
 
I N r It O 1) U C T I « > N . 
 
 MX 
 
 Warrior, holds France under a rule more disgi-aceful 
 to lier than that of Louis XV., of whose vices he is 
 an apt imitator. Under such circumstances, the con- 
 tinued friendship of Great J>ritain and the United 
 States, is essential to tiie liighest interests of our 
 common humanity. Tugetlier they may dvA'y the 
 world in arms, and hlockade tlie ports of all the des- 
 potic powers on the globe, and every generous con- 
 cert of action, evevy noble rivalry like tluit wliich sent 
 our ships in search for the lost Fi'anklin, is an omen 
 of good to the world, and a pledge that despotism is 
 not to shroud the nations in darkness, sui)erstition, 
 and ignorance. The vast conspiracy which is now 
 organizing from St. Petersburg to Paris, and from 
 the Baltic to the Caspian, against a free jiress, free 
 government and free speech, can only be defeated 
 by the constant friendship and united resistance of 
 the Anglo-Saxon race on both continents. 
 
 It is not a little remarkable that the American 
 expedition should have originated in private benev- 
 olence, and that to the enlightened liberality of a 
 single individual, the country owes an enterprise 
 which reflects so much credit upon our re])ublic. 
 We read in the Scriptures of ancient nations and 
 cities " whose mcrcluints were princes : " if this 
 
KX 
 
 1 M T ii U D L C I I (J N . 
 
 I 
 
 expression in the Bible implies what it dues in mod 
 era purliiuce, we may congratulate ourselves tiiat we 
 possess a similar description of citizens — merchants 
 who are princes, not in the magnificence which 
 apes the i)omp of royalty, but in the largo and 
 liberal spirit that exhibits itself in acts of generosity 
 and munilicence, which may be termed princely in 
 respect to the grandeur of their conception, and th© 
 efficiency of their execution. 
 
 The true genius and character of a people may be 
 tested by the examples of individuals, no less than 
 by their institutions and laws. The illustrious citi- 
 zens of the ancient republics are the memorials and 
 proofs of their national greatness. As the Roman 
 mother said of her children, " these are my jewels," 
 60 the Commonwealth may say of her distinguished 
 sons, for they are the glory and the crown of the 
 State. The name of Henry Grinnell, in connection 
 with the expedition in search of Franldin, will 
 survive all the marble and granite of the city of 
 his residence. He might say with truth with the 
 
 Latin Poet, 
 
 " Exegi monumentiim sere perennius." 
 
 "Whatever is done for truth or for humanity, sur- 
 vives in the remembrance of all ages ; the star o1 
 
I NT KOH I- CTION 
 
 \.\l 
 
 ii the 
 
 t 
 
 [y oi 
 
 a Tfoward culminntoa al)ovo those of all the heroes 
 aii<l eonqucrcrs who liave filled the earth witli vio- 
 lence, and the merchant prince who Rent his ships 
 into the Arctic Seas, to search for the lost of 
 another nation and people, is entitled to the plau- 
 dits of his country and his race. 
 
 Nor slioiild tiio commander, ofHcers, and seamen 
 )f tlie American expedition be forujotten l)y the ^•"»v- 
 ornnient, or their countrymen. In the dangerous 
 Bervice in wliich they voluntarily engaged, they ex- 
 hiljited the courage and hardihood, the coolness and 
 foivthoui'ht which have characterized the hriiiclitest 
 examples in our naval history. The narrative of 
 their hazardous voyage, so far as it has been made 
 public, reflects the highest credit upon all concerned, 
 and has added new luster to the annals of American 
 •ieamanship. 
 
 The naval service is the right arm of the Republic; 
 no power on earth can assail us while the ocean is 
 eovered with our ships. Great Britain came out of 
 the contest with Napoleon and the continent witli 
 safety and success, only because she acquired and 
 kept the dominion of the sea ; it is her naval supe- 
 riority, which now delays the Autocrat of the North 
 in his contemplated subjugation of Europe, ai»»^ 
 
Wll 
 
 1 N I li < » r» r f I I (.» N . 
 
 prevents liis iiuiiu'«liate oecnpation <*[' (\»ii>ta!itiiniji!e 
 ftH tlio seat of liis new Kuipire. Nor is it merely tho 
 number ut* meu-ol-war wliicli arc kcjit alio. it, tliat 
 creates the naval superiority of a country, but that 
 extensive conmierce which constitutes a mirserv of 
 seamen, whose numbers, knowledge, and courage 
 may be nuidc available in the hour of danger. In 
 no respect have our countrymen so uniformly dis- 
 tinguished themselves, as in tiieir naval exploits, no- 
 where have they been so successful, as on tiie «m can, 
 and the safety of the country is more connected with 
 tiiis department of defense than any other. "VVhile 
 i^uch men as Coujmander De JIaven, (xritrith, and 
 such crews can be muotered from the naval service 
 (•f the United States, our shores are safe from foreign 
 invasion, and our country from all assaults save those 
 of the demon of domestic discord ; if we perish, it 
 will be suicidally. 
 
 While every christian and philanthropist will earn- 
 estly desire and pray for the day when men shall 
 learn war no more, when '" the sword shall be beatet 
 into a plowshare, and the spear into a pruning 
 hook," it is the height of folly to presume that anj 
 euch period ie at hand — to blind our eyes to the evi- 
 dent toVpjv! of an approaching contest which is to 
 
 •«;' 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
I NT Kn I» r (; r I () N. 
 
 X X M I 
 
 ^liako tl'f^ earth, and tnnu wliich wo can only cscnpo 
 scathlcs'S l)y a posithm and a fnro' uliicli will coiii- 
 ]t('l rosjart lV»i' our ri^dit-, and protect •iir luiilrality, 
 
 it" it l)e |>ossil»li' l.» inaiTitain tins jiosilitMi \\\ a cnii- 
 test wa^od tor the destruction nt" civil and ri'lii^ious 
 liberty. The narrative of the* American expedition 
 cannot fail to enli>t the sympathies of the country 
 more earne>tlv in behalf of those 
 
 "Whose iii.'ircli is on the inouiitain wave, 
 
 Wh 
 
 loso Homo IS en uio <ic('!> 
 
 th 
 
 and kindle generous emotions in all hearts. "Wo 
 hope it may find a place in every habitation 
 throuiihout the length and breadth of ouJ extended 
 
 country. 
 
( 
 
 ^ ■ -'iTriMi 
 
 ^■i^uiapR: 
 
 \ 
 
THE PROGRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 ARCTIC DISCOVERY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 If we examine a map of Northern, or Arctic, Amer- 
 ica, showino; what was known of the countries around 
 the North Pole in the commencement of the present 
 century, we shall find that all within the Arctic circle 
 was a complete blank. Mr. Hearne had, indeed, seen 
 the Arctic Sea in the year 1771 ; and Mr. Mackenzie had 
 traced the river which now bears his name to its junc- 
 tion with the sea ; but not a single line of the coast 
 from Icy Cape to Baffin's Bay was known. The east- 
 ern and western shores of Greenland, to about 75° lat- 
 itude, were tolerably well defined, fi'om the visits of 
 whalinc; vessels; Hud'^on's Bay and Strait were par- 
 tially known; but Baffin's Bay, according to the state- 
 ment of Mr. Baffin, in 1616, was bounded by land on 
 the west, running parallel with the 90th meridian of 
 longitude, or across what is now known to us as Bar- 
 row's Strait, and probably this relation led to the sub- 
 sequently formed hasty opinion of Captain Sir John 
 Ross, as to his visionary Croker Mountains, of whiclt 
 I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. 
 
 As early as the year 1527, the idea of a passage to 
 the East Indies by the North Pole was suggested by a 
 

 ^, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 2i> 
 
 i'i;'»Gi:i-..ss <»[■' Aiiciiu iu>t uvi;uY 
 
 Bristol mcrcli.iiit to ITcnry YTII., Liit no voyfipjc scoins 
 to have been undertaken for tlie purpose ofnaviii^ating 
 the Polar seas, till the commencomont of the folluwin^ 
 century, when an expedition was iitted out at the ex- 
 pense of certain merchants of London. To this attein])t 
 several others succeeded at diiferent period?!, and all 
 of them were projected and carried into execution by 
 private individuals. The adventurers did not indeed 
 accomplish the object they exclusively sought, that of 
 reaching India by a nearer route than doubling the 
 Oape of Good Hope, but though they failed in that 
 respect, the fortitude, perseverance, and skill which 
 they manifested, exhibited the most irrefragable proof;^ 
 of the early existence of that superiority in naval af- 
 fairs, which has elevated tliis country to her present 
 eminence among the nations of Europe. 
 
 At length, after the la})so of above a cer.t;iry iMid a 
 half, this interesting question became an object of 
 .Uoyal patronage, and the expedition which was com- 
 manded by Captain Phipps (afterward Lord ^lulgravc,) 
 in 1773, was iitted out at the charge of Government. 
 The first proposer of this voyage was the Hon. Daine:i 
 Barrington, F. R. S., who, with indefatigable assiduity, 
 began to collect every fact tending to establish the 
 practicability of circumnavigating the Pole, and as ho 
 accumulated his materials, he read them to the Eoyal 
 Society, who, in consequence of these representations, 
 made that application to Lord Sandwich, then First 
 Lord of the Admiraltj'-, which led to the appointmeuo 
 of this first ofiicial voyage. Captain Phipps, however, 
 found it impossible to penetrate the wall of ice which 
 extended for many degrees between the latitude of 80'^ 
 and 81°, to the north of Spitzbergen. Ilis vessels were 
 the E-acehorse and Carcass ; Captain Lutwklge being 
 his second in command, in the latter vessel, and hav- 
 ing with him, then a mere boy, Kelson, the future 
 hero of England. 
 
 From the year 1648, when the famous Russian navi- 
 ":ator, Scnor Deshnew, penetrated from the river 
 Kolyma through the Polar into the Pacific Ocean, the 
 
 «■& 
 
 
INTliuDLC'lIOX. 
 
 27 
 
 yn^c scoins 
 navii]::ating 
 e lolluwinff 
 : at the ex- 
 his.itteini)t. 
 )di^, niul Jill 
 LecutioTi by 
 not indeed 
 !;]it, that of 
 Hibliiig tlio 
 led in tliat 
 slvill ^vl^cl\ 
 ;aljlc proor:^ 
 n naval af- 
 her present 
 
 ]t\]vy rnd !i 
 
 1 ohjeet ut' 
 
 h was coni- 
 
 ^[nlgravc,) 
 
 overnnient. 
 
 on. Daine:i 
 
 c assiduity, 
 
 tablish the 
 
 , and as ho 
 
 the Royal 
 
 sentations, 
 
 then First 
 
 pointmenb 
 
 , however, 
 
 I' ice which 
 
 Itiide of 80^ 
 
 ssels were 
 
 klge being 
 
 , and hav- 
 
 the futuro 
 
 ;sian navi- 
 the river 
 >cean, the 
 
 Kir 
 
 Ri:5>ians liave been as arduous in tli(;ii'atiein|>ts todis- 
 cnvei* a northea-t pas^a^A'c to the inu'tji oi" Ca[)e iSiicl- 
 atskoi, a> tlie Kiii!;li6h iiavc bet'U to sail to tiie north- 
 west <tt' tiie Anu'i'ican coiirineiir, tli!MUi:li IJallin's Day 
 and l^aiica-ter Sound. On the side ot' the Pacilic, 
 niuny ellbrts, liave, within the last century, been made 
 to further this object. Jn 1741, the celebrated Captain 
 IJehrini^ (li>covered the straits which bear Ids name, as 
 we ai'c inlbnned by ^Muller, the chronicler ot* Uu-sian 
 di-coveries, aiul several subseipient comniandei's of 
 that natio!! seconded his endeavoi's to pcneti-ate from 
 the American continent to the northeast. . From the 
 jxM'iod when Deshnew sailed on his e.\})edition, to riie 
 vear ITdt, when Admii'al Tchitschaii-of an indelatin'a- 
 l)le and active <,>{iicer, endeavored to force a passage 
 round S|)itzl)ergen, (winch, altliough he attempted witli 
 a resolution and skill which would fill to the lot of 
 few, he was unable to ell'ect,) and thence to the ])resent 
 limes, including the arduous elforts of Captain Billing:-! 
 and \"aiicouvei', and the more recent one fd" ?.r. V^on 
 Wrangell, the Russians have been imtiring in their at- 
 tempts to discover ;i passage eastwai'd, to the north 
 of Ca])e Taimurand Cape Shelatskoi. And certainly, 
 if skill, ])erseverance, and courage, could have opened 
 this passage, it would have l)een accomplished. 
 
 Soon after the general peace of Eur')])e, M'hen war'^s 
 alarms had given way to the high pursuits of bclence, 
 the government recommenced the long-suspended 
 work of prosecuting discoveries within the Arctic circle. 
 
 An expedition was dispatched under the command 
 of Sir John Ross, in order to explore the scene of the 
 former labors of Frobisher and Baffin. Still haunted 
 with the golden dreams of a northwest passage, which 
 Barrington and Beaufoy had in the last age so enthu- 
 siasticallv advocated, oi;'- liautieal adventurers bv no 
 means relinquished the I - :g-cheris!u d chimera. 
 
 It must be admitte 1. 'lowever, ''^ t^ the testimony of 
 Parry and Franklin .u-. r»;- ; ' , ^ the other side 
 of the question. Botii tliese oi^.^^.'s, v\ iiose researches 
 in the cause of scientific discovery entitle thovi 'Q.,>VGi7 
 
44 
 
 ^C7 
 
 rBwoia:s3 of aklttc iusluvkuv 
 
 'i 
 
 Li^li reapect, have declared it as their opinion tliut 
 such a passap:e does not exist to the north of the Totli 
 de!L,n*ee of latitude. 
 
 Captain Parry, in the conchidinj::: remarks of his first 
 vovagie, (rol. ii/p. 241,) say? — '' Of the existence of a 
 norihwest passage to the Pacific, it is now i^carcely 
 possible to doubt, and from the success whicli attended 
 our efforts in 1810, after passing througii Sir James 
 Lancaster's Sound, we were not unreasonable in anti- 
 ci})uting ite eom])lete accomplishment," k^c. And 
 Fi-anklin, in the eleventh chapter of his work, is of the 
 same opinion, as to the practicability of such a passage 
 
 Put in no subsecjuent attempt, either by themselves 
 or fthers, has this long sought desideratum been ac- 
 coniplished ; iiupediments and barriers seem as thickly 
 thi-i'Wn in its way as ever." 
 
 An expedition was at length undertaken for the sole 
 purpose of reaching the Is'orth Pole, with a view to 
 tiie ascertaini«ent of philosoidiical questions. It was 
 planned and placed under the command of Sir Edward 
 Parry, and here first the elucidation of phenomena 
 connected with this imaginary axis of our planet 
 tori.ifed the piimary object of investigation. 
 
 ISly sjmce and purpose in this work will not permit 
 me to go into detail by examining what Barrow justly 
 ternis " thos^ brilliant ])eriods of early English enter- 
 prise, so conspicuously displayed in every quarter of 
 the globe, but in none, probably, to greater advantage 
 than in those bold and persevering efibrts to pierce 
 through frozen seas, in their little slender barks, of the 
 most miserable description, ill provided with the means 
 either of comfort or safety, without charts or instru- 
 mevits, or any previous knowledge of the cold and in- 
 hospitable region through which they had to force and 
 to i'cel their way ; their vessels oft beset amidst end- 
 less fields of ice, and threatened to be overwhelmed 
 witli instant destruction from the rapid whirling and 
 buvoting of those huge floating masses, laiown by the 
 
 • Colonial Mngazliip, ml. xiii, p, 310 
 
IMTKUDL'CTI'.»X., 
 
 9b 
 
 1)111*1011 tliut 
 
 uf tlie 75th 
 
 :>;of Lis first 
 i&teiicG of a 
 o\v seiircely 
 cli attended 
 1 Sir Jaiiie.4 
 ible ill aiiti- 
 iS:c. And 
 :)rk, is of tlio 
 :h 11 piisriaii'o 
 ' tlieiiiselves 
 tim been ac- 
 ni as thickly 
 
 I for the sole 
 th a view to 
 ons. It was 
 f Sir Edward 
 plienoinena 
 our planet 
 
 not permit 
 
 irrow justly 
 
 o'lisli enter- 
 
 quarter ot 
 r advantage 
 ts to pierce 
 )ark8, of the 
 h the means 
 ts or instru- 
 hold and in- 
 |o force and 
 
 miidst end- 
 lerwhelmed 
 
 lirling and 
 
 )wn by the 
 
 name of icebergs. Yet so powerfully infused into tho 
 minds of liritons was the sjtirit of enterprise, that 
 Bome of the ai)lest, tho most learned, and most respect- 
 able men of the times, not only lent their counten«nce 
 I and su])|)ort to e\[»editions iitted out for the discovery 
 ■ of new lands, but strove eagerly, in their own'])ei'S')ns, 
 " to share in the glory and tiie danger of every da:Iiig 
 adventure.*' 
 
 To the late Sir John Barrow, F. K. S., for 80 long a 
 ])eriod secretary of the Admiralty, and who, in early 
 lil'e, himself visited the Spitzbergen seas, as liigh as 
 the SOth ]»arallel, we are mainly indebted for the ad- 
 vocacy and promotion of the b«everal expeditions, and 
 the investigations and incpiiries set on foot in the } res- 
 ent centurv, and to the voyages which ha7e been hith- 
 erto so successfully carried out as regards the interests 
 of science and our knowledge of the Polar regions. 
 
 Although it is absurd to impute the direct responsi- 
 bility for these expeditions to any other quarter than 
 . the several administrations during whicli they were 
 undertaken, there can be no question but that tiiese 
 enterprises originated in Sir John Barrow's able and 
 zealous exhibition, to our naval authorities, of the 
 eeveral facts and arguments upon which they might 
 best be justified and prosecuted as national objects. 
 .The general anxiety now prevailing respecting tho late 
 of Sir John Franklin and his gallant campanion.s, 
 throws at this moment somewhat of a gloom on tho 
 Bubject, but it ought to be remembered tliat, up to the 
 vpresent period, our successive Polar voyages h;ive, 
 .^without exception, given occupation to the eoergieH 
 ^and gallantry of British seamen, and have extended 
 ||the realms of magnetic and general science, at an ex- 
 Ipense of lives and money quite insignificant, compared 
 [with the ordinary dangers and casualties of such expe- 
 ;ditions, and that it must be a very narrow spirit and 
 view of the subject which can raise the cry of "6'w* 
 ^6>;io," and counsel us to relinquish the honor and ]jeril 
 of such enterprises to Kussia and the Uaited States o^ 
 America I 
 
CO 
 
 IMlOGlilibS OF AKCTIC DISCOVEliY. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 It cjin scarcely ho deemed out of i)l;icc to irivo liero 
 a sliort notice ol" the literarv hihoi-.s of tins excellent 
 and talented man, as I am not aware thateuch an out- 
 line has appeared hefore. 
 
 Sir John Barrow was one of the chief writers for t})o 
 Qnartei4v lleview, and his articles in that journal 
 amount to nearly 200 in number, forming::, when bound 
 up, twelve separate volumes. All those relating to 
 the Arctic Exj)editions, &c., which created the great- 
 est interest at the period they were published, were 
 from his pen, and consist chieHy of the following ])a- 
 pers, commencing from the 18th volume; — On Polar 
 Ice ; On Behriuic's Straits and the Polar Pjisin ; On 
 Iloss's Voyage to Batlin's Bay ; On Parry's First Voy- 
 age ; Kotzebue's Voyage ; Franklin's First Expedition ; 
 Parry's Second and Third Voyages, and Attempt to 
 Reach the Pole ; Franklin's Second Expedition ; Lyon's 
 Voyage to Repulse Bay ; Back's Arctic Land Expe- 
 dition, and his Voyage of the Terror. Besides these 
 he published " A Chronological History of Voyages 
 to the Arctic Seas," and afterward a second volume, 
 " On the Voyages of Discovery and Research within 
 the Arctic Regions." 
 
 lie also wrote lives of Lord Macartney, 2 vols. 4to ; 
 of Lord Anson and Howe, each 1 vol. 8vo ; of Peter 
 the Great; and an Account of the Mutiny of the 
 Bounty, (in the " Family Library ; ") " Travels in 
 
 Southern 
 
 Africa," 2 
 
 vols, 4to; and "Travels in 
 
 China aud Cochin China," each 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 Li the "Encyclopedia Britannica" are ten or 
 twelve of his articles, and he wrote one in the Edin- 
 burgh Review by special request. 
 
 Li addition to these Sir John Barrow prepared for 
 the press innumerable MSS. of travelers in all parts 
 of the globe, the study of geography being his great 
 delight, as is evidenced by his having founded the 
 Royal Geographical Society of London, which now 
 holds high and influential a position in the learned 
 and scientific world, and has advanced so materially 
 the progress of discovery and research in all p>arts of 
 
 4 
 
INTIiUltL'CTIu.\, 
 
 31 
 
 liV. 
 
 ) to iirivo lioro 
 In's excc'lloiit 
 t Buch an oiit- 
 
 vrlters for t})e 
 that joui'ual 
 , v/ljen bound 
 e relutinp: to 
 ed the fjjreat- 
 hlislied, wore 
 followini:^ ])a- 
 3 ; — On Polar 
 ir Basin ; On 
 ^^'s First Voy- 
 t Expedition ; 
 d Attempt to 
 lition ; Lyon's 
 Land Expc- 
 Besides these 
 -■ of Voyages 
 cond volume, 
 search within 
 
 ■, 2 vols. 4to ; 
 
 vo ; of Peter 
 
 utiny of the 
 
 "Travels iu 
 
 Travels in 
 
 are ten or 
 in the Edin- 
 
 prepared for 
 in all parts 
 
 ng his great 
 
 founded the 
 which no'A' 
 the learned 
 
 30 materially 
 all parts of 
 
 the globe. Lastly, Sir John Barrow, not long befo»-e 
 his death, published his own autobiography, in which 
 he records the labors, the toil, and adventure, of a long 
 and honorable public life. 
 
 Sir John Barrow has described, with voluminous caie 
 and minute research, the arduous services of all tha 
 chief Arctic voyagers by sea and land, and to his voi 
 ume I must refer tliose who wish to obtain more cxten 
 sive details and particulars of the voyages of ])recedin'! 
 centuries. Jle has also gra])hicany set forth, to use his 
 own \V(»rds, " their several characters and conduct, no 
 iinit'»rnily displayed in their unrtinchinj: perseveraneo 
 in ditliculties of no ordinary description, their patient 
 endurance of extreme suffering, borne without mur- 
 muring, and witli an equanimity and fortitude of mind 
 under the most a})])alling distress, rarely, if ever, 
 eqiuiled, and such as could only be supported by a 
 superior degree of moral courage and resignation to 
 the Divine will — displaying virtues like those of no 
 ordinary caste, and such as will not fail to excite the 
 sympathy, and challenge the admiration of every right- 
 feeling reader." 
 
 Ilakluyt, in his " Chronicle of Voyages," justly ob- 
 Gcrves, that we should use much care in preserving the 
 memories of the worthy acts of our nation. 
 
 Tlie different sea voyages and land journeys of the 
 present century toward the Korth Pole have redounded 
 to the honor of our country, as well as reflected credit 
 on the characters and reputation of the officers engaged 
 in tiiem ; and it is to these I confine my observations. 
 
 The progress of discovery in the Arctic regions has 
 been slow but progressive, and much still within the 
 limits of practical navigation remains yet unexplored. 
 As Englishmen, we must naturally wish that discov- 
 eries which were first attempted by the adventurous 
 spirit and maritime skill of our conntrymen, should be 
 finally achieved by the same means. 
 
 " Wil it not," says the worthy ' preacher,' Ilakluyt, 
 " in all posteritie be as great a renown vnto our En- 
 glish nation©, to have beene the first discouerers of a 
 

 l'IM(illi:s:i oK AUtTIC J)IS(u\i:i;Y. 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
 
 BCiX Ijeyond tlicj Xoi-tli Capo, (neiicr ccrtiiiiiely knowcn 
 before,) and <»t'u coniieiiient |)a-.-au:e into tlie.liu^e em- 
 pire of Russia by tlie Daie i»t'St. Nicholas and t»t' tiio 
 Iliuor of .Dniiia, a:* for the l\»rtuica!e.s, to have found 
 a sea beyond the Cajte of Luona Esperanza, and so 
 consequently a j)a5ri{u;e by sea into tlie East Indies?" 
 
 I cordially agree with the (Quarterly Review, tliat 
 " neither the country nor the naval service will ever 
 believe they have any cauie to re<^ret voyages which, 
 in the eyes of foreigners and posterity, must confer 
 lasting honor upon both." 
 
 The'cost of these vovages has not been great, while 
 the consequences will be permanent ; for it lias been 
 well remarked, by a late writer, that "the record of 
 enterprising hardihood, physical endurance, and steady 
 perseverance, displayed in overcoming elements the 
 most adverse, Avill long remain among the worthiest 
 ■memorials of human enterprise." 
 
 " How shall I admire, " says Purchas, " your heroic 
 courage, ye marine worthies, beyond all names of 
 worthiness ! that neyther dread so long cyther the 
 presence or absence of the sunne ; nor those foggy 
 mysts, tempestuous winds, cold blasts, snowe and 
 hayle in the ayre ; nor the uneqnall seas, which might 
 amaze the hearer, and amate the beholder, when the 
 Tritons and Neptune's selfe would quake with chilling 
 feai'e to behold such monstrous icie ilands, renting 
 themselves with terror of their own massines, and dis- 
 dayning otherwise both the sea's sovereigntie and the 
 Bunne's hottest violence, mustering themselves in those 
 watery plaines where they hold a continual civill 
 warre, and rushing one npon another, make windes 
 and waves give backe ; seeming to rent the eares of 
 others, while they rent themselves with crashing and 
 sj)litting their congealed armors." 
 
 So thickly are the Polar seas of the northern hemi- 
 sphere clustered with lands, that the long winter months 
 serve to accumulate filed ice to a ])rodigious extent, so 
 as to form an almost impenetrable barrier of hypei 
 i)orean frost — 
 
 I 
 
iNM;()i>i'i."r""N. 
 
 .•;3 
 
 -*lv knowcu 
 e liiiu'e em- 
 and of tlio 
 liave ti>uii(l 
 i/.a, and so 
 t Indies r' 
 evicw, tluit 
 e will ever 
 iges which, 
 [lust confer 
 
 Tcat, while 
 t has been 
 record of 
 and steady 
 ^nients the 
 3 worthiest 
 
 j'our heroic 
 
 names of 
 
 Icyther the 
 
 lose foo'iirv 
 
 nowe and 
 
 licli might 
 
 when tlie 
 
 ith chilling 
 
 is, renting 
 
 is, and dis- 
 
 ie and the 
 
 es in those 
 
 uial civill 
 
 ke windes 
 
 e eares of 
 
 ishing and 
 
 lern hemi- 
 ter months 
 extent, so 
 of hypei 
 
 " A crystul |i;uiMii-'iil hy llu Ijienlh of Ueavcn 
 CciiienltHl tiriii." 
 
 Although there are now no new continents left to 
 discover, "our intrepid JJritish adventurers are but too 
 eager to achieve the bubble reputation, to hand down 
 their names to future ages for i)atient endurance, zeal, 
 and enterprise, by explorations of the hidden mys- 
 teries of — 
 
 " the frigid zone, 
 Where, for relentless niontlis, contitiiial uii^ht 
 Holds o'er the glittering waste her starry light ; " 
 
 by undergoing perils, and enduring privations and 
 dangers which the mind, in its rellectivc moments, 
 thudders to contemplate. 
 
 It is fair to conjecture that, so intense is the cold, 
 and so limited the summer, and consequently so short 
 the time allowed for a transit within the Arctic circle, 
 from .l-)atHn's Bay to IJehring's Straits, that a passage, 
 even if discovered, will never be of any use as a chan- 
 nel. It is not likely that these expeditions would ever 
 have been persevered in with so much obstinacy, had 
 the prospects now opening on the world of more prac- 
 ticable connections with the East been known forty 
 vears ago. Hereafter, when the sacred demands of 
 humanity have been answered, very little more will 
 be heard about the northwest passage to Asia ; which, 
 if ever found, must be always hazardous and pro- 
 tracted, when a short and quick one can be accom- 
 plished by railroads through America, or canals across 
 the Isthmus. 
 
 A thorough knowledge of the relative boundaries of 
 lan<l and ocean on this our globe has, in all ages and 
 by all countries, been considered one of the most im- 
 })ortant desiderata, and one of the chief featm'es of 
 popular information. 
 
 But to no country is this knowledge of such prac- 
 tical utility and of such essential importance, as to a 
 maritime nation like Great J^ritain, whose mercantile 
 marine visits every port, whose insular position ren- 
 ders her completely dependent upon distant quarters 
 
 o 
 
31 
 
 rUOUKKSd OK AliLTlC 1)ISC(»V1:KV. 
 
 for liair the nootvisary suj (plies, whether of tb(xl or liix- 
 arv, wliicli her native ■j)(»i;uhiti(>ii con.^uiue, or wliich 
 tlie arts and niaimlUeturus, oi' which she is tlie emi)o- 
 riiim, re(juire. 
 
 With a vast and yeai'ly increasing dominion, cover- 
 inu;' almost every region ot" the habitable globe, — ^tiie 
 chart of our colonies being a chart of the woi'ld in out- 
 lino, for we swee[) the globe ami touch every shore, — 
 it becomes necessary that we should keep pace with 
 the progress of colonization, by enlarging, wherever 
 possible, our maritime discoveries, completing and veri- 
 fying our nautical surveys, iuii)roving our meteorologi- 
 cal researches, opening up new and speedier perodical 
 pathways over the oceans which were formerly trav- 
 ersed with so much danger, doubt, and difficulty, and 
 maintaining our superiority as the greatest of maritime 
 nations, by sustaining that high and distinguished rank 
 for naval eminence which has ever attached to the 
 British name. 
 
 The arduous achierements, however, of our nautical 
 discoverers have seldom been appreciated or rewarded 
 as they deserved. We load our naval and military 
 heroes — the men who guard our wooden walls and 
 successfully fight our battles — Math titles and pen- 
 sions ; we heap upon these, and deservedly so, princely 
 remuneration and a.l manner of distinctions; but for 
 the heroes whose p'r.tient toil and protracted endurance 
 far surpass the turmoil of war, who peril their lives in 
 the cause of science, many of whom fall victims to 
 pestilential climates, famine, and the host of dangers 
 which environ the voyager and traveler in unexplored 
 lands and unknown se*i8, we have only a place in the 
 niche of iiime. 
 
 What honors did England, as a maritime nation, con- 
 fer on Cook, the foremost of her naval heroes, — a man 
 whose life was sacrificed for his country ? His' widow 
 had an annuity of 200?., and his surviving childrcii 
 261. each per annum. And this is the reward paid to 
 the most eminent of our naval discoverers, before 
 whom Cabot, Drake, Frobisher, Magellan, Anson, and 
 
 th 
 
 all 
 
 Hei 
 
 en 
 
 re? 
 
 iiK 
 
 eo 
 
INTKODL'CTInX. 
 
 or lux- 
 i* which 
 ) ouipo- 
 
 , covor- 
 }, — tiiu 
 [ ill out- 
 liorc, — 
 ,co with 
 he rover 
 iiid veri- 
 }oroh>gi- 
 erudical 
 I'ly triiv- 
 Itv, and 
 laritiino 
 led rank 
 I to the 
 
 nautical 
 
 iwarded 
 lilitary 
 Is and 
 pen- 
 
 3rincely 
 Jilt for 
 iirancc 
 ives in 
 ;inis to 
 anger.s 
 
 xplored 
 in the 
 
 on, con- 
 - a man 
 
 widow 
 lildren 
 paid to 
 
 heforo 
 on, and 
 
 ■i 
 
 tlie arctic adventurers, [rudsonand T)iilHn, — although 
 Jill eminent tor their discoveries and the important 
 services they rendered to the cause of nautical sci- 
 ence, — sink into insi^nilicance ! If we glance at the 
 I'esults of Cook's voyages we find that to liini we are 
 indei)ted for the innumerable discoveries of islands and 
 colonies planted in the Tacilic ; that he determined 
 the conformation, and surveyed the numerous bays 
 and inlets, of New Holland ; established the geogra- 
 ])hical ])osition of the northwestern shores of America ; 
 ascertained the trending of the ice and frozen shores to 
 the nurtli of Behring's Straits ; approached nearer the 
 South Pole, and made more discoveries in the Austra- 
 lian regions, tlian ,ill the navigators who had preceded 
 him. On the very shores of their vast empire, at the 
 extremity of Kamtschatka, his active genius first 
 taught the Russians to examine the devious trendinga 
 of the hinds wiiich border the Frozen Ocean, in the 
 neighborhood of the Arctic circle. He explored both 
 the ea&tern and western coasts above Behring's Straits 
 to so high a latitude as to decide, beyond doubt, the 
 (piestion as to the existence of a passage round the two 
 Continents. He showed the Russians how to navigate 
 tiie dangerous seas between the old and the new 
 World ; for, as Coxe has remarked, " before his time, 
 every thing was uncertain and confused, and though 
 tliey had undoubtedly reached the contincjit of Amer- 
 ica, yet they had not ascertained the line of coast, nor 
 the separation or vicinity of the two continents of Asia 
 and America." C6xe, certainly, does no more than 
 justice to his illustrious countryman when he adds, 
 '' the solution of this important problem was reserved 
 for our great navigator, and every Englishman must 
 exult that the discoveries of Cook were extended fur- 
 ther in a single expedition, and at the distance of half 
 the globe, than the Russians accomplished in a long 
 series of years, and in a region contiguous to their owu 
 empire." 
 
 Look at Weddell, again, a private trader in seal- 
 skins, who, in a frail bark of 160 tons, made important 
 
lid 
 
 rituoui:ss i>k auciu; ln^o»vLUV. 
 
 discovui'ius ill tlio Antarctic circle, uiul Ji voyai^n of 
 i^rcatcr Icuj^tli jiikI peril, throiii^ii u tliuiisaml n 
 ICO, tliini lijid i>rcvi<>iisly been i)crr"»rmc(l 1)V uii 
 gftlor, ]»iiviiig the wiiy tor the more expeiisivol 
 
 tOS8. 
 
 \ 
 
 t 
 
 IS 
 
 Wed 
 
 nsiirate with liln im 
 
 expedition under Sir Junics 
 muneriited on ii scide com 
 services? 
 
 Half 11 century nijo the celebrated l>ruee of Ki 
 by a Hcries o4' sound ini^s and ol)scrvutic»ns lakei 
 lied Sea, now the ^reat hi^-hway of overland 
 tralHc, rendered its naviijation more secure an( 
 
 tual. II ( 
 
 iti 
 
 .ow was ho rewarded by the then cms 
 istry ? 
 
 Take a more recent instance in the indefutin-ablo 
 energy of Lieutenant AVaL!;horn, It. Ts"^., the t'ntei'iirisini;' 
 pioneer of the overland route to India. AVhat does not 
 the connncrce, the character, the reputation, of this 
 country owe to his indefatii^able exertions, in brini,nn<;' 
 the metropolis into closer connection with our va-t and 
 important Indian empire? And what was the reward 
 lie received for the sacriiices he made of time, money, 
 health and life ? A paltry annuity to himself of lOoL, 
 and a pension to his widow of 2U. per annum ! 
 
 Is it creditable to us, as the first naval ])ower of tlie 
 world, that we should thus dole out miserable pittances, 
 or entirely overlook the successful patriotic exertions 
 and scientific enterprises and discoveries of private 
 adventurers, or public commanders ? 
 
 The attractions of a summer voyage along the bays 
 and seas where the sun shines for four months at a time, 
 exploring the bare rocks and everlasting ice, with no 
 companion but the white bear or the Arctic fox, may 
 bo all very romantic at a distance ; but the mere thought 
 of a winter residence there, frozen fast in some solid 
 ocean, with snow a dozen feet deep, the thermometer 
 ranging from 40° to 50° below zero, and not a glimpse 
 of the blessed sun from November to February, is 
 enough to give a chill to all adventurous notions. But 
 the officers and men engaged in the searching expedi- 
 tions after Sir John Franklin have calmly weighed all 
 
 I lies of 
 
 I '' 
 
 ly navi- 
 
 ♦ tl 
 
 y tilled 
 
 p 
 
 dell re- 
 
 
 portauL 
 
 f. 
 
 tl 
 
 itmaird. 
 
 1' 
 
 1 in the 
 
 a 
 
 eastern 
 
 {> 
 
 d pune- 
 
 * 1 
 
 ng miu- 
 
 
 i 
 
I'lKST VuVAwK <»K vAl'TAlN Uo^H. 
 
 • » t 
 
 iyrt«fo of 
 111 ill's of 
 uy niivi- 
 ;l_v iittod 
 • hk'll I'c- 
 iiportaiit 
 
 LiniiainI, 
 ill in the 
 . esi.steni 
 id piiiic- 
 inij min- 
 
 tatin'iiUlo 
 .'I'lJi-isini;' 
 
 docs not 
 1, ol' this 
 hriii^ini;' 
 
 va-t and 
 3 reward 
 
 llloUUV, 
 
 of lOU/., 
 
 f 
 
 • 
 
 r of the 
 
 ittaiicci^, 
 
 xurtions 
 
 private 
 
 fie Lays 
 a time, 
 with no 
 )X, may 
 thouc-ht 
 
 J *!P 
 
 [e solid 
 lomcter 
 dimpse 
 fary, is 
 But 
 jxpedi- 
 led all 
 
 I 
 
 sS 
 
 I 
 
 tlieso dillicultiis, and Ix.ldly «;ono forth to eneouiiti'r 
 the perils and daiii^ers (»f these ley ^eas tor the sake of 
 tlu if nohle fellow-sailur, whoso fate has been au long a 
 painful mvstery to tlio world. 
 
 It has been truly observed, that '• this is a service 
 Wn- which all otlicers, however brave and intelli_i;-ent 
 tlu'V may be, are not eijually <|ualilieil ; it rei[uires ii 
 ].e('uliar'^ta('t, an in([uisitive and persevering' j)ursnit 
 atler details of tact, not always interesting:, a ci»ntempt 
 (jf danirer, and an I'lithusiasm not to be dam[)ed by 
 ordinary ditliruliies.'' 
 
 The recortls which I shall have to <,dve in these pa^es 
 of voyauvs and travels, inii»aralleled intlu-ir jjcrils, 
 their "duration, and the jd'otracted sutl'erin^s which 
 many of them entailed on the adventurers, will brini;- 
 out in bold relief the prominent characters who havt) 
 lli^ured in Arctic Discovery, and whose names will 
 (le:icend to posterity, embla/.oned on the scroll of fame, 
 for tbeir bravery, their patient endurance, their Kkill, 
 and, above all, their lirm trust and reliance on that 
 Aliiiii;'hty lieing- who, althoug-h Ue may have triod 
 them sorely, has never utterly forsaken them. 
 
 Cai't. John Ross's Yoyage, 1818. 
 
 Ix ISIS, His Royal Highness the Princo Eegeut 
 having signified his pleasure that an attempt should 
 be made to find a passage by sea between tl.'e Atlantic 
 and Pacific Oceans, the Lords Commissioners of the 
 Admiralty were ])leased to fit out four vessels to pro- 
 ceed toward the North Pole, under the command of 
 Captain John Boss. Ko former expedition had been 
 fitted out on so extensive a scale, or so completely 
 equipped in e\ ery respect as this one. The circum- 
 stance which mainly le<l to the serding out of these 
 vessels, was the open character of the bays and seaa 
 in those regions, it having been observed for the pre- 
 vious three years that very unusual quantities of the 
 polar ice had floated down into the Atlantic. In the 
 
38 
 
 riiOGKKSS OF AlvCriU DISCUVKliY. 
 
 year 1817, Sir John Earrow relates tliat the eastern 
 coast of Greenhind, which had been shut up with ico 
 for four centuries, was found to be accessible from the 
 TOth to the 80th degree of latitude, and the interme- 
 diate sea between it and Spitzbergen was so entirely 
 open in the latter parallel, that a Hamburgh ship had 
 actually sailed along this track. 
 
 On the 15th of January, 1818, the four ships were 
 put in commission — the Isabella, 385 tons, and the 
 Alexander, 252 tons — under Captain Ross, to proceed 
 up the middle of Davis' Strait, to a high northern lati- 
 tude, and then to stretch across to the westward, in 
 the hope of being able to pass the northern extremity 
 of America, and reach Behring's Strait by that route. 
 Those destined for the Polar sea were, the Dorothea, 
 382 tons, and the Trent, 249 tons, which were ordered 
 to proceed between Greenland and Spitzbergen, and 
 seek a passage through an open Polar sea, if such 
 should be found in that direction. 
 
 I shall take these voyages in the order of their pub- 
 lication, Ross having given to the world the account 
 of his voyage shortly after his return in 1819 : while 
 the narrative of the voyage of the Dorothea and Trent 
 was only published in 18l3, by Captain Beechey, who 
 served as Lieutenant of the Trent, during the voyage. 
 
 The following were the officers, &c., of the ships 
 under Captain Ross : — 
 
 Isabella. 
 
 Captain — John Ross. 
 
 Lieutenant — W. Robertson. 
 
 Purser — W. Thorn. 
 
 Surgeon — John Edwards. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon — C. J. Beverley. 
 
 Admiralty Midshipmen — A. M. Skene and James 
 
 Clark Ross. 
 Midshipman and Clerk — J. Bushnan. 
 Greenland Pilots — B. Lewis, master; T. "Wilcox, 
 
 mate. 
 Captain (now Colonel) Sabine, R. A. 
 
FIKST VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN KOSS. 
 
 39 
 
 astern 
 ith ico 
 im the 
 tenne- 
 atirely 
 ip had 
 
 3 were 
 lid the 
 •roceed 
 rn lati- 
 ard, in 
 :remity 
 t route. 
 >rothea, 
 ordered 
 en, and 
 if, such 
 
 3ir pub- 
 acconnt 
 while 
 Trent 
 By, who 
 voyao;e. 
 snips 
 
 James 
 
 'ilcox, 
 
 *H 
 
 45 petty officers, >eamen, and marines. 
 Whole conij^lement, 57. 
 
 • 
 
 Alcxayider. 
 
 Lieutenant and Cuinniander — William Edward 
 
 Parry, (now Ca])tain Sir Edward.) 
 Lieutenant — IL IL Hoopner, (a lirst rate artist.) 
 I'tn-ser — W. 11. Hooper. 
 Greenland Tiiots — J. Allison, master ; J. Philips, 
 
 mate. 
 Adiiiinilty Midshipmen — P. Bisson and J.Kius. 
 Assistant Surireon — A. Fisher. 
 Clerk — J. liaise. 
 28 petty officers, seamen, &c. 
 
 Whole complement, 37. 
 
 On the 2d of May, the four vessels being reported 
 fit for sea, rendezvonsed in Brassa Sound, Shetland, 
 and the two expeditions parted company on the follow- 
 ing day for their respective destinations. 
 
 On tlie 56ths the Isabella fell in with the first ice- 
 berg, which appeared to be about forty feet high and 
 a thousand ft-et long. It is hardly possible to imagine 
 any thing more exrjuisite than the variety of tints which 
 tiiL'se icebergs display ; by night as well as by day they 
 glitter with a vividness of color beyond the power of 
 art to represent. While the white portions have the 
 brilliancy of silver, their colors are as various and 
 splendid as those of the rainbow; their ever-changing 
 disposition producing effects as singular as they are 
 new and interesting to those who have not seen them 
 before. 
 
 On the 17th of June, they reached Waygatt Sound, 
 beyond Disco Island, where they found forty-five 
 whalers detained by the" ice. Waygatt Island, from 
 observations taken on shore, was found to be 5° longi- 
 tude and 30 miles of latitude from the situation as laid 
 down in the Admiralty Charts. 
 
 They were not able to get away from here till the 
 1 20th, Avhen the ice began to break. By cutting passages 
 
 % 
 
40 
 
 i'i:o<;i:::.ss uv xaciu: Di-.atWAiY. 
 
 throu^;li the ico, and by dint ol* towing imd wjirpinij;-, 
 ii slow jn'ogress was luadu with the bhips until tho 
 ITth of July, wljcii two icu-llocs closing in upon them, 
 threatened inevitable destruction, and it was only by 
 tlie greatest exertions that they Love through into open 
 water. The labors of warping, towing, and tracking 
 were subsc([uentiy very severe. This tracking, al- 
 t.hough hard work, atl'orded great amusement to tlie 
 men, giving frequent occasion for the exercise of their 
 wit, when some of the men occasionally fell in through 
 holes covered with snow or weak parts of the ice. 
 
 Yerv hi<i:h mountains of land and ice were seen to 
 tlie north side of the bay, which he named Melville's 
 Ijay, forming an im}>assal)le barrier, the precipices 
 next the sea being from lOOO to 2000 feet high. 
 
 ( )n the 2Dth of June, the Esquinuiux, John Sacheusc, 
 who had accomj)anied the expedition from England as 
 interpreter, was sent on shore to commniucate with 
 the natives. About a dozen came off to visit the ship, 
 and, after being treated with coifee and biscuit in the 
 cabin, and having their portraits taken, they set to 
 dancing Scotch reels on the deck of the Isabella with 
 the sailors. 
 
 Captain Ross gives a pleasant description of this 
 scene — '' Sacheuse's mirth and joy exceeded all 
 bounds ; and with a good-humored officiousness, justi- 
 fied by the important distinction which his superior 
 knowledge now gave him, he performed the office of 
 master of the ceremonies. An Esquimaux M. C. to a 
 ball on the deck of one of II. M. ships in the icy seas 
 of Greenland, was an office somewhat new, but Kash 
 himself could not have performed his functions in a 
 manner more appropriate. It did not belong even to 
 Nash to combine in his own person, like Jack, the dis- 
 cordant qualifications of seaman, interpreter, draughts- 
 man, and master of ceremonies to a ball, with those 
 of an active fisher of seals and a hunter of white bears. 
 A daughter of the Danish resident (by in Esquimaux 
 woman,) about eighteen years of age, and by far the 
 best looking of the half-caste group, was the object of 
 
FIIIST VoVAiii; "!•• CAl'IAIX KOSS. 
 
 41 
 
 .til tho 
 1 tiieiii, 
 
 to open 
 rackini^ 
 mg, iii- 
 to the 
 of thL■il• 
 tlll•o\lgll 
 
 CO. 
 
 seen to 
 elville'ri 
 acipices 
 I. 
 
 icheuse, 
 j;lund us 
 ite with 
 he ship, 
 it in the 
 \y set to 
 
 la with 
 
 of this 
 ed all 
 s, justi- 
 uperior 
 ffice of 
 C. to a 
 icy seas 
 it Kasli 
 ms in a 
 even to 
 the dis- 
 raughts- 
 li those 
 e bears, 
 uimaux 
 far the 
 >iect of 
 
 Jack's particular attentions; which being observed by 
 one of our ullicers, lie gave him a hidy's shawl, orna- 
 jueuted with spangles, as an otleringfor her acce]>tance. 
 ]le ])resented it in a most respectful, and nut inigrace- 
 ful manner to the damsel, who bashfully took a pew- 
 ter ring from her linger and gave it to him in return, 
 rewarding him, at the same time, with an eloquent 
 emile, which could leave no doubt on our Ks(|uiman\'s 
 mind that he had made an impression on her heart. ''■•^* 
 On tiie 5th of August the little auks \Mergulfus alle,) 
 "Were exceedingly abundant, and many were shot for 
 food, as was also a large gull, two feet five inches in 
 length, which, when killed, disgorged one of these 
 little birds, entire. 
 
 A fortnight later, on two boats being sent from the 
 
 Isabella to procure as many of these birds as possible, 
 
 ,ic>r the purpose of ])ro3erving them in ice, they re- 
 
 ,turned at inidnight with a boat-load of about 1500, 
 
 jliaving on an average, killed fifteen at each shot. The 
 
 boats of the Alexander were nearly as successful. 
 
 iriiese birds were afterward served daily to each man, 
 
 and, among other \vays of dressing them, they were 
 
 Kbund to make excellent soup — not inferior to hare 
 
 ioup. iS'ot less than two hundred auks were shot ou 
 
 0\e 0th of August, and served out to the ships' compa- 
 
 'pies, among whose victuals they ])roved an agreeable 
 4|ariety, not having the fishy flavor that miglit be ex- 
 
 "iected from their food, which consists of 'crustacea, 
 jpiall fishes, mollusca, or marine vegetables. 
 I On the Tth of August the ships were placed in a 
 iiost critical situation' by a gale of wind. The Isabella 
 
 . fds lifted by the pressure of ice floes on each side of 
 |cr, and it was doubted M'hether the vessel could long 
 '" ithstand the grips and concussions she sustained'^ 
 J every support threatened to give way, the beams in 
 e hold began to bend, and the iron water-tanks 
 
 ittled tO£i-ether. The tv; 
 
 o vessels were thrown with 
 
 iolent concussion against each other, th 
 
 e ice-anchors 
 
 .* 
 
 Vol. I, IX 67, 68. 
 
42 
 
 VLO'Jil'.'.lii i/V 
 
 '■;iv: iHi c>jvi:i;v. 
 
 iind c;il)]o-i Lrolco one after tlie other,* a boat at tiio 
 steni Wiis smashed in the collision^ and the ma:;ts 
 Nvere liourlv exitected to ii-o ])V the botird ; but at this 
 juncture, wlien certain destruction was momentarily 
 looked for, In.the fnerclful interposition of Providence 
 tlie lields of' ice suddenly opened and formed a clear 
 passage for the ships." 
 
 A singular physical feature was noticed on the part 
 of the coast nea^r Cape Dudley Diggcs : — "W' have 
 discovered, (says lloss,) that the snow on the face of 
 .the cliifs presents an appearance both novel and inter- 
 f.-ting, being apparently stained or covered by some 
 Eubstance whicii gave it a deej) crimson color. This 
 snow was jienetrated in many places to a depth of ten 
 or twelve feet by the coloring matter." There is noth- 
 ing new, however, according to JiJarrow, in the discov- 
 ery of red snow. Plinv, and other writers of his time 
 mention it. Saussui-e found it in various parts of the 
 Alps ; Martin found it in Spitzbergen, and no doubt 
 it is to be met with in most alpine regions. 
 
 In the course of this tedious, and often laborious 
 ])rogres3 through the ice, it became necessary to keep 
 the whole of the crew at the most fatiguing work, some- 
 times for several days and nights without intermission. 
 When this was the case, an extra meal was served to 
 them at niidnight, generally of preserved meat ; and 
 it was found that this nourishment, when the mind 
 and body were both occupied, and the sun continually 
 present, rendered them capable of remaining without 
 sleep, so that they often ])assed three days in this man- 
 ner without any visible inconvenience, returning after 
 a meal to their labor on the ice or in the boats quite 
 refreshed, and continuing at it without a murmur. 
 
 After nraking hasty and very cursory examinations 
 of Smith's and Jones' Sounds, Ross arrived, on the 
 oOth of August, off the extensive inlet, named by Baf- 
 fin, Lancaster Sound. The entrance was perfectly 
 clear, and the soundings ranged from 650 to 1000 fiitli- 
 oms. I shall now quote Koss's own observations on 
 this subject, because from his unfortunate report of ;i 
 
 A. 
 
I'lUST VoVAGK 01'" CAl'TAIN KOSS. 
 
 43 
 
 it at tiic 
 lie niii;ts 
 lit at this 
 nentarilv 
 [•ovidence 
 d a clear 
 
 1 the part 
 ^Y Lave 
 e face of 
 and inter- 
 by some 
 lor. This 
 pth of ten 
 re is noth- 
 he discov- 
 f his time 
 irts of the 
 . no doubt 
 
 laborious 
 ■y to keep 
 )rk, gome- 
 jrmission. 
 served to 
 leat ; and 
 Ithe mind 
 >ntinually 
 Ig without 
 this man- 
 tling after 
 loats quite 
 Irmur. 
 minations 
 Id, on the 
 )d by Biii- 
 perfectlv 
 LOGO ftitli- 
 [-ations on 
 )port of ;i 
 
 ranu'c called the Croker mountains, stretching across 
 thirSlralt, has ;vsulted much of the ridicule and dis- 
 credit which has attached to his accnimts, and chtuded 
 his earlv reputation — " On the ;rist (he says) we dis- 
 co ver^'d, fur tiic iirst time, that the hind-cxtiMidcd from 
 tlie sonth two-tliirds across this apparent Strait; l>nt 
 the fog which continually occuj)ied that (piartcr, oh- 
 ■ Ecurt'cfits real ligurc. r)uring the day imu'h interest 
 was excited on hoard by tlie ai)]teai'ance of this Strait. 
 T!ie oviieral opinion, however, was, that it was only an 
 inlctr TIk' Ian I was i)artially seen extending across/, 
 the yellow sky was ])erceptible. At a little-bi'fore four 
 o'clock A. M.,'^the land was seen at the bottom of the 
 inlet by the otHcers of the watch, but before I got on 
 deck {{ space of about seven degrees of the coni])ass 
 was obscured hy the tog. The land which I thoii saw 
 was a high ridge of nionntains extending'directly aci'oss 
 ' the bottom of the inlet. This chain appeared extremely 
 hii'-h in the center. AlthoUi>:h a passa^'c in this direc- 
 tion appeared hopeless, I was determined to ex])lore it 
 coniph'tely. I therefore continued all sail. i^Lr. IJev- 
 .erly. tlie surgeon, who was the most sanguine, v\-ent n]) 
 ,^to the crow's nest, and at twelve re]»ortod to me that 
 |])elbre it became thick he had seen the land across the 
 Ibay, except for a very short space. 
 f "-'At three, I went on deck ; it completely cleared ix)r 
 ,;^ten minutes, M'lien I distinctly saw the land round the 
 bottom of the bay, forming a chain of mountains con- 
 'nected with those Avhich extended alono; the noi'th and 
 |B0uth side. This land appeared to be at the distance 
 ?of eight leagues, and Mr. Lewis, the master, and James 
 fllaig, leading man, being sent for, they took its bcar- 
 - linii's, which were inserted in the loic- At this nuunent 
 ^I also saw a continuity of ice at the distance of seven 
 limiles, extending from one side of the buy to the other, 
 '^between the nearest cape to the north, which I named 
 atter Sir George Warrender, and that to the sonth, 
 which was named after Yiscount Castlereagh. The 
 mountains, which occupied the center, in a north and 
 
u 
 
 l'lH.)t.liK^.i UF AIUJTIC I)I^:C<>VJ•:KV. 
 
 soiitli (lln'ctioii, M'LTo named Crukur's Muiiiitiiiiis, after 
 the Secretary to tlie Admiralty."" 
 
 Tliey next proceeded to Possession Bay, at tlie en- 
 trance of the Strait, wliere a great many animals were 
 observed. Deer, fox, ermine, bears, and hares, were 
 cither seen, or ])roved to be in abundance by their 
 tracks, and the skeleton of a whale was found stranded 
 about 500 yards beyond high-water-mark. Finding, as 
 Itoss supposed, no outlet through Lancaster Strait, the 
 vessels continued their progress to the south^^ard, ex- 
 ■])loring the western coast of Baffin's Bay to Pond's 
 Bay, and Booth's Inlet, discovering the trending of tlio 
 land, which he named Korth Galloway, and Xorth 
 Ayr to Cape Adair, and Scott's Bay. 
 
 On Septendjcr the 10th, they landed on an island 
 near Caj^e Eglington, which was named Agnes' Monu- 
 ment. A flag-staff and a bottle, with an account of 
 their pi'oceedings was set up. The remains of a tem- 
 porary habitation of some of the Esquimaux were here 
 observed, with a fire-place, part of a human skull, a 
 broken stone vessel, some bones of a seal, burnt wood, 
 part of a sledge, and tracks of dogs, &c. 
 
 While the boat was absent, tw^o large bears swam oft' 
 to the ships, which were at the distance of six miles 
 from tlie land. They reached the Alexander, and were 
 immediately attacked by the boats of that ship, and 
 killed. One, which was shot through the head, unfor- 
 tunately sank ; the other, on being wounded, attacked 
 the boats, and showed considerable play, but was at 
 length secured and fowled to the Isabella by the boats 
 of both ships. The animal weighed 1131 i lbs., besides 
 the blood it had lost, which was estimated at 30 lbs. 
 more. 
 
 On the following day, Lieut. Parry was sent on shore 
 to examine an iceberg, which was found to be 4109 
 yards long, 3SG9 yards broad, and 51 feet high, being 
 aground in 61 fothoms. When they had ascended to 
 the top, which was perfectly flat, they found a huge 
 
 w 
 
 to 
 
 o'.l 
 
 (■•>1 
 
 br 
 ll 
 
 * X' 
 
 Vol. T, p. 211-4G, 8vo, cd. 
 
 t 
 
VcVAt.K OF r.i I IIAN AND FiJANKLIX. 
 
 45 
 
 11:^, after 
 
 the cn- 
 als were 
 er;, M-oro 
 by tlioir 
 nranded 
 1(1 ing. as 
 trait, the 
 \arcl, t'X- 
 
 ig of the 
 d Xorth 
 
 n island 
 s' Muini- 
 :'Oiint of 
 )f a tem- 
 »-cre here 
 skull, a 
 nt wood, 
 
 ;wam off 
 
 ix miles 
 
 Ind were 
 
 nip, and 
 
 1, iiniur- 
 
 ittaeked 
 
 was at 
 
 Ihe boats 
 
 besides 
 
 30 lbs. 
 
 )n shore 
 
 i 41G9 
 
 ., being 
 
 ided to 
 
 a liugo 
 
 white bear in fjiiiet possession of the mass, who, nnieh 
 to tlitir niortilleation and a>tonisliment, phmged with- 
 out hesitntion into tlie sea from tlie edge of tiie preei- 
 ])i('e. —'lich was lifty feet liigh. 
 
 I'rom earetul observation it was found that there was 
 
 Jno Bueh land in the center of Davis' Strait as James' 
 
 Jjshuid, which was laid down in most of the cliarts. 
 
 j!>,'t)thlng deserving of notice occurred "n the snl)se<jnent 
 ■(••.nr<(M»f the vessels past Cajie AValsingliam to Cuni- 
 bei'land Strait. 
 
 The 1st of October liavinp; arrived, the limit to which 
 liis instructions p(>rmitted lum to remain, out, Ivoss 
 FJiaped his conrse homeward, and after encountering a 
 Fi'vei-e gale olf Cape Farewell, arrived in (Trimsby 
 ]I(iads on the 14th of November. As respects the pur- 
 l»ose of Arctic discoverv, this vovao-c mav be considered 
 
 labiKot a blank, none of the important inlets and sounds 
 of IJallin's Day having been explored, and all that was 
 done was to define more clearly the land-bounds of 
 ]):ivi>' Strait and EafHn's Bay, if we exce])t the valn- 
 v;able magnetic and other observations made by Caj»tain 
 Sabine. The commander of the expedition was pro- 
 noted to tin? rank of cajitain on paying off the ships in 
 )ecend »or, I^IS. 
 v< The account of his voyage, published by Capt. Tioss, 
 .^ of the most meager and uninteresting descrii>tion, 
 mnd more than half tilled with dry details of the outfit, 
 Cojties of his instructions, of his routine letters and 
 orders to his officers, c^c. 
 I 
 
 4 BuCHAN AND FrAXKLIN. 
 
 Dorot/oa and TrfDtJo J\>7e, 1^'i^. 
 
 L\ conjunction with the expedition of Captain John 
 
 loss, was that sent out to the coast of Spitzbergen, and 
 
 )f which Captain Bcecliy has published a most inter- 
 
 jsting account, embellished with some very elegant 
 
 '**^llu^trations fi'om his pencil. The chai'ge of it was 
 
 " iven to Captain D. Buchan, who had, a few years pre- 
 
 ilou:dy, c<»nducted a ^xn-y interesting expedition into 
 
■ko 
 
 rjiuGlll.t;5 (JL A^a iH; J 1." <'\ i;i:v 
 
 the interior of XcwtuiiiKlhiiKl. Tlie lir.-I an*! iiin.-t im- 
 ])urt;uit object of tiii.s e.\i>e<liti<»ii was the (li>c'«»very t>f 
 a piu^sage over or as near the I'ole, a> iiii::iit l>e [)t)->il)Ie, 
 and tlirongli BeliringV Straits into the J-'aeiiie. J>nt it 
 was also lioped that it might at the same time l)e the 
 means of improving the geogra]»]iy and liydrograpliy 
 i»f tlie Arctic regicms, of wliicli so little was at tiiat time 
 known, and contriinite to the advancement of scieKce 
 and natural knowledm', Tiie oitjects to wliicli attention 
 was si>ecially jiointed in the Admiralty instruetions, 
 were the variation and inclination of the magnetic uw- 
 dle, the intensity of the magnetic force, and how far it 
 is affected l)y atmosj)lierical electricity ; the tempei'a- 
 tnre of the air, the dip of the horizon, refniction, heiglit 
 of the tides, set and velocity of the currents, (ie])ths 
 and soundings of the sea. Collections of specimens to 
 illustrate the animal, mineral and vegetable kingdoms, 
 were also directed to be made. 
 
 The officers and crewa2)pt»iiited to these vessels were : 
 
 Do/'of/t<a, 382 tons. 
 
 Captain — David Buchan. 
 Lieutenant — A. Morel 1. 
 Surgeon — John Duke. 
 Assistant Surgeon — "W. G. Borland. 
 Purser — John Jermain. 
 Astronomer — George Fisher. 
 ■ Admiralty Mates — C. Palmer and W. J. Dealy. 
 Greenland Pilots — P. Bruce, master ; G. Crawfurd, 
 
 mate. 
 45 petty officers, seamen, &c. 
 
 Total complement, 55. 
 
 Trait, 249 tons. 
 
 Lieutenant and Commander — John Franklin. 
 
 Lieutenant — Fred. W. J*eecliy, (artist.) 
 
 Purser — AV. Barrett. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon — A. Gilfillan. 
 
 Admiralty Mates — A. Reid and George Back. 
 
 Grcenhmd Pih>l^ — 0. Fife, master ; G. Xir1)y, nvi'C. 
 
 30 petty otlicers and seamen. 
 
 Total comy-kiuent. OS. 
 
v->VA(ii; ui' v.jj'iix:^ aM' H;ANi;Li:>'. 
 
 >i: 
 
 tvcrv of 
 , IJiit it 
 
 lO 1)C tlii' 
 
 that time 
 f scioKce 
 atteiiti'iu 
 [•I'lK'tiuiis, 
 
 IR'tif uvv- 
 
 luw far it 
 toiiipL'i'a- 
 >ii, lic'iii'Lt 
 s, depths 
 cinieiis to 
 liiigdoms, 
 
 jcls were : 
 
 3ealy. 
 awfurd, 
 
 lin. 
 
 ack. 
 
 •Ity, nsfiC. 
 
 i HaviuLC ItiHMi properly iittod for tlic service, ami ta- 
 ■^vn oil hoard two years' provisions, the ships ^ailed oii^ 
 tlie 2:)t!i of April. The Trent had hardly «:]jot elear of 
 tlic river before she s])rang a leak, and was (letaine(| in 
 ilio pore of Lerwick nearly a fortni«j;-ht under^ioiiiL; 
 rvj^aii-s. 
 
 On the isth of ^[ay, the ships encountered a sevei'o 
 i|ah', and \nider even'slorni stay-sails were buried ^ui;- 
 Will" deep in the waves. On the 2-1-th they sij-'htvd 
 Ghcrie Island, situated in lat. 74^' ;53' N., andjon.;-. i; 
 il)' I'., iorinerlv so notod for its iisherv, hein:;- ir.;;;Ii 
 frei[uented hy walrusses, and for many years the .Mus- 
 covy (.'onipaiiy carried on a lucraiive trade by sendinii,- 
 glii[)s to the island for oil, as many as a thousand ani- 
 |nals being often cajjtured by the crew of a bingle ship 
 in the course of six or seven hours. 
 ^ The ]»ro'^ress of the discovery ships through the sntall 
 fi\^'j.< and hugv) nuisses of iee which floated in succe.- - 
 |i'n pa?:t, was slow, and the.u\ from thi-ir novelty, w;'re 
 |e;j:arded with ])eculiar attention from tiie grotesipic 
 lluiji.'s tliey assume. The progress of a vessel through 
 fiich a labyrinth of frozen masses is one of the most in- 
 lesling sights that oifer in the Arctic seas, ami ke])t 
 le olHcers and crew out of their beds till a late hour 
 latching the scene. Capt. Lecchey, the graphic luir- 
 iBtor of the voyage, thus describes the general impres- 
 (ion created: — "There was besides, on this occasion, 
 Im additional motive for remaining np; very few of 
 ep had ever seen the sun at midnight, and this night 
 liapponing to be particularly clear, liis broad red disc, 
 #iri(»usly distorted by refraction, and swee]>ing majes- 
 k-ally along the northern horizon, was an object of im- 
 osing grandeur, wdiich riveted to the deck some of our 
 few, M'ho would perhaps have beheld with indifferences 
 icless imposing effect of the icebergs; or it might have 
 jcn a combination of both these phenomena ; for it 
 mnot be denied that the novelty, occasioned by the 
 loating masses, was materially heightened by the sin- 
 mlar effect produced by the very low altitude at which 
 lie sun cast his liery beams over the icy surface of the 
 
•IS 
 
 I'UiKiKKSS i>V AlJillC I»I.s«o\i;uv 
 
 8ea. Tlio Yixys were too oLliqno to illiiiniiuito more tliaii 
 the inequalities of tlie tloes, and talliiiuj thus ]»arti;illy 
 on the grotesque Bliapes, either really assumed l>y the 
 ice or distorted l)y the une([ual retraetioii ot' tiie atiii:is- 
 ]>here, i-o l)etrayed tlie iniag'inatiou t!iat it recpiired uo 
 jU'reat exertion of fancy to trace in various directions ar- 
 eliitectural edilices, i^rottos and caves liere and thei'e 
 i-litterinui: as if with i)recious metals. 80 ujencrallv, in- 
 deed, was the decej»tion a<lmitted, that, in directing' 
 the rout(! of the vessel from aloft, wg for awhile dt'viated 
 from our luuitical phraseoloi',T, and shaped ourcoursii 
 for a cliurch, a tov.er, a hridge, or some similar structure, 
 instead of for Ium]is of ice, which were usually desig- 
 nated by less elegant appellations.'" 
 
 The increasing ditliculticsof this ice navigation soon, 
 hovv'ever, directed their attention from ronuince to the 
 reality of their ])Ositi()n, the perils of which soon he- 
 came alarmingly ap[)arent. 
 
 "TJie streams of ice, between which wc at first ymr- 
 suod our serjientino course M'ith comparative ease, grad- 
 ually became more narrow, and at length so impeded 
 the navigation, that it became necessary to run the shi])s 
 against some of these imaginar3^cdiiices, in orderto turn 
 them aside. Even this did not always succeed, as somo 
 were so substantial and immoveable, tliat the vessel =; 
 glanced off to the opposite bank of the channel, and 
 then became for a time embedded in tlie ice. Thus cir- 
 cumstanced, a vessel has no other resource than that of 
 patiently awaiting the change of position in the ice, of' 
 which slie must take every advantage, or she Avill settle 
 bodily to leeward, and become completely entangled." 
 
 On the 20th the ships sighted tho'southern ])romon- 
 tory of Spitxbergen, and on the 2Sth, Avhilc plying t<> 
 windward on the western side, wx're overtaken bv a 
 violent gale at southwest, in Avhich they parted com- 
 pany. The w^eather was very severe, "The snow fell 
 in heavy showers, and several tons weight of ice accu- 
 mulated about the sides of the brig, (the Trent,) and form 
 ed a complete casing to the planks, which received an 
 additional layer at each plunge of the vessel. So great 
 
 W(.' 
 
 alt; 
 wil 
 Stic 
 lufi 
 
 fthe 
 ■fwitli 
 
 \'W 
 
VuYA(n': OK IJLCIIA.N AM) !• KA.NKI.IN. 
 
 40 
 
 (ire tliun 
 |i:irtiaily 
 I l)V liic 
 iitmos- 
 ulrt'd 110 
 itions ai'- 
 
 11(1 tluTl' 
 
 rallv, in- 
 lii'L'ctin^' 
 (U'viatiHl 
 111" course 
 t I'll ct lire, 
 ly flesiii'- 
 
 ioii POoii, 
 
 iCC to tlk'. 
 
 soon 1)('- 
 
 first ])nr- 
 "iso, a'rad- 
 iinpodc"! 
 
 10 8liii).s 
 or to turn 
 
 as BOiuo 
 Ye?so]^ 
 nel, and 
 ilnis cir- 
 n that of 
 
 ice, of 
 
 11 settle' 
 angled." 
 
 n'oinoii- 
 )lvin2: to 
 en by ii 
 ;ed com- 
 ?now fell 
 ICO accii- 
 lul form 
 3ived iw. 
 50 great 
 
 indeed, wa- the acciimnlatiou al)oiit the bouv, that wo 
 were oMifr<'d to cut it away rei)v'atedly with axes to re- 
 lieve the how-sprit from the enormous weight that was 
 attached to it ; and tiie ropes were so thickly covered 
 with ice, that it was nece>sary to bent them^ with largo 
 h\.\rk> lo keej) thcin in a state of rt-adiness for any ovu- 
 liifion that might he rendered necessary, either^ by tho 
 a]'i)('ai'a!ice of ice to leeward, or by u change of wind." 
 < )i\ the gait' ai)ating, i-ieutenant Fi'anklin found him- 
 Feii" surrounded by tlie main body of ice in hit. Sir N., 
 and had much d'ilHcnhy in extricating the vessel. — 
 ilad this formidable liody Ixivn encountered in thick 
 wi-arher, whd ' :(!idding betore a gale of -wind, there 
 AVi.uld have Ih'.'U vci'v litiK- chance of saving either the 
 vessels or the crews. " 'J'he Trent fortunately fell in with 
 her consort, the Dorothea. ])revious to entering the ap- 
 ])uinted reiKb'/.vous at .Mngilah'iia 15ay, on tho 3d of 
 June. This commodious inlet being the lirst j)ort tlii'y 
 liad anchored at in the ])ohir regions, possessed many 
 obJ€icts to engage attention. AV'hat particuliirly struck 
 them was the brilliancy of the atmosphere, the ])cace- 
 fiil novelty of the scene, and the gnmdeur of the vari- 
 ^ons objects with which nature has >tored these unfn.'- 
 iqiiented regions. The anchoi'ago is fornu'd by rugged 
 [mountains, which ri.^e ])recI[)itonsly to the height of 
 liibout *»0()0 fi^et. Deep valh\vs and glens occur between 
 wthe ranrjcs, the ijreater part of whi<-h are either iilled 
 'with immense beds of snow, or with glaciers, sh:>ping 
 frtmi the summits of the mountainous margin to tho 
 ?very edge of the sea. 
 
 The bay is rendered conspicuous by four huge gla- 
 s ciers, of which tho most remarkable, though the small- 
 : est in size, is situated 200 feet above the sea, on tho 
 slope of a mountain. From its peculiar a]>pcarance 
 this glacier has been termed the Hanging Iceberg. 
 Its position is such that it seems as if a very small 
 ^ matter Avoiild detach it from the mountain, and precip- 
 itate it into the sea. ^Vnd, indeed, large portions of its 
 front do occasionally break away and fall with head- 
 long impetuosity upon the beach, to tho great hazard 
 
 "^ 
 
lit 
 
 i 
 
 CO 
 
 riiUOUIi-SS OF AUCTIC DISCDVKUY. 
 
 of any boat that may clianco t(j l)C near, Tlic lariri'ht 
 of tlic'HO glaciers occupies the liead of tlie huv, and, 
 ftccordin*^ to Captain Heechey's account, extends I'imiii 
 two to three niik'S inhmd. JSunierous hirge rents in its 
 upper surface liavo caused it to l)ear a resenilihince to 
 the ruts left hv a wagon ; hence it was named l)y the 
 voyagers the "^Vagon Way." Tlie frontager of this ghi- 
 cicr presents a perpendicular siu'face of iMH) feet in 
 liciglit, l)y 7000 feet in length. Mountain masses — 
 
 " Whoso blocks of 8.'\p])t>ire socm to niorlal cyo 
 Hewn from curuloan (lunnii'n in the Hky, 
 With Rliiciur biitllutiicnlH tliiit crowd th(( spheres, 
 Tho slow crt'utioii of six thomaiul years, 
 Amidst immensity they towir siiltlimi', 
 Winter's eternal jmlace, built by Time." 
 
 At the head of tho bay tliere is a liigh ])yramidal 
 itioiintain of granite, termed llotge Hill, from tlic myr- 
 iads of small birds of tliat name M-liieh fivcjiient its 
 base, and appear to jHvfer its environs to every otlicr 
 
 Eart of tho liarbor. "Tliey are so numerous that wo 
 avo frequently seen an uninterrupted lino of them ex- 
 tending full half way over the bay, or to a distance «<f 
 more than three miles, and so close together that thirty 
 have fallen at one shot. This living column, on an aver- 
 age, might have been about six yards broad, and as 
 many deep ; so that, allowing sixteen birds to a cubic 
 yard, there must have been nearly four millions of birds 
 on the wing at one time. The number I have given cer- 
 tainly seems large ; yet when it is told that tlie littlo 
 rotges rise in such numbers as completely to darken 
 tho air, and that their chorus is distinctly andibie at a 
 distance of four miles, the estimate will not be thouglit 
 to bear any reduction." 
 
 One of their earliest excursions in this bay was an 
 attempt *o ascend the peak of Rotge Hill, "upon wliich," 
 says Captain Beechey, "may now, perhaps, be seen jil; 
 the height of about 2000 feet, a staff that once carried 
 a red flag, which was planted there to mark the great- 
 est height we were able to attain, partly in consequences 
 of the steepness of the ascent, but mainly on account 
 of the detached masses of rock which a very slight 
 
 
 II 
 
 el 
 
VOVAOn OF nUCIIAN AND FIJANICMX. 
 
 f.l 
 
 iiiv, and, 
 lids from 
 nts in it.s 
 
 illllU'O to 
 
 il l)y tho 
 "this <i;Isi- 
 ) feet in 
 
 38C8 
 
 y'riiniidiil 
 the myr- 
 jucnt its 
 jry otlicr 
 that wo 
 them c'X- 
 >tance of 
 [it tliirtv 
 in aver- 
 aiul as 
 a cu1)i(; 
 of l)irds 
 \'eii eer- 
 ie little 
 darken 
 hie at a 
 thought 
 
 was an 
 whieh," 
 seen at 
 carried 
 e great- 
 Bquenc(i 
 account 
 slight 
 
 •■t 
 
 matter wouhl dis|»lace and hurl d<»\vn llie precipitous 
 di'clivity, to the utter destruction ot' ium who depended 
 ui)on tfu'ir support, or wh(» might iiappeii to be in 
 their path Itelow. The latter j)art of our ascent was, 
 indeecl, much against our im-limition ; hut we found it 
 imjMissiide ti» (h'seend l»y the way W(? ha<l come up, ami 
 Were ('omi)elled to gain a ledge, wlueii promised the 
 otdy secure resting-[>ia('i^ we could find at that hi-igiit. 
 'J'hi's we Were al)le to effect hy sticking the tomaliawks 
 with which we were ])rovided, into crevices in tlie rock, 
 as a support for our feet; and some of tliese instru- 
 ments we were obliged to leave wiiert* tliey were driven, 
 in consecpu'iice of tlie danger tliat atti'mkid their 
 iv'covery."' During the vessel's detention in this har- 
 bor, tln! l»ay and anciiorage were com]»letely surveyed. 
 
 When the lirst ]>arty rowed into this bay, it was in 
 ([uiet ])ossession of iierds of walruses, who were so nn- 
 accustome(l to the si<dit of a boat that tliev assenUded 
 about her, api)arently higlily incensed at the intrusion, 
 and swam toward her as though they would luive torn 
 tlie ]>lanks asunder with their tusks. Their hides were 
 so toui^h that nothinf' but a bavonet would pierce them. 
 The wounils that were inflicted only served to increase 
 thi'ir rage, and it Avas with much difHculty they were 
 kept off with lire-arms. Su]ise(|uently the boats went 
 bi'tter prepared and more strongly sui)ported, and 
 many of these monsters were killed ; some were four- 
 teen feet in length, and nine feet girth, and of such 
 ])rodigious weight, that the boat's crew could scarcely 
 turn them. 
 
 The ships had not been many days at their anchor- 
 age when they were truly astonished at tho sight of a 
 strange 1)oat pulling toward the ships, which was found 
 to belong to some Russian adventurers, who were en- 
 gaged in the collection of peltry and morse' teeth. This 
 is the last remaining establishmC^nt at Spitzbergen still 
 njiheld by the merchants of Archangel. 
 
 Although equally swrprised at the sight of tho ves- 
 sels, the boat'8 crew took courage, and after a careful 
 scrutiny, went on board the Dorothea; Captain Buchan 
 
 :v«fo^#2«i 
 
62 
 
 rHOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 gave them a kind reception, and supplied tliem with 
 wluitever they wanted ; in return for which they sent 
 on board, the following day, a side of venison in excel- 
 lent condition. Wishing to gain some furtlier informa- 
 tion of these people, an officer accompanied them to 
 their dwelling at the head of a small cove, about four 
 miles distant from the bay, where he found a comfort- 
 able wooden hut, well lined with moss, and stored with 
 
 venison, wild ducks, &c. 
 
 It is related by Captain Beechey that it was with ex- 
 treme pleasure they noticed in this retired spot, proba- 
 bly the most northern and most desolate habitation of 
 our globe, a spirit of gratitude and devotion to the Al- 
 mighty rarely exercised in civilized countries. " On 
 landing from the boat and approaching their residence, 
 these people knelt upon its tbreshold, and oftered up a 
 prayer with fervor and evident sincerity. The exact 
 nature of the prayer wo did not learn, but it was no 
 doubt one of thanksgiving, and we concluded it was a 
 custom which these recluses were in the habit of observ- 
 ing on their safe return to their habitation. It may, at 
 all events, be regarded as an instance of the beneficial 
 effects which seclusion from the busy world, and a con- 
 templation of the works of nature, almost invariably 
 produce upon the hearts of even the most uneducated 
 pari" of mankind.'" 
 
 On the 7th of June the expedition left the anchorage 
 to renew the examination of tlie ice, and after steering 
 a few leaguea to the northward, foimd it precisely in 
 tlie same state as it had been left on tlie 2d. In spite 
 of rJl their endeavors, by towing and otherwise, the 
 vesf^els were driven in a calm by the heavy swell into 
 the packed ic^?, and the increasing peril of their situa- 
 tion may be imagined from the following graphic de- 
 Bcription : — 
 
 " The pieoeij at the edge of the pack were at one time 
 wholly immersed in the sea, and at the next raised far 
 above their natural line of flotation, while those further 
 in, b«ing nor* extensive, were alternately depressed or 
 
 cl( 
 foi 
 
 uli 
 nil 
 
 to 
 
 '': SCI 
 
 " Sill 
 
 'S w 
 
•Pi,?:' 
 
 VOYAGE UF liUCIIAN AND FKANMtfN. 
 
 58 
 
 . with 
 y Bcnt 
 excel- 
 :brmii- 
 cm to 
 it four 
 mtbrt- 
 i with 
 
 ith cx- 
 proba- 
 ion ot* 
 ^he Al- 
 
 "On 
 idence, 
 d up a 
 3 exact 
 was no 
 t was a 
 lobsei'V- 
 nay, at 
 ncficial 
 
 a con- 
 ariably 
 
 ucated 
 
 Ihorago 
 fceering 
 
 |sely in 
 spito 
 Ise, the 
 111 into 
 situa- 
 lic de- 
 le time 
 led far 
 further 
 Ised or 
 
 elevated at either extremity as the advancing wave 
 tbrced its way along. 
 
 ^' Tlio see-saw motion which was thus produced waa 
 iiliinniiig, not merely in appearance, but in fact, and 
 must have proved fatal to any vessel that had encoun- 
 tered it ; as lloes of ice, several yards in thickness, were 
 cuutinually crashing and breaking in pieces, and the 
 sea for miles was covered with fragments ground so 
 Binull tliat they actually formed a thick, pasty fuI> 
 btance — in nautical language termed, "I/rash ice' — 
 which extended to the depth of live feet. Amidst this 
 giddy element, our whole attention was occupied in en- 
 deavoring to place the bow of the vessel, the strongest 
 part of her frame, in the direction of the most fomiida- 
 lile pieces of ice — a maneuver which, though likely to 
 
 ' be attended with the loss of the bowsprit,- was yet prefer- 
 able to encountering the still greater risk of having the 
 l)roadside of the vessel in contact with it ; for this would 
 have subjected her to the chance of dipping her gun- 
 
 : wale under the floes as she rolled, an accident wlucli, 
 had it occurred, would either have laid open her side, 
 or have overset the vessel at once. In either case, the 
 
 i event would probably have proved Mai to all on board, 
 
 ^as it would have been next to impossible to rescue any 
 
 ^person from the confused moving mass of brash ice 
 
 %\vhich covered the sea in every direction." 
 
 I The attention of the seamen was in some degree di- 
 
 iverted from the contemplation of this scene of diffi- 
 
 iculty by the necessity of employing all hands at the 
 
 ^ump, the leak having gained upon them. But, for- 
 
 Aunately, toward morning, they got quite clear of the 
 
 t^Sce. 
 
 ' || Steering to the westward to reconnoiter, they fell in, 
 "Jm longitude 4° 30' E., with several wliale ships, and 
 
 . fwere informed by them that the ice was quite compact 
 
 to the westward, and that fifteen vessels were beset in 
 
 ait. Proceeding to the northward, the ships passed, on 
 
 ^tlie 11th of June, Cloven Cliff, a remarkable isolated 
 
 |rock, wliich marks the northwestern boundary of Spitz- 
 
 |bergen,and steered along an intricate chajanel between 
 
54 
 
 TROOKESS OF AKCTICJ DISCOVKILY. 
 
 the land and ice ; but, next morning, their further ad- 
 vance was stopped, and tlie channel bj which the ves- 
 Bels had entered became so completely closed up as to 
 preclude the possibility also of retreating. Lieutenant 
 j3eechey proceeds to state — 
 
 " The ice soon began to press heavily upon us, and, 
 to add to our difiiculties, we found the water so shallow 
 that the rocks were plainly discovered under the bot- 
 toms of the ships. It was impossible, however, by any 
 exertion on our part, to improve the situations of the 
 vessels. They were as firmly fixed in the ice as if they 
 had formed part of the pack, and we could only hope 
 that the current would not drift them into still shallower 
 water, and damage them against the ground." 
 
 The ships were here hemmed in in almost the same 
 position where Bafiin, Hudson, Poole, Captain Phipps, 
 and all the early voyagers to this quarter had been 
 stopped. 
 
 As the tide turned, the pieces of ice immediately 
 around the ships began to separate, and some of them 
 to twist round with a loud grinding noise, urging the 
 vessels, which werv3 less than a mile from the land, still 
 nearer and nearer vo the beach. 
 
 By great exertions the ships were hauled into small 
 bays in the floe, and secured there by ropes fixed to the 
 ice by means of large iron hooks, called ice anchors. 
 Shifting the ships from one part of this floe to the other, 
 they remained attached to the ice thirteen days. As 
 this change of position could only be effected by main 
 force, the crew were so constantly engaged in this har- 
 assing duty, that their time was divided almost entirely 
 between thp windlass and the pump, until the men at 
 length became so fatigued that the sick-list was seriously 
 augmented. During this period, however, the situation 
 of the leak was fortunately discovered, and the damage 
 repaired. 
 
 An officer and a party of men who left the Dorothea 
 to pay a visit to the shore, about three or four miles 
 distant, lost themselves in the fog and snow, and wan- 
 dered about for sixteen hours, until, quite overconio 
 
 J 
 
Tr" 
 
 VOYAUE OF UUCUXls A>il) FliANKLIN. 
 
 55 
 
 le ve:.;- 
 
 P Ho to 
 
 tenant 
 
 s, and, 
 hallow 
 tio bot- 
 by any 
 of the 
 if they 
 y hope 
 illower 
 
 e same 
 Phipps, 
 i been 
 
 id lately 
 f them 
 ng the 
 id, still 
 
 small 
 
 1 to the 
 nchors. 
 3 other, 
 's. As 
 y main 
 lis har- 
 sntirelv 
 [nen at 
 riously 
 nation 
 amago 
 
 Drothea 
 miles 
 d wan- 
 
 ercomo 
 
 with wet, cold and fatigue, they sat down in a state of 
 despondency, upon u piece of ice, determined to submit 
 theii" fate to Providence. Their troubles are thus told : 
 "To travel over ragged pieces of ice, upon which 
 ' there were two feet of snow, and often more, springing 
 from one slippery piece to the other, or, when the chan- 
 ni'Ls between tliem were too wide for this purpose, fer- 
 rying themselves upon detached fragments, was a work 
 which it required no ordinary exertion to execnte. 
 '•^Some fell into the water, and were with difficulty 
 reserved from drowning by their companions ; while 
 others, afraid to make any hazardous attempt whatever, 
 were left upon pieces of ice, and drifted about at tho 
 mercy of the winds and tides. Foreseeing the proba- 
 bility of a separation, they took the first opportunity 
 of dividing, in equal shares, the small quantity of pro- 
 vision whicii they had remaining, as also their stock of 
 ])uwder and ammunition. Tliey also took it in turns to 
 lire muskets, in the hoj)e of being heard from the ships." 
 The rei)orts of the hre-arms were heard by their ship- 
 mates, and Messrs. Fife and Kirby, the Greenland ice- 
 liiuisters, ventured out with poles and lines to their 
 |«issistaiice, and had the good fortune to fall in with tho 
 ?party, and bring them safely on board, after eighteen 
 ilKjurs' absence. They determined in future to rest sat- 
 isfied with the view of the shore which was afforded 
 ^tliem from the ship, having not the slightest desire to 
 fittempt to approach it again by means of the ice. 
 il The pressure of the ice against the vessels now be- 
 .jCame very great. 
 
 ^ "At one time, when the Trent appeared to be so closely 
 edged np that it did not seem possible for her to be 
 loved, she was suddenly lifted four feet by an enor- 
 lous mass of ice getting under her keel ; at another, 
 -<the fragments of tho cruml)ling floe were piled up 
 under the bows, to the great danger of the bowsprit. 
 
 "The Dorothea was in no less imminent danger, es- 
 pecially from the point of a floe, which came in contact 
 with her side, wlif^re it remained a short time, and then 
 glanced o% and became checked by the field to wMcli 
 
•i(i 
 
 5G 
 
 rnociUESS of Aucric dihcovery. 
 
 ^ 
 
 she waa moored. The enormous pressiire to whicli tlio 
 ship had been subjected was now apparent !)y the tiehl 
 "being rent, and its point broken into fragment?, which 
 were speedily heaped up in a pyramid, tliirty-ilve feet 
 in heiglit, upon the very summit of whicli tliere ap- 
 peared a huge mass, bearing the impression of the 
 planks and bolts of the vessel's bottom." 
 
 Availing themselves of a break in the ice, the ships 
 were moved to an anchorage between the islands con- 
 tiguous to the Cloven Cliff; and on the 28th of June, 
 anchored in fifteen tathoms water, near Yogel Sang. 
 On the islandri they found plenty of game, and eitlei- 
 ducks. 
 
 The island of Yogel Sang alone supplied the crews 
 with forty reindeer, which were in such high condition 
 that the fat upon the loins of some measured from four 
 to six inches, and a carcass, ready for being dressed, 
 weighed 285 pounds. Later in the season, the deer 
 were, however, so lean that it was rare to meet with any 
 fat upon them at all. 
 
 On the Gth of July, finding the ice had been driven 
 to the northward, the ships again put to sea, and Capt. 
 Ijuchan determined to prove, by a desperate effort, 
 what advance it was possible to make by dragging the 
 vessels througli the ice whenever the smallest openino- 
 occurred. This laborious experiment was performecl 
 by fixing large ropes to iron hooks driven into the ice, 
 and by heaving upon them with the windlass, a party 
 removing obstructions in the channel with saws. Eut 
 in spite of all their exertions, the most northerly posi- 
 tion attained was 80° 37' N. Although fastened to tlu) 
 ice, the ships were now drifted bodily to the southward 
 by the prevailing current. They were- also much in- 
 jured by the pressure of hummocks and fields of ice. 
 
 On the 10th of July, Captain Beechey tells us, the 
 Trent sustained a squeeze which made her rise four 
 feet, and heel over five streaks ; and on the 15th and 
 16th, both vessels suffered considerable damage. " On 
 that occasion," he says, "we observed a field fifteen 
 feet in thickness break up, and the pieces pile upon 
 
VOYAOK OF BUCIIAN AND FRANKIJN. 
 
 67 
 
 licli the 
 •he Held 
 S whieh 
 ive feet 
 lere ap- 
 ot' the 
 
 le ships 
 ds con- 
 )t' June, 
 
 d eidei- 
 
 16 crews 
 ^ndition 
 om four 
 dressed, 
 he deer 
 vith any 
 
 I driven 
 
 d Capt. 
 
 effort, 
 
 ;ing the 
 
 openino- 
 
 brmed 
 
 the ice, 
 
 a partv 
 
 Eiit 
 
 y posi- 
 
 d to the 
 
 thward 
 
 uch in- 
 
 ice. 
 
 us, the 
 
 se four 
 
 th and 
 
 "On 
 
 fifteen 
 
 3 upon 
 
 'each other to a great height, until they upset, when they 
 rolled over witli a tremendous crash. Ihe ice near the 
 ■phipswas piled up above their bulwarks. Fortunately, 
 ^he vessels rose to the pressure, or they must have had 
 Itheir sides forced in. The Trent received her greatest 
 (damage upon the quarters, and was so twisted that the 
 (floors of all the cabins flew open, and the panels ot 
 I onie started in the frames, while her false stern-post 
 ivas moved three inches, and her timbers cracked to a 
 Biost serious extent. The Dorothea suffered still more : 
 %ome of her beams were sprung, and two planks on the 
 lower deck were split fore and aft, and doubled up, and 
 ghe otherwise sustained serious injury in her hull. It 
 ^-as in vain that we attempted any relief; our puny 
 efforts were not even felt, though continued for ei^ht 
 hours with unabated zeal ; and it was not until the tide 
 changed that the smallest effect was produced. When, 
 jiowever, that occurred, the vessels righted and settled 
 in the water to their proper draught." 
 . From the 12 th to the 19th, they were closely beset 
 l^ith ice. For nine successive days following this the 
 jprews were occupied, night and day, in endeavoring to 
 ixtricate the ships, and regain the open sea. Thinking 
 ae had given the ice a fair trial here, the commander 
 letermined vipon examining its condition tow^ard the 
 istern coast of Greenland, and in the event of finding 
 efiually impenetrable there, to proceed round the 
 nith cape of Spitzbergen, and make an attempt be- 
 tween that island and Nova Zembla. 
 4 On the 30th of July, a sudden gale came on, and 
 |brought down the main body of the ice upon them, so 
 ^hat the ships were in such imminent danger that their 
 |>nly m 3ans of safety was to take refuge among it — a 
 )ractice which has been resorted to Ijy whalers in ex- 
 reme cases — as their only chance of escaping destruc- 
 ion. 
 The following is a description of the preparation 
 lade to withstand the terrible encounter, and the hair- 
 )readth escape from the dangers : — 
 " In order to avert the effocta of this as much as pes- 
 
58 
 
 I'KiXiKKSS 01-' AKCllC DlSCuVKliY. 
 
 biblo, u ciihle was (.'lit up into thirty -t'uet Iriiy-tlis, aiul 
 those, with phites of iron luur feut sqiiaiv, which liud 
 been supplied to \is as feiidej's, to<j;'ether with isoiiio 
 walrug' Iiides, were luui<^ round the vessels, es2)eeially 
 about the bows. The masts, at the same time, were se- 
 cui:ed with additional ropes, and the hatches were bat- 
 tened and nailed down. Jjy tlie time these precautions 
 liad been taken, our approach to the breakers only left 
 us the alternative of either pernuttinf:; the ships to be 
 drifted broadside against the ice, and so to take their 
 chance, or of endeavoring- to force fairly into it by put- 
 ting before tlie wind. At length, the hopeless state of 
 a vessel placed broadside against so formidable a body 
 became a})parent to all, and we resolved to attempt 
 the latter expedient." 
 
 Eagerly, but in Miin, v/as the general line of the pads 
 Bcanned, to lind one ]>lace more open than the other. 
 All parts appeared to l)e e^pially impenetrable, and to 
 present one unbroken line of furious breakers, in which 
 immense pieces of ice were heaving and subsiding wit! ^ 
 the waves, and dasliing together with a violence whicli 
 nothing apparently but a solid body could withstand, 
 occasioning such a noise that it was with the greatest 
 difficulty the officers could make their orders heard bv 
 the crew. 
 
 The fearful aspect of this appalling scene is thue 
 sketched by Captain Beechey : — 
 
 "' 'No language, I am convinced, can convey an ade- 
 quate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effect now pro- 
 duced by the collision of the ice and the tempestuous 
 ocean. The sea, violently agitated and rolling its moun- 
 tainous waves against an opposing body, is at all times 
 a sublime and awful sight ; but when, in addition, it 
 encounters immense masses, which it has set in motion 
 with a violence equal to its own, its effect is prodigi- 
 ously increased. At one moment it bursts upon these 
 icy fragments and buries them many feet beneath its 
 wave, and the next, as the buoyancy of the* depressed 
 body struggles for reascendancy, the water rushes in 
 foaming cataracts over its edges ; while every indi- 
 
/ . 
 
 Voyage of lin^uAN am> ihj^^av. 
 
 5U 
 
 h^:, aiui 
 ch had 
 
 I sumo 
 pecially 
 vcre Hc- 
 ere bat- 
 'autiuiis 
 •uly left 
 >s to be 
 ke their 
 by put- 
 state of 
 
 a body 
 attempt 
 
 he pacl^ 
 e otlier. 
 , and to 
 
 II ^vhich 
 iiig witli 
 
 M'liich 
 istand, 
 crreatef^l 
 ard bv 
 
 is thue 
 
 an ade- 
 
 ow prtH 
 
 lestuoiis 
 
 momi- 
 
 1 times 
 
 ition, it 
 
 motion 
 
 3rodigi- 
 
 n these 
 
 ath its 
 
 pressed 
 
 lies in 
 
 J indi- 
 
 vidual mass, rockino; and laboring in its bbd, grinds 
 against and contends with its o})ponent, until one is 
 ei'tlier split with the shock or ui)heaved upon the sur- 
 
 8 face of the other. Kor is this collision conlinod to any 
 
 I i)articular spot ; it is going on as far as the sight can 
 reacii ; and when from tliis convulsive scene below, the 
 eye is turned to the extraordi^ii'*v appearance of the 
 'blink in the sky above, whei cue unnatural clear- 
 ness of a calm and silvery atmosphere presents itself, 
 bounded by a dark, hard line of stormy clouds, such aa 
 
 ^at this moment lowered over our masts, as if to mark 
 the confines within which the efibrts of man would be 
 of no avail. The reader may imagine the sensation of 
 awe wliicli nnist accompany that of grandeur in tlio 
 mind of the beholder." 
 
 •••If ever," continues the narrator, "the fortitude of 
 eeamen was fairly tried, it was assuredly not less eo oft 
 
 • this occasion ; and I will not conceal tlio pride I felt in 
 .^witnessirig tlie bold and decisive tone in which tho 
 unleis were issued ])y the commander (the present 
 Captain Sir John Franklin) of our little vessel, and tho 
 promptitude and steadiness with which they were oxo* 
 cuted ))y the crew." 
 * As the laboring vessel flew before the gal6> sho eooa 
 
 r' eared the scene of danger. 
 "Each person instinctively secured hit own hold, 
 ind Avith his eyes fixed upon the masts, awaited in 
 jpreathless anxiety the moment of concussion. 
 ;M " It soon arrived, — the brig, (Trent) cutting her way 
 pirough the light ice, came in violent contact with the 
 Inain body. In an instant we all lost our footing ; the 
 . Aiasts bent with the impetus, and the cracldng timbers 
 ^om below bespoke a pressure which was calculated to 
 ^waken our serious apprehensions. The vessel stag- 
 ired under the shock, and for a moment seemed to 
 jcoil ; but the next wave, curling up under her coun- 
 jr, drove her about her own length within the margin 
 )f the ice, where she gave one roll, and was immedi- 
 litely thrown broadside to the wind by the succeeding 
 7ave, which beat furiously against her stem, ana 
 
60 
 
 PKOGRESS OF AKCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 brought licr lee-side in contact with tlio main bod}', 
 leaving her weather-side exposed at the same time to 
 a piece of ice about twice her own dimensions. Tliis 
 unfortimate occu"»*ence prevented the vessel penetrat- 
 ing sufficiently far into the ice to escape the effect of 
 the gale, and placed her in a situation wliere she was 
 assaued on all sides by battering-rams, if I may use 
 the expression, every one of which contested the small 
 
 Siace which she occupied, and dealt such unrelenting 
 ows, that there appeared to be scarcely any possibil- 
 ity of savin^nj Iier from foundering. Literally tossed 
 from piece to piece, we had nothing left but patiently 
 to abide the issue ; for we could scarcely keep our feet, 
 much less render any assistance to the vessel. The mo- 
 tion, indeed, was so great, that the ship's bel], which, in 
 the heaviest gale of wind, had never struck of itself, 
 now tolled so continually, that it was ordered to ho 
 muffled, for the purpose of escaping the unpleasant as 
 Bociation it was calculated to produce. 
 
 " In anticipation of the worst, we determined to at 
 tempt placing the launch upon the ice under the lee, 
 and hurried into her such provisions and stores as could 
 at the moment be got at. Serious doubts were reason- 
 ably entertained of the boat being able to live among 
 the confused mass by which we were encompassed ; yet 
 as this appeared to be our only refiige, we clung to it 
 with all the eagerness of a last resource." 
 
 From the injury the vessel repeatedly received, it 
 became very evident that if subjected to this concus- 
 sion for any time, she could not hold together long ; the 
 only chance of escape, therefore, appeared to depend 
 upon getting before the wind, and penetrating further 
 into the ice. 
 
 To effect this with any probability of success, it be- 
 came necessary to set more head-sail, though at the 
 risk of the masts, already tottering with the pressm-e 
 of that which was spread. By the expertness of the 
 eeamen, more sail was spread, and under this additional 
 pressure of canvass, the ship came . into the desired 
 position, and with the aid of an enormous mass under 
 
 n 
 
 the 
 thi( 
 and 
 I 
 pro 
 the 
 to \ 
 the 
 hu 
 cnil 
 tun 
 disii 
 sust 
 , For 
 ' usel 
 , lor 
 anc 
 suul 
 ^ cent 
 
 • 
 
 ' tliev 
 
 T • 
 
 Iinii 
 liav< 
 ^the 
 Upo 
 
 to t: 
 
 pate 
 vant [ 
 be a 
 estir 
 com 
 crew 
 tere( 
 
 )Ut 1 
 
 )y tj 
 
 i; 
 
VOYAGE OF BUCIIAN AND FRANKLIN. 
 
 61. 
 
 body, 
 ;ime to 
 . This 
 jiietrat- 
 sffect of 
 ihe was 
 lay use 
 e small 
 leuting 
 ►ossibil- 
 
 tossed 
 itiently 
 •ur feet, 
 riie mo- 
 liicli, in 
 •f itself, 
 I to Lo 
 sant as 
 
 £ 
 
 to at 
 he lee, 
 s could 
 reason- 
 amono- 
 ed; yet 
 ig to it 
 
 Lved, it 
 conciis- 
 tho 
 depend 
 further 
 
 , it be- 
 at the 
 ressui'e 
 of the 
 litional 
 desired 
 I under 
 
 the stern, she split a small field of ice, fourteen feet in 
 thickness, which had hitherto impeded her progress, 
 and effected a passage for herself between the pieces. 
 In this improved position, by carefully placing the 
 protecting fenders between the ice and the ship's sides, 
 tlie strokes were much diminished, and she managed 
 to weatlier out the gale, but lost sight of her consort in 
 the clouds of spray which were tossed about, and the 
 huge intervening masses of ice among which they were 
 embayed. On the gale moderating, the ships were for- 
 tunately got once more into an open sea, although both 
 disabled, and one at least, the Dorothea, which had 
 sustained the heavy shocks, in a foundering condition. 
 For the main object of the expedition they were now 
 useless, and, both being in a leaky state, they bore up 
 for Fair Haven, in Spitzbergen. In approaching the 
 ■ anchorage in South Gat, the Trent bounded over a 
 sunken rock, and struck hard, but this, after their re- 
 cent danger, was thought comparatively light of. 
 On examining the hulls of the vessels, it was found 
 ' they had sustained frightful injuries. The intermediate 
 •lining of felt between the timbers and planks seems to 
 liave aided greatly in enabling the vessels to sustain 
 'the repeated powerful shocks they had encountered. 
 lUpon consulting with his officers. Captain Buchan came 
 fto the opinion that the most prudent course, was to 
 Jpatcli up the vessels for their return voyage. Lieuten- 
 fant Franklin preferred an urgent request that he might 
 be allowed to proceed in his own vessel upon the inter- 
 ^esting service still unexecuted ; but this could not be 
 ? complied with, in consequence of the hazard to the 
 acrew of proceeding home singly in a vessel so shat- 
 Jtered and unsafe as the Dorothea. After refitting, they 
 put to sea at the end of August, and reached England 
 Dy the middle of October. 
 
 Franklin's First Land Expedition, 1819-21. 
 
 In 1819, on the recommendation of the Lords of the 
 j Admiralty, Capt. Franklin was appointed to command 
 
es 
 
 rjcoGKKss oK Ai:<;ii(; DiscovKia'. 
 
 all overltiiid expedition tiY>ni Hudson's I>uy to tiio iioi'tli- 
 cni sliores ot* Aniurit'ii, for the purpose ot* deterniiiiiiii^ 
 the latitudes iind loni^itudes, {uid exploring the const ot* 
 the continent esistwiird from thy Copperndno Kiver. ])r. 
 John Kichardson, li. N., and two Admiralty ]\lidship- 
 men, Mr. Georii;o Back, (who had been out on the jxtliir 
 cxi)C(lition, in tlie previous year, in H. M. S. Trent,) and 
 Mr. Itobert Hood, were placed under his orders. Pre- 
 vious to his departure from London, Capt. Franklin ob- 
 tained all the information and advice possible from Sii* 
 • Alex. Mackenzie, one of the oidy two ])erson8 who had 
 yet ex])lored those shores. On the 23d of May, the party 
 embarked at Gravesend, in the Prince of Wales, belon*;'- 
 in^ to the Hudson's Bay Ci)mpany, which immediately 
 got under weif»;h in company with her consorts, the Kd- 
 dystone and Wear. Mr. Back, who w^as left on shore by 
 accident in Yarmouth, succeeded in catching tfie ship at 
 Htromness. i)u the 4th of August, in hit. 59° 58' X., 
 and long. 59" 5o' W., they first fell in with large icebergs. 
 On tlie following day, the height of one was ascertained 
 to be 149 feet. After a stormy and perilous voyage the}' 
 reached the anchorage at York Flats on the 30th of 
 August. 
 
 On the 9th of September, Capt. Franklin and his party 
 left York Factory in a boat by the way of the rivers and 
 lakes for Cumberland House, another of the Company's 
 posts, which they reached on the 22d of October. 
 
 On the 19th of January, Franklin set out in comjDany 
 with Mr. Back and a seanum named Hepburn, with pro- 
 visions for fifteen days, stowed in two sledges, on their 
 journey to Fort Chipewyan. Dr. Richardson, Mr. Ilood 
 and Mr. Conolly accompanied them a short distance. 
 After touching at different posts of the Company, they 
 reached their destination safely on the 26th of Marcli, 
 after a winter's journey of 857 miles. The greatest diffi- 
 culty experienced by Uie travelers was the labor of walk- 
 ings in snow shoes, a weight of between two and three 
 pounds being constantly attached to galled feet and 
 sw^elled ankles. 
 
 On the 13th of July, they were joined by Dr. Richard- 
 
 $' 
 
IJ;ANuI.U\ fc5 Vnv I I.AM' K.M'KDITIuN. 
 
 63 
 
 nurtli- 
 n'mlii.ii; 
 
 U'AUt of 
 
 ir. 1)1'. 
 
 idsliip- 
 ii ])<>kir 
 it,) and 
 . r re- 
 el in ob- 
 •oiii !^ii' 
 ho liud 
 ic piu'ty 
 Ijc'lon*;'- 
 Kllutcly 
 the Kd- 
 lioi-e by 
 ;shi|) at 
 58' ^., 
 t:eber^-s. 
 'rtiilned 
 i^e they 
 30th of 
 
 |is party 
 ers uud 
 ipiiny's 
 ir. 
 
 iinpaiiy 
 ith pro- 
 »n their 
 •. Ilood 
 tstance. 
 |y, they 
 [March, 
 !St diffi- 
 |f walk- 
 three 
 let and 
 
 kcliard- 
 
 Foii tiiid Mr. Hood, wlio Iiiid iikkK' u wvy expeditious 
 jouriU'V from (.'uinl»eriiiiid Ib-ust'; they had only ouu 
 '(hiy's provisioiiri Icl't, the peHiiuiean they hud received at 
 the [)t»sts bein;^'Ho mouldy that tliey were obli«rt.(j to leave 
 it I)ehin<l. Ari'an,i,^eiiieut8 were now made tor their juur- 
 iK'y n«.rth\vard. Sixteen Canadian voya,i;<'urs were eii- 
 H'.i'i;'ed, and a (.'Idpewyan woman and two interjjreters 
 were to be taken on from Great Slave Lake. The whole 
 stock (»f ])rovi.slons they could obtain before startin*,^ was 
 oidy .-ullieient for one day's sui>ply, exchi.sive of two bar- 
 rels of Hour, three cases of preserved meats, some choco- 
 late, iirruw-root and i)ortable soup, which had been 
 bn )UL;-ht froui Enii,hind, and were kept as a ivserve for the 
 jouiiiey to the coast in the followni^ season; seventy 
 ])ouii(ls of deer's ilesh and a little barley were all that 
 ', the Company's ollicers could give them. The i>rovisions 
 * Wi'i'e distribnti'd anionui; three canoes, and tlie ]iart.y set 
 j||ofr in t(o<»d spirits on the ISth of fFuly. They had to 
 ipinivke an inroad very soon on their preserved meats, f(.»r 
 ^tlny were very unfortunate in their fisl in<^. (Jn the 
 CvSith of July, however, they were successful in shooting 
 a buffalo in the Salt liiver, after giving him fourteen 
 balls. At ^[(.(ose Deer Island they got sup])lies from 
 g;he Iludsoirs Bay and iSTorth West Companies' otlicers, 
 lid on the 27th set out again on their journey, reaching 
 'ort Providence by the 29tli. 
 Shortly after they had an interview with a celebrated 
 il iTitluential Indian chief, named Akaitcho, who was 
 furnish them with guides. Another Canadian voya- 
 eur was there engaged, and the party now consisted of 
 ■le ofiieers already named, Mr. Fred. Wentzel, clerk of 
 le N. AV. Fur Company, who joined them here, John 
 [epburn, the English seaman, seventeen Canatlian voy- 
 ■^geurs, (one of whom, named Michel, was an Iroquois,) 
 ind three Indian interpreters, besides the wives of three 
 J)f the voyageurs who had been brought on for the pur- 
 ?.:|)ose of making clothes and shoes for the men at tho 
 nter establishment. The whole number were twenty- 
 ine, exclusive of three children. I give the list of tho?e 
 hose names occui' most frequently in the narrative: 
 
 s?-^ 
 '*■% 
 
64 
 
 rnooKirs oK Ai:(Tic Discovintv. 
 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
 tl. Ji. Jk'lan^c'i*, Peltier, Sitloiuun Holaii^cr, Siinmndre, 
 J>t'in)it, iViTiiuU, Antuiiio Fuiitiino, .l>euu[)urlant, Vuil- 
 laiit, Credit, Adam St. Germain, iiiteri»reter; Aii«i;iistu8 
 and Junius, KKquinuiux interpreters. They Imd j)rovis- 
 ions fur ten da}'.s' consumption, besides a little choeolato 
 and tea, viz : two casks of tlour, 200 dried reindeer 
 tonj^ues, some dried moose meat, })ortal)le soup, and a 
 little arrow-root. A small extra canoe was jjrovided for 
 the women, and the journey for the Coppermine lliver 
 was commenced on tiie 2d of Au<^ust. The i)arty met 
 . with many hardships — were placed on short diet — an<l 
 Bome of the Canadians broke out into open rebellion, 
 refusin;^ to T>roceed farther. However, they were at last 
 calmed, ancl arrived on the 20th of August at Fort Ya\- 
 terprise, on Winter Lake, which, by the advice of their 
 Indian guides, they determined on making their winter 
 quarters. The total length of the voyage from Chipe- 
 wyan was 552 miles; and after leaving Fort Providence, 
 they luid 21 miles of portage to pass over. As the men 
 had to traverse each portage with a load of 180 lbs., 
 and return three times light, they walked, in the whole, 
 upward of 150 miles. 
 
 In consequence of the refusal of Akaitcho and Lis 
 party of Indians to guide and accompany them to the 
 sea, because, as they alledged, of the approach of win- 
 ter, and the imminent danger, Captain Franklin was 
 obliged to abandon proceeding that season down tho 
 river, and contented himself with dispatching, on the 
 29th, Mr. Back and Mr. Hood, in a light canoe, with 
 St. Germain as interpreter, eight Canadians, and one 
 Indian, furnished with eight days' provisions — all that 
 could be spared. 
 
 They returned on the 10th of September, after hav- 
 ing reached and coasted Point Lake. In the mean time, 
 Franklin and Richardson, accompanied by J. Hepburn 
 and two Indians, also made a pedestrian excursion tow- 
 ard the same quarter, leaving on the 9th of September, 
 and returning on the fourteenth. The whole party 
 spent a long winter of ten months at Fort Enterprise, 
 depending upon the fish they could catch, and the sue 
 ee>?s of their Indian hunters, for food. 
 
FUANKI.IN rt in:sl I, AM) JJM'KDITIO.V. 
 
 h.) 
 
 iiandrc, 
 t, Vuil- 
 ii«;'iistli8 
 l)ruvis- 
 locolato 
 (.'iiidee'r 
 ), uiul II 
 idcd tc»i' 
 
 Kivcr 
 rty iiit't 
 .'t — and 
 ilu'llion, 
 e at last 
 ^ort Kn- 
 ot' their 
 r winter 
 
 1 Chipe- 
 /idence, 
 the men 
 ^80 lbs., 
 
 whole, 
 
 ind his 
 to the 
 of win- 
 in was 
 wn the 
 on the 
 )e, with 
 nd one 
 all that 
 
 ■er hav- 
 n time, 
 epbnrn 
 on tow- 
 ;ember, 
 party 
 3rprise, 
 be sue 
 
 Oil the <Uh of OctulHT, the ofllcers (piitti'd their tents 
 f(»r;i«rond lofj house which lia<l l>een built. The ehiy 
 with which tne walls and roof were pla-tcred, ha<l to 
 bo tciu[)i'ri'il bet'ori' tlie iuv, with Mutcr, and tVo/.i- as it: 
 was dau1)cd on ; but at'tciwanl cracke<l in such a num- 
 jK-r, as to a<hnit the wind tVoui every (juartcr. Still 
 [the new abo«k', witli a good lire of fagots in the capa- 
 l"Us clay-built ehimney, was considered (piite conifort- 
 ililc whrii coiiiparetl with the c'lllly tents. 
 The reindeer are found on tli'j baidvs of the Copper- 
 ^\\\H\ Kiver early in May, as they then go to the sea- 
 oast to bring f)rth their young. Ihey usually retire 
 uin tile coast in .Inly and Angu-t, rnt m Oeto' m*, and 
 helter themselves in the woods during winter. Before 
 tilt' niitMle of October, tlie carcasses of on hun<lred 
 ^eer had been secured in their store-hoi. \ together w'ui 
 ^ne tijousand pounds of suet, and S(.me dried meat; 
 Jtnd efijhtv deer were stowed away at various distances 
 0roiii their liouse, €}i cache. This placing provisions 
 Sf' en cache," is merely burying and protecting it from 
 %'olves and other depredators, by heavy loads of wood 
 ^r stone. 
 
 On the ISth of October, Mr. Back and Mr. Wentzel, 
 ^cojn])anied by two Canadian voyageurs, two Indians 
 d their wives, set ont for Fort Providence to make 
 e necessary arrangements for transporting the stores 
 ,..;piey expected from Cumbc-hpid liouse, and to see if 
 me further snpplies mighr. r -t be obtained from the 
 tablishments on Slave Lake. Dispatches for Eng- 
 jand were also forwarded by them, tletailing tlie ])ro- 
 ress of the expedition np to this date. By the end of 
 he month the men -lau also completed a bonse for 
 beinselves, 34 feet by IS. On the 26th of October, 
 (Akaitcho, and his Indian party of hnnters, amounting 
 with women and children to forty sonls, came in, owing 
 to the deer having migrated sontliward. This added 
 o the daily nnmber to be provided for, and by this time 
 heir ammunition was nearly expended. 
 
 The lishing failed as the weatlier became more severe, 
 and was given np on the 5th of JSTovemlier. Abont 
 
 3* 
 
 Ui., 
 
00 
 
 l-KDiJiilu^o <)!-■ AliCTJU DISCOVKUV 
 
 1200 wliite iisli, of from two to three pouu<.l>, liiid Ikmmi 
 procured durlni;' the season. The lish froze as thev 
 were taken from the nets, becoming in a short time a 
 solid mass of ice, so that a blow or two of the hatchet 
 would easily split them open, when the intestines miglit 
 be removed in one lump. If thawed before the lire, 
 even after being frozen for nearly two days, the tibh 
 would recover their animation. 
 
 On the 23d of November, tliey were gratiiiod by tho 
 •a23pearance of one of the Canadian voyageurs who lui'l 
 set out with Mr. Back. His locks were nuitted with 
 snow, and he was so encrusted with ice from head to 
 foot, tliat they could scarcely recognize him. He re- 
 'ported that they had had a tedious and fatiguing jour- 
 ney to Fort Providence, and for some days were desti- 
 tute of provisions. Letters were brought from England 
 to the preceding April, and quickly was the packet 
 tliawed to get at the contents. The newspapers con- 
 veyed the intelligence of the death of* George 111. The 
 advices as to the expected stores were disheartening; 
 of ten bales of ninety pounds each, five had been I At 
 by some n\ismanagement at the Grand Rapid on tho 
 Sattkatchawan. On the 28th of November, St. Ger- 
 main the interpreter, Avith eight Canadian voyageur^;, 
 and four Indian hunters, were sent ofi' to bring uj^ tlie 
 stores from Fort Providence. 
 
 On the 10th of December, Franklin managed to get 
 rid of Akaitcho and his Indian party, by representiiii,' 
 to them the impossibility of maintaining them. The 
 leader, however, left them his mother and two female 
 attendants; and old Kaskarrah, the guide, with his wife 
 and daughter, remained behind. This daughter, wlio 
 was designated " Green Stockings," from her dress, was 
 considered a great beauty by her tribe, and althouoh 
 but sixteen, had belonged successively to two husbands, 
 and would probably have been the wife of many more, 
 if her mother had not required her services as a nuri^o. 
 
 Mr. Hood took a good likeness of the yoimg lady, 
 but her mother was somewhat averse to her sitting for 
 it, fearing that " her daughter's likeness would induce 
 
FliANKLIN S FIKST LAND KXI'KI^ITloN. 
 
 07 
 
 tlu' (Jroat Chief wlio resided in Engliiiid to send for the 
 
 ■iu'iiiul I " 
 
 The diet of the party in their winter abode consisted 
 ihiiust entirely of reindeer meat, varied twice a week 
 >y lish, and occasionally by a little tiour, but they had 
 10 vegetables of any kind. On Sunday morning they 
 uid a"en|) of chocolate ; but their greatest luxury was 
 
 1 • 1 <i 11 i.„,i i.„:„. „ A. — ..It!.. 1. 
 
 La. wliich 
 
 •ithout suicar 
 
 they regularly bad twice a day, althougli 
 %ar. Candles 'were formed of reindeer fat 
 
 lid sti-ips of cotton shirts; and Hei)burn acquired con- 
 idcniblc skill in the manufacture of poap from the wood 
 •lies, fat and salt. The stores were anxiously looked 
 :)!•, and it was hoped they would have arrived by New 
 fear's Day, (1821.) so as to have kept the festival. As 
 ' >vas, they c juld only receive a little Hour and fat, both 
 f wliich were considered great luxuries. 
 
 On the 15tli, seven of the men arrived with two kegs 
 f rum, one barrel of powder, sixty pounds of ball, two 
 
 lis of tobacco, and some clothing. 
 
 '* They had been twenty-one days on tlieir march from 
 
 ave Lake, and the labor they underwent was suffi- 
 ently evinced by their sledge collars having worn out 
 
 e shoulders of tlieir coats. "Their loads weighed from 
 xty to ninety i^ounds each, exclusive of their bedding 
 
 (1 provisions, which at starting must have been at least 
 
 nuich more. We were much rejoicetl at their arrival, 
 
 d i)roceeded forthwith to pierce the spirit cask, and 
 sue to each of the household the portion of rum which 
 ad been promised on the first day of the year. The 
 
 irits, which were proof, were frozen; but after stand- 
 g at the fire for some time they flowed out, of the 
 
 nsistence of honey. The temperature of the liquid, 
 iven in this state, was so low as instantly to convert 
 ito ice the moisture which condensed on the surface of 
 le dram-glass. The fingers also adhered to the glass, 
 
 d would doul)tless have been speedily frozen had they 
 3en kept in contact with it ; yet each of the voyageurs 
 vallowed his dram without experiencing the slightest 
 ■convenience, or complaining of toothache." 
 
 It appeared that the Canadians had tapped the rum- 
 
cs 
 
 PKOGKESS OF AKOTIC! DISCOVEKY. 
 
 cask on their journey, and helped themselves rather 
 freely. 
 
 On the 27th, Mr. Wentzel and St. Germain arrived, 
 with two Esquimaux interpreters who had been engac!:e(l, 
 possessed of euphonious names, representing tlie belly 
 and the ear, but wliich had been Anglicised into Au- 
 gustus and Junius, being the mouths they had respec- 
 tively arrived at Fort Cliurchill. The former spoke 
 English. They brought four dogs with them, which 
 proved of great use during the season in drawing hi 
 wood for fuel. 
 
 Mr. Back, at this time, the 24th of December, had 
 gone on to Chipewyan to procure stores. On the 12tli 
 of February, another party of six men was sent to Fort 
 Providence to bring up the remaining supplies, and 
 these retuined on the 5tli of March. Many of the cac/irs 
 of meat which had been buried early in the winter were 
 found destroyed by the M'olves ; and some of these aid- 
 msSfs prowled nightly about the dwellings, even ventnr- 
 in^ upon the roof of their kitchen. The rations were 
 reduced from eight to the short allowance of five ounces 
 of animal food per day. 
 
 On the 17th of March, Mr. Back returned from Fort 
 Chipewyan, after an absence of nearly five months, 
 during which he had performed a journey on foot of 
 more than eleven hundred miles on snow shoes, witli 
 only the slight shelter at night of a blanket and a deer 
 skin, with the thermometer frequently at 40° and onco 
 at 57°, and very often passing several days without 
 food. 
 
 Some very interesting traits of generosity on the part 
 of .lie Indians are recorded by Mr. Back. Often thev 
 gave up and would not taste of fish or birds which thev 
 caught, with the touching remark, " We are accustomed 
 to starvation, and you are not." 
 
 Such passages as the following often occur in Li^ 
 narrative : — " One of our men caught a fish, which, with 
 Jhe assistance of some weed scraped from tlie roclvN 
 (tripe de roche) which forms a glutinous substance, made 
 us a tolerable supper ; it was not of the most clioice kind, 
 
 ^ 
 
FRANKLIN S FIKST LAND EXPliDITION. 
 
 69 
 
 J ratlicr 
 
 arrived, 
 ngagod, 
 le belly 
 iito Aii- 
 respec- 
 ir spolsc 
 I, which 
 Aving in 
 
 ber, liad 
 the 12tli 
 t to Fort 
 lies, and 
 le caches 
 iter were 
 hese aiii- 
 1 ventur- 
 )ns were 
 e ounces 
 
 'om Fort 
 
 mouths, 
 
 foot Cif 
 
 pet<, witli 
 
 Id a deer 
 
 md oiici' 
 
 without 
 
 the part 
 ffcen tht'V 
 lich tht'V 
 lustonied 
 
 in lii^ 
 
 ich, witli 
 
 le rocl<^. 
 
 3e, made 
 
 ce 
 
 kind, 
 
 het fr«'>'»d eiMu.ih for Imngry men. Wliile we were eat- 
 
 piii;' it, 1 perceived one of the wojiien l)usily employed 
 
 ;crupinp; an old skin, the contents of which her luisband 
 
 i)resented ns with, They consisted of pounded meat, 
 
 lilt, and a greater proportion of Indian's and deer's hair 
 
 lian either ; and, though such a mixture may not appear 
 
 ji}\'\ alluring to an English stomach, it was thought a 
 
 f relit Inxury after three days' privation in tlicso cheer- 
 
 ^ss regions of America." 
 
 To retnrn to the proceedings of Fort Enterprise. On 
 lie 23d of March, the last of the winter's stock of deer's 
 lent was expended, and the party were compelled to 
 •nsume a little pounded meat, which had been saved 
 )r making pemniican. The nets scarcely produced any 
 ^h, and their meals, which had hitherto been scanty 
 pough, were now restricted to one in the day. 
 The poor Indian families about the house, consisting 
 •inci])ally of sick and infirm women and children, suf- 
 red even more privation. They cleared away the 
 jiow on the site of the Autumn encampment to look for 
 )nos, deer's feet, bits of liide, and other oftal. " AVhen 
 (iSliys Franklin) we beheld them gnawing the ])ieces of 
 hldt', and pounding the bones for the jmrpose of extract- 
 ing sonie nourishment from them by boiling, we regret- 
 ted our inability to relieve them, but little thought that 
 we should ourselves be afterward driven to tlie neces- 
 1^^ of eagerly collecting these same bones, a second 
 time from the dung-hill." 
 
 M)n^ the 4th of June, 1821, a first party set off from 
 
 K winter quarters for Point Lake, and the Coppermine 
 
 iver, under the charge of Dr. Richardson, consisting, 
 
 dl, voyageurs and Indians, of twenty -three, exclusive 
 
 children. Each of the men carried*^al)out 80 lbs., be- 
 
 les his own personal baggage, weighing nearly as 
 
 Ich more. Some of the ])ai'ty dragged their loads on 
 
 dges, others preferred carrying their burden on their 
 
 >ks. On the 13tli, Dr. Eichardson sent back most of 
 
 men; and on the 11th Franklin dispatched Mr. 
 
 jntzel and a party with the canoes, which had been 
 
 ►aired. Following the water-course as far as pi-acti- 
 
 IP 
 
 s#.- 
 
 -4. 
 
 -4i4 
 
"'Wvfp^ 
 
 70 
 
 I'lIOGKESS OF AllCriC DISCOVERY. 
 
 cable to Winter Lake, Franklin followed himsolf with 
 Jlepbiirn, three Canadians, two Indian hunters, and 
 tlie two Esquimaux, and joined Dr. liichardson on the 
 22d. On the 25th they all resumed their journey, and, 
 as they proceeded down the river, were fortunate in 
 killing, occasionally, several musk oxen. 
 
 On the 15th they got a distinct view of the sea from 
 the summit of a hill ; it appeared choked with ice and 
 full of islands. About this time they fell in with small 
 parties of Esquimaux. 
 
 On the 19th Mr. Wentzel departed on his return for 
 Slave Lake, taking with him four Canadians, who had 
 been discliarged for the ^^urpose of reducin<| the expen- 
 diture of provisions as much as possible, and di.spatclic^ 
 to be forwarded to England, lie was also instructed 
 to cause the Indians to deposit a relay of pr«^)visions at 
 Fort Enteri^rise, ready for tlie j^arty siiould they return 
 tliat way. The remainder of the i^arty, including offi- 
 cers, amounted to twenty ])ersons. The distance that 
 had been traversed from Fort Enterprise to the moutli 
 of the river was about 331: miles, and the canoes had t' 
 be dra<r2:cd 120 miles of this. 
 
 Two coiis])icuou8 capes were named by Franklin after 
 Ilearne and Mackenzie ; and a river which falls into tlie 
 sea, to tlie westward of the Cop2:)ermine, he called aftir 
 his companion, Richardson. 
 
 On the 21st of July, Franklin and his party cmbarkc<l 
 in their two canoes to navigate the Polar Sea, to tlie 
 eastward, liaving with them provisions for fifteen dav.s 
 
 On the 25th they doubled a bluff cape, which w;i^ 
 named after Mr. Earrow, of the Admiralty. An open- 
 ing on its eastern side received the appellation of Imiian 
 Harbor, and a group of islands were called after Piv- 
 lessor Jameson. Within the next fortnight, additiori^ 
 were made to their stock of food by a feW- deer and oii;. 
 or tv.'o bears, which were shot. Being less fortunate 
 afterward, and with no prospect of increasing their ?ii]- 
 ]dy of provision, the daily allowance to eacli man wii^ 
 limited to a handful of pemmican and a small portion 
 •+' portable soup. ' • 
 
jy return 
 Yiwj: ofii- 
 TK'C that 
 ic moiitl: 
 }s bad t ' 
 
 Idin after 
 into the 
 led after 
 
 nnltarketl 
 
 ■U, to till 
 
 ;eii davr. 
 111 eh "\V!i> 
 n opc'i!- 
 
 if Illlliai: 
 
 rter Pi"- 
 
 kdditiuii- 
 I* and cii.. 
 brtniiatc 
 
 ;lieir ^W 
 
 man wa- 
 porti'-'i! 
 
 FILVNKLIN S FIKST LA^;i) KXI'IODITION. 
 
 7i 
 
 Oil tliG morning of tlie 5th of Annjnst tlioy came to 
 the mouth of a river blocked up with shoals, which 
 Franklin named after his friend and companion Back. 
 The time spent in exploring Arctic and Melville 
 Sounds and Bathurst Inlet, and tlie failure of meeting 
 witli Esquimaux from whom provisions could be ol> 
 taiued, precluded any possibility of reaching Repulse 
 ]5;iy, and therefore having but a day or two's provisions 
 ]' it, Franklin considered it prudent to turn back after 
 ]\':u'hing Point Turnagain, having sailed nearly 000 
 jvogi-apiiical miles in tracing the deeply indented coast 
 •f (Joronation Gulf from tlie Coppermine River. On 
 he liiid August, the return voyage was commenced, 
 he boats making for Hood's River by the way of the 
 " I'ctic Sound, and being taken as far up the stream as 
 ossible. On the 31st it was found impossible to pro- 
 eed with them farther, and smaller canoes were made, 
 uitiible for crossing any of the rivers that might ob- 
 |i^r;i ■[ their progress. The weight carried by each man 
 Jviis about 00 lbs., and with this tliey progressed at the 
 ite of a mile an hour, including rests. 
 On the 5th of September, having nothing to eat, the 
 t piece of pemmican and a little arrow-root having 
 rnied a scanty supper, and being without the means 
 of making a fire, they remained in bed all day. A se- 
 vere snow-storm lasted two days, and the snow even 
 drifted into their tents, covcrim:^ their blankets several 
 inches. " Our suffering (says Fi-anklin) from cold, in a 
 <|omfortless canvass tent in such weather, with the tein- 
 >'rature at 20°, and witliout fire, will easilv be im- 
 ined ; it was, however, less than that which we felt 
 'om liungcr." 
 
 Weak from fasting, and their garments stiffened with 
 
 e frost, after packinor tjieir frozen tents and bedclothes 
 
 e ]-)ooY travelers again set out on the 7th. 
 
 After feeding almost exclusively on several species 
 
 Gyropliora, a lichen known as trlj)e de roche^ wiiich 
 
 farcely allayed the pangs of liunger, on the 10th " they 
 
 )t a good meal l)y killing a musk ox. To skin ancl 
 
 It up the animal was the vvoi-k of a few minutes. The 
 
 1 
 
 l\ 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
73 
 
 I'KCGKKSS 01-' AlCCTIC DISCO VEUV. 
 
 contents of its Btomiich were devoured upon tiie spot, 
 and tlio raw intestines, which were next attacked, were, 
 ])r(>noiinced by the most delicate amongst us to be ex- 
 cellent." 
 
 "Wearied and worn out with toil and suffering, nuiny 
 of the party got careless and indifferent. One of the 
 canoes was broken and abandoned. With an improvi- 
 dence scarcely to be credited, three of the fishing-net.s 
 were also thrown away, and the floats burnt. 
 
 On the 17th they managed to allay the pangs of hun- 
 ger by eating pieces of singed hide, and a little trlj)'- <-l 
 roclie. This and some mosses, with an occasional sol- 
 itary partridge, formed their invariable food ; on verv 
 many days even this scanty sui)ply could not be obtained, 
 and their appetites l)ecame ravenous. 
 
 Occanionally they picked up pieces of skin, and a 
 few bones of deer which had been devoured by thu 
 wolves in the previous spring. The bones were ren- 
 dered friable by burning, and now and then their oM 
 shoes were added to the repast. 
 
 On the 20th they reached abend of the Coppermiiu'. 
 which terminated in Point Lake. The second cauuf 
 bad l)ecn demolished and abandoned by the beai-ers on 
 the 23d, and they were thus left without any means of 
 water transport across the lakes and river. 
 
 On this day tlie carcass of a deer was discovered in 
 tlie cleft of a rock, into whicli it had fallen in the spriiia. 
 It was i)utrid, but little less acceptable to the poor st;ii'v- 
 ing travelers on that account; and a fire being kin- 
 dled a large portion was devoured on the spot, aftbr'l- 
 ing an unexpe'^'ted breakfast. 
 
 On the first of October one of tlie party, who LiK^ 
 l)een out hunting, brought in the antlers and backboiii' 
 of anotlier deer, which had l)een killed in the summer, 
 The wolves and birds of prey had picked them clean, 
 but there still remained a quantity of the spinal niai' 
 row, whicli they had not been able to extract. Tlii-. 
 although putrid, was esteemed a valuable prize, aiii 
 the spine being divided into portions was distribute'! 
 equally. " After eating the marrow, (snyr? Frunkliri.i 
 
franklin's first land expedition. 
 
 78 
 
 lie spot, 
 ;d, Mcrci 
 be ex- 
 
 'X, many 
 
 3 of the 
 
 mpi'uvi- 
 ing-uets 
 
 of huTi- 
 
 iiial sol- 
 oil \(iv\- 
 btaliiL'iL 
 
 I, and ;i 
 
 by the 
 
 'ere ri'ii- 
 
 lieir <,>M 
 
 »erinl!R\ 
 d caiit'C 
 
 leans ui' 
 
 ored ill 
 
 )!• st:ii'\ - 
 ng l<ii!- 
 , afi'or'i- 
 
 'llO l!U>' 
 
 aekboiir 
 iiniTiier. 
 11 clean, 
 lal niar- 
 
 
 M. 
 
 which was so acrid as to excoriate the lips, we ren- 
 dered tlie bones friable by burning, and ate them also." 
 
 Tlie strength of the whole party now began to fail, 
 from the privation and fatigue which they endured. — 
 Fianklin was in a dreadfully debilitated state. Mr. 
 Hood was also reduced to a perfect shadow, from the 
 severe bowel-complaints which the tripe de roche never 
 tailed to give him. Back was so feeble as to require 
 the support of a stick in walking, and Dr. Eicharasou 
 hud lameness superadded to weakness. 
 
 .\. rude canoe was constructed of willows, covered 
 witli canvass, in which the party, one by one, managed 
 to reach in safetv the soutnern bank of the river on 
 the Jrth of October, and went supperless to bed. - On 
 the following morning, previous to setting out, the 
 whole party ate the remains of their old shoes, and 
 whatever scraps of leather they had, to strengthen their 
 stomachs for tne fatigue of the day's journey. 
 
 Mr. Hood now broke down, as did two or three more 
 of the party, and Dr. Eichardson kindly volunteered 
 to remain with them, while the rest pushed on to Fort 
 Enterprise for succor. Not being able to find any tripe 
 de roche^ they drank an infusion of the Labrador tea- 
 plant {Ledrum palustre^ var. decumhens^ and ate a 
 few morsels of burnt leather for supper. This contin- 
 ued to be a frequent occurrence. 
 
 Others of the party continued to drop down with fa- 
 tigue and weakness, until they were reduced to five 
 persons, besides Franklin. When they had no food or 
 nourishment of any kind, fchey crept under their blank- 
 ets, to drown, if possible, the gnawing pangs of hunger 
 and fatigue by sleep. At length they reached Fort En- 
 terprise, and to their disappointment and grief found 
 it a perfectly desolate habitation. There was no de- 
 posit of provision, no trace of the Indians, no letter 
 from Mr. Wentzel to point out where the Indians might 
 be found. "It would be impossible (says Franklin,) to 
 describe our sensations after entering this miserable 
 abode, and discovering how we had been neglected : 
 the whole party shed tears, not so much for our own 
 
 ff- 
 
 »..i 
 
 m. 
 
74 
 
 PKOtiKKtiS OF AKCnC DlfciCU\IiKY. 
 
 f 
 
 fate as for that of our friends in the rear, whose lives 
 depended entirely on our sending immediate relief 
 from this place." A note, however, was found here 
 from Mr. Eack, stating that he had reached the house 
 by another route two days before, and was going in 
 search of the Indians. If he was unsuccessful in find- 
 ing them, he proposed walking to Fort Providence, 
 and sending succor from thence, but he doubted whether 
 he or his party could perform the journey to that place 
 in their present debilitated state. Franklin and his 
 small party now looked round for some means of pres- 
 ent subsistence, and fortunately discovered several deer 
 skiLS, which had been thrown away during their foi-nier 
 residence here. The bones weix) gathered from the 
 heap of ashes ; these, with the skins and the addition 
 of tripe de rochc^ they considered would support life 
 tolerably well for a short time. The bones were quite 
 acrid, and the soup extracted from them, quite putrid, 
 excoriate ^ the mouth if taken alone, but it was some- 
 what milder when boiled with the lichen, and the mix- 
 ture was even deemed palatable with a little salt, of 
 which a cask had been left here in the spring. Tliey 
 procured fuel by pulling up the flooring of the rooms, 
 and water for cooking by melting the snow. 
 
 Augustus arrived safe after them, just as they were 
 sitting round the fire eating their supper of singed 
 skin. 
 
 Late on the 13th, Belanger also reached the house, 
 with a note from Mr. Back, stating that he had yet 
 found no trace of the Indians. The poor messenger 
 was almost speechless, being covered with ice and 
 nearly frozen to death, having fallen into a rapid, and 
 for the third time since the party left the coast, narrowly 
 escaped drowning. After being well rubbed, having 
 had his dress changed, and some warm soup given 
 him, he recovered sufficiently to answer the questions 
 put to him. 
 
 Under the impression that the Indians must be on 
 their way to Fort Providence, and that it would be 
 possible to overtake them, as they usually traveled 
 
 '1 
 
franklin's first land expedition. 
 
 76 
 
 "'ti 
 
 slowly with their farailies, and there being likewise a 
 prospect of killing deer about Reindeer Lake, where 
 they had been usually found abundant, Franklin de- 
 termined to take the route for that post, and sent word 
 to Mr. Back by Belanger to that effect on the 18th. 
 
 On the 20th of October, Franklin set out in com- 
 pany with Benoit and Augustus to seek relief, having 
 patched three pairs of snow shoes, and taken some 
 sinj^ed skin for their support. Poltier and Sam and re 
 had volunteered to remain at the house with Adam, 
 who was too ill to proceed. They were so feeble as 
 scarcely to be able to move. Augustus, the Esqui- 
 maux, tried for fish without success, so that their only 
 fare was skin and tea. At night, composing- them- 
 selves to rest, they lay close to each other for warmth, 
 but found the night bitterly cold, and the wind pierced 
 through their famished frames. 
 
 On resuming the journey next morning, Franklin 
 had the misfortune to break his snow-shoes, by falling 
 between two rocks. This accident prevented him from 
 keeping pace with the others, and in the attempt he 
 became quite exhausted ; unwilling to delay their pro- 
 gress, as the safety of all behind depended on their 
 obtaining early assistance and immediate supplies, 
 Franklin resolved to turn back, while the others 
 pushed on to meet Mr. Back, or, missing him, they 
 were directed to proceed to Fort Providence. Frank- 
 lin found the two Canadians he had left at the house 
 dreadfully weak and reduced, and so low spirited that 
 he had great difficulty in rallying them to any exer- 
 tion. As the insides of their mouths had become sore 
 from eating the bone-soup, they now relinquished the 
 use of it, and boiled the skin, which mode of dressing 
 was found more palatable than frying it. They had 
 pulled down nearly all their dwelling for fuel, to warm 
 themselves and cook their scanty meals. The tripe 
 de roehe, on which they had depended, now became 
 entirely frozen; and what was more tantalizing to 
 their perishing frames, was the sight of food within 
 their reach, which they could not procure. " "We saw 
 
 .^, 
 
76 
 
 I'llOORESS OF AKCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 (snys Fnuiklin) a herd of rcirulocr sporting on tho 
 rivor, about lialf a mile from tho house ; they rc- 
 itijiined tlierc a long time, but none of the party felt 
 theinHelves strong enough to go after them, nor was 
 there one of us who could have lired a gun without 
 resting it." 
 
 While they were seated round the fire this evening, 
 discoursing about the anticipated relief, tho sound of 
 voices was heard, which was thought with joy to be 
 that of the Indians,' but, to their bitter disappoint- 
 ment, the debilitated frames and emaciated counte- 
 nances of Dr. Kichardson and Hepburn presented 
 themselves at the door. They were of course gladly 
 received, although each markecl the ravages which fam- 
 ine, care and fatigue had made on the other. Tho 
 Doctor particularly remarked the sepulchral tone of 
 the voices of his friends, which he requested them to 
 make more cheerful if possible, unconscious that his 
 own partook of the same key. 
 
 Hepburn having shot a partridgi , which was brought 
 to the house. Dr. Richardson tore out the feathers, 
 and having held it to the fire a few minutes, divided 
 it into six portions. Franklin and his three compan- 
 ions ravenously devoured their shares, as it was the 
 first morsel of flesh any of them liad tasted for thirty- 
 one days, unless, indeed, the small gristly particles 
 which they found adhering to the pounded bones m.ay 
 be termed flesh. Their spirits were revived by this 
 small supply, and tho Doctor endeavored to raise 
 them still higher by the prospect of Hepburn's being 
 able to kill a deer next day, as they had seen, and 
 even iired at, several near the house. He endeavored, 
 too, to rouse them into some attention to the comfort 
 of tlieir apartment. Having brought his Prayer-book 
 and Testament, some prayers, psalms, and portions 
 of scripture, appropriate to their situation, were read 
 out by Dr. Richardson, and they retired to their 
 blankets. 
 
 Early next morning,' the Doctor and Hepburn went 
 out in search of game ; but though they saw several 
 
 Va 
 
FItANKLIJS's VlKtiT LAUD EXl'HUnHjS, 
 
 77 
 
 lierds of deer, and fired some shots, they were not ro 
 jbrtuiiattt lis to kill any, being too weak to liohl their 
 l*\mA steadily. The cold compelled the tornier to re- 
 turn soon, but Hepburn perseveringly j>erBistud until 
 hito in tlie evening. 
 
 " My occupation, (continues Franklin) was to search 
 for 8kins under the snow, it being now our object iui- 
 iiuuliately to get all that we could; bnt 1 had not 
 Htreni]!;th to drag in more than two of those which were 
 witliiu twenty yards of the liouso, until the Doctor 
 cuiiie and at>8isted nie. Wo made up our stock to 
 twenty-six; but several of them were putrid, and 
 scarcely eatable, oven by men suffering the extremity 
 (»f famine. Peltier and Samandre continued very 
 weak and dispirited, and they wore unable to cut fire- 
 wood. Hepburn had, in consequence, that laborious 
 task to perform after he came back late from hunting.'* 
 To the exertions, honesty, kindness, and consideration 
 of this worthy man, the safety of most of the party is 
 to be attributed. And I may here mention that Sir 
 .Tolm Franklin, when he became governor of Van 
 Diemen's Land, obtained for him a good civil appoint- 
 ment. This deserving man, I am informed by Mr. 
 Ijarrow, is now in England, having lost his ofHce, 
 which, I believe, has been abolished. It is to bo 
 lioped something will be done for him by the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 After their usual supper of singed skin and bono 
 soup. Dr. Richardson acquainted Franklin wuth the 
 events that had transpired since their parting, particu- 
 larly with the afflicting circumstances attending the 
 death of Mr. Hood, and Michel, the Iroquois ; the par- 
 ticulars of which I shall now proceed to condense from 
 his narrative. 
 
 After Captain Franklin had bidden them farewell, 
 having no tripe de roc/ie they drank an infusion of the 
 country tea-plant, which was grateful from its warmth, 
 although it afforded no sustenance. They then retired 
 to bed, and kept to their blankets all next day, as the 
 Buow drift was so heavy as to prevent their lighting a 
 
 I 
 
78 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIO DISi 
 
 'B' 
 
 ■# 
 
 firo with tho green and frozen willows, which were 
 their only fuel. 
 
 Through the extreme kindness and forethought of 
 a lady, the party, previous to leaving London, had 
 been furnished witn a small collection of religious 
 books, of which, (says Richardson,) we still retained 
 two or three of the most portable, and they proved of 
 incalculable benefit to us. 
 
 " We road portions of them to each other as we lay 
 in bed, in addition to the morning and evening service, 
 and found that tbev inspired us on each perusal with 
 so strong a sense ot the omnipresence of a beneficent 
 God, that our situation, even in these wilds, appeared 
 no longer destitute ; and we conversed not only with 
 calmness, but with cheerfulness, detailing with unre- 
 strained confidence the past events of our lives^nd 
 dwelling with hope on our future prospects." How 
 beautiful a picture have we here represented, of true 
 piety and resignation to the divine will inducing pa- 
 tience and submission under an unexampled load of 
 misery and privation. 
 
 Michel, the Iroquois, joined them on the 9th of Oc- 
 tober, having, there is strong reason to believe, mur- 
 dered two ot the Canadians who were with him, Jean 
 Baptiste Belanger and Perrault, as they were never 
 seen afterward, and he gave so many rambling and 
 contradictory statements of his proceedings, that no 
 credit could be attached to his story. 
 
 The travelers proceeded on their tedious journey by 
 slow stages. Mr. Hood was much affected with dim 
 ness of sight, giddiness, and other symptoms of ex 
 treme debility, which caused them to move slowly and 
 to make frequent halts. Michel absented himself all 
 day of the 10th, and only arrived at their encampment 
 near the pines late on the 11th. 
 
 He reported that he had been in chase of some deer 
 which passed near his sleeping place in the morning, 
 and although he did not come up with them, yet he 
 found a wolf which had been killed by the stroke of 
 a deer's horn, and had brought a part of it. 
 
#■ 
 
 >?« . w 
 
 .■^: 
 
FBANKI.IN 8 FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. 
 
 79 
 
 Eichardson adds — "We implicitly believed this 
 r<tor7 then, but afterward became aware — from cir- 
 cumstances, the details of which may be spared — that 
 it must have been a portion of the body of Bel anger, 
 or Perrault. A question of moment here presents it- 
 self — namely, whether he actually murdered these 
 men, or either of them, or whether he found the bodies 
 in the snow. Captain Frankliif, who is the best able to 
 judge of this matter, from knowing their situation when 
 he parted from them, suggested the former idea, and 
 that both these men had been sacrificed ; that Michel, 
 having already destroyed Belanger, completed his 
 crime by Perrault's death, in order to screen himself 
 from detection." 
 
 Although this opinion is founded only on circum- 
 stances, and is unsupported by direct evideice, it has 
 been judged proper to mention it, especially as the 
 subsequent conduct of the man showed that he was 
 capable of committing such a deed. It is not easy to 
 assign any other adequate motive for his concealing 
 from Richardson that terrault had turned back ; while 
 his request, over-night, that they would leave him the 
 hatchet, and his cumbering himself with it when he 
 went out in the morning, unlike a hunter, who makes 
 • use only of his knife when he kills a deer, seem to 
 indicate that he took it for the purpose of cutting up 
 eomething that he knew to be frozen. 
 
 Michel left them early next day, refusing Dr. Rich- 
 ardson's offer to accompany him, and remamed out all 
 day. He would not sleep in the tent with the other 
 two at night. On the 13th, there being a heavy gale, 
 they passed the day by their fire, without food. Next 
 day, at noon, Michel set out, as he said, to hunt, but 
 returned unexpectedly in a short time. This conduct 
 surprised his companions, and. his contradictory and 
 evasive answers to their questions excited their sus- 
 picions still further. He subsequently refused either 
 to hunt or cut wood, spoke in a very surly manner, 
 tT\d threatened to leavo them. When reasoned with 
 by Mr, Hood, his anger was excited, and he replied it 
 
80 
 
 PBOOBBB9 OF ARCTIO DISCOVERT. 
 
 was BO uso hunting — there were no animals, and they 
 had better kill and eat him. 
 
 "At this period," observes Dr. Richardson, "wo 
 avoided, as much as possible, conversing upon the 
 hopelessness of our situation, and generally endeav- 
 ored to lead the conversation toward our future pros- 
 pects in life. The fact is, that with the decay of our 
 strength, our minds decayed, and we were no longer 
 able to bear the contemplation of the horrors that sur- 
 rounded us. Yet we were calm and resigned to our 
 fate ; not a murmur escaped us, and we were punctual 
 and fervent in our addresses to the Supreme Being." 
 
 On the morning of the 20th, they again urged Michel 
 to go a-hunting, that he might, if possible, leave them 
 some provision, as he intended quitting them next 
 day, but he showed great unwillingness to go out, and 
 lingered about the lire under the pretense of cleaning 
 his gun. After the morning service had been read, 
 Dr. Richardson went out to gather some tripe de roche^ 
 leaving Mr. Hood sittiag before the tent at the fire- 
 side, arguing with Michel; Hepburn was employed 
 cutting fire-wood. While they were thus engaged, 
 the treacherous Iroquois took the opportunity to place 
 his gun close to Mr. Hood, and shoot him through the 
 head. He represented to his companions that the de- 
 ceased had killed himself. On examination of the 
 body, it was found that the shot had entered the back 
 part of the head and passed out at the forehead, and 
 that the muzzle of the gun had been applied so close 
 as to set fire to the nightcap behind. Michel pro- 
 tested his innocence of the crime, and Hepburn and 
 Dr. Richardson dared not openly evince their suspi- 
 cion of his guilt. 
 
 Next day, Dr. Richardson determined on goin^ 
 straight to the Fort. They singed the hair off a pan 
 of the buffalo robe that belonged to their ill-fated com 
 panion, and boiled and ate it. In the course of theii 
 march, Michel alarmed them much by his gesturet 
 and conduct, was constantly muttering to himself, ex- 
 pressed an unwillingness to go to the Fort, and tried 
 
FBANKLINB FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. 
 
 81 
 
 i' 
 
 to persuade them to go southward to the woods, where 
 lie said he could maintain himself all the winter by 
 killing deer. " In consequence of this behavior, and 
 the expression of his countenance, I requested him 
 (says Richardson) to leave us, and to go to the south- 
 ward by himself. This proposal increased his ill-na- 
 ture ; he threw out some obscure hints of freeing 
 lilmself from all restraint on the morrow ; and I over- 
 heard him muttering threats against Hepburn, whom 
 he openly accused of having told stories against him. 
 He also, for the first time, assumed such a tone of 
 superiority in addressing me, as evinced that he con- 
 sidered us to be completely in his power ; and he gave 
 vent to several expressions of hatred toward the white 
 people, some of whom, he said, had killed and eaten 
 his uncle and two of his relations. In short, takmg 
 every circumstance of his conduct into consideration, 
 I came to the conclusion that he would attempt to 
 destroy us on the first opportunity that offered, and 
 that he had hitherto abstained from doing so from his 
 ignorance of his way to the Fort, but that he would 
 never suffer us to go thither in company with him. 
 Hepburn and I were not in a condition to resist even 
 an open attack, nor could we by ary device escape 
 from him — our united strength was tar inferior to his , 
 and, beside his gun, he was arir>ed Vrktii two pietols, 
 an Indian bayonet, and a kniffi. 
 
 "In the afternoon, coming to 9 tock on v li^ch there 
 was some tt'ipe de roche, he ha'ted, and sari he would 
 gather it while we went on, aDd 'lieit he would soon 
 overtake us. 
 
 ^ " Hepburn and I were now left together for tlie first 
 time since Mr. Hood's death, and h 3 acquainted me with 
 several material circumstances, wiilch he had observed 
 of Michel's behavior, and which confirmed me in the 
 opinion that there was no safety for us f;-. opt in his 
 death, and ho otiered to be the instrument of it. I de- 
 tennined, however, as I was tlioroughly convinced of 
 the necessity of such a dreadful act, to take the whole 
 
 responsibility upon myself; and immediately upon Mi- 
 4* 
 
 mi 
 
 1 ;yfl 
 
 ■' nm 
 
82 
 
 PE0GEE8S OF AEOTIO DISCOVERT. 
 
 iM 
 
 chel's coming up, I put an end to hia life by sbootin*^ 
 him througii the head with a pistol. Had my own life 
 alone been threatened," observes Richardson, in conclu- 
 sion, " 1 would not have purchased it by such a measure, 
 but I considered myself as intrusted also with the pro- 
 tection of Hepburn's, a man who, by his humane atten 
 tions and devotedness, had so endeared himself to me, 
 that I feit more anxiety for his safety than for my own. 
 
 " Michel had gathered no tripe dc roohe^ and it was evi- 
 dent to us that he had halted for the purpose of putting 
 his gun in order with the intention of attacking us — 
 per.haps while we were in the act of encamping." 
 
 Persevering onward in their journey as well as the 
 ^now storms and their feeble limbs would permit, they 
 naw severa^ herds of deer ; but Hepburn, who used to 
 f*e a good marksman, was now unable to hold the gun 
 ?!traight. Following the track of a wolverine which had 
 bf^n dragging something, he however found the spine 
 of a deer which it had dropped. It was clean picked, 
 and at least one season old, but they extracted the spinal 
 marrow from it. 
 
 A species of Gornicularia, a kind of lichen, was also 
 met with, that was found good to eat when moistened 
 and toasted over the fire. They had still some pieces 
 of singed buffalo hide remaining, and Hepburn, on 
 one occasion, killed a partridge, after firing several 
 times at a flock. About dusk of the 29th they reached 
 the Fort. 
 
 " Upon entering the desolate dwelling, we had the 
 satisfaction of enibraoing Capt. Franklin, but no words 
 can convey an idea of the filth and wretchedness that 
 met our eyes on looking around. Our own misery had 
 stolen upon us by degrees, and we were accustomed to 
 the contemplation of each other's emaciated figures; 
 but the ghastly countenances, dilated eye-balls, and 
 eepulchral voices of Captain Franklin and those with 
 him were more than we could at first bear." 
 
 Thus ends the narrative of Richardson's journey. 
 
 To resume the detail of proceedings at the Fort. On 
 the 1st of IS'ovember two of the Canadians, Peltier and 
 Samandre, died from sheer exnaustion. 
 
FaANKUN 8 riEST LAJSfD EXPEDITION. 
 
 83 
 
 On the Ttii of No'^anber they were relieved from 
 their prirations and sufferings by the arrival of three 
 bulians, bringing a supply of dried meat, some fat, and 
 a few toiigues, which had been sent off by Back with 
 all baste from Akaitcho's encampment on the 5th. 
 These Indians nursed and attenaed them with the 
 ^rratest care, cleansed the house, collected fire-wood, 
 and studied every means for their general comfort. Their 
 Huiferiugs were now at an end. On the 26th o^ Nuvom- 
 ]>or thev arrived at the encampment of the Indian chief, 
 Akaitcho. On the 6th of December Belanger and an- 
 other Canadian arrived, bringing further supplies, and 
 letters from England, from Ms. Back, and their former 
 companion, Mr. Wentzel. 
 
 The dispatches from England announced the success- 
 ful termination of Captain Parry's voyage, and the pro- 
 motion of Captain Franklin, Mr. Back, and of poor Mr. 
 Hood. 
 
 On the 18th they reached the Hudson's Bay Compa- 
 ny's establishment at Moose Deer Island, where they 
 joined their friend Mr. Back. They remained at Fort 
 Chipewyan until June of the following year. 
 
 It is now necessary to relate the story of Mr. Back's 
 journey, which, like the reet, is a sad tale of suffering 
 and privation.. 
 
 Having been directed, on the 4th of October, 1821, 
 to proceed with St Germain, JRelanger, and Beaupar- 
 lartr :,o Fort Enterprise, in 'be hopes of obtaining relief 
 for the party, he set out. (Jp to the 7th they met with 
 a little tripe de roche^ but this failing them they were 
 compelled to satisfy, or rather allay, the cravings of 
 linnger, by eating a gun-cover and a pair of old shoes. 
 The grievous disappointment experienced on arriving 
 at the house, and findincr it a deserted ruin, cannot bo 
 
 told. ; 
 
 "Without the assistance of the Indians, bereft of 
 every resource, we felt ourselves," says Mr. Back, " re- 
 duced to the most miserable s^ate, which was rendered 
 still worse from the rc-;')llectiou that our friends in the 
 rear were as miserable as ourselves. For the moment, 
 
 i) 
 
 
 I 
 
84 
 
 rROORESS OF ARCTIC DISOOVKRY. 
 
 w 
 
 however, hunger prevailed, and each beean to gnaw 
 the scraps of putrid and frozen meat and skin that were 
 lying about, without waiting to prepare them." A fire 
 was, however, afterward made, and the neck and bones 
 of a deer found in the house were boiled and devoured. 
 
 After resting a day at the house, Mr. Back pushed on 
 with his companions in search of the Indians, leaving a 
 note for Captain Franklin, informing him if he failed in 
 meeting with the Indians, he intended to push on for 
 tlie first trading establishment — distant about 130 
 miles — and send us succor from thence. On the 11th 
 he set .out on the journey, a few old skins having been 
 first collected to serve as tbod. 
 
 On the 13th and 14th of October thej* had nothing 
 whatever to eat. Belanger was sent off wit^i a note to 
 Franklin. On the 15th they were fortunate enough to 
 fall in with a partridge, the bones of which were eaten, 
 and the remainder eserved for bait to fish with. 
 Enough tripe de roche was, however, gathered to make 
 a meal. Eeauparlant now lingered oehind, worn out 
 by extreme weakness. On the 17th a number of crows, 
 perched on some high pines, led them to believe that 
 some carrion vv'as near ; and on searching, several heads 
 of deer, half buried in the snow and ice, without eyes 
 or tongues, were found. An expression of " Oh, merci- 
 ful God, we are saved," broke from them both and with 
 feelings more easily imagined than described, they 
 shook hands, not knowing what to say for joy. 
 
 St. Germain was sent back, to bring up Beauparlant, 
 tor whose safety Back became very anxious, but he 
 found the poor fellow frozen to death. 
 
 The night ( f tlie 17th wp.s cold and clear, but they 
 could get no e'eep. "Fi via the pains of having eaten, 
 we suffered lol^serves Back) the most excruciating tor- 
 ments, though I in particular did not eat a quarter of 
 what would have satisfied me ; it might have been from 
 having eaten a quantity of raw or frozen sinews of the 
 legs of deer, which neither of us could avoid doing, so 
 great was our hunger." 
 
 On tlie following day Belanger returned famishing 
 
;en, 
 
 PARRY 8 FIliST VOYAGE. 
 
 85 
 
 udth hunger, and told of the pitiable state of Franklin 
 and his reduced party. BacK, both this day and the 
 next, tried to urge on his companions toward the object 
 of their journey, but he could not conquer their stub- 
 born determinations. They said they were unable to 
 proceed from weakness ; knew not the way ; that Back 
 wanted to expose them again to death, and in fact loi- 
 tered greedily about the remnants of the deer till the 
 end of the month. " It was not without the greatest 
 difficulty that I could restrain the men from eating ev- 
 ery scrap they found ; though they were well aware of 
 the necessity there was of being economical in our pres- 
 ent situation, and to save whatever they could for our 
 journey, yet they could not resist the temptation ; and 
 whenever my back was turned they seldom failed to 
 snatch at the nearest piece to them, whether cooked or 
 raw. Having collected with great care, and by self- 
 denial, two email packets of dried meat or sinews suffi- 
 cient (for men who knew what it was to fast) to last for 
 eight days, at the rate of one indifferent meal per day, 
 they set out on the 30th. On the 3d of November they 
 came on the track of Indians, and soon reached the 
 tents of Akaitcho and his followers, when food was 
 obtained, and assistance sent oft' to Franklin. 
 
 In July they reached York Factory, from whence 
 they had started three years before, and thus tenninated 
 a journey of 5550 miles, during which human courage 
 and patience were exposed to trials such as few can 
 bear with fortitude, unless, as is seen in Franklin's in- 
 teresting narrative, arising out of reliance on the ever- 
 sustaining care of an Almighty Providence. 
 
 Parry's First Voyage, 1819-1820. 
 
 The Admiralty having determined to continue the 
 progress of discovery in the Arctic seas, Lieut. W. E. 
 Parry, who had been. second in command under Capt. 
 Ross, in tlie voyiige of the previous year, was selected 
 to take cliarge of a new expedition, consisting of the 
 Hecla and Griper. The cliief object of tliis voyage was 
 to pursue the survey of Lancaster Sound, and decide 
 
 ; 
 
B0 
 
 rU00RI'»8 OF ARCnC DISCOVERY. 
 
 on the probability of a northwest passage in that di»«.-c- 
 tion ; failing in whicli, Smith's and Jones' Sc nn<U 
 were to be explored, with the same purpose in vew. 
 
 The respective officers appointed to the ^liius. 
 were — 
 
 Heda^ 375 tons : 
 
 Lieut, and Commander — r "W". E. Parry. 
 
 Lieutenant — Fred. W. Beechey. 
 
 Captain — E. Sabine, R. A., Astronomer. 
 
 Purser — W. H. Hooper. 
 
 Surgeon — John Edwards. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon — Alexander Fisher. 
 
 Midshipmen — James Clarke Ross, J. Nias, "W. J 
 
 Dealy, Charles Palmer, John Bushnan. 
 Greenland Pilots — J. Allison, master; G. Craw 
 
 furd, mate. 
 44 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. 
 
 Total complement, 58. 
 
 Griper^ 180 tons : , . 
 
 Lieutenant and Commander — Matthew Liddon. 
 Lieutenant — H. P. Hoppner. 
 Assistant Surgeon — C. J . Beverley. 
 Midshipmen — A. Reid, A. M. Skene, "W. N 
 
 Griffiths. 
 Greenland Pilots — George Fyfe, master ; A. Eid 
 
 mate. 
 28 Petty Officers, Seamen, <fec. 
 
 Total complement, 36. 
 
 The ships were raised upon, strengthened, and well 
 found in stores and provisions for two years. On the 
 lltli of May, 1819, they got away from the Thames, 
 and after a lair passage fell in with a considerable quan- 
 tity of ice in the middle of Davie' Straits about the 
 20th of June ; it consisted chiefly of fragments of ice- 
 bergs, on the outskirts of the glaciers that form along 
 the shore. After a tedious passage through the floes 
 of ice, eftected chiefly by heaving and warping, they 
 nnivcd at Possessiou Bay on the morning of the Slst 
 
pakuy's FIKST VOVAOE. 
 
 87 
 
 .J 
 
 N 
 
 ell 
 
 le 
 
 ■OS, 
 
 11- 
 
 10 
 
 le- 
 
 8t 
 
 of Jwly, being just a month earlier than they were 
 here on the previous year. As many as fifty whales 
 were seen here in the course of a few hours. On land- 
 ing, they were not a little astonished to find their own 
 footprints of the previous year, still distinctly visible in 
 tlie snow. During an excursion of three or four miles 
 into the interior, a fox, a raven, several ring-plovers 
 and snow-buntings, were seen, as also a bee, from which 
 it may be inferred that honey can be procured even in 
 these wild regions. Vegetation flourishes remarkably 
 well here, considering the high latitude, for wherever 
 there was moisture, tufts and various ground plants 
 grew in considerable abundance. 
 
 Proceeding on from hence into the Sound, they veTi- 
 fied the opinion which had previously been entertained 
 by many of the officers, that the Croker Mountains 
 had no existence, for on the 4th of August,, the ships 
 were in long. 86° 56' W., three degrees to the westward 
 of where land had been laid down by Ross in the pre- 
 vious year. The strait was named afler Sir John Bar- 
 row, and was fgjiod to be pretty clear ; but on reach- 
 ing Leopold Island, the ice extended in a compact body 
 to the north, through which it was impossible to pene- 
 trate. Rather than remain inactive, waiting for the 
 dissolution of the ice, Parry determined to try what 
 could be done by shaping his course to the southward, 
 through the magnificent inlet now named Regent In- 
 let. About the 6th of August, in consequence of the 
 local attraction, the ordinary compasses became use- 
 less from their great variation, and the binnacles were 
 removed from the deck to the carpenter's store-room as 
 useless lumber, the azimuth compasses alone remain- 
 ing ; and these became s© sluggish in their motions, 
 that they required to be very nicely leveled, and fre- 
 quently tapped before the card traversed. The local at- 
 traction was very great, and a mass of iron-stone found 
 on shore attracted the magnet powerfully. The ships 
 proceeded 120 miles from the entrance. 
 
 On the Sth of August, in lat. 72° 13' K., and long. 
 90" 29' VV., (his extreme point of view Parry named 
 
 Inl 
 
8H 
 
 rnooKESS or akctio ivih(;<)Vkuv. 
 
 Capo Kater,) the Hecla came to a compact barrier of 
 ice extending across the inlet, which rendered one of 
 two alternatives necessary, either to remain here until 
 an opening took place, or to return agpin to the north- 
 wara. The latter course was deternnned on. Makinj^, 
 therefore, for the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, on 
 the 20th a narrow channel was discovered between tlie 
 ice and the land. On the 22d, proceeding due west, 
 after passing several bays and headlands, tfiey noticed 
 two large openings or passages, the lirst of which, more 
 than ei^ht leagues in wiclth, he named Wellington 
 Channel. To various capes, inlets, and groups of isl- 
 ands passed, Parry assigned the names of Jlothani, 
 Barlow, Cornwallis, Bowen, By am Martin, Grifhtli, 
 Lowther, Bathurst, &c. On the 28th a boat was sent 
 on shore at By am Martin Island with Capt. Sabine, 
 Mr. J. C. Ross, and the surgeons, to make observations, 
 and collect specimens of natural history. The vegeta- 
 tion was ratlier luxuriant for these regions; moss in 
 particular grew in abundance in the moist valleys and 
 along the banks of the streams that flowed from the 
 hills. The ruins of six Esquimaux huts were observed. 
 Tracks of reindeer, bears, and musk oxen were noticed, 
 nnd the skeletons, skulls, and horns of some of these 
 animals were found. 
 
 On the let of September, they discovered the large 
 and fine island, to which Parry has given the name of 
 Melville Island after the First Lord of the Admiralty 
 of that day. On the following day, two boats with a 
 party of 'officers were dispatched to examine its 'shores. 
 Some reindeer and musK oxen were seen on landing, 
 but being startled by the sight of a dog, it was found 
 impossible to get near them. There seemed here to bo 
 a great quantity of the pnimal tribe, for the tracks of 
 bears, oxen, ana deer were numerous, and the horns, 
 skin, and skulls were also found. The burrows of foxes 
 and field-mice were observed; several ptarmigan were 
 shot, and flocks of snow-bunting, geese, and ducks, were 
 noticed, probably commencing their migration to a 
 milder climate. Along the beach there was an iin- 
 
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 M 
 
 -m 
 
PAItRY'ti URST VOYAOK. 
 
 80 
 
 )arricr of 
 !tl one ot* 
 lere until 
 ;h« north- 
 Milk in ;Xi 
 Strait, on 
 
 tween tli« 
 (hie west, 
 y noticed 
 lich, moro 
 Wellington 
 ips of ifel- 
 
 JJotlmni, 
 , Griffith, 
 
 was sent 
 t. Sabine, 
 ervations, 
 10 vegeta- 
 ; mo8s in 
 illeys and 
 
 from the 
 observed, 
 e noticed, 
 of these 
 
 the large 
 name of 
 dmiralty 
 ;8 with a 
 8 'shores, 
 landing, 
 as found 
 lere to be 
 racks of 
 He horns, 
 of foxes 
 an were 
 eks, were 
 ion to a 
 an ira- 
 
 
 mense number of small shrimps, and various kinds of 
 kihells. 
 
 On the 4th of September, Parrv had the satisfaction 
 of crossing the mendian of 110° W., in the latitude of 
 74° 44' 20'', by which the expedition became entitled 
 to the reward of £5000, granted by an order in Coun- 
 cil upon the Act 68 Geo. III., cap. 20, entitled, "An 
 Act for more effectually discovering the longitude at 
 6t'u, and encouraging attempts to find a northern nas- 
 Biige between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to 
 ai»i»ioach the North Pole." This ^'f^t was not announced 
 to the crews until the foUowiii' .y ; to celebrate the 
 event they gave to a bold cape oi tlie island then lying 
 in sight the name of Bounty Capo ; and so anxious 
 were they now to press forward, that they began to 
 calculate the time when they should reach the longi- 
 tude of 130° W., the second place specified by the order 
 in Council for reward. On the afternoon of the 5th, 
 the compactness of the ice stopped them, and therefore, 
 for the first time since leaving England, the anchor was 
 let go, and that in 110° W. longitude. 
 
 A boat was sent on shore on the 6th to procure turf 
 or peat for fuel, and, strangely enough, some small 
 pieces of tolerably good coal were found in various 
 places scattered over the surface. A party of ofticers 
 that went on shore on the 8th killed several grouse on 
 the island, and a white hare ; a fox, some field-mice, 
 several snow-bunting, a snowy owl, and four musk oxen 
 were seen. Ducks, m small nocks, were seen along the 
 shore, as well as several glaucous gulls and tern, and a 
 solitary seal was observed. 
 
 As the ships were coasting along on the 7th, two 
 herds of musk oxen were seen grazing, at the distance 
 of about three-quarters of a mile from the beach : one 
 nerd consisted of nine, and the other of five of these 
 cattle. They had also a distant view of two reindeer. 
 
 The average weight of the hares here is about eight 
 pounds. Mr. Fisher, the surgeon, from whose interest- 
 ing journal I quote, states that it is very evident that 
 this island must be frequented, if not constantly inhal>- 
 

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 PKOOKKS8 OF AJiCTIO DltiC'OVIiUV. 
 
 ited, by musk oxen in great numbers, for their bones and 
 horns are found scattered about in all directions, and 
 the greatest part of the carcass of one was discovered 
 on one occasion. The skulls of two carnivorous ani- 
 mals, a wolf and a lynx, were also picked up here. A 
 party sent to gather coals brought on board about hall 
 a bushel — all they could obtain. 
 
 On the morning of the 10th, Mr. George Fyfe, the 
 master pilot, with a party of six men belonging to tlio 
 Griper, landed with a view of making an exploringtrip 
 of some fifteen or twenty miles into the interior. They 
 only took provisions for a day with them. Great un- 
 easiness was felt that they did not return ; and when 
 two days elapsed, fears began to be entertained fur 
 their safety, and it was thought they must have lost 
 their way. 
 
 Messrs. Keid, (midshipman) Beverly, (assistant sur- 
 geon) and Wakeman (clerk) volunteered to go in searcli 
 of their missing messmates, but themselves lost their 
 way ; guided by the rockets, fires, and lights exhibited, 
 they returned by ten at night, almost exhausted with 
 cold and fatigue, but without intelligence of their friends. 
 Four relief parties were therefore organized, and sent 
 out on the morning of the 13th to prosecute the search, 
 and one of them tell in with and brought back four of 
 the wanderers, and another the remaining three before 
 nightfall. 
 
 The feet of most of them were much frost-bitten, and 
 they were all wearied and worn out with their wander- 
 ings. It appears they had all lost their way the eve- 
 ning of the day they went out. With regard to food, 
 they were by no means badly off, for they managed to 
 kill as many grouse as they could eat. 
 
 They found fertile valleys and level plains in the in- 
 terior, abounding with grass and moss ; also a lake of 
 fresh water, about two miles longby one broad, in which 
 were several species of trout. They saw several herds 
 of reindeer on the plains, and two elk ; also many 
 hares, but no musk oxen. Some of those, however, who 
 had been in search of the stray party, noticed herds of 
 these cattle. 
 
PAltBY^S F1K8T VOYAGE. 
 
 91 
 
 The winter now began to set in, and tho packed ice 
 was so thick, that fearB were entertained of being locked 
 up in an exposed position on the coast ; it was, there- 
 fore, thought most prudent to put back, and endeavor 
 to reach the harbor which had been passed some days 
 l)efore. The vessels now got seriously buifeted among 
 tho floes and hummocks ot ice. The Griper was forced 
 airround on the beach, and for some time was in a very 
 critical position. Lieutenant Liddon having been con- 
 lined to his cabin by a rheumatic complaint, was prest?cd 
 at this juncture by Commander Parry to allow himself 
 to ]>e removed to the Ilecla, but he nobly refused, stating 
 that he should be the last to leave the ship, and contin- 
 luMJ giving orders. Tho beach being sand, the Griper 
 was got off without injury. 
 
 On the 23d of September they anchored off the 
 moutli of the harbor, and the thermometer now fell to 
 l\ The crew were set to v/ork to cut a channel through 
 the ice to the shore, and in the course of three days, a 
 cimjil, two and a half miles in length, was completed, 
 through which the vessel was tracked. The ice was 
 eight or nine inches thick. An extra allowance of pre- 
 served meat was served out to^e men, in considera- 
 tion of their hard labor. TheJPssels were unrigged, 
 and every thing made snug ana secure for passing the 
 H'inter. Captam Parry gave the name of the Kortli 
 Georgian Islands to this group, after his Majesty, King 
 (ireorge III., but this has since been changed to the 
 Parry Islands. * 
 
 Two reindeer were killed on the 1st of October, and 
 t*everal white bears were seen. On the 6th a deer was 
 Ivillod, which weighed 170 pounds. Seven were seen 
 on the 10th, one of which was killed, and another se- 
 verely wounded. Following after this animal, night 
 overtook several of the sportsmen, and the usual sig- 
 nals of rockets, lights, &c. were exhibited, to guide 
 them back. One, John Pearson, a marine, had his 
 hands so frost-bitten that he was obliged, on the 2d of 
 November, to ha^ e the four fingers of nis left hand am- 
 putated. A wolf and four reindeer were seen on tho 
 
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 i 
 
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92 
 
 I'KOUIUlSB or AUCnC DISOUVliJiY. 
 
 *. 
 
 14th. A herd of fifteen deer were seen on the 15th; 
 but those who saw them could not bring down any, as 
 their fowlingrpieces missed fire, from the moisture 
 freezing on the locks. On the 17th and 18th herds of 
 eleven and twenty respectively, were seen, and a small 
 one was shot. A fox was caught on the 29th, which is 
 described as equally cunning with his brethren of the 
 temperate regions. 
 
 To make the long winter pass as cheerfully as possi- 
 ble, plays were acted, a school established, and a news- 
 paper set on foot, certainly the first periodical publica- 
 tion that had ever issued trom the Arctic regions. The 
 title of this journal, the editorial duties of which were 
 undertaken by Captain Sabine, was "The Winter 
 Chronicle, or New Georgia Gazette." Tlie first num- 
 ber appeared on the 1st of Kovember. 
 
 On the evening of the 5th of JN^ovember the farce of 
 " Miss in her Teens " was brought out, to the groat 
 amusement of the ships' companies, and, considerinii; 
 the local difticulties and disadvantages under which thu 
 j)erfonncrs lal)ored, tkeir first esstjy, according to the 
 officers' report, did them infinite credit. Two hours 
 were spent very happUv in their theater on the quarter- 
 deck, notwithstandlroHke thermometer outside the ship 
 stood at zero, and wifflln as low as the freezing point, 
 except close to the stoves, where it was a little higher. 
 Another play was performed on the 24th, and so on 
 every fortnight. The men were employed during the 
 (fay in banking up the ships with snow. 
 
 On the 23d of December, the oflficers performed " The 
 Mayor of Garrett," which was followed by an after- 
 piece, written by Captain Parry, entitled the " North- 
 W est Passage, or the Voyage Finished." The sun hav- 
 ing long since departed, the twilight at noon was so 
 clear that books in the smallest print could be distinctly 
 read. 
 
 On the 6th of January, the ferce of " Bon Ton " was 
 performed, with the thermometer at 27° below zero. — 
 The cold became more and more intense. On the 12th 
 it was 51° below zero, in the open air ; brandy froze to 
 
 
 
I'AUKV S FlUf*T \ OVAGE. 
 
 83 
 
 tlie consistency of honey; wlien tasted iu this state it 
 letlt a smarting on the tongue. The greatest cold expe- 
 rienced was on the 14th of January, when the ther- 
 mometer tell to 62° below zero. On the 3d of Febru- 
 ary, the sun was first visi})le above the horizon, after 
 eighty-four days' absence. It was seen from the main- 
 top of the ships, a height of about fifty-one feet above 
 the sea. 
 
 On the forenoon of the 24th a fire broke out at the 
 Rtorehouse, which was used as an observatory. All 
 liands proceeded to the spot to endeavor to subdue the 
 llanies, but having only snow to throw on it, and the 
 mats with which tlie interior was lined being very drj, 
 it was found impossible to extinwuisli it. The snow, 
 however, covered the astronomicalinstrnments and se- 
 cured them from the fire, and when the roof had been 
 pulled down the fire had burned itself out. Consider- 
 able as the fire was, its influence or heat extended but 
 a very short distance, for several of the officers and 
 luen were frost-bitten, and confined from their eftbrts 
 for several weeks. John Smith, of the Artillery, who 
 was Oaptain Sabine's servant, and who, together with 
 Sergeant Martin, happened to be in the house at the 
 thne the fire broke out, suftered much more severely. 
 In their anxiety to save the dipping needle, which was 
 standing close to the stove, and of which they knew 
 the value, they immediatelv ran out %vith it; ana Smith 
 not having time to put on his gloves, had his fingers in 
 half an hour so benumbed, and the animation so com- 
 pletely suspended, that on his being taken on board 
 by Mr. Edwards, and having his hands plunged into 
 a basin of cold water, the simace of the water was im- 
 mediately frozen by the intense cold thus suddenly 
 communicated to it; and notwithstanding the most hu- 
 mane and unremitting attention paid him by the med- 
 ical gentlemen, it was found necessary, some time after, 
 to resort to the amputation of a part of four fingers 
 on one hand, and three on the other. 
 
 Parry adds, " the appearance which our faces pre- 
 Bouted at the fire was a curious one; almost every noso 
 
94 
 
 PKOQKESB OF AKCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 and cheek having become quito white with frost bites, 
 in five nainutes alter being exposed to the weather, so 
 that it was deemed necessarv for the medical gentle- 
 men, together with some others appointed to assist 
 them, to go constantly round while the men were work 
 ing at the fire, and to rub with snow the parts affected, 
 in order to restore animation." 
 
 The weather got considerably milder in March; on 
 the 6th the • thermometer got up to zero for the first 
 time since tlie 17th of December. The observatory 
 house op shore was now rebuilt. 
 
 The vapor, which had been in a solid state on the 
 ship's sides, now thawed below, and the crew, scraping 
 off the coating of ice, removed on the 8th of March, 
 above a hundred bucketsfull each, containing from five 
 to six gallons, which had accumulated in less than a 
 month, occasioned principally from the men's breath, 
 and the steam of victuals at meals. 
 
 The scurvy now broke out among the crew, and 
 prompt measures were taken to remedy it. Captain 
 tarry took great pains to raise mustard and cress in 
 his cabin for the men's use. 
 
 On the 30th of April, the thermometer stood at the 
 freezing point, "w hich it had not done since the 12th of 
 September last. On the 1st of May, the sun was seen 
 at midnight for the first time that season. 
 
 A survey was now taken of the provisions, fuel, and 
 stores; much of the lemon juice was found destroyed 
 from the bursting in the bottles by the frost. Having 
 been only victualed for two years, and half that period 
 having expired, Captain Parry, as a matter of prudence 
 reduced all hands to two-thirds allowance of all sorts of 
 provisions, except meat and sugar. 
 
 The crew were now set to work in cutting awav the 
 ice round the ships : the average thickness was round 
 to be seven feet. Many of the men who had been out 
 on excursions began to suffer much from snow blind- 
 ness. The sensation when first experienced, is de- 
 scribed as like that felt when dust or sand gets into 
 the eyes. They were, however, cured in the course of 
 
' » 
 
 TAURYS FinST VOYAHi:. 
 
 95 
 
 two or three days by kecpiiif]^ the eyes covered, and 
 l)athin^ them occasion ally with sugar of lead, or some 
 other cooliiifj lotion. 
 
 To prevent the recurrence of the complaint, the men 
 were ordered to wear a piece of crape or some substi- 
 tute for it over the eyes. 
 
 The channel round the ships was completed by the 
 17th *A' JNlay, and they rose nearly two feet, having 
 ])L'en kept down by the pressure of tiie ice round them, 
 altliuugh lii»;htened durin<jj the wijiter by the consump- 
 tion of food and fuel. On the 2ith, they were a^ton- 
 islied by two showers of rain, a most extraordinaiy 
 ]tliC'nomenon in these reo-ions. byuiptoms of scurvy 
 ;iii:ain ai)])eared ainon^ the crew ; one of the seamen 
 wiio had been recently cured, havin<; imprudently been 
 in the habit of eating the fat skimndnijs, or "slush,"' in 
 Mliich salt meat had been boiled, and which was served 
 otit for their lamps. As the hills in many ])laces now be- 
 came exposed and vegetation conunenced, two or three 
 l>ieces of ground M'cre dug up and sown with seeds of 
 I'adishes, onions, and other vegetables. Captain Parry 
 determined before leaving to make an excursion across 
 the island for the purpose of examining its size, bound- 
 aries, productions, etc. Accordingly on the 1st of J une, 
 an expedition was organized, consisting of the com- 
 mander, Captain Sabine, Mr. Fisher, the assistant-sur- 
 ireon, Mr. John Nias, midshi]>man of the llecla, and 
 ^[r. Reid, midshipman of the Griper, with two ser 
 gcants, and five seamen and marines. Three weeks 
 ])i'ovision8 were taken, which, together with two tentS: 
 wood for fuel, and other articles, weighing in all about 
 Srxl lbs., was drawn on a cart prepared for the purpose 
 l)v the men. 
 
 Each of the officerR carried a kna]^sack with his own 
 private baggage, weighing from 18 to 24: lbs., also hia 
 gun and ammunition. Tlie party started in high glee, 
 under three hearty cheers from their comrades, sixteen 
 of whom accompanied them for five miles, carrying 
 their knapsacks and drawing the cart for them. 
 
 They traveled by nigbf, takinj? u\-t by day, as it w'>i 
 
 / 
 
06 
 
 rnoouKss ui* Auirnc iHaCovKuv. 
 
 * 
 
 1-' 
 
 found to bo wanner for slcop, and tlioy liad ou]y a cov 
 oring of a single blanket each, beside the clutlies ti»ey 
 had on. 
 
 On the 2d, tlicy came to a small lake, about b.iU' a 
 mile long, and met with eider-ducks and ptaiini;;an ; 
 Boven of the latter were shot. Frum tlie top of a range 
 of hills at which they now arrived,- they could see the 
 masts of the ships in Winter Harbor with the nuked 
 eye, at about ten or eleven miles distant. A vast j^hiin 
 was also seen extending to the northward and west- 
 ward. 
 
 The party breakfasted on biscuit and a pint of gruel 
 each, made of salep powder, wliich was tuund to be a 
 very palatable diet. Ueindeer with their fawna wero 
 met with. 
 
 They derived great assistance in dragging their cart 
 by rigging upon it one of the tent-blankets as a sail, a 
 truly nautical contrivance, and the wind favoring tiieni, 
 they made great progress in this M'ay. Captain Saldino 
 being taken ill with a bowel complaint, had to be con- 
 veyed on this novel sail carriage. They, however, had 
 some u^Iy ravines to pass, the crossings of which wero 
 very tedious and troublesomo. On the 7th the party 
 came to a large bay, which was named atler their ships, 
 Hccla and Griper J>ay. The blue ice was cut through 
 by hard work with boarding pikes, the only instruments 
 they had, and after digging fourteen and a half feet, 
 the water rushed up ; it was not very salt, but sufficient 
 to satisfy them that it was the ocean. An island seen 
 in the distance was named after Captain Sabine ; some 
 of the various points and capes were also named after 
 others of the party. Altliough this shore was found 
 blocked up with such heavy ice, there appear to be times 
 when there is open water here, for a piece of fir wood 
 seven and a half feet long, and about the thickness of 
 a man's arm, was found about eighty yards inland front 
 the hummocks of the beach, and about thirty feet above 
 the level of the sea. Before leaving the shore, a monu- 
 ment of stones, twelve feet high, was erected, in which 
 were depo^iited, in a tia cylinder, an account of their 
 
rAltUYtJ FI118T VOYAGE. 
 
 07 
 
 ?iiircee(Imf^s, a few coins, and several navul buttons, 
 'lie expedition now turned back, shapinfij its courrio in 
 a more westerly direction, toward some high blue hills, 
 which had long been in sight. On many days several 
 ptarmigans were shot. The horns and tracks of deer 
 were very numerous. 
 
 On the 11th they came in sight of a deep gulf, to 
 which Lieutenant Liddon's name was given ; the two 
 capes at its entrance being called after Beechey and 
 Iloppner. In the center was an island about three-f^uar- 
 tors of a mile in length, and rising abruptly to tlio 
 height of 700 feet. The shores of the gulf were very 
 rugged and precipitant, and in descending a steep hill, 
 the axle-tree of their cart broke, and tliey had to leave 
 it behind, taking the body with them, however, for fuel. 
 The wheels, which were left on the spot, may astonish 
 some future adventurer who discovers them. The stores, 
 ifec, were divided among the officers and men. 
 
 Making their way on the ice in the gulf, tlie island in 
 the center was explored, and named after Mr. Hooper, 
 the purser of the Pocla. It was found to be of sand- 
 stone, and very barren, rising perpendicularly from the 
 west side. Four fat geese were killed here, and a great 
 many animals were seen around the gulf ; some atten- 
 tion being paid to examining it r shores, &c., a fine open 
 valley was discovered, and tiici tracks of oxen and 
 deer were very numerous ; the pasturage appeared to 
 be excellent. 
 
 On the 13th, a few ptarmigan and golden plover were 
 killed. No less than thirteen deer in one herd were 
 seen, and a musk ox for the first time in this season. 
 
 The remains of six Esquimaux huts were discovered 
 about 300 yards from the beach. Vegetation now be- 
 gan to flourish, the sorrel was found far advanced, and 
 a species of saxifrage was met with in blossom. They 
 reached the ships on the evening of the 15th, after a 
 journey of about 180 miles. 
 
 The ships' crews, during their absence, had been occu- 
 pied in getting ballast in and re-stowing the hold. 
 
 Shootmg parties were now sent out in various dircc- 
 5 
 
08 
 
 l'IiO(iUI«8 OF AKCnC I>IHCX)VKKY. 
 
 V 
 
 tionR to procure game. Dr. Fislier^jjivos an intni'sflu'^ 
 ftccount of his ten (lays' excurt^ion with a c(»uj)lc of nmn. 
 Tlic (leur were not sonunierourt as thoy expuctod to tiiul 
 tliom. About thirty were seen, of which his ])ai'ty 
 killed hut two, which were very lean, wei^liin*^ only, 
 when skinned and cleanetl, 50 to 60 lbs. A couple of 
 wolves were seen, and some foxes, with a ^reat many 
 hares, four of which were killed, weighinc; from 7 to 8 
 lbs. The aquatic birds seen were — brent geese, king 
 ducks, long-tailed ducks, and arctic and glaucous gulls. 
 The land birds wore ptarmigans, plovers, sanderlings 
 and snow buntings. The geeso were pretty numerous 
 for the first few nays, but got wild and wary on being 
 disturbed, keeping in the middle of lakes out of gun- 
 shot. About a dozen were, however, killed, and litU'cn 
 ptarmigans. These birds are represented to be so stu- 
 pid, that all seen may be shot. Dr. Fisher was sur- 
 prised on his return on the 20th of June, atler his ten 
 days' absence, to find how much vegetation had ad- 
 vanced ; the land being now completely clear of snow, 
 was covered with the purple-colored saxifrage in blos- 
 som, with mosses, and with sorrel, and the grass was 
 two to three inches long. The men were sent out twice 
 a week to collect the sorrel, and in « few^ minutes enough 
 could be procured to make a salad for dinner. After 
 being mixed with vinegar it was regularly served out 
 to the men. The English garden seeds that had been 
 sown got on but slowly, and did not yield any produce 
 in time to be used. 
 
 On the 30th of June Wm. Scott, a boatswain's mate, 
 who had been afflicted with scurvy, diai-rhcra, tfec, 
 died, and was buried on the 2d of July — a slab of 
 sandstone bearing an inscription carved by Dr. Fisher, 
 being erected over his grave. 
 
 From observations made on the tide during two 
 months, it appears that the greatest rise and fall hero 
 is four feet four inches. A largo pile of stones was 
 erected on the 14th of July, upon the most conspicuous 
 hill, containing the usual notices, coin?, &c., and on a 
 large stone an inscription was left, notitying the winter- 
 ing of the ships here. 
 
 a be 
 
I'AKIiY S illCST VuVAOK. 
 
 y?i 
 
 On tlio Ist of Aufynsf, tlio ships, wliich had lieon pro- 
 vionsly warui'd out, <;ot clear ot tho harltor, and t'ouiul 
 u channel, l)oth eastward and westward, ck'ar of ice, 
 about three or four miles in breadth alon;; the land. 
 
 On the <)th they landed on the island, and in tho 
 coiu'sc of the ni^ht killed fourteen hares and a number 
 of glaneouH gulls, which were found witli their young 
 on the top of a i»recij)itous, insulated rock. 
 
 On the 9th the voyu;jjers liad an opportunity of ob- 
 Bervin<^ an instance of the violent pressure that takes 
 place occasionally by the collision of heavy ice. "Two 
 ])ieces," says l)r. Fisher, "• that hapi)entd to come in 
 contact close to ns, pressed so forcibly aj^ainst ono an- 
 other that one of them, althou<^li forty-two feet thick, 
 and at least three times that in length and breadth, was 
 forced np on its edge on the top of another piece of ice. 
 But even this is nothing v.'hon compared with the pres- 
 Gure that must have existed to pro(luce the efiects that 
 we see along the shore, for not only heaps of earth and 
 stones several tons weight are forced up, but hummocks 
 of ice, from fifty to sixty feet thick, are piled up on tho 
 beach. It is unnecessary to remark that a ship, although 
 fortified as well as wood and iron could make her, would 
 have but little chance of withstanding such over- 
 whelming force." 
 
 This day a musk-ox was shot, which weighed moro 
 than 700 lbs.; the carcass, when skinned and cleaned, 
 yielding 421 lbs. of meat. The flesh did not taste so 
 very strong of musk as had been represented. 
 
 The ships made but slow progress, being still thickly 
 l)cset with floes of ice, 40 or 50 feet thick, and had to 
 make fast for security to hummocks of ice on the beach. 
 
 On the 15th and IGth they were off" the southwest 
 point of tho island, but a survey of the locality from 
 the precipitous cliff of Cape Dundas, presented tho 
 same interminable barrier of ice, as far as the eye could 
 reach. A bold high coast was sighted to the southwest, 
 to which the name of Bank's Land was given. 
 
 Captain Parry states that on the 23a the ships re- 
 ceived by far the heaviest shocks they had experienced 
 
 i ' 
 
5' 
 
 f 
 
 100 
 
 ritooiiEss ui' Auui'io i)iHi(»vi:iiv. 
 
 (luring tlio voyaco, nnd pcrforinod six miles of tlu^ most 
 difHcult navigation ho had over known among ieo. 
 
 Two muHk oulls wero shot on tiio 24th by parties who 
 landed, out of a herd of seven whicli wero seen. They 
 were lighter than the first one siiot — weighing only 
 about 300 lbs. From the number of skulls and skele- 
 tons of these animals met with, and their capabilities 
 of enduring the rigor of the climate, it seems probable 
 that they do not migrate southward, but winter on this 
 island. 
 
 Attempts wore still made to work to tho eastward, 
 but on the 25th, from want of wind, and the closoness 
 of the ice, the ships were obliged to make fast again, 
 without bavin*' gamed above a mile after several hours' 
 labor. A fresh breeze springing up on the 2Cth opened 
 a passage along shore, and the ships made sail to tho 
 eastward, and in tho evening were off their old quarters 
 in Winter Harbor. On tho following evening, affer a 
 fine run, they wero off the east end of Melville Island. 
 Lieut. Parry, this day, announced to the ofiicers and 
 crew that aller due consideration and consultation, it 
 had been found useless to prosecute their researches 
 farther westward, and therefore endeavors would bo 
 made in a more southerly direction, failing in which, 
 tho expedition would return to England. Kegent Inlet 
 and the southern shores generally, were found so blocked 
 up with ice, that tho return to England was on the 30th 
 ot August publicly announced. This day, Navy Board 
 and Admiralty Inlets were passed, and on the 1st of 
 September the vessels got clear of Barrow's Strait, and 
 reached Baffin's Bay on the 6th. Thev fell in with a 
 whaler belonging to Hull, from whom they learned tho 
 news of the deatn of George the Third and the Duke 
 of Kent, and that eleven vessels having been lost in tho 
 ice last year, fears were entertained for their safety. 
 The Friendship, another Hull whaler, informed them 
 that in company with the Truelove, she had looked into 
 Smith's Sound that summer. The Alexander, of Aber- 
 deen, one of the ships employed on the former voyage 
 of discovery to these seas, had also entered Lancaster 
 
rAKUY B HECUNl) VuYAOK, 
 
 lul 
 
 Sound. Al'iiT toucliIn|jf at Clyde'rf River, where tliev 
 int't a ^ood-naturi'd triuc of Kfi<piiniaux, theHliipM maifo 
 the bi'ht ot thi'ir wav acruHH tlie Atlantic, und atU-r a 
 eonic'what hoibteroUH jiassage, Coniniodure Tarry landed 
 ftt IVterhead on the yoth ot* October, and, accompanied 
 by Cajjt. Sabine and Mr. IJoopcr, posted t^ Loudou. 
 
 r 
 
 M 
 
 ... 
 
 I ' 
 
 Parky's Second Voyage, 1821— 1823. 
 
 The experience whicli Capt. Parry had formed in hia 
 ])revious vt»ya«<e, led him to entertain the. opinion that 
 a commnnieation ini«^ht bo found between Kegcnt Inlet 
 and lloe's Welcome, or through llepul^e Bay, and thenco 
 to the northwestern shores. The lullowing arc his re- 
 marks : — " On an iiiRpection of tho charts I think it 
 will also appear probable that a comnmnication will 
 one day be founct to exist between this inlet (Prince 
 llecent s) and Hudson's Pay, either through the broad 
 and unexplored channel called Sir Thomas Iloe's Wel- 
 come, or through licpulse Pay, which has not yet been 
 Fatisfartorily examined. It is also probable that a chan- 
 nel will 1)0 found to exist between the western land and 
 the northern coast t»f America." Again, in another 
 place, he says : — " Of the existence of a northwest 
 jiassage to the Pacific it is now scarcely possible U* 
 <loubt, and from the succesf which attended our efforts 
 in 1819, after passing thr.'Ugh Sir James Lancaster's 
 Sound, we were not unreasonable in anticipating its 
 complete accomplishment. But the season in which it 
 is practicable to navigate the Polar Seas does n'^t exceed 
 seven weeks. From all that we observed it seems desir- 
 able that ships endeavoring to reach the Pacific Ocean 
 by this route should keep if possible on the coast of 
 Amenca, and the lower m latitude that coast may bo 
 found, the more favorable will it prove for the purpose ; 
 hence Cuml)erland Strait, Sir Tliomas Roe's Welcome, 
 and Repulse Bay appear to be the points most worthy 
 of attention. I cannot, therefore, but consider that any 
 expedition equipped by Great Bntain with this view 
 
 :m' 
 
102 
 
 ritoni:DsS of Ai:cric DiscuVEKV. 
 
 onfi;lit to employ its best cnurgico in {itteiivptin<^to ijene- 
 trate t'roiu the eastern coast of America aloni^ ito north- 
 ern sliorc. In conse(|uence ot* the partial success wliich 
 has hitherto attended our attempts, the wlialers liavo 
 already extended their views, and a new field has been 
 opened for one of the most lucrative branches ot* our 
 commerce, and v.diat is scarcely of less importance, one 
 of the most valuidjle nurseries for seamen which Great 
 }'ritain possesses."'^' 
 
 Pleased with his former zeal and enterprise, and in 
 order to give liim an opportunity of testing the trutli 
 (>f his observations, a few months after he returned home, 
 tlie Adnifralty gave Parry the command of another ex- 
 pedition, with instructions to j)roceed to Hudson's Strait, 
 and penetrate to the westward, until in Ite[)ulse Bay, 
 or on some other part of the shores of Hudson's Bay to 
 the north of AVager River, lie should reach the weste 
 coast of the continent. Failing in these quarters, 1; 
 was to keep along the coast, carefully examining every 
 bend or inlet, which sliould appear likely to afford a 
 practicable passage to the westward. 
 
 The vessels commissioned, with their officers and 
 crews, were the following. Several of the officers of the 
 former expedition were promoted, and those who had 
 been on the last voyage with Parry I have marked with 
 an asterisk : — 
 
 Grec 
 m 
 
 47 
 
 Furlh 
 
 Commander — *W. E. Parry. 
 
 Chaplain and Astronomer — Eev. Geo. Fisher, (was 
 
 in the Dorothea, under Capt. Buchan, in 1818.) 
 Lieutenants — *J. Nias and *A. Reid. 
 
 Surgeon — *J. Edwards. 
 
 Purser — *W. H. Hooper. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — J. Skeoch. 
 Midshipmen — *J. C. Ross, *J. Bushnan, J. Hender- 
 son, E. R. M. Crozier. 
 
 "Parry's First Voyage, voL ii, p. 240. 
 
PAURY S SKCONl) VOYAGK. 
 
 103 
 
 li' '41 
 
 Greenland Pilots — -J. Allison, master ; G. Crawfurd, 
 
 mate. 
 47 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. 
 
 Total complement, 60. 
 
 Hecla, 
 
 Commander — G. F. Lyon. 
 Lieutenants — *H. P. lloppner and ^C. Palmer. 
 Surgeon — -A . Fisher. 
 Purser — J. Germain. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — A. M'Laren. 
 Midsliipmen — *W. N. Griffitlis, J. Sherer, C. Rich- 
 ards, E. J. Bird. 
 Greenland Pilots — "*G. Fife, master; *A. Elder, mate. 
 46 Petty Officers, seamen, &c. 
 
 Total complement, 58. 
 
 Lieutenant Lyon, the second in command, had ob- 
 tained some reputation from his travels in Tripoli, 
 Mourzouk, and other pares of Northern Africa, and was 
 raised to the rank of Commander, on liis aj^pointment 
 to the Ilecla, and received his promotion as Captain, 
 when the expedition returned. 
 
 The ships were accompanied as far as the ice by 
 the N^atilus transport, freighted with provisions and 
 stores, which were to be transhipped as soon aa room 
 was found for them. 
 
 The vessels got away from the little Xore early on 
 the 8th of May, 1821, but meeting with strong gales 
 olf the Greenland coast, and a boisterous passage, did 
 not fall in with the ice until the middle of June. 
 
 On the 17th of June, in a heavy gale from the south- 
 ward, the sea stove and carried away one of the quar- 
 ter boats of tlie Hecla. On the following day, in lat. 
 60° 53' N., long. 61° 39' W., they made the pack or 
 main body of ice, having many large bergs in and 
 near it. On the 19th, Resolution Island, at the en- 
 trance of Hudson's Strait, was seen distant sixty-four 
 miles. Capt. Lyon states, that during one of the 
 
 \}'' ;. 
 
 t'. fk 
 
 \ \\ 
 
 Mh 
 
104 
 
 riiOGKFiJS OF AliCriC DISCON'EKV. 
 
 watches, a large fragment was observed to fall from 
 ail iceberg near the llecla, which threw np the watei 
 to a great height, sending forth at the same time a 
 noise like the report of a great gun. From this pe- 
 riod to the 1st of July, the ships were occupied in 
 clearing the Nautilus of her stores, pre2>aratoiy to 
 her return home, occasionally made fast to a berg, or 
 driven out to sea by gales. On the 2d, after running 
 through heavy ice, they again made Ilesolutiou Island, 
 and shaping their course for the Strait, were soon in- 
 troduced to the company of some unusually large ice- 
 bergs. The altitude of one was 258 feet above the 
 surface of the sea ; its total height, therefore, allowing 
 one-seventh only to be visible, must have been aboul 
 1806 feet! This however, is supposing the base uii 
 der water not to spread beyond the mass above water 
 The vessels had scarcely drifted past this floating 
 mountain, when the eddy tide carried them with great 
 rapidity among a cluster of eleven bergs of huge 
 size, and having a beautiful diversity of form. The 
 largest of these was 210 feet above the water. The 
 floe ice was running wildly at the rate of three miles 
 an hour, sweeping the vessels past the bergs, against 
 any one of which, they might have received incalcu- 
 lable injury. An endeavor was made to make the 
 ships ftist to one of them, (for all of them were aground,) 
 in order to ride out the tide, but it proved unsuccess- 
 ful, and the Fury had much difficulty in sending a 
 boat for some men who were on a small berg, making 
 holes for her ice anchors. They were therefore swept 
 past and soon beset. Fifty-four icebergs were counted 
 from the mast-head. 
 
 On the 3d, they made some progress through very 
 heavy floes ; but on the tide turning, the loose ice flew 
 together with such rapidity and noise, that there was 
 barely time to secure the ships in a natural dock, be- 
 fore the two streams met, and even then they received 
 gome heavy shocks. Water was procured for use 
 from the pools in the floe to which the ships were 
 made fost ; and this being the first time of doing so, 
 
 each 
 
hf 
 
 PAKRY ti SiXOMlJ VOVAGK. 
 
 105 
 
 aflbrded great amusement to the novicci5, who, even 
 when it was their period of rest, preferred pelting 
 each other with snow-balls, to goin<:j to bed. BuHcfc- 
 ing with eddies, strong currents, and dangerous ])erg3, 
 they were ke])t in a state of anxiety and danger, for 
 a week or ten days. On one occasion, with the pros- 
 pect of being driven on shore, the pressure they ex- 
 ]>erienced was so great, that five hawsers, six inches 
 thick, were carried away, and the be^^t bower anchor 
 of the Ilecla was wrenched from the bows, and broke 
 oft' at the head of the shank, with as mucli ease as if, 
 instead of weighing upward of a ton, it had been of 
 crockery ware. For a week they were embayed by 
 the ice, and during this period they saw three strange 
 ships, also beset, under llesolution Island, which they 
 contrived to join on the IGth of July, making fast to 
 a floe near them. They proved to be the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's traders, Prince of Wales, and Eddystone, 
 with the Lord Wellington, chartered to convey IGO 
 natives of Holland, who were proceeding to settle on 
 Lord Selkirk's estate, at the lied Iliver. " While 
 Hearing these vessels, (says Lyon,) we observed the 
 settlers waltzing on deck, for above two hours, the 
 men in old-fashioned gray jackets, and the women 
 wearing long-eared mob caps, like those used by the. 
 Swiss peasants. As we were surrounded by ice, and 
 the thermometer was at the freezing point, it may be 
 supposed that this ball, al vero fresco^ aftbrded us 
 much amusement." The Hudson's Bay ships had 
 left England twenty days after the expedition. 
 
 The emigrant ship had been hampered nineteen 
 da^^s among the ice before she joined the others ; 
 and as this navigation was new to her captain and crew, 
 they almost despaired of ever getting to their jour- 
 ney's end, so varied and constant had been their im- 
 pediments. The Dutchmen had, however, behaved 
 very philosophically during this period, and seemed 
 determined on being merry, in spite of the weather 
 and the dangers. Several marriages had taken place, 
 the surgeon, who was accompanying thcni to the col- 
 
 
IOC 
 
 I'KOGUKSS OF ARCTIC J DISCOVKKV. 
 
 fiS. 
 
 ony, officiating as clerg3'man,) and many more wcro 
 in agitation ; each happy couple always (leferring the 
 ceremony until a fine day allowed of an evening ball, 
 which was only terminated by a fresh breeze, or a fall 
 of snow.* On the 17th, the ships were se])arated by 
 the ice, and they saw no more of their visitors. On 
 the 21st, they were only otf the Lower Savage Islands. 
 In the evening they saw a very large bear lying on a 
 piece of ice, and two boats were instantly sent oif in 
 chase. They approached very close before he took 
 to the water, when he swam rapidly, and made long 
 springs, turning boldly to face his pursuers. It was 
 with difficulty he was ca])tured. As these animals, 
 although very fat and bulky, sink the instant they die, 
 he was lashed to a boat, and brought alongside the 
 ship. On hoisting him in, they were astonished to 
 find that his weight exceeded sixteen hundred pounds, 
 being one of the largest ever killed. Two instances, 
 only, of larger bears being shot are recorded, and 
 these were by Barentz's crew, in his third voyage, at 
 Cherie Island, to w^hich they gave the name of Bear 
 Island. The two bears killed then, measured twelve 
 and thirteen feet, while this one only measured eight 
 feet eight inches, from the snout to the insertion of the 
 tail. The seamen ate the flesh without experiencing 
 any of those baneful effects which old navigators at- 
 tribute to it, and which are stated to have made three 
 of Barentz's people "so sick that we expected they 
 would have died, and their skins peeled off from 
 head to foot." Bruin was very fat, and having pro- 
 cured a tub of blubber from the carcass, it was thrown 
 over board, and the smell soon attracted a couple 
 of walruses, the first that had been yet seen. 
 
 They here fell in with a numerous body of the Es 
 quimaux, who visited them from the shore. ' In less 
 than an hour the ships were beset with thirty " ka- 
 yaks," or men's canoes, and five of the women's large 
 boats, or " oomiaks." Some of the latter held up- 
 ward of twenty women. A most noisy but merry 
 barter instantly took place, the crew being as anxious 
 
 * Lvou', Private.4**"'iial. p H. 
 
 ing, 
 
; I 
 
 PARKY S SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 107 
 
 to piircliase Esquimaux curiosities, as tlio natives were 
 to procure iron and European toys. 
 
 " It is quite out of my power, (observes Captain 
 Lyon,) to describe the shouts, yells, and laughter of 
 the savages, or the confusion which existed for two or 
 three hours. Tiie females were at first very shy, and 
 unwilling to come on the ice, but bartered every thing 
 from their boats. This timidity, however, soon wore 
 oil', and they, in the end, became as noisy and bois- 
 terous as the men." " It is scarcely possible, (he adds) 
 to conceive any thing more ugly or disgusting than 
 the countenances of tlie old women, who had inHamed 
 eyes, wrinkled skin, black teeth, and, in fact, such a 
 forbidding set of features as scarcely could be called 
 human ; to which might be added their dress, which 
 was such as gave them the appearance of aged ourang- 
 outangs. Frobisher's crew may be pardoned for hav- 
 ing, in such superstitious times as a. d. 1576, taken 
 one of these ladies for a witch, of whom it is said, 
 ' The old wretch whom our sailors supposed to be a 
 witch, had her buskins pulled off, to see if she was 
 cloven-footed ; and being very ugly and deformed, we 
 let her go.' " 
 
 In bartering they have a lingular custom of ratify- 
 ing the bargain, by licking the article all over before 
 it is put away in security. Captain Lyon says he fre- 
 quently shuddered at seeing the children draw a razor 
 over their tongue, as unconcernedly as if it had been 
 an ivory paper-knife. I cannot forbear quoting here 
 some humorous passages from his journal, which stand 
 out in relief to the scientific and nautical parts of the 
 narrative. 
 
 " The strangers were so well pleased in our society, 
 that they showed no wish to leave us, and when the 
 market had quite ceased, they began dancing and 
 playing with our people, on the ice alongside. This 
 exercise set many of their noses bleeding, and discov- 
 ered to us a most nasty custom, which accounted for 
 their gory faces, and which was, that as fast as the 
 blood ran down, theT||Bcraped it with the fingers 
 
 )j||^CT 
 
 |« 
 
 %w 
 
 i :i 
 
 1*1 
 
 ■'■ vi i-' 
 
108 
 
 I'liOGltESS OF .UCCTIC DlBCuVKliY. 
 
 into their mouths, appearing to consider it as a re- 
 freshment, or dainty, if we might judge by the zest 
 
 with which they smacked their lips at each supply." 
 * * * -X- * * * * 
 
 " In order to amuse our new acquaintances as much 
 as possible, the fiddler was sent on the ice, where he 
 instantly found a most delightful set of dancers, of 
 whom some of the women kept pretty good time. 
 Their only figure consisted in stamping and jumping 
 with all their might. Our musician, who was a lively 
 fellow, soqn caught the infection, and began cutting 
 capers also. In a short time every one on the floe, 
 ofKcers, men, and savages, were dancing together, and 
 exhibited one of the most extraordinary sights I ever 
 witnessed. One of our seamen, of a fresh, ruddy 
 complexion, excited the admiration of all the young 
 females, who patted his face, and danced around him 
 wherever he went. 
 
 " The exertion of dancing so exhilarated the Esqui- 
 maux, that they had the appearance of being boister- 
 ously drunk, and played many extraordinary pranks. 
 Among others, it was a favorite joke to run slily be- 
 hind the seamen, and shouting loudly in one ear, to 
 give them at the same time a very smart slap on the 
 other. While looking on, I was sharply saluted in this 
 manner, and, of course, was quite startled, to the 
 great amusement of the bystanders : our cook, who 
 was a most active and unwearied jumper, became so 
 great a favorite, that every one boxed his ears so 
 soundly, as to oblige the poor man to retire from such 
 boisterous marks of approbation. Among other 
 sports, some of the Esquimaux rather roughly, but 
 with great good humor, challenged our people to 
 wrestle. One man, in particular, who had thrown sev- 
 eral of his countrymen, attacked an officer of a very 
 strong make, but the poor savage was instantly thrown, 
 and with no very easy fall ; yet, although every one 
 was laughing at him, he bore it with exemplary good 
 liumor. The same officer afforded us much diversion 
 by teaching a large party of jjj^en to bow, courtesy, 
 
I'AliKV S t^ECOMU VoVAGlJ. 
 
 hti) 
 
 sliiiko hands, turn their toes out, and perform sun- 
 (hy otlier polite acconiplishnients ; tlie whole party 
 master and pupils, })rer^ervini^ the strictest gravity. 
 
 ''Toward midnight all our men, except the watch on 
 deck, turned in to their beds, and the fatigued and 
 hungry Es(|uiniaux returned to their boats to take tlieir 
 supper, which consisted of lumps of raw liesh and blub- 
 ber of seals, birds, entrails, itc. ; licking their fingers 
 with great zest, and with knives or lingers scraping the 
 blood and grease which ran down their chins into their 
 mouths." 
 
 Many other parties of the natives were fallen in with 
 during the slow progress of the ships, between Salisbury 
 and .Nottingham Ishmds, who were C(|ually as eager to 
 beg, barter, or thieve ; and the mouth was the general 
 repository of most of the treasures they received ; nee- 
 dles, pins, nails, buttons, beads, and other small etcete- 
 ras, being indiscriminately stowed there, but detracting 
 in nowise from their volubility of speech. On the loth 
 of August the weather being calm and fine, norwhals or 
 sea-miicorns, were very numerous about the ships, and 
 boats were sent, but without success, to strike one. 
 There were sometimes as many as twenty of these 
 beautiful fish in a shoal, lifting at times their immense 
 horn above the water, and at others showing their 
 glossy l)acks, wdiich were spotted in the manner of 
 coach dogs in England. The length of these fish is 
 about fifteen feet, exclusive of the horn, which averages 
 five or six more. 
 
 Captain Parry landed and sle])t on Southampton Isl- 
 and. His boat's crew caught in holes on the beach 
 sufficient sillocks, or young coal-fish, to serve for two 
 meals for the whole ship's company. During the night 
 white whales were seen Iving in hundreds close to the 
 rocks, probably feeding on the sillocks. Alter carefully 
 examining Duke of York Bay, the ships got into the 
 Frozen Strait of Middleton on the morning of the 20th, 
 and an anxious day was closed by passing an opening 
 to the southward, which was found to be Sir Thomas 
 Roe's Welcome, and heaving to for the night off a bay 
 
 p. j 
 
 ;J 
 
 i I 
 
 t 
 
no 
 
 PR<)<il£i:SK (IF AK(J'1IC DISC'oVKliY. 
 
 to tlio noi'tliwcst. Tlio bliips got woll in to Rcpulso 
 J Jay on the 22(1, and u, ciiret'ul examination of its bliores 
 ^vaH made by tlie boats. 
 
 Ca])tain8 l*arry and Lyon, with several officers from 
 eacli ship, landed and exj^lored the nortliern shoren, 
 "vvliile a boat examined the head of the bay. The wa- 
 terH of a long cove are described by Cajitain Lyon aa 
 being absolutely hidden by tlio quantities of young 
 eider-ducks, whieh, under the direction of their moth- 
 ers, were making tiieir lirst essays in swimming. 
 
 Captain Lyon with a boat's crew made a trip of a 
 couple ot" days along some of the indents of the bay, 
 and discovered an inlet, which, however, on being en- 
 tered subseqnently by the ships, proved only to be the 
 dividing channel between an island and tlic main-land, 
 about six miles in length by one in breadth. Proceed- 
 ing to the northward by Ilurd's channel, they expe- 
 rienced a long rolling ground swell setting against them. 
 On the 28th, ascending a steep mountam, Captain 
 Lyon discovered a noble bay, subsequently named Gor ) 
 Bay, in which lay a few islands, and toward this thof 
 directed their course. 
 
 Captain Parry, who had been two days absent wit 'i 
 boats exploring the channel and shores of the strait, r^^- 
 turned on the 29th, but set off again on the same day 
 with six boats to sound and examine more minutel*". 
 When Parry returned at ni^ht, Mr. Griffiths, of tl e 
 If eel a, brought on board a large doe, which he had 
 killed while swimming (among large masses of ice) fro. a 
 isle to isle ; two others and a fawn were procured c n 
 shore by the Fury's people. The game laws, as thv/y 
 w^ere laid down on the former voyage while winteri\ 3 
 at Melville Island, were once more put in force. Thety 
 " enacted that for the purpose of economizing the shi(rs 
 provisions, all deer or musk-oxen killed should bo 
 served out in lieu of the usual allowance of meat. 
 Hares, ducks, and other birds were not at this time to 
 be included. As an encouragement to sportsmen, the 
 head, lege, and oftal of the larger animals were to bo 
 tlio ])erquisites of those who procured the carcasses for 
 
 4 
 
 f 
 
I'AIiliV si Si:o>M» VoVAtil.. 
 
 iii 
 
 the ircnoral m»ijd."' "In the iiniiiialri of tlils cUiv (wb- 
 rerve.s Lvoiij we were coiiviiiced thiit our sportsmen 
 had n^t t'orujotteu the hititude to whieh their pen|uisitt'S 
 luiu'lit le-i'allv extend, lor tlie iieck^ wore made so hm;' 
 as to encroach considei'iiblj on the vertebrie of tlie 
 liack; a manner of anipiitutiug the heads winch liad 
 been learned during the former voyage, and, no doubl, 
 would be strictly acted up to in the present one/' 
 
 AVhile the ships on the 30th were proceeding through 
 this strait, having to contend with heavy wind and 
 wild ice, which with an impetuous tide ran against tho 
 rocks with loud crashes, at the rate of live knots in tho 
 center stream; four boats towing astern were torn 
 away Ijy the ice, and, with the men in them, were for 
 some time in great danger. The vessels anchored for 
 the night in a small nook, and weighing at daylight 
 <iii the olst, they stood to the eastward, but Gore Bay 
 v/jis found closely packed with ice, and most of the in- 
 lets they passed were also Beset. 
 
 A ])revalence of fog, northerly wind, and heavy ico 
 in Hoes of some miles in circumference, now carried 
 i!ie ships, in spite of constant labor and exertions, in 
 thive days, back to tho very spot in Fox's Channel, 
 Avhere a month ago they had commenced their o])era- 
 tions. It was not till the 5th of September, that they 
 could again get forward, and then by one of the usual 
 clianges in the navigation of these seas, the ships ran 
 well to the northeast imimpeded, at the rate of six 
 knots an hour, anchoring for the night at the mouth of 
 a large opening, which was named Lyon Inlet. The 
 in'xt (lay they proceeded about twenty-five miles up 
 til is inlet, which appeared to be about eight miles broad. 
 Captain Parry pushed on with two boats to examine 
 the head of the inlet, taking provisions for a week, 
 lie returned on the 14th, having failed in finding any 
 outlet to the place he had been examining, which was 
 yvvy extensive, full of fiords and rapid overfalls of the 
 tide. lie had procured a sufficiency of game to afford 
 liis people a hot supper every evening, which, aftei'the 
 constant labor of the day, was highly acceptable. He 
 
 5* 
 
 ii 
 
 i''a 
 
 \i'^: 
 
11 
 
 o 
 
 rnoOKKFS (W AKnir J»IS((;Vi:UV. 
 
 fell in nlfio with a fiiiiall purtv of n»ativon \^ ho disphiycd 
 thu usual thioving ])ropeMsitu's. 
 
 Animal food of all kindrt vciih found to ho very i)k'n- 
 tiful in this locality. A tine salmon trout was I)r<)Ught 
 down by one of the olHecrs from a lake in the moun- 
 tains. The crew of thellecla killed in a fortnight four 
 deer, forty hares, eighty -two ptarmigan, lifty duck.s, 
 three divers, three foxes, three ravens, four seals, er- 
 inine.>«, marmottes, mice, i^c. Two of the seals kilKd 
 M'ere immense animals of tlie hearded species {/'/toed 
 h<i/'lafa^ yavy fat, weighing al)0ut eight or nine cwt.; 
 the others were the connnon fi])Gcies, {I*, vitulina.) 
 
 Captain Parry again left in boats, on the 15th, to ex- 
 amine more carefully the land that had been paiiised so 
 ra])idly on the 5th and Cth. Not Imding Inm return 
 on the 24th, Captain Lyon ran down "the coast to meet 
 liim, and by burning blue lights, fell in with him at 
 ten that night. It appeared he had been frozen up 
 for two days on the second evening after leaving. 
 When he got clear he ran down to, and sailed round. 
 Gore Bay, at that time perfectly clear of ice, but by 
 the next morning it was quite lilled with heavy pieces, 
 which much impeded his return. Once more he was 
 frozen up in a small bay, where he was detained three 
 days ; when, finding there was no chance of getting 
 out, in consequence of the rapid formation of young 
 ice, by ten hours' severe labor, the boats were carried 
 over a low point of land, a mile and a half wide, and 
 once more launched. 
 
 On the 6th of October, the impediments of ice con- 
 tinuing to increase, being met with in all its formations 
 of sludges or young ice, pancake ice and bay ice, a 
 small open bay within a cape of land, forming the 
 southeast extremity of an island off Lyon Inlet, was 
 sounded, and being found to be safe anchorage the ships 
 were brought in, and, from the indications which were 
 Betting in, it was finally determined to secure them there 
 for the winter ; by means of a canal half a mile long, 
 which was cut, they were taken further into the bay. 
 The island was named Winter Isle. 
 
 Preparations were now made for occupation an^' 
 
rAliliv's BIXOND VoYAOK. 
 
 113 
 
 I li 
 
 ttmiiRcmcnt, bo as to pass away pleasantly tlio period 
 of detention. A good stoek of tlieatrical dresses and 
 i»roj)ertie9 liaving been laid in by the ofHeers before 
 leaving England, arrangements were made for perform- 
 ing plays fortnightly, as on their last winter residence, 
 as a means of amusing the seamen, and in some degree 
 to break the tedious monotony of their confinement. As 
 tliere could bo no desire or hope of excelling, every 
 officer's name was readily entered on the list of ilra^ 
 mdtis pcrsonw^ Captain Lyon kindly undertaking the 
 difficult ofiice of manager. Those ladies (says Lyon^ 
 who had cherished the growth of their beards ana 
 whiskers, as a defense against the inclemency of tho 
 climate, now generously agreed to do away with such 
 unfeminine ornaments, and every thing bade fair for a 
 most stylish theater. 
 
 As a curiosity, I may hero put on record the play 
 bill for the evening. I nave added tho ship to which 
 each officer belonged. 
 
 THEATER ROYAL, 
 
 WINTER ISLE. 
 
 The Public aro respectfully informed that this little, »' 
 yet elegant Theater, will open for the season on Fri- 
 day next, the 9th of November, 1821, when will be 
 performed Sheridan's celebrated Comedy of 
 
 THE RIVALS. 
 
 Sir Anthony Absolute Captain Parry, {Fury) 
 Ca^g^bin Absolute - - Captain Lyon, {JTeola.) 
 Slrmt^ius O^ Trigger y Mr. Crozier, {Fury) 
 FaitafUmd, - - - - Mr. J. Edwards, (Fury.) 
 
 Acrei^ Mr. J. Henderson, (Fury.) 
 
 Fayy ------ Lieut. Hoppner, (Ilecla.) 
 
 David, .-.--- Lieut. Reid, (Fury.) 
 Mrs. Malaprop, - - Mr. C. Richards, (Ilecla.) 
 
 - Mr. W. H. Hooper, (Fury.) 
 - Mr. J. Sherer, (Ilecla.) 
 
 - Mr. W. Mogg, (crk of Ilecla.) 
 
 Julia, 
 
 Lydia Languish, 
 
 Lucy, - . - - 
 
Hi 
 
 I'KuUKKft^ ul' AUtTlC Dl^CUVEUV. 
 
 Solids l)y ^resrti'H. (y. Palmer, (llccla,) and J. Ilcii- 
 dcr.sun, will bo intruducud in tho courtio of the eve- 
 ning. 
 
 On the 17th of December, a Blilvcring set of actors 
 jjerformed to a great-coated, yet very cold audience, 
 the comedy of the 'Toor (ientleman." A burst of 
 true English feeling was exhibited during the perform- 
 ance of this ])lay. In tho scene whoro jJeut. Worth- 
 infjto)i and Corporal J^o.sff recount in so animated a 
 nuinner. their former achievements, advancing at tho 
 same time, and huzzaing for " Old Knghind," tho 
 whole audience, with one accord, rose and gave three 
 most hearty cheers. They then sat down, and tho 
 play continued uninterrupted. 
 
 On Christmas Eve, in order to keep tho peoi)lo 
 quiet and sober, two farces were performed, and tho 
 phantasmagoria, (which had been kindly presented 
 anonymously to the ships before leaving, by a lady,) 
 exhibited, so that the night passed merrily away. 
 
 The coldness of the weather proved no bar to tho 
 performance of a play at tho appointed time. If it 
 uniused the seamen, the purpose was answered, but it 
 was a cruel task to performers. " In our green-room, 
 (says Lyon,) which was as mucli warmed as any other 
 part of the Theater, the thermometer stood at 10°, and 
 on a table which was placed over a stove, and about 
 six inches above it, tho coffee froze in the cups. For 
 my sins, I was obliged to be dressed in the height of 
 the fashion, as Dick Dowlas, in the " Heir at Law," 
 and went through the last scene of the play with 
 two of my fingers frost-bitten 1 Let those who havo 
 witnessed and admired the performances of a Young, 
 answer if he could possibly ha/e stood so cold a recep- 
 tion." 
 
 Captain Parry also states in his Journal, " Among 
 the recreations which afibrded the highest gratifica- 
 tion to several among us, I may mention the musical 
 ])arties we were enabled to muster, and which assem- 
 bled on stated evenings throughout the winter, alter 
 
 L.'i^kA^'lakl^iL.^^' i. 
 
i 
 
# w 
 
 More si 
 at thesi 
 them tc 
 assured 
 the glo 
 pleasur 
 of aftbr 
 tion afl 
 Bcarcelj 
 whose I 
 with ' XI 
 rememl 
 those as 
 we are 
 still oc( 
 our frie: 
 twecn u 
 mere ar 
 an appli 
 to open 
 ceded t 
 could w 
 disuse, i 
 
 Mr. E 
 the Fur}? 
 educatec 
 in the 1 
 in the ii 
 progress 
 Lyon sti 
 who, tw< 
 These li 
 with as 
 little sch 
 
 An ol 
 on magr 
 tions. I 
 were cai 
 the 25tl 
 
•) 
 
 rAKliV H tJECOKD VOYAGE. 
 
 115 
 
 n \tel/ 1^1 Ccix^mander Lyon's cabin, and in my own. 
 More skillful amateurs in music might well have smiled 
 at these, our humble concerts, but it will not incline 
 them to think less of the science they admire, to be 
 assured that, in these remote and desolate regions of 
 the globe, it has often furnished us with the most 
 pleasurable sensations which our situation was capable 
 of aftbrding ; for, independently of the mere gratifica- 
 tion aftbrded to the ear by music, there is, perhaps, 
 scarcely a person in the world really fond of it, in 
 whose mind its sound is not more or less connected 
 with * his far distant home.' There are always some 
 remembrances which render them inseparable, and 
 those associations are not to be despised, which, while 
 we are engaged in the performance of our duty, can 
 still occasionally transport us into the social circle of 
 our friends at home, in spite of the oceans that roll be- 
 tween us." But their attention was not confined to 
 mere amusements. Much to the credit of the seamen, 
 an application was made in each ship for permission 
 to open an evening school, which was willingly ac- 
 ceded to. Almost every man could read, and some 
 could write a little, but several found that, from long 
 disuse, it was requisite to begin again. 
 
 Mr. Halse volunteered to superintend the classes in 
 the Fury; while Benjamin White,aseaman, whohad been 
 educated at Christ's Hospital, officiated as schoolmaster 
 in the Hecla, and those best qualified to assist aided 
 in the instruction of their shipmates, who made rapid 
 progress under their tuition. On Christmas Day, Capt. 
 Lyon states that he received sixteen copies from men> 
 who, two months before, scarcely knew their letters. 
 These little specimens were all well written, and sent 
 with as much pride as if the writers had been good 
 little schoolboys, instead of stout and excellent seamen. 
 
 An observatory was erected on shore, for carrying 
 on magnetical, astronomical, and other scientific opera- 
 tions. Foxes were very plentiful about the ships ; fifteen 
 were caught in one trap in four hours on the night of 
 the 25th of October, and above one hundred were 
 
 ■* i 
 
 ;' '11 
 
 ml0 
 
 ii 
 
110 
 
 i»rogij:ss of akctic discovery, 
 
 cither trapped or killed in the course of three montlis, 
 and yet there seemed but little diminution in their 
 numbers. Captain Lyon says he found them not bad 
 eating, the flesh much resembling that of kid. A pack 
 of thirteen wolves came occasionally to have a look at 
 the ships, and on one occasion broke into a snow-house 
 alongside, and walked off with a couple of Esquimaux 
 dogs confined there. Bears now and then also made 
 their apj^earance. 
 
 A very beautiful eraiine walked on board the Ilecla 
 one day, and was caught in a small trap placed on the 
 deck, certainly the first of these animals which was 
 ever taken alive on board a ship 400 yards from the 
 land. The ravenous propensities of even some of tlio 
 smallest members of the animal kingdom are exempli- 
 fied by the following extract : — 
 
 " We had for some time observed that in the fire- 
 hole, which was kept open in the ice alongside, a count- 
 less multitude of small shrimps were constantly rising 
 near the surface, and we soon found that in twenty-four 
 hours they would clean, in the most beautifiil manner, 
 the skeletons." 
 
 After attending divine service on Christmas day, the 
 officers and crews sat down to the luxury of joints of 
 English roast beef, which had been kept untainted by 
 being frozen, and the outside rubbed with salt. Cran- 
 berry pics and puddings, of every shape and size, with 
 a full allowance of spirits, followed, and, probably the 
 natural attendance of headaches succeeded, for the 
 next morning it was deemed expedient to send all the 
 people for a rnu on the ice, in order to put them to 
 riglitrt ; but thick weather coming on, it became neces- 
 yaiy to recall them, and, postponing the dinner hour, 
 they were all danced sober by one o'clock, the fiddler 
 being, fortunately, quite as he should be. During this 
 curious ball, a witty fellow attended as an old cake 
 woman, with lumps of frozen snow in a bucket ; and 
 such was the demand for his pies on this occasion, that 
 he was obliged to replenish pretty frequently. The 
 year had now drawn to a close, and all enjoyed excel- 
 
parry's second voyage. 
 
 117 
 
 lent health, and were blessed with good spirits, and zeal 
 for the renewal of their arduous exertions in the sum- 
 mer. 
 
 No signs of scurvy, the usual plague of such voy- 
 ages, had occurred, and by the plans of Captain Parry, 
 as carried out on the former voyage, a sufficiency of 
 mustard and cress was raised between decks to afibrd 
 all hands a salad once, and sometimes twice a week. 
 The cold now became intense. Wine froze in the bot- 
 tles. Port was congealed into thin pink lamina;, which 
 lay loosely, and occupied the whole length of the bot- 
 tle. White wine, on the contrary, froze into a solid 
 and perfectly transparent mass, resembling amber. 
 
 On the 1st of February the monotony of their life 
 was varied by the arrival of a largo party of Esqui- 
 maux, and an interchange of visits thenceforward took 
 place with this tribe, which, singularly enough, were 
 proverbial for their honesty. Ultimately, however, 
 they began to display some thievish propensities, for 
 on one evening in March a most shocking theft was 
 committed, which was no less than the last piece of 
 English corned beef from the midshipmen's mess. 
 Had it been an 181b. carronade, or even one of the an- 
 chors, the thieves would have been welcome to it ; but 
 to purloin English beef in such a country was unpar- 
 donable. 
 
 On the 15th of March Caj^tain Lyon, Lieutenant 
 Palmer, and a party of men, left the ship, with pro- 
 visions, tents, &c., in a large sledge, for an excursion 
 of three or four days, to examine the land in the neigh- 
 borhood of the ships. 
 
 The first night's encampment was anything l)ut com- 
 fortable. Their tent they found so cold, that it was 
 determined to make a cavern in the snow to sleep in ; 
 and digging this aftbrded so good an opportunity of 
 warming themselves, that the only shovel was lent from 
 one to the other as a particular favor. After digging 
 it of sufficient size to contain them all in a sitting ]5os- 
 ture, by means of the smoke of a fire they managed to 
 raise the temperature to 20°, and, closing the entranco 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 f1 
 
 if 
 
 ' ;i ■'' 
 
 jUit 
 
 
 li 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Ir. 
 
 iji:: 
 
 1 
 
 f li 
 
 
 m 
 
118 
 
 PKOORESK OF AKCTIC DWCOVliKY. 
 
 with blocks of snow, crept into their blanket bags and 
 tried to sleep, with the pleasant reflection that their 
 roof might fall in and bury them all, and that their ono 
 spade was the only means of liberation after a night's 
 di-ift of snow. 
 
 They woke next morning to encounter a heavy galo 
 and drift, and found their sledge so embedded in the 
 snow that they could not get at it, and in the attemi)t 
 their faces and extremities were most painfully frost- 
 bitten. The thermometer was at 32° below zero ; they 
 could not*, moreover, see a yard of the road ; yet to re- 
 main appeared worse than to go forward — the last 
 plan was, therefore, decided on. The tent, sledge, and 
 luggage were left; behind, and with only a few pounds 
 of bread, a little rum, and a spade, the party again set 
 out ; and in order to depict their sufterings, I must take 
 up the narrative as related by the commander himself : 
 
 "Not knowing where to go, we wandered among 
 the heavy hummocks of ice, and sufiering from cold, 
 fatigue and anxiety, were soon completely bewildered. 
 Several of our party now began to exhibit symptoms 
 of that horrid kind of insensibility which is the pre- 
 lude to sleep. They all professed extreme willingness 
 to do what they were told in order to keep in exercise, 
 but none obeyed ; on the contrary, they reeled about 
 like drunken men. The faces of several were severely 
 frost-bitten, and some had for a considerable time lost 
 sensation in their fingers and toes ; yet they made not 
 the slightest exertion to rub the paints afiected, and even 
 discontinued their general custom of warming each 
 other on observing a discoloration of the skin. Mr. 
 Pahner employed the people in building a snow wall, 
 ostensibly as a shelter from the wind, but in fact to 
 give them exercise, when standing still must have 
 proved fatal to men in our circumstances. My atten- 
 tion was exclusively directed to Sergeant Speckman, 
 who, having been repeatedly warned that his nose was 
 frozen, had paid no attention to it, owing to the state 
 of stupefaction into which he had fallen. The frost- 
 bite had now extended over one side of his face, which 
 

 parry's second voyage. 
 
 119 
 
 'vvas frozen as hard as a mask ; the eyelids were stiftj 
 and one corner of the upper lip so drawn np as to 
 expose the teeth and gums. My hands being still 
 warm, I had the happiness of restoring the circulation, 
 after which I used all ray endeavors to keep the poor 
 fellow in motion ; but he complained sadly of giddi- 
 ness and dimness of sight, and was so weak as to be 
 unable to walk without assistance. His case was so 
 alarming, that I expected every moment he would lie 
 down, never to rise again. 
 
 " Our prospect now became every moment more 
 gloomy, and it was but too probable that tour of our 
 party would be unable to survive anotlier hour. Mr. 
 ralmer, however, endeavored, as well as myself, to 
 cheer the people up, but it was a faint attempt, as wo 
 had not a single hope to give them. Every piece of 
 ice, or even of small rock or stone, was now supposed 
 to be the ships, and we had great difficulty in prevent- 
 ing the men from running to the different objects which 
 attracted them, and consequently losing themselves in 
 the drift. In this state, while Mr. Palmer was running 
 round us to warm himself, he suddenly pitched on a 
 new beaten track, and as exercise was indispensable, 
 we determined on following it, wherever it might lead 
 us. Having taken the Sergeant under my coat, he re- 
 covered a little, and we moved onward, when to our 
 infinite joy we found that the path led to the ships." 
 
 As the result of this exposure, one man had two of 
 his fingers so badly frost-bitten as to lose a good deal 
 of the flesh of the upper ends, and for many days it 
 was feared that he would be obliged to have them am- 
 putated. Quarter-master Carr, one of those who had 
 been the most hardy while in the air, fainted twice on 
 getting below, and every one had severe frost-bites in 
 different parts of the boay, which recovered after the 
 usual loss of skin in these cases. 
 
 One of the Esquimaux females, by name Igloolik, 
 who plays a conspicuous part in the narrative, was a 
 general favorite, being possessed of a large find of 
 useful information, having a good voice and ear for 
 
 II I 
 
120 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 music, being an excellent seamstress, and liaving such 
 a good idea of the hydrography and bearings of the 
 neighboring sea-coasts, as to draw charts which guided 
 Parry much in his future operations, fur he found lier 
 sketches to be in the main correct. She connected the 
 jand from their winter quarters to the northwest sea, 
 rounding and terminating the northern extremity of 
 this part of America, by a large island, and a strait of 
 sufficient magnitude to aftbrd a safe passage for the 
 ships. This little northwest passage, observes Lyon, 
 set us all 'castle-building, and we already fancied the 
 worst part of our voyage over ; or, at all events, that 
 before half the ensuing summer was past, we should 
 arrive at Akkoolee, the Esquimaux settlement on the 
 western shore. Half-way between that coast and Re 
 pulse Bay, Igloolik drew on her chart a lake of consid- 
 erable size, naving small streams running from it to 
 the sea, on each side ; and the correctness of this infor- 
 mation was fully proved by Eae in his recent expedi- 
 tion in 1846. 
 
 On the 13th of April their Esquimaux friends took 
 their dej^arture for other quarters ; towards the end of 
 the month the crews completed the cutting of trenches 
 round the vessels, in order that they might rise to their 
 proper bearings previous to working in the holds, and 
 the ships floated like corks on their native element, 
 after their long imprisonment of 191 days. As the 
 season appeared to be improving, another land expedi- 
 tion was determined on, and Captain Lyon and Lieu- 
 tenant Palmer, attended by a party of eight men, set 
 oft* on the 8th of May, taking with them twenty days' 
 provisions. Each man drew on a sledge 126 lbs., and 
 the officers 95 lbs. a-piece. 
 
 " Loaded as we were," says the 'eader, "it was with 
 the greatest difficulty we made our way among and 
 over the hummocks, ourselves and sledges taking some 
 very unpleasant tumbles. It required two and a half 
 hours to rross the ice, although the distance was not 
 two miles, and We then landed on a small island, where 
 we passed the night." 
 
 ■.^sL. 
 
TAJRliY S SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 121 
 
 i^Lvei-al islands and shoals in the strait were named 
 Bird's Isles. At noon on the 11th, they camped at the 
 head of a fine bav, to which the name of IJlakc was 
 mven. In spite of all the care which had been taken 
 by using crape shades, and other coverings fur the eyes, 
 live of the party became severely afflicted with snow 
 blindness. Before evening two of the sufferers were 
 quite blinded by the inflammation. Their facen, eyes, 
 and even heads, being much swollen, and very red. 
 Bathing would have afforded relief, but the nun did not 
 produce a droj) of water, and their stock of fuel l)eing 
 limited, they could only spare enough wood to thaw 
 snow for their midday draught. 
 
 As the morning of the 12th brought no change in the 
 invalids, another day was lost. Toward evening, by 
 breaking pieces of ice, and placing them in the full 
 glare of the sun, sufficient water was obtained, botli for 
 drinking and for the sick to bathe their faces, which 
 afforded them amazing relief, and on the morrow they 
 were enabled to resume their journey. At noon the 
 sun was sufficiently powei*fal to afford the travelers a 
 draught of water, without having to thaw it, as had 
 hitherto been the case. 
 
 For nearly three days after this, they were imprisoned 
 in their low tent by a snow-storm, but on the morning 
 of the 18th, they were enabled to sally out to stretch 
 their legs, and catch a glimpse of the sun. After exam- 
 ining many bays and indentations of the coast, the party 
 returned to the ships on the evening of the 21st. A 
 canal was now cut through the ice, to get the ships to 
 the open water, in length 2400 feet, and varying in 
 breadth from 60 to 197 teet. The average thickness of 
 the ice was four feet, but in some places it was as much 
 as twelve feet. This truly arduous task had occupied the 
 crews for fifteen days, from six in the morning to eight 
 in the evening ; but they labored at it with the greatest 
 spirit and good humor, and it was concluded on the 18th 
 of June, when the officers and men began to take leave 
 of their several haunts and promenades, particularly 
 the " garden " of each ship, which had become favorite 
 
 
122 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 lounges during their nine months' detention. A few 
 ill-fated bunting came near enough to be shot, and were 
 instantly roasted for a farewell supper, and bright vis- 
 ions of active exertions on the water on the morrow 
 were universally entertained. But the night dispelled 
 all these airy castles, for with the morning's dawn they 
 found that the whole body of ice astern of the ships 
 had broke adrift, filled up the hard-wrought canal, and 
 imprisoned them as firm as ever. 
 
 Death now for the first time visited the crews. James 
 Pringle, a seaman of the Hecla, fell from the mast-head 
 to the deck, and was killed on the 18th of May. Wm. 
 Souter, quarter-master, and John Reid, Carpenter's 
 mate, belonging to the Fury, died on the 26th and 27th, 
 of natural causes. Toward the end of June, the sea 
 began to clear rapidly to the eastward, and the bay ice 
 soon gave way as far as where the ships were lying, and 
 on the 2d of July they put to sea with a fresh breeze, 
 after having been frozen in for 267 days. 
 
 In making their way to the northward, they were fre- 
 quently in much danger. On the 3d, the ice came 
 down on the Hecla witn such force as to carry her on 
 board the Fury, by which the Hecla broke her best bower 
 anchor, and cut her waist-boat in two. On the 4th, the 
 pressure of the ice was so great as to break the Hecla 
 adrift fi'om three hawsers. Four or five men were each 
 on separate pieces of ice, parted from the ships in the 
 endeavor to run out a hawser. A heavy pressure closing 
 the loose ice unexpectedly gave them a road on board 
 again, or they must have been carried away by the 
 stream to certain destruction. On the 8th, the JEEecla 
 had got her stream-cable out, in addition to the other 
 hawsers, and made fast to the land ice, when a very 
 heavy and extensive floe took the ship on her broad 
 side, and being backed by another large body of ice, 
 gradually lifted her stem as if by the action of a wedge. 
 
 " The weight every moment increasing, obliged us," 
 says Captain Lyon, " to veer on the hawsers, whose fric- 
 tion was so great as nearly to cut through the bitt-heads, 
 and ultimately to set them on fire, so that it became 
 
 ■iiri^J^ 
 
PAHUy's SECO.'ID \\)V 'UC. 
 
 123 
 
 requisite for people to attend with buckets of water. 
 The pressure was at length too powerful for resistance, 
 and the stream-cable, with two six and one live-inch 
 hawsers, all gave way at the same moment, three others 
 60on following them. The sea was too full of ice to 
 allow the ship to drive, and the* only way in which she 
 could yield to the enormous weight whicli oppressed her, 
 was by leaning over on the land ice, while her stem at 
 the same time was entirely lifted to above the height ot 
 five feet out of the water. The lower deck beams now 
 complained very much, and the whole frame of tlio 
 ship underwent a trial which would have proved fatal 
 to any less strengthened vessel. At the same moment, 
 the rudder was unhung with a sudden jerk, which broke 
 up the rudder-case, and struck the driver-boom with 
 great force." 
 
 From this perilous position she was released almost 
 by a miracle, and the rudder re-hung. 
 
 The ships av last reached the island which had been so 
 accurately described to them by the Esquimaux lady — 
 Iglolik, where they came upon an encampment of 
 120 Esquimaux, in tents. Captains Parry and Lyon 
 and other officers made frequent exploring excursions 
 along the shores of the Fury and Hecla strait, and in- 
 land. On the 26th of August the ships entered tliis 
 strait, which was found blocked up with flat ice. The 
 season had also now assumed so wintry an aspect that 
 there seemed but little probability of getting much far- 
 ther west : knowing of no harbor to protect the ships, 
 unless a favorable change took place, they had the 
 gloomy prospect before them of wintering in or near 
 this frozen strait. Boating and land parties were dis- 
 patched in several directions, to report upon the differ- 
 ent localities. 
 
 On the 4th of September, Captain Lj^on landed on 
 an island of slate formation, about six mdes to the west- 
 ward of the ships, which he named Amherst Island. The 
 result of these expeditions proved that it was impracti- 
 cable, either by boats or water conveyance, to examine 
 any part of the land southwest of Iglolik, in conse- 
 quence of the ice. 
 
 ;i p ! 
 
 t. 
 
121 
 
 I'liOOULSS UK AKCTICJ 1JI8C0VKRY. 
 
 Mr. Roid and a boat-party traveled about sixty miles 
 to the westward of Ainherrit Island, and ascertained the 
 termination ot* the strait. On a consultation with the 
 otiicers, Captain l*arry determined to seek a berth near 
 to Iglolik, in which to secure tl»e ships for the winter. 
 They had now been sixty-live days strug^linf^ to get 
 forward, but had only in that time reached forty miles 
 to the westward of Iglolik. The vessels made tiie best 
 of their way to the natural channel between this island 
 and the land, but were for some time drifted with the 
 ice, losing several anchors, and it M'as only bv hard 
 work in cutting channels that they were brought into 
 safer quarters, near the land. Som-.^ fine teams of dogs 
 were here purchased from the Esquimaux, which were 
 found very serviceable in making excursions on sledges. 
 
 Their second Christmas day in this region bad now 
 arrived, and Lyon informs us — 
 
 " Captain Parry dined with me, and was treated wit . 
 a superb display of mustard and cress, with about fifty 
 onions, rivaling a fine needle in size, which I had reared 
 in boxes round my cabin stove. All our messes in 
 either ship were supplied with an extra pound of real 
 English fresh beef, which had been hanging at our 
 quarter for eighteen months. We could not afford to 
 leave it for a farther trial of keeping, but I have no doubt 
 that double the period would not have quite spoiled its 
 flavor." 
 
 This winter proved much more severe than the for- 
 mer. Additional clothing was found necessary. The 
 Btove funnels collected a quantity of ice within them, 
 notwithstanding fires were kept up night and day, so 
 that it was frequently requisite to take them down in 
 order to break and melt the ice out of them. 
 
 Nothing was seen of the sun for forty -two days. 
 
 On the 15th of April, Mr. A. Elder, Greenland mate 
 of the Hecla, died of dropsy: he had been leading man 
 with Parry on Ross's voyage, and for his good conduct 
 SVas made mate of the Griper, on the last expedition. 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1823, Mr. George Fife, the 
 pilot, also died of scurvy. 
 
 "ig 
 
 -. j^V ^-■t.-l. 
 
PARRV'S SECOND VOYAOE. 
 
 125 
 
 After taking n review of their provisions, and the 
 
 1)rohabiUty of having to pass a thira winter here, Capt. 
 *arry detenuined to send the Ilecla home, taking from 
 her all the provision that could be spared. Little or 
 no hopes could he entertained of anv passage being 
 found to the westward, otherwise than by the strait now 
 BO firmly closed with ice ; but Parry trusted that some 
 interesting additions might be made to the geography 
 of tliese dreary regions, by attempting a passage to the 
 northward or eastward, in hopes of finding an outlet to 
 Lancaster Sound, or Prince Kegent's Lalet. 
 
 On the 21st of April, 1823, they began transshipping 
 the provisions ; the teams of dogs being found moat 
 useful for this purpose. Even two anchors of 22 cwt. 
 each, were drawn by these noble animals at a quick 
 trot. 
 
 Upon admitting daylight at the stern windows of the 
 Ilecla, on the 22d, tno gloomy, sootv cabin showed to 
 no great advantage ; no less than ten buckets of ice were 
 taken from the sashes and out of the stern lockers, from 
 which latter some spare flannels and instruments were 
 only liberated bv chopping. 
 
 On the 7th o^ June, Captain Lyon, with a party of 
 men, set off across the Melville Peninsula, to endeavor 
 to get a sight of the western sea, of which they had re- 
 ceived descriptive accounts from the natives, but ow- 
 ing to the difficulties of traveling, and the ranges of 
 mountains they met with, they returned unsuccessful, 
 after being out twenty days. Another inland trip of a 
 fortnight followed. 
 
 On the Ist of August, the Hecla was reported ready 
 for sea. Some symptoms <3f scurvy having again made 
 their appearance in the ships, and the surgeons report- 
 ing that it would not be prudent to continue longer, 
 Captain Parry reluctantly determined to proceed home 
 with both ships. After being 319 days in their winter 
 quarters, the ships got away on the 9th of August. 
 
 A conspicuous landmark, with dispatches, was set 
 up on the main-land, for the information of Franklin, 
 should ho reach thia quarter. 
 
 6 
 
 il 
 
 liiil 
 
 Sif.l 
 
J> 
 
 120 
 
 rUOGULSa OK AKOTIC DISCuVKKY. 
 
 On roachin^ Winter Island, and visitinfy tlicir las 
 year's j^arden, radiHlios, nuistard and crosM, and «.»ni()nA 
 were })rou«;ht off, which liad survived the winter and 
 were still alive, seventeen months from the time they 
 were }>lanted, a very remarkable j)root' of their having 
 been preserved by the warm coverin<r of snow. 
 
 The ships, during the whole of this passage, were 
 driven by the current more than three degrees, entirely 
 at the mercy of the ice, being carried into every bight, 
 and swept over each point, without the power of heli> 
 ing themselves. 
 
 On the 1st of September, they were driven up Lyon 
 Inlet, where they were confined high up till the Cth, 
 when a breeze sprung up, which took tliem down to 
 within three miles of Wmter Island ; still it was not 
 until the 12th, that they got thorougldy clear of the in- 
 draught. The danger and suspense of these twelve 
 days were horrible, and Lyon justly observes, that he 
 would prefer being frozen up during another eleven 
 months winter, to again passing so anxious a period 
 of time. 
 
 " Ten of the twelve nights were passed on deck, in 
 expectation, each tide, of some decided change in our 
 affairs, either by being left on the rocks, or grounding 
 in such shoal water, that the whole body of the ice must 
 have slid over us. But, as that good old seaman Baffin 
 expresses himself, ' God, who is greater than either ice 
 or tide, always delivered us I '" 
 
 For thirty-five days the ships had been beset, and in 
 that period had driven with the ice above 300 miles, 
 without any exertion on their part, and also without a 
 possibility of extricating themselves. On the 23d of 
 September, they once more got into the swell of tho 
 Atlantic, and on the 10th of October, arrived at Ler- 
 wick, in Shetland. 
 
 Claveeing's Voyage to Spitzbergen and Greebt- 
 
 LAND, 1823. 
 
 ^ In 1823, Capt. Sabine, E. A., who had been for some 
 time engaged in magnetic observations, and alio in 
 
 ..i. -iv,a^A-^.._iia<P.-.l,1'^l.r. 
 
CLAVEIiINO S VOVAOK. 
 
 127 
 
 experiments to doterinino the confif^urntion of the earth, 
 by means of peiululuia vil)nition8 in ciitVerent latitudes, 
 havin«' perfected his observations at ditierent points, 
 from tlie E(piator to the Arctic Circle, suggested to the 
 Royal Society, through Sir Humphry Davy, tlie imi)or- 
 tanco of extending similar experiments into hi«^her lat- 
 itudes toward the l*ole. Accordin<^ly, the fjovernmcnt 
 placed at his disposal 11. M. S. Griper, TJO tons. Com- 
 mander Claverin^, which was to convey him to Spitz- 
 bersjen, and thence to the east coast of Greenland. 
 
 Tlio Griper sailed from the Nore, on the 11th of May, 
 and proceeded to llaramerfest, or Whale Island, near 
 the ISorth Cape, in Korway, which she reached on* the 
 4th of Juno, and Capt. Sabine having tinished his shore 
 observations by the 23d, the vessel set sail for Spitzber- 
 gen. She fell in with ice off Cherry Island, in hit. 75° 
 5', on the 27th, and on the 30th disembarked the tents 
 and instruments on one of the small islands round 
 Ilakluyt's Headland, near the eightieth parallel. Cupt. 
 Clavering, meanwhile, sailed in the Griper due north, 
 and reached the latitude of 80° 20', whei'e being stop- 
 ped by close packed ice, he was obliged to return. 
 
 On the 24th of July, they again put to sea, directing 
 their course for the highest known point of the eastern 
 coast of Greenland. They met with many fields of ice, 
 and made the land, which had a most miserable, deso- 
 late appearance, at a point which was named Cape Uor- 
 lase Warren. Two islands were discovered, and as 
 Capt. Sabine here landed and carried on his observa- 
 tions, they were called Pendulum Islands. From an 
 island situate in lat. 75° 12', to which he gave the name 
 of Shannon Island, Clavering saw high land, stretch- 
 ing due north as far as lat. 76°. 
 
 On the 16th of August, Clayering landed with a 
 
 f)arty of tliree oflScors, and sixteen men on the main- 
 and, to examine the shores. The temperature did not 
 sink below 23°, and they slept for nearly a fortnij^ht 
 they were on shore with only a boat-cloak and blanket 
 for a covering, without feeling any inconvenience from 
 the cold. A tribe of twelve Esquimaux was met with 
 
 t ' 
 
 A 
 
 \ 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 |< •}:^ 
 
 '§ 
 
128 
 
 PEOQEESS OF AEOnO DISCOVEET. 
 
 here. They reached in their journey a magnificenl 
 inlet, about fifty miles in circumference, which was sup- 
 posed to be the same which Gale Hamkes discovered 
 in 1654, and which bears his name. The mountains 
 round its sides were 4000 to 5000 feet high. On the 
 29th of August, they returned on board, and having 
 embarked the tents and instruments, the ship again set 
 sail on the 31st, keeping the coast in view to Capo 
 Parry, lat. 72 i°. The cliffs were observed to be sev- 
 eral thousand feet high. On the 13th of September, 
 as the ice in shore began to get very troublesome, the 
 ship stood out to sea, and after encountering a very 
 heavy gale, which drove them with great fury to the 
 southward, and it not being thought prudent to make 
 for Ireland, a station in about the same latitude on the 
 Norway coast was chosen instead by Capt. Sabine. 
 They made the land about the latitude of Christian- 
 Bound. On the 1st of October, the Griper struck hard 
 on a sunken rock, but got off undamaged. 
 
 On the 6th, they anchored in Drontheim Fiord, 
 where they were received with much kindness and hos- 
 pitality, and after the necessary observations had been 
 completed the ship proceeded homeward, and reached 
 Deptford on the 19th of December, 1823. 
 
 Lyon's Yoyage in the Geipee. 
 
 In 1824, three expeditions were ordered out, to carry 
 on simultaneous operations in Arctic discovery. To 
 Capt. Lyon was committed the task of examining and 
 completing the survey of the Melville Peninsula, the 
 adjoming straits, and the shores of Arctic America, if 
 possible as far as Franklin's turning point. Capt. Lyon 
 was therefore gazetted to the Griper gun-brig, which 
 had taken out Capt. Sabine to Spitzbergen, in the pre- 
 vious year. The following officers and crew were also 
 appointed to her : — 
 
 Chiper. 
 
 Captain — G.F.Lyon. 
 
 Lieutenants — P. Jlanico and F. Harding. 
 
„M. 
 
 LYON'S VOYAGE. 
 
 129 
 
 Assistant-Surveyor — E. N. Kendal. 
 Purser — J.Evans. * 
 
 Assistant-Surgeon — "W". Leyson. 
 Midshipman — J. Tom. 
 34 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. 
 Total complement, 41. 
 
 It was not till the 20tK of June, that the Griper got 
 hway from England, being a full month later than the 
 usual period of departure, and the vessel was at the 
 Lest.but an old tub in her sailing propensities. A small 
 tender, called the Snap, was ordered to accompany her 
 with stores, as far as the ice, and having been relieved 
 of her supplies, she was sent home on reaching Hud- 
 son's Straits. 
 
 The Griper made but slow progress in her deeply la- 
 den state, ner crowded decks being continually swept 
 by heavy seas, and it was not until the end of August, 
 that she rounded the southern head of Southampton 
 Island, and stood up toward Sir Thomas Koe's wel 
 come. On reaching the entrance of this channel they 
 encountered a terrific gale, which for a long time 
 threatened the destruction of both ship and crew. 
 Drifting with this, they brought up the ship with four 
 anchors, in a bay with five fathoms and a half water, 
 in the momentary expectation that with the ebb tide 
 the ship would take the ground, as the sea broke fear- 
 fully on a low sandy beach just astern, and had the an- 
 chors parted, nothing could have saved the vessel. 
 Neither commander nor crew had been in bed for three 
 nights, and although little hope was entertained of sur- 
 viving the gale, and no boat could live in such a sea, 
 the officers and crew performed their several duties 
 with their accustomed coolness. Each man was or- 
 dered to put on his warmest clothing, and to take charge 
 of some useful instrument. The scene is best described 
 in the words of the gallant commander : — 
 
 "Each, therefore, brought his bag on deck, and 
 dressed himself; and in the fine athletic forms which 
 stood exposed before me, I did not see one muscle qui- 
 
 0' 
 
130 
 
 PROGRESS OF iRCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 ver, nor the slightest sign of alarm. Prayers were read, 
 and tliey then all sat down in groups, sheltered from the 
 wash of the sea by whatever they could find, and some 
 endeavored to obtain a little sleep. Never, perhaps 
 was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of m^ 
 little ship, when all hope of life had left us. Noble as 
 the character of the British sailor is always allowed to 
 be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it to be pos- 
 sible that among forty-one persons not one repining 
 word should have been uttered. Each was at peace 
 with his neighbor and all the world ; and I am nrmly 
 persuaded that the resignation which was then shown 
 to the will of the Almighty, was the means of obtain- 
 ing His mercy. God was merciful to us, and the tide, 
 almost miraculously, fell no lower." The appropriate 
 name of the Bay of God's Mercy has been given to 
 this spot on the charts by Captain Lyon. 
 
 Proceeding onward up the Welcome, they encoun- 
 tered, about a fortnight later, another fearful storm. 
 On the 12th of September, when off the entrance of 
 "Wager Inlet, it blew so hard for two days, that on the 
 13th the ship was driven from her anchors, and carried 
 away by the fury of the gale, with every prospect of 
 being momentarily dashed to pieces against any hid- 
 den rock ; but the same good Providence which had 
 so recently befriended them, again stood their protec- 
 tor. On consulting with his officers, it was unani- 
 mously resolved, that in the crippled state of the ship, 
 without any anchor, and with her compasses worse 
 than useless, it would be madness to continue the voy- 
 age, and the ship's course was therefore shaped for 
 England. 
 
 I may observe, that the old Griper ia now laid up as 
 a hulk in Chichester Harbor, furnishing a residence 
 and depot for the coast guard station. 
 
 Parry's Third Voyage. 
 
 In the spring of 1824: the Admiralty determined to 
 give Capt. Parry another opportunity of carrying ort 
 
^^ ■■' 
 
 parry's THUID VOYAGE. 
 
 131 
 
 the great problem which had so long been sought af- 
 ter, of a northwest passage to the Pacific, and so gen- 
 erally esteemed was this gallant commander that he 
 had but to hoist his pennant, when fearless of all dan- 
 ger, and in a noble spirit of emulation, his former as- 
 sociates rallied around him. 
 
 The same two ships were employed as before, bui 
 Parry now selected the Hecla for his pennant. The 
 staff of officers and men was as follows : — 
 
 Hedla. 
 
 Captain — W. E. Parry. 
 
 Lieutenants — J. L. Wynn, Joseph Sherer, and 
 
 Henry Foster. 
 Surgeon — Samuel Neill, M. D. 
 Purser — "W. H. Hooper. 
 Assistant Surgeon — VV". Rowland. 
 Midshipmen — J. Brunton, F. R. M. Crozier, 0. 
 
 Richards, and H. N. Head. 
 Greenland Pilots — J. Allison, master; and G. 
 
 Champion, mate. 
 49 Petty Officers, Seamen, and Marinea. 
 Total complement, 62. 
 
 Fury. 
 
 Commander — H. P. Hoppner. 
 
 Lieutenants — H. T. Austin and J. 0. Ross. 
 
 Surgeon — A. M'Laren. 
 
 Purser — J. Halse. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon — T. Bell. 
 
 Midshipmen — B. "Westropp, C. C. Waller, and E. 
 Bird. 
 
 Clerk — W. Mogg. 
 
 Greenland Pilots — G. Crawford, master ; T. Don- 
 aldson, mate. 
 
 48 Petty Officers, Seamen, and Marines. 
 Total complement, 60. 
 
 The William Harris, transport, was commissioned 
 to accompany the ships to the ice with provisions. 
 
 riifi 
 
 M 
 
 % 
 
132 
 
 rKOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 Among tlie promotions made, it will be seen, were 
 Lieut. Hoppner to the rank of Commander, and second 
 in command of the expedition. Messrs. J. Sherer, 
 and J. C. Ross to be Lieutenants, and J. Halse to be 
 Purser. The attempt on this occasion was to be made 
 by Lancaster Sound through Barrow's Strait to Prince 
 Regent Inlet. The ships sailed on the 19th of May, 
 1824, and a month afterward fell in with the body cf 
 the ice in lat. 60}°. After transhipping the stores to 
 the two vessels, and sending home the transport, about 
 the middle of July they were close beset with the ice 
 in Baffin's Bay, and "from this time (says Parry) the 
 obstructions from the quantity, magnitude, and close- 
 ness of the ice, which were such as to keep our people 
 almost constantly employed in heaving, warping, or 
 sawing through it ; and yet with so little success that, 
 at the close of July, we had only penetrated seventy 
 miles to the westward." After encountering a severe 
 gale on the 1st of August, by which masses of overlay- 
 ing ice were driven one upon the other, the Hecla was 
 laid on her broadside by a strain, which Parry says 
 must inevitably have crushed a vessel of ordinary 
 strength ; they got clear of the chief obstructions by 
 the first week in September. During the whole of 
 August they had not one day sufficiently free from 
 rain, snow, or sleet, to be able to air the bedding of 
 the ship's company. 
 
 They enterea Lancaster Sound on the lOtli of Sep- 
 tember, and with the exception of a solitary berg or 
 two found it clear of ice. A few days after, however, 
 they fell in with the young ice, which increasing daily 
 in thickness, the ships became beset, and by the cur- 
 rent which set to the east at the rate of three miles an 
 hour, they were soon drifted back to the eastward of 
 Admiralty Inlet, and on the 23d thev found them- 
 selves again off "WoUaston Island, at the entrance of 
 Navy Board Inlet. By perseverance, however, and the 
 aid of a strong easterly breeze, they once more man- 
 aged to recover their lost ground, and on the 27tb 
 reached the entrance of Port Bowen on the eastern 
 
TAliliY S TUIliD VOYAGE. 
 
 133 
 
 shore of Prince Regent Inlet, and here Parry resolved 
 upon wintering; this making the fourth winter this 
 enterprising commander had passed in these inhospi- 
 table seas. 
 
 The usual laborious process of cutting canals had to 
 be resorted to, in order to get the ships near to the 
 shore in secure and sheltered situations. Parry thus 
 describes the dreary monotonous character of an arctic 
 winter : — 
 
 "It is hard to conceive any one thinff more like 
 another than two winters passed in the higher latitudes 
 of the polar regions, except when variety happens to 
 be afforded by intercourse with seme other branch' of 
 the whole family of man. Winter after winter, nature 
 here assumes an aspect so much alike, that cursory ob- 
 servation can scarcely detect a sino-le feature of variety. 
 The winter of more temperate climates, and even in 
 some of no slight severity, is occasionally diversified 
 l)y a thaw, which at once gives variety and compara- 
 tive cheerfulness to the pros^Dect. But here, when once 
 the earth is covered, all is dreary monotonous white- 
 ness, not merely for days or weeks, but for more than 
 half a year together. Whichever way the eye is turn- 
 ed, it meets a picture calculated to impress upon the 
 mind an idea of inanimate stillness, of that motionless 
 torpor with which our feelings have nothing congenial ; 
 of any thing, in short, but life. In the very silence 
 there is a deadness with which a human spectator ap- 
 pears out of keeping. The presence of man seems an 
 intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, 
 which even its native animals have for awhile forsaken." 
 
 During this year Parry tells us the thermometer re- 
 mained below zero 131 days, and did not rise above 
 that point till the 11th of April. The sun, which had 
 been absent from their view 121 days, again blessed 
 the crews with his rays on the 22d of February. Du- 
 ring this long imprisonment, schools, scientific observa- 
 tions, walking parties, &c., were resorted to, but " our 
 former amusements," says Parry, " being almost worn 
 threadbare, it required some ingenuity to devise any 
 
 6* 
 
 m 
 
lU 
 
 I'KOGUKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVlCliY. 
 
 plan that should possess the charm of novelty to re- 
 commend it." A happy idea was, however, hit upon hy 
 Commander Iloppncr, at whose suggestion a monthly 
 Ocfl masque was heUl, to the great diversion of both 
 oUicers and men, to the number of 120. The populai 
 commander entered gayly into their recreations, and 
 thus speaks of these polar masquerades : — 
 
 '• It is impossible that any idea could have proved 
 more happy, or more exactly suited to our situatit)ii. 
 Admirably dressed characters of various descriptions 
 readilv took their parts, and many of these were suj)- 
 ported with a degree of spirit and genuine good liumor 
 M'hich would not have disgraced a more renned assem- 
 bly ; while the latter might not have been disgraced 
 by copying the good order, decorum, and inoftensivo 
 cheerfulness which our humble masquerades presented. 
 It does especial credit to the dispositions and good 
 sense of our men, that though all the officers entered 
 fully into the spirit of these amusements, M'hich took 
 place once a month alternately on board of each ship, 
 no instance occurred of any thing that could interfei-e 
 with the regular discipline, or at all weaken the respect 
 of the men toward their superiors. Ours were mas 
 querades without licentiousness — carnivals without 
 excess." 
 
 Exploring parties were sent out in several directions. 
 Commander Iloppner and his party went inland, and 
 after a fortnight's fatiguing journey over a mountain- 
 ous, barren, and desolate country, where precipitous ra- 
 vines 600 feet deep obstructed their passage, traveled 
 a degree and three-quarters — to the latitude of 73° 19', 
 but saw no appearance of sea from thence. 
 
 Lieutenant Sherer, with four men, proceeded to the 
 southward, and made a careful survey of the coast as 
 far as 72 i^, but had not provisions sufficient to go 
 round Cape Kater, the southernmost point observed in 
 their former voyage. 
 
 Lieutenant J. C. Ross, with a similar party, traveled 
 to the northward, along the coast of the Inlet, and from 
 the hills about Cape York, observed that the sea was 
 
I *■(., 
 
 I'AKRYS THIRD VOYAGE. 
 
 135 
 
 perfectly open and free from ice at the distance of 
 twenty-two miles from the ships. 
 
 A fter an imprisonment of about ten months, by great 
 exertions the ships were got clear from the ice, and on 
 the 20th of Jnly, 1825, upon the separation of the tloo 
 across the harbor, towed out to sea. Parry then made 
 for the western shore of the Inlet, being desirous of ex- 
 amining the coast of North Somerset for any channel 
 that might occur, a probability which later discoveries 
 in that quarter have proved to be without foundation. 
 On the 28th, when well in with the western slioro, tiie 
 Ilecla, in spite of every exertion, was beset by floating 
 ice, and after breaking two large ice anchors in en- 
 deavoring to heave in shore, was obliged to give up the 
 eifort and drift with the ice until the 30th. On the 
 following day, a heavy gale came on, in which the 
 Hecla carried away three hawsers, while the Fury was 
 driven on shore, but was hove off at high water. Both 
 ships were now drifted by the body of the ice down the 
 Inlet, and took the ground, the Fury being so nipped 
 and strained that she leaked a great deal, and four 
 pumps kept constantly at work did not keep her clear 
 of water. They were floated oft' at high water, but, 
 late on the 2nd of August, the huge masses of ice once 
 more forced the Fury on shore, and the Ilecla narrowly 
 escaped. On examining her and getting her off", it 
 was found that she must be hove down and repaired ; 
 a basin was therefore formed for her reception and 
 completed by the 16th, a mile further to the southward, 
 within three icebergs grounded, where there were three 
 or four fathoms of water. Into this basin she was 
 taken on the 18th, and her stores and provisions being 
 removed, she was hove down, but a gale of wind com- 
 ing on and destroying the masses of ice which shel- 
 tered her, it became necessary to re-embark the stores, 
 &c., and once more put to sea ; but the unfortunate 
 vessel had hardly got out of her harbor before, on the 
 21st, she was again driven on shore. After a careful 
 survey and examination, it was found necessary to 
 abandon her ; Parry's opinion being thus expressed — 
 
13G 
 
 I'JtOGKIiSS OF AliCriC DISCOVERY. 
 
 " Every endeavor of ours to get her off, or if got off, to 
 iloat her to any known pUice of safety, would be at 
 once utterly hopeless in itself, and productive of ex- 
 treme risk to our remaining ship." 
 
 The loss of this ship, and the crowded state of the 
 remaining vessel, made it impossible to think of con- 
 tinuing the voyage for the pur^Doses of discovery. 
 
 " The incessant labor, the constant state of anxiety, 
 and the frequent and imminent danger into which the 
 surviving s'hip was thrown, in the attempts to save her 
 comrade, "which were continued for twenty-five days, 
 destroyed every reasonable expectation hitherto cher- 
 ished of the ultimate accomplishment of this object." 
 
 Taking advantage of a northerly wind, on the 27th 
 the Hecla stretched across the Inlet for the eastern 
 coast, meeting with little obstruction from the ice, and 
 anchored in Neill's Harbor, a short distance to the 
 southward of their winter quarters. Port Bowen, where 
 the ship was got ready for crossing the Atlantic. 
 
 The llecla put to sea on the 31st of August, and en- 
 tering Barrow's Strait on the Ist of September, found 
 it perfectly clear of ice. In Lancaster Sound, a very 
 large number of bergs were seen ; but they found an 
 open sea in Bafiin's Bay, till, on the 7th of September, 
 when in latitude 75° 30', they came to the margin of 
 ''he ice, and soon entered a clear channel on its eastern 
 side. From thirty to forty large icebergs, not less than 
 200 feet in height, were sighted. 
 
 On the 12 th of October, Captain Parry landed at 
 Peterhead, and the Hecla arrived at Sheerness on the 
 20th. But one man died during this voyage — John 
 Page, a seaman of the Fury — who died of scurvy, in 
 Weill's Harbor, on the 29th of August. 
 
 This voyage cannot but be considered the most unsuc- 
 cessful of the three made by Parry, whether as regards 
 the information gleaned on the subject of a northwest 
 passage, or the extension of our store of geographical 
 or scientific knowledge. The shores of this inlet were 
 more naked, barren, and desolate than even Melville 
 Island. With the exception of some hundreds of white 
 
 whales 
 the Inl 
 were S( 
 
 "W( 
 on whi 
 gether 
 now an| 
 
 He 
 object 
 cial nai 
 
 " 1 fe 
 iulvisul 
 or othc; 
 
 t- 
 
 dents t 
 must b 
 HtHTices 
 or luimi 
 1)0 an e 
 practice 
 ral favo 
 1)ined fc 
 less, tha 
 
 " I ar 
 iiorthwe 
 BUHimer 
 of very 
 a single 
 meiit. 
 of final 
 may be 
 comfort, 
 
 Note 
 passed 
 wise an< 
 
 I 
 
 TJnda 
 encount 
 of ardo] 
 
frankun's second expedition. 
 
 137 
 
 wLales, seen sportinnj about the southernmost part of 
 the Inlet that was visited, few other species of animals 
 were seen. 
 
 "We have scarcely," says Parry, "ever visited a coast 
 on which so little of animal life occurs. For days to- 
 gether only one or two seals, a single sea-horse, and 
 now and then a flock of ducks were seen." 
 
 He still clings to the accomplishment of the great 
 object of a northwest passage. At page 184 of his offi- 
 cial narrative, he says: — 
 
 " I feel confident that the undertaking, if it be deemed 
 lulvisable at any future time to j^ursue it, will one day 
 fn\ other be accomplished ; for — setting aside the acci- 
 dents to which, from their very nature, such attempts 
 must be liable, as well as other unfavorable circum- 
 Htnijces which human foresight can never guard against, 
 or liuman power control — I cannot but believe it to 
 1)0 an enterprise well within the reasonable limits of 
 l)racticability. It may be tried often and fail, for seve- 
 rnl favorable and fortunate circumstances must be com- 
 1)iiied for its accomplishment ; but I believe, neverthe- 
 less, that it will ultimately be accomplished." 
 
 " I am much mistaken, indeed," he adds, "if the 
 northwest passage ever becomes the business of a single 
 Huuimcr ; nay, I believe that nothing but a concurrence 
 of very favorable circumstances is likely ever to make 
 a single winter in the ice sufficient for its accomplish- 
 ment. But there is no argument against the possibility 
 of final success ; for we know that a winter in the ice 
 may be passed not only in safety, but in health and 
 comfort." 
 
 Not 07ie winter alone, but two and three have been 
 passed with health and safety in these seas, under a 
 wise and careful commander. 
 
 Franklin's Second Expedition, 1825-26. 
 
 Undaunted by tlie hardships and sufferings he had 
 encountered in his previous travels with a noble spirit 
 of ardor and enthusiasm, Captain Franklin determmcd 
 
 \ 
 
138 
 
 TKOGIUSeS OF AliCniC DISCOVERY. 
 
 «* 
 
 to prosecuto tho chain of his former discoveries from 
 the Coppermine river to the most western point of tho 
 Arctic regions. A sea expedition, under the command 
 of Captam Beechev was at the same time sent round 
 Cape Horn to Behring's Straits, to co-operate with Parry 
 and Franklin, so as to furnish provisions to the former, 
 and a conveyance home to the latter. 
 
 Captain 1 ranklin's offer was therefore accepted by 
 the government, and leaving Liverpool in February, 
 1825, he arrived at New York about the middle of 
 March. The officers under his orders were his old and 
 tried companions and fellow sufferers in the former jour- 
 ney — Dr. Richardson and Lieutenant Back, with Mr. 
 E. N. Kendal, a mate in the navy, who had been out in 
 the Griper with Capt. Lyon, and Mr. T. Drummond, a 
 naturalist. Four boats, specially prepared for the pur- 
 poses of the expedition, were sent out by the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's ship. 
 
 In July, 1825, the party arrived at Fort Chipewyan. 
 It is unnecessary to go over the ground and follow them 
 in their northern journey; suffice it to say, they reached 
 Great Bear Lake in safety, and erected a winter dwell- 
 ing on its western shore, to which the name of Fort 
 Franklin was given. To Back and Mr. Dease, an offi- 
 cer in the Hudson's Bay Company's service, were in- 
 trusted the arrangements for their winter quarters. 
 
 From here a small party cet out with Franldin down 
 the Mackenzie to examine the state of the Polar Sea. 
 On the 6th of September they got back to their com- 
 panions, and prepared to pass the long winter of seven 
 or eight months. 
 
 On the 28th of June, 1826, the season being suffi- 
 ciently advanced, and all their preparations completed, 
 the whole party got away in four boats to descend the 
 Mackenzie to the Polar Sea. "Where the river branches 
 off into several channels, the party separated on the 3d 
 of July, Captain Franklin and Lieutenant Back, with 
 two boats and fourteen men, having with them the 
 faithful Esquimaux interpreter, Augustus, who had 
 been with them on the former expedition, proceeded to 
 
FltANKLIiN B SECOND EXrilDITlUN. 
 
 139 
 
 tho westward, while Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendal 
 in the other two boats, having ten men under their 
 command, set out in an easterly direction, to search 
 the CoDpermiue River. 
 
 Franlvlin arrived at tho month of tho Mackenzie on 
 tho 7th of July, where he cncmmtcrcd a lar«^e tril)e of 
 lierco Esquimaux, wlio pillaged his boats, and it w;w 
 ou\y by great caution, prndence and forbearance, that 
 the whole party were not massacred. After getting the 
 boats afloat, and clear of these unpleasant visitois, 
 Franklin pursued his survey, a most tedious and di(H- 
 cult one, for more than a month ; he was only able to 
 reach a point in latitude 70° 24' N., longitude 149°'37' 
 W., to which Back's name was given ; and here pru- 
 dence obliged him to return, although, strangely enough, 
 a boat from the Blossom was waiting not 160 miles west 
 of his position to meet with him. The extent of coast 
 surveyed was 374 miles. The return journey to Fort 
 Franklin was safely accomplished, and they arrived at 
 their house on the 31st of September, when they found 
 Richardson and Kendal had returned on the first of 
 the month, having accomplished a voyage of about 500 
 miles, or 902 by the coast line, between the 4th of July 
 and the 8th of August. They had pushed forward be- 
 yond the strait named after their boats, the Dolphin and 
 Union. 
 
 In aseonding the Coppermine, they had to abandon 
 lljcir boats and carry their provisions and baggage. 
 
 Having passed another winter at Fort Franklin, as 
 soon as the season broke up the Canadians were dis- 
 missed, Jind the party returned to England. 
 
 The cold experienced in the last winter was intense, 
 the thermometer standing at one time at 58° below zero^ 
 but having now plenty of food, a weather-tight dwell- 
 ing, and good liealth, they passed it cheei-fully. Dr. 
 Richardson gave a course of lectures on practical geol- 
 ogy, and Mr. Drummond funiished information on natu- 
 ral history. During the winter, in a solitary hut on tho 
 Rocky mountains, lie managed to collect 200 specimens 
 of birds, animals, &c., and more than 1500 of plants. 
 
 -fr 
 
 m 
 
 - 1' 
 
140 
 
 PKOGUKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVEUV. 
 
 When Captain Fniiiklin Iclt England to proceed on 
 this exj)editioii lie liad to under»^o u bcvcro Btrugglo 
 ])etwcen his feelin<^8 of ntrection and a sense of duty. 
 His wife (ho has been married twice) was then lying at 
 the point of death, and indeed died the day after ho 
 loft England. But with heroic fortitude she urged liis 
 departure at the very day appointed, entreating hini, 
 as ho valued her peace and his own glory, not to delay 
 a moment on her account. His feelings, therefore, nuvy 
 be inferred, but not described, when lie had to elevate 
 on Garry Island a silk flag, which she had made and 
 iven him as a parting gift, with the instruction that 
 e was only to hoist it on reaching the Polar Sea. 
 
 t 
 
 Beeciiey's Voyage. — 1820-28. 
 
 «• 
 
 H. M. SLOOP Blossom, 26, Captain F. "W". Beechey, 
 sailed from Spithead on the 19th of May, 1825, and 
 her instructions directed her, after surveying some of 
 the islands in the Pacific, to be in Behring's Straits by 
 the summer or autumn of 1826, and contingently in that 
 of 1827. 
 
 It is foreign to my purpose here to allude to those 
 parts of her voyage anterior to her arrival in the Straits. 
 
 On the 2Sth of June the Blossom came to an anchor 
 off the town of Petropolowski, where she fell in with 
 the Russian ship of war Modesto, under the commano 
 of Baron Wrangel, so well known for his enterprise i& 
 the hazardous expedition by sledges over the ice to th^ 
 northward of Cape Shelatskoi, or Errinos. 
 
 Captain Beechey here found dispatches informin][" 
 him of the return of Parry's expedition. Being bese.*> 
 by currents and other difliculties, it was not till the 5tb 
 of July that the Blossom got clear of the harbor, and 
 made the best of her way to Kotzebue Sound, reachinn 
 the appointed rendezvous at Chamiso Island on the 2oth. 
 After landing and burying a barrel of flour ujDon Puffin 
 Bock, the most unfrequented spot about the island, tho 
 Blossom occupied the time in surveying and examining 
 
 71° 23 
 
BEBCIIEY B VOYAGE. 
 
 Ul 
 
 tlic ncifflihorin^ coasts to the northeast. On the 30th 
 Bhe took licr (Ji'parture from the islund, erecting posts 
 or hind-inarkH, tiiid burying dinpatohcs at Capo Ivriiseii- 
 Htern, near a cape which ho named alter Franklin, near 
 Icy Cape. 
 
 The fillip returned to the rendezvous on the evening 
 of the 28th of August. The barrel of flour had been 
 dug up and approj)riated by the natives. 
 
 ()n tlie first visit of one of these parties, they con- 
 structed a chart of the coast upon the sand, of which, 
 however, Captain Beechey at first took very little notice. 
 " They, however, renewed their labor, and performed 
 their work upon the sandy beach in a very ingenious and 
 intelligible manner. The coast line was first marked 
 out with a stick, and the distances regulated by the 
 day's journey. The hills and ranges of mountains were 
 next shown by elevations of sand or stone, and the 
 islands represented by heaps of pebbles, their propor- 
 tions being duly attended to. As the work proceeded, 
 some of the bystanders occasionally suggested altera- 
 tions, and Captain Beechey moved one of the Diomedo 
 Islands, whicli was misplaced. This was at first ob- 
 jected to by the hydrographer, but one of the party 
 recollecting that the islands were seen in one from Capo 
 Prince of Wales, confirmed its new position and made 
 the mistake quite evident to the others, who were much 
 surprised that Captain Beechey should have any knowl- 
 edge of the subject. When the mountains and islands 
 were erected, the villages and fishing-stations were 
 marked by a number of sticks placed upright, in imita- 
 tion of those which are put up on the coast wherever 
 these people fix their abode. In time, a complete hy- 
 drographical plan was drawn from Cape Derby to Capo 
 Krusenstem. 
 
 This ingenuity and accuracy of description on the 
 part of the Esquimaux is worthy of particular remark, 
 and has been verified by almost all the Arctic explorers. 
 
 The barge which had been dispatched to the east- 
 ward, under charge of Mr. Elson, reached to latitude 
 n° 23' 31" N., and longitude 156° 21' 31" W., where 
 
 111 
 
 * 
 
142 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 she was stopped by the ice which was attached to the 
 shore. The farthest tongue of land they reached was 
 named Point Barrow, and is about 126 miles northeast 
 of Icy Cape, being only about 160 or 160 miles from 
 Franklin's discoveries west of the Mackenzie river. 
 
 The wind suddenly 'changing to southwest, the com- 
 pact body of ice began to drift with the current to the 
 northeast at the rate of three and a half miles an hour, 
 and Mr. Elson, finding it difficult to avoid large floating 
 masses of ice, was obliged to come to an anchor to pre- 
 vent being driven back. " It was not long before he was 
 so closely beset in the ice, that no clear water could 
 be seen in any direction from the hills, and the ice 
 continuing to press against the shore, his vessel was 
 driven upon the beach, and there left upon her broad- 
 side in a most helpless condition ; and to add to his 
 cheerless prospect, the disposition of the natives, whom 
 he found to increase in numbers as he advanced to the 
 northward, was of a very doubtfdl character. At Point 
 Barrow, where they were very numerous, their over- 
 bearing behavior, and the thefts they openly prac- 
 ticed, left no doubt of what would be the fate of his 
 little crew, in the event of their falling into their 
 power. They were in this dilemma several days, dur- 
 mg which every endeavor was made to extricate the 
 vessel but without effect, and Mr. Elson contemplated 
 sinking her secretly in a lake that was near, to prevent 
 her falling into the hands of the Esquimaux, and then 
 making his wav along the coast in a baidar, which he 
 had no doubt he should be able to purchase from the 
 natives. At length, however, a change of wind loos- 
 ened tlie ice, and after considerable labor and trial, in 
 which the personal strength of the officers was united 
 to that of the seamen, Mr. Elson, with his shipmates, 
 fortunately succeeded in effecting their escape. 
 
 Captain Beechey was very anxious to remain in 
 Kotzebue Sound until the end of October, tbe period 
 named in his instructions, but the rapid approach of 
 winter, the danger of being locked up, having only 
 fixr^ «r««i,«j provisions left, and the nearest point at 
 
 five weeks' 
 
.■7 
 
 beecjhey's voyage. 
 
 143 
 
 which he could replenish being some 2000 miles dis- 
 tant, induced his officers to concur with him in the 
 necessity of leaving at once. A barrel of flour and 
 other articles were buried on the sandy point of Cha- 
 miso, for Franklin, which it was hoped would escape 
 the prying eyes of the natives. 
 
 After a cruise to California, the Sandwich Islands, 
 Loochoo, the Bonin Islands, &c., the Blossom returned 
 to Chamiso Island on the 6th of July, 1827. They 
 found the flour and dispatches they had left the pre- 
 vious year unmolested. Lieut. Belcher was dispatched 
 in the barge to explore the coast to the north ward, -and 
 the sliip followed her as soon as the wind permitted. 
 On the 9th of .September, when standing in for the 
 northern shore of Kotzebue Sound, the ship drifting 
 witli the current took the ground on a sand-bank near 
 Ilotham Inlet, but the wind moderating, as the tide 
 rose she went ofl' the shoal apparently without injury. 
 
 After this narrow escape from shipwreck they beat 
 up to Chamiso Island, which they reached on the 10th 
 of September. Not finding the barge returned as ex- 
 pected, the coast was scanned, and a signal of distress 
 found flying on the southwest point of Choris Pen- 
 insula, and two men waving a white cloth to attract 
 notice. On landing, it was found that this party were 
 the crew of the barge, which had been wrecked in Kot- 
 zebue Sound, and three of the men were also lost. 
 
 On the 29th a collision took place with the natives, 
 which resulted in three of the seamen and four of the 
 marines being wounded by arrows, and one of the na- 
 tives killed by the return fire. 
 
 After leaving advices for Franklin, as before, the 
 Blossom finally left Chamiso on the 6th of October. 
 In a haze and strong wind she ran between the land 
 and a shoal, and a passage had to be forced through 
 breakers at the imminent danger of the ship's striking. 
 The Blossom then made the best of her way home, 
 reaching England in the first week of October, 1828. 
 
 i,:i;:i 
 
lU 
 
 PE0GEES8 OP AECfnO DISCOYERY. 
 
 * Parry's Fourth, or Polar Yoyage, 1827. 
 
 In 1826, Capt. Pany, who had only returned from 
 his last voyage in the close of the preceding year, was 
 much struck by the suggestions of Mr. Scoresby, in a 
 paper read before the Wernerian Society, in which he 
 sketched out a plan for reaching the highest latitudes 
 of the Polar Sea, north of Spitzbergen, by means of 
 sledge boats drawn over the smooth fields of ice which 
 were known to prevail in those regions. Col. Beau- 
 foy, F. 11. S., had also suggested this idea some years 
 previously. Comparing these with a similar plan orig- 
 inally proposed by Captain Franklin, and which was 
 placed in his hands by Mr. Barrow, the Secretary of 
 the Admiralty, Capt. Parry laid his modified views of 
 the feasibility of the project, and his willingness to un- 
 dertake it, before Lord Melville, the First Lord of the 
 Admiralty, who, after consulting with the President 
 and Council of the Eoyal Society, was pleased to sanc- 
 tion the attempt ; accordingly, his old ship, the Hecla, 
 was fitted out for tlie voyage to Spitzbergen, the fol- 
 lowing oflScers, (all of whom had been with Parry be- 
 fore,) and crew being appointed to her : — 
 
 Hecla, 
 
 Captain — "W. E. Parry. 
 
 Lieutenants — J. C. Ross, Henry Foster, E. J. Bird, 
 
 F. R. M. Crozier. 
 Purser — James Halse. 
 Surgeon — C.J.Beverley. 
 
 On the 4th of April, 1827, the outfit and prepara- 
 tions being completed, the Hecla left the Nore for the 
 coast of Norway, touching at Hammerfest, to embark 
 eight reindeer, and some moss {CenomyGe rangiferiha) 
 sufficient for their support, tlie consumption being 
 about 4 lbs. ])er day, but they can go without food for 
 several days. A treineiidous gale of wind, experienced 
 off Haklnyt's TTeadland, and the quantity of ice with 
 which tlio phi)) was in coTiscMpicnce be^et, detained the 
 voyagers for i. early a month, but on the ISth of June, 
 
 h_ 
 
jl^, 
 
 parky's fourth voyage. 
 
 145 
 
 a southerly wind dis|>ersing the ice, they dropped 
 anchor in a cove, on the northern coast of Spitzbergcii, 
 which appeared to offer a secure haven, and to which 
 the name of the ship was given. On the 20th, the 
 boats, which had been especially prepared in England 
 for this kind of journey, were got out and made ready, 
 and they left the ship on the 22d of June. A descrip- 
 tion of these boats may not here be out of jjlace. 
 
 They were twenty feet long and seven broad, flat 
 floored, like ferry boats, strengthened and made elas- 
 tic by sheets of felt between the planking, covered 
 with water-proof canvass. A runner attached to each 
 side of the keel, adapted them for easy draught on the 
 ice after the manner of a sledge. They were also fit- 
 ted with wheels, to be used if deemed expedient and 
 useful. Two officers and twelve men were attached 
 to each boat, and they were named the Enterprise and 
 Endeavor. The weight of each boat, including pro- 
 visions and every requisite, was about 3780 lbs. Lieuts. 
 Crozier and Foster were left on board, and Capt. Parry 
 took with him in his boat Mr. Beverley, Surgeon, while 
 Lieut, (now Capt. Sir James) Eoss, and Lieut, (now 
 Commander) Bird, had charge of the other. 
 
 The reindeer and the wheels were given up as use- 
 less, owing to the rough nature of the ice. Provisions 
 for seventy-one days were taken — the daily allowance 
 per man on the journey being 10 ozs. biscuit, 9 ozs. 
 pemmican, 1 oz. sweetened cocoa powder (being 
 enough to make a pint,) and one gill of rum ; but 
 scanty provision in such a climate, for men employed 
 on severe labor ; three ounces of tobacco were also 
 served out to each per week. 
 
 As fuel was too bulky to transport, spirits of wino 
 were consumed, which answered all the purposes re- 
 quired, a pint twice a day being found sufficient to 
 warm each vessel, when applied to an iron boiler by a 
 shallow lamp with seven wicks. After floating the 
 boats for about eighty miles, they came to an unpleas- 
 ant mixed surface of ice and water, where their toilsome 
 journey commenced, the boats having to be laden and 
 
 
 Lis 
 
 I-Tf 
 
 i 
 
 !>:- 
 
146 
 
 rEOQEESS OF AEOTIO DISCOVEEY. 
 
 unladen several times according as they came to floes 
 of ice or lanes of water, and they were drifted to the 
 southward by the ice at the rate of four or five miles a 
 day. Parry found it more advantageous to travel by 
 night, the snow being then harder, and the inconven- 
 ience of snow blindness being avoided, while the party 
 enjoyed greater warmth during the period of rest, and 
 had better opportunities of drying their clothes by the 
 sun. 
 
 I cannot .do better than quote Parry's graphic de- 
 scription of this novel course of proceeding : " Travel- 
 ing by night, and sleeping by day, so completely in- 
 verted the natural order of things that it was difficult 
 to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers 
 and myself, who were all furnished with pocket chro- 
 nometers, could not always bear in mind at what part 
 of the twenty-hours we had arrived ; and there were 
 several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, 
 that they never knew night fi*om day during the whole 
 excursion. 
 
 " When we rose in the evening, we commenced our 
 day by prayers, after which we took off our fur sleep- 
 ing-dresses and put on clothes for traveling ; the former 
 being made of camlet lined with raccoon skin, and the 
 latter of strong blue cloth. "We made a point of al- 
 ways putting on the same stockings ana boots for 
 traveling in, whether they had been dried during the 
 day or not, and I believe it was only in five or six in- 
 stances at the most that they were not either still wet 
 or hard frozen. This indeed was of no consequence, 
 beyond the discomfort of first putting them on in this 
 state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a 
 quarter of an hour after commencing our journey ; 
 while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance 
 to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being ' rigged ' 
 for traveling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and 
 biscuit, and after stowing the things in the boats, and 
 on the sledges, so as to secure them as much as pos- 
 sible from wet, we set off on our day's journey, and 
 usually traveled four, five, or even six hours, accord- 
 ing to circumstances." 
 

 PAERY'S FOURTH VOYAGE. 
 
 147 
 
 In five days, notwithstanding their perseverance 
 and continued journeys, they found, by observation at 
 noon, on the 30th, that they had only made eight miles 
 of direct northing. 
 
 At Walden Island, one of the Seven Islands, and 
 Little Table Island, reserve supplies of provisions were 
 deposited to fall back upon in case of necessity. 
 
 In halting early in the morning for the purposes of 
 rest, the boats were hauled up on the largest piece of 
 ice that offered the least chance of brealang through, 
 or of coming in contact with other masses, the snow or 
 wet was cleaned out and the sails rigged as awnings. 
 *' Every man then immediately put on dry stockings 
 and fur boots, after which we set about the necessary 
 repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes, and after serving 
 the provisions for the succeeding day, we went to sup- 
 per. Most of the officers and men then smoked their 
 pipes, which served to dry the boats and awnings very 
 much, and usually raised the temperature of our lodg- 
 ings 10° or 16°. This part of the twenty-four hours 
 was often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment 
 to us ; the men told their stories, and fought all their 
 battles o'er again, and the labors of the day, unsuccess- 
 ful as they too often were, were forgotten. A regular 
 wateh was set during our resting time, to look out for 
 bears, or for the ice oreaking up round us, as well as 
 to attend to the drying of the clothes, each man alter- 
 nately taking this duty for one hour. We then con- 
 cluded our day with prayers, and having put on our 
 fur dresses, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort 
 which perhaps few persons would imagine possible un- 
 d-^r such circumstances, our chief inconvenience being, 
 that we were somewhat pinched for room, and there- 
 fore obliged to stow rather closer than was quite agree- 
 able." 
 
 This close stowage may be imagined when it is re- 
 membered that thirteen persons had to sleep in a boat 
 seven feet broad. After sleeping about seven hours, 
 they were roused from their slumbers by the sound of 
 a bugle from the cook and watchman, which announced 
 
 •; 
 
1^8 
 
 ritOGKESS OF AUCnC DISCOVEKY. 
 
 that their cocoa was smoking hot, and invited them to 
 breakfast. 
 
 Their progress was of the most tedious and toilsome 
 character, heavy showers of rain rendering the ice on 
 many occasions a mass of " slush ;" on others there was 
 from six to eighteen inches of snow lying on the sur- 
 face. Frequently the crew had to proceed on their 
 hands and knees to secure a footing, and on one occa- 
 sion they made such a snail-like progress that in two 
 hours they only accomplished 150 yards. On the 12th 
 of Jul^, they had reached the latitude of 82° 14' 28". 
 After live hours' unceasing labor on the 14th, the pro- 
 gress was but a mile and a half due north, though 
 from three to four miles had been traversed, and ten at 
 least walked, having made three journeys a great part 
 of the way ; launched and hauled up the boats four 
 times, and dragged them over twenty-five separate 
 pieces of ice. On the 18th, after eleven hours of ac- 
 tual labor, requiring for the most part the exertion of 
 the whole strength of the party, they had traveled over 
 a space not exceeding four iniles, of which only two 
 were made good. 
 
 But on halting on the morning of the 20th, having 
 by his reckoning accomplished six and a half miles in 
 a N. N. W. direction, the distance traversed being ten 
 miles and a half, Parry found to his mortification from 
 observation at noon, that they were not five miles to 
 the northward of their place at noon on the 17th, 
 although they had certainly traveled twelve miles in 
 that direction since then. 
 
 On the 21st, a floe of ice on which they had lodged 
 the boats and sledges, broke with their weight, and all 
 went through with several of the crew, who, with the 
 sledges were providentially saved. 
 
 On the 23d, the farthest northerly point was reached, 
 which was about 82° 45'. 
 
 At noon on the 26th, the weather being clear, the 
 meridian altitude of the sun was obtained, " by which," 
 says Parry, " we found ourselves in latitude 82° 40' 23", 
 80 that since our last observation (at midnight on the 
 
PARKY*8 FOURTH VOYAGE. 
 
 149 
 
 \ iJ(l,) we had lost l)y drift no less than thirteen and a 
 half miles, for we were now more than three miles to the 
 southward of that observation, though we had certainly- 
 traveled between ten and eleven, due north in this 
 interval ! Again, we were but one mile to the north 
 of our place at noon on the 21st, though wo had esti- 
 n!ated our distance ma'^'" ^ood at twenty-three miles." 
 After encountering eve.;, species of fetigue and dis- 
 heartening obstacles, in peril of their lives almost every 
 hour, Parry now became convinced that it was hope- 
 Iws to pursue the journey any further, and he could 
 not even reach the eighty-third parallel ; for after thir- 
 ty-five days of continuous and most fatiguing drudgery, 
 Wkth half their resources exipended, and the middle of 
 the season arrived, he found that the distance gained 
 in their laborious traveling was lost by the drift and 
 eeri of the ice with the southerly current, during the 
 p^riod of rest. After planting their ensigns and pen- 
 nants on the 26th, and making it a day of rest, on the 
 21^ eh, the return to the southward was commenced. 
 Nt 'thing particular occurred. Lieutenant Ross man- 
 ag 3d to bring down with his gun a fat she bear, which 
 caine to have a look at the boats, and after gormandiz- 
 in*f on its flesh, an excess which may be excused consid- 
 eriig it was the first fi'esh meat they had tasted for 
 ma ly a day, some symptoms of indigestion manifested 
 the TQselves among the party. 
 
 ( »n the outward journey very little of animal life 
 wai seen. A passing gull, a soutary rotge, two seals, 
 and a couple of flies, were all that their eager eyes 
 covit I detect. But on their return, these became more 
 nun. erous. On the 8th of August, seven or eight nar- 
 wha 6 were seen, and not less than 200 rotges, a flock 
 of tl ese little birds occurring in ievery hole of water. 
 On I he 11th, in latitude 81° 80', the sea was found 
 crowded with shrimps and other sea insects, on which 
 numerous birds were feeding. On this day they took 
 their last meal on the ice, being fifty miles distant from 
 Table Island, having accomplished in fifteen days what 
 had t^ken them thirty-three to effect on their outward 
 
 7 
 
 •i 
 
 - 1 
 
150 
 
 PBOaBESS OF AAOnO DISOOTEKY. 
 
 journey. On the 12th, they arrived at this island. The 
 bears had walked off with the relay of bread which 
 had been deposited there. To an. inlet lying off Table 
 Island, and the mosw northern known land upon the 
 globe, Parry gave the name of Ross, for " no individ- 
 ual," he observes, " could have exerted himself more 
 strenuously to rob it of this distinction." 
 
 Putting to sea again, a storm obliged the boats to 
 bear up for Walden Island. " Every thing belomging fb 
 us (says Captain Parry) was now completely drenched 
 by the spray and snow ; we had been fifty-six hours 
 without rest, and forty-eight at work in the boats, so 
 that by' the time they were unloaded we had barely 
 strength left to haul them up on the rocks. However, 
 by dint of great exertion, we managed to get the boats 
 above the surf ; after which a hot supper, a blazing 
 fire of drift wood, and a tew hours quiet rest, restored 
 us." 
 
 They finally reached the ship on the 2lBt of August, 
 after sixty -one days' absence. 
 
 ^^ The distance traversed during this excursion was 
 669 geographical miles ; but allowing for the times we 
 had to return for our baggage, during the greater part 
 of the journey over the ice, we estimated our actual 
 traveling at 978 geographical, or 1127 statute miles. 
 Considering our constant exposure to wet, cold, and 
 fatigue, our stockings having generally been drenched 
 in snow-water for twelve hours out of every twenty- 
 four, I had great reason to be thankful for the excellent 
 health in which, upon the whole, we reached the ship. 
 There is little doubt that we had all become in a certain 
 degree gradually weaker for some time past ; but only 
 three men of our party now required medical care — 
 two of them with badly swelled legs and general de 
 Klity, and the other from a bruise, but even these three 
 returned to their duty in a short time." 
 
 In a letter from Sir W. E. Parry to Sir John Barrow, 
 dated November 26, 1846, he thus suggests some im- 
 provements on his old plan of proceadmgs : — 
 
 ^' It is evident (he says) that the caiues of failure in 
 
PARUY 8 FoUinn VOYAGE. 
 
 161 
 
 our former attempt, iii the year 1827, were principally 
 two : first, and chiefly, the broken, rugged, and soft 
 state of the ice over wliich we traveled ; and secondly, 
 the drifting of the whole body of ice in a southerly 
 direction. 
 
 " My amended plan is, to go out with a single ship 
 to Spitzbergen, just as we did in the Hecla, but not so 
 early in the season ; the object for that year being 
 merely to find secure winter quarters as far north as 
 possible. For this puipose it would only be u< ressary 
 to reach Hakluyt's Headland by the end o June, 
 which would anord ample leisure for exaniiiiiH2: t^ o 
 more northern lands, especially about the Seven Ishuuls, 
 where, in all probability, a secure nook might be Jbnnd 
 for the ship, and a starting point for the proposed ex- 
 pedition, some forty or mty miles in advance of tho 
 point where the Hecla was before laid up. The w^inter 
 might be usefully employed in various preparations for 
 the journey, as well as in magnetic, astronomical, and 
 meteorological observations, of high interest in that 
 latitude, i propose that the expedition should leave 
 the ship in the course of the month of April, when tho 
 ice would present one hard and unbroken surface, over 
 which, as I confidently believe, it would not be difficult 
 to make good thirty miles per day, without any expo- 
 sure to wet, and probably without snow blindness. At 
 this season, too, the ice would probably be stationary, 
 and thus the two gi'eat difficulties which we formerly 
 had to encounter would be entirely obviated. It might 
 form a part of the plan to push out supplies previously, 
 to the distance of 100 miles, to be taken up on the 
 way, so as to commence the journey comparatively 
 light ; and as the intention would be to complete the 
 enterprise in the course of the month of May, before 
 any disruption of the ice, or any material softening of 
 the surface had taken place, similar supplies might be 
 sent out to the same distance, to meet the party on 
 their return." 
 
 The late Sir John Barrow, in his last work, com- 
 menting on this, says, " With all deference to so dis- 
 
162 
 
 PliCOKEeS OF AHOTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 tinguished a sea officer, in possesRion of bo ranch expe- 
 rience as Sir Edward Parry, there are others who 
 express dislike of such a plan ; and it is not improba- 
 ble that many will be disposed to come to the conclu- 
 sion, that so long as the Greenland Seas are hampered 
 with ice, so long as floes, and hummocks, and heavy- 
 masses, continue to be formed, so long as a determined 
 southerly current prevails, so long will any attempt to 
 carry out the plan m question, in nke manner fail. No 
 laborious drudgery will ever be able to conquer the 
 opposing progress of the current and the ice. Besides, 
 it can hardly be doubted, this gallant officer vlU admit, 
 on further consideration, that this unusual kind of dis- 
 gusting and unseamanlike labor, is not precisely such 
 as would be relished by the men ; and, it may be said, 
 is not exactly fitted for a British man-oi-war's-man ; 
 moreover, that it required his own all-powerful example 
 to make it even tolerable." Sir Jonn therefore sug- 
 gested a somewhat different plan. He recommended 
 that two small ships should be sent in the early spring 
 along the western coast of Spitzbergen, where usually 
 no impediment exists, as far up as 80°. They should 
 take every opportunity of proceeding directly to the 
 north, where, in about 82°, Parry has told us the large 
 floes had disappeared, and the sea was found to be 
 loaded only with loose, disconnected, small masses of 
 ice, through which ships would find no difficulty in 
 Bailing, though totally unfit for boats dragging ; and as 
 this loose ice was drifting to the southward, he further 
 eays, that before the middle of August a ship might 
 have sailed up to the latitude of 82°, almost without 
 touching a piece of ice. It is not then unreasonable to 
 expect that beyond that parallel, even as far as the 
 pole itself, the sea would be fi*ee of ice, during the six 
 eummer months of perpetual sun, through each of the 
 twenty-four hours ; which, with the aid of the current, 
 would, in all probability, destroy and dissipate the 
 polar ice. 
 
 The distance from Hakluyt's Headland to the polo 
 is 600 geographical miles. Granting the ships to inako 
 
 age 
 
 J'.'l-.^c^^-^wH 
 
i'aery'b fourth voyage. 
 
 153 
 
 OT1I5 twenty miles in twenty-four hours, (on the euppo- 
 eition of mueli sailing ice to go through,) even in that 
 case it would require but a month to enable the ex- 
 plorer to put his foot on the pivot or point of the axis 
 on which the globe of the earth turns, remain there a 
 month, if necessary, to obtain the sought-for informa- 
 tion, and then, with a southerly current, a fortnight, 
 probably less, would bring him back to Spitzbergen. * 
 
 In a notice in the Quarterly Review of this, one of 
 the most singular and perilous journeys of its kind 
 over undertaken, except perhaps that of Baron Wran- 
 gell upon a similar enterprise to the northward of Behr- 
 ing's Straits, it is observed, — "Let any one conceive 
 for a moment the situation of two open bouts, laden 
 with seventy days' provisions and clotning for twenty- 
 eight men, in the midst of a sea covered nearly with 
 detached masses and floes of ice, over which these 
 boats were to be dragged, sometimes up one side of a 
 rugged mass, and down the other, sometimes across the 
 lanes of water that separate them, frequently over a 
 surface covered with deep snow, or through pools of 
 water. Let him bear in mind, that the men had little 
 or no chance of any other supply of provisions than 
 that which they carried with tnem, calculated as just 
 sufficient to sustain life, and consider what their situa- 
 tion would have been in the event, by no means an 
 improbable one, of losing any part of their scanty 
 stock. Let any one try to imagine to himself a situa- 
 tion of this kind, and he will still have but a faint idea 
 of the exertions which the men under Captain Parry 
 liad to make, and the sufferings and privations they 
 had to undergo." 
 
 Captain Parry having thus completed his fifth voy- 
 age into the arctic regions, in four of which he com- 
 manded, and was second in the other, it may here be 
 desirable to give a recapitulation of his services. 
 
 In 1818 he was appointed Lieutenant, commanding 
 the Alexander, hired ship, as second officer with his 
 uncle, Commander John Koss. In 1819, still as Lieu- 
 * Barrow's Voyages of Discovery, p. 316. ** 
 
154 
 
 PROORESS OF ARCllC DI8C0VKUY. 
 
 tenant, he was appointed to command the Ilccla, and 
 to take charge of toe Bccond arctic expedition, on which 
 service he was employed two years. On the 14th of 
 November, 1820, ne was promoted to the rank of 
 Commander. 
 
 On the 19th of December, 1820, the Bedfordean 
 Gold Medal of the Bath and Weat of England Society 
 for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and 
 Commerce, was unanimously voted to him. On the 
 80th of December of that year, he was appointed to 
 the Fury, with orders to take command of the expedi- 
 tion to the Arctic Sea. With the sum of 600 guineas, 
 subscribed for the purpose, " the Explorer of the Tolur 
 Sea " was afterward presented with a silver vase, 
 highly embellished with devices emblematic of tho 
 arctic voyages. And on tho 24th of March, 1821, tho 
 city of Bath presented its freedom to Captain Puny, in 
 a box of oak, highly and appropriately oruamonted. 
 On the 8th of November, 1821, he obtained his post- 
 captain's rank. On the 22d of November, 1823, Jio 
 was presented with the freedom of the city of Win- 
 chester ; and, on the 1st of December, was appointed 
 acting hydrographer to the Admiralty in tho placo of 
 Captain Hind, deceased. In 1824 lie was appointed to 
 tho Hecla, to proceed on another exploring voyage. 
 
 On the 22d of November, 1825, Captain Parry was 
 formally appointed hydrographer to tho Admiralty, 
 which office he continued to hold until the 10th of 
 November, 1826. 
 
 In December, 1825, he was voted the freedom of the 
 borough of Lynn, in testimony of tho hi«^li S'^iico ciiter- 
 taincd by the corporation of liis meritorious and enter 
 prising conduct. 
 
 In April, 1827, he once more took the command of 
 his old ship, the Hecla, for another voyarto oi' discovery 
 toward the North Pole. On his return in tlio close of 
 the year, having paid off the Hecla at Deptford, he 
 resumed, on the 2a of November, hia dutios as hydro- 
 grapher to the Admiralty, which otHce ho held until 
 Sie 13th of May, 1829. jiaving received the Ivauor of 
 
CAPTAIN UOBB^B BUOOND VOYAOB. 
 
 155 
 
 knighthood, ho thon rcRip^ncd in favor of the present 
 Admiral Beaufort, and, ol)tainin^ perniiHsion from the 
 Admiralty, proceeded to Now South Wales as resident 
 Commissioner to the Australian Agricultural Com 
 panjr, taking charge of their recently acquired largo 
 territory in tho neighborhood of Port Stephen, lie 
 returned from Australia in 1834. From the 7th of 
 March, 1836, to the 3d of February, 1836, he acted as 
 Poor Law Commissionc' in Norfolk. Early in 1837, 
 he was appointed to organize the Mail Packet Service, 
 then transferred to the Adm'valt;*, and afterward, in 
 April, was appointed Controller -^f steam machinery to 
 the Navy, wnich office he continued to -old up to De- 
 cember, 1846. From that period to 'Ic present time 
 he has tilled the post of Captair Supeiintendc it of the 
 RojoX Navy Hospital at Uasla;. 
 
 Captain John Ross's Second Voyage, 1829-33. 
 
 In the year 1829, Capt. Boss, the pioneer of arctic 
 exploration in the 19th century, being anxious once 
 more to display his zeal and enterprise as well as to 
 retrieve his nautical reputation from those unfortunate 
 blunders and mistakes which had attached to his first 
 voyage, and thus remove the cloud which had for 
 nearly ten years huner over his professional character, 
 endeavored without *'li' ct to induce the government 
 to send him out to the Polar Seas in charge of another 
 expedition. The Board of Admiralty of that day, in 
 the spirit of retrenchment which pervaded their coun- 
 cils, were, hew iver, not disposed to recommend any 
 further grant for research, even the Board of Longi- 
 tude was abolished, and the boon of 20,000^. offered 
 by act of parliament for the promotion of arctic dis- 
 covery, also withdrawn by a repeal of the act. 
 
 Captain Ross, however, undaunted by the chilling 
 indifference thus manifestod toward his proposiils by 
 the Admiralty, still persevered, having devoted 30 JO^. 
 out of his own funds toward the prosecution of tho ob- 
 ject he had in view. He was iortunate enough to 
 
 ^ 
 
 M 
 
 
 :.«f: 
 
 » 
 
156 
 
 riiOOKKSS UK AKOTIC DISCOVKKY. 
 
 
 '^r 
 
 meet with a public-spirited and affluent coadjutoi And 
 supporter in the late Sir Felix Booth, the eminen dis- 
 tiller, and that gentleman nobly contributed IT^OOOZ. 
 toward the expenses. Captain Ross thereupon set to 
 work, and purchased a small Liverpool steamer named 
 the Victory, whose tonnage he increased to 150 tons. 
 She was provisioned for three years. Captain Ross 
 chose for his second in command his nephew. Com- 
 mander James Ross, who had been with him on his 
 first arctid expedition, and had subsequently accompa- 
 nied Parry in all his voyages. The other omcers of the 
 vessel were — Mr. William Thom, purser ; Mr. George 
 M'Diarmid, surgeon ; Thomas Blanky,Thos. Abernethy, 
 and George Taylor, as 1st, 2d, and 3d, mates ; Alex- 
 ander Brunton and Allen Macinnes as 1st and 2d engi- 
 neers ; and nineteen petty officers and seamen ; making 
 a complement in all of 28 men. 
 
 The Admiralty furnished toward the purposes of the 
 expedition a decked boat of sixteen tons, called the 
 ILrusenstern, and two boats which had been used by 
 Franklin, with a stock of books and instruments. 
 
 The vessel being reported ready for sea was visited 
 and examined by the late King of the French, the 
 Lords of the Admiralty, and other parties taking an 
 interest in the expedition, and set sail from Woolwich 
 on the 23d of May, 1S29. For all practical purposes 
 the steam machinery, on which the commander had 
 greatly relied, was found on trial utterly useless. 
 
 Having received much damage to her spars, in a 
 severe g&, the ship put in to the Danish settlement of 
 Holsteinberg, on the Greenland coast, to refit, and 
 sailed again to the northward on the 26th of June. 
 They found a clear sea, and even in the middle of Lan- 
 caster Sound and Barrow's Strait perceived no traces 
 of ice or snow, except what appeared on the lofty sum- 
 mits of some of the mountains. The thermometer stood 
 at 40°, and the weather was so mild that the officers 
 dined in the cabin without a fire, with the skylight 
 partially open. On the 10th of August they passed 
 Cape York, and thence crossed over into Regent Inl# ^ 
 
CAPTAIN K08SS SIXJOND VOYAGE. 
 
 157 
 
 making the western coast between Sepping's and Elwin 
 13ay on the 16th. 
 
 They here fell in with those formidable streams, 
 packs, and floating bergs of ice which had uftered siicli 
 obstructions to Parry's ships. From their proximity to 
 the magnetic pole, their compasses became useless as 
 they proceeded southward. On the 13th they reached 
 the spot where the Fury was abandoned, but no rem- 
 nants of the vessel were to be seen. All her sails, 
 stores, and provisions, on land, were, however, found ; 
 the hermetically-sealed tin canisters having kept the 
 provisions from the attacks of bears ; and the flour, 
 bread, wine, spirits, sugar, &c., proved as good, after 
 being here four years, as on the first day they were 
 packed. This store formed a very seasonable addition, 
 which was freely made available, and after increasing 
 their stock to two years and ten months' supply, they 
 still left a large quantity for the wants of any future 
 explorers. On the 15th, crossing Cresswell Bay, they* 
 reached Cape Garry, the farthest point which had been 
 seen by Parry. They were here much inconvenienced 
 and delayed by fogs and floating ice. While moun- 
 tains of ice were tossing around them on every side, 
 they were often forced to seek safety/ by mooring them- 
 selves to these formidable masses, and drifting with 
 them, sometimes forward, sometimes backward. In tliis 
 manner on one occasion no less than nineteen miles 
 were lost in a few hours ; at other times they under- 
 went frequent and severe shocks, yet escaped any seri- 
 ous damage. 
 
 Captain Ross draws a lively picture of what a ves- 
 sel endures in sailing among 'these moving hills. lie 
 reminds the reader that ice is stone, as solid as if it 
 were granite ; and he bids him " imagine these moun- 
 tains nurled through a narrow strait by a rapid tide, 
 meeting with the noise of thunder, breaking from each 
 other's precipices huge fragments, or rending each 
 other asunder, till, losing their former equilibrium, 
 they fell over headlong, lifting the sea around in break- 
 ers and whirling it in eddies. There is not a moment 
 
158 
 
 I'lJOOUESS OF ABCnO DISCOVERY. 
 
 in which it can be conjectured what will happen m tlo 
 next ; there is not one which may not be the last. Th»» 
 attention is troubled to fix on any things amid such con 
 fusion ; still must it be alive, that it may seize on th^ 
 single moment of help or escape which may occur 
 Yet with all this, and it is the hardest task of all, there 
 is nothing to be acted, — no efibrt to be made, — ho 
 must be patient, as if he were unconcerned or careless, 
 waiting, as he best can, for the fate, be it what it may, 
 which ne cannot influence or avoid." 
 
 Proceeding southward, Ross found Brentford Bay, 
 about thirty miles beyond Cape Garry, to be of consid- 
 erable extent, with some fine harbors. Landing here, 
 the British colors were unfurled, and the coast, named 
 after the promoter of the expedition, was taken posses- 
 sion of in the name of the King. Extensive and com- 
 modious harbors, named Ports Logan, Elizabeth, and 
 Eclipse, were discovered, and a large bay, which waa 
 called Mary Jones Bay. By the end of September 
 the ship had examined 300 miles of undiscovered coast 
 The winter now set in with severity, huge masses of 
 ice began to close around them, the thermometer sank 
 many degrees below freezing point, and snow fell very 
 thick. By sawing through the ice, the vessel was ffot 
 into a secure position to pass the winter, in a station 
 which is now named on the maps Felix Harbor. The 
 machinery of the steam engine was done away with, 
 the vessel housed, and every measure that could add to 
 the comfort of the crew adopted. They had abundance 
 of liiel, and provisions that might easily be extended 
 to three years. 
 
 On the 9th of January, 1831, they were visited by a 
 large tribe of Esquimaux, who were better dressed and 
 cleaner than those more to the northward. They dis- 
 played an intimate acquaintance with the situation and 
 bearings of the country over which they had traveled, 
 and two of them drew a very fair sketch of the neigh- 
 boring coasts, with which they were familiar ; this 
 was revised and corrected by a learned lady named 
 Teriksin, — the females seeming, from this and former 
 
CAFl'AIN EOSS S SECOND VOVAOE. 
 
 159 
 
 instances, to have a clear knowledge of the hydrography 
 and geography of the continent, bays, straits, and riv- 
 ers which they had once traven ed. 
 
 On the 6th of April, Commander Ross, with Mr. 
 Blanky, the chief mate, and two Esquimaux guides, set 
 out to explore a strait which was reported as lying to 
 the westward, and which it was hoped might lead to 
 the western sea. After a tedious and arduous journey, 
 they arrived, on the third day, at a bay facing to the 
 westward and discovered, further inland, an extensive 
 lake, called by the natives Nie-tyle-le, whence a broad 
 river flowed into the bay. Their guides informed them, 
 however, there was no prospect of a water comunica- 
 tion south of their present position. Capt. Koss then 
 traced the coast fifty or sixty miles further south. 
 
 Several journeys were also made by Commander 
 Ross, both inland and along the bays and inlets. On 
 the 1st of May, from the top of a high hill, he observed 
 a large inlet, which seemed to lead to the western sea. 
 In order to satisfy himself on this point, he set out 
 again on the 17th of May, with provisions for three 
 weeks, eight dogs, and three companions. Having 
 crossed the great middle lake of the isthmus, he reached 
 his former station, and thence traced an inlet which 
 was found to be the mouth of a river named by them 
 Garry. From the high hill, they observed a chain of 
 lakes leading almost to Thom's Bay, the Victory's sta- 
 tion in Felix Harbor. Proceeding northwest along the 
 coast, they crossed the frozen surface of the strait which 
 has since been named after Sir James Ross, and came 
 to a large island which was called Matty ; keeping 
 along its northern shore, and passing over a narrow 
 strait, which they named after Wellington, they found 
 themselves on what was considered to be the main- 
 land, but which the more recent discoveries of Simpson 
 have shown to be an island, and which now bears the 
 name of King William's Land. Still journeying on- 
 ward, with difiiculties continually increasing, from 
 heavy toil and severe privation, the dogs became ex- 
 hausted with fatigue, and a burden rather than an aid 
 to the travelers. 
 
 il 
 
 1 
 
 
160 
 
 PKOGKESS OF AllCTIC DISCUVJiliY. 
 
 *^ 
 
 One of their greatest embarrassments was, how to 
 distinguish between land and sea. " When all is ice, 
 and all one dazzling mass of white — when the surface 
 of the sea itself is tossed up and fixed into rocks, while 
 the land is, on the contrary, very often flat, it is not 
 always so easy a problem as it might seem on a super- 
 ficial view, to determine a fact which appears in words 
 to be extremely simple." Although their provisions 
 began to fall short, and the party were nearly worn 
 out. Commander Ross was most desirous of making as 
 much western discovery as possible ; therefore, depos- 
 iting every thing that could be dispensed with, he 
 pushed on, on the 28th, with only four days' provisions, 
 and reached Cape Felix, the most northern point of 
 this island, on the following day. The coast here took 
 a southwest direction, and there was an unbounded ex- 
 panse of ocean in view. The next morning, after hav- 
 ing traveled twenty miles farther, they reached a point, 
 which Ross called Point Victory, situated in lat. 64** 
 46' 19", long. 98° 32' 49'', while to the most distant one 
 in view, estimated to be in long. 99° 17' 58", he gave 
 the name of Cape Franklin. However loath to turn 
 back, yet prudence compelled them to do so, for as 
 they had only ten days' short allowance of food, and 
 more than 200 miles to traverse, there could not be a 
 moment's hesitation in adopting this step. A high 
 cairn of stones was erected before leaving, in which 
 was deposited a narrative of their proceedings. 
 
 The party endured much fatigue and suffering on 
 their return journey ; of the ei^t dogs only two sur- 
 vived, and the travelers in a most exhausted state ar- 
 rived in the neighborhood of the large lakes on the 8th 
 of June, where they fortunately fell in with a tribe of 
 natives, who received them hospitably, and supplied 
 them plentifolly with fish, so that after a day's rest 
 they resumed their journey, and reached the ship on 
 the 13th. Captain Ross in the meanwhile had made a 
 partial survey of the Isthmus, and discovered another 
 large lake, which he named after Lady Melville. 
 
 After eleven months' imprisonment their little ship 
 
 All 
 
 59', I 
 

 CAPTAIN boss's fiECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 161 
 
 once more floated bnoyaixt on the waves, having been 
 released from her icy barrier on the 17th of September, 
 but for the next few days made but little progress, 
 being beaten about among the icebergs, and driven 
 hither and thither by the currents. 
 
 A chanffo in the weather, however, took place, and 
 on the 2Ba they were once more frozen in, the sea in a 
 week after exhibiting one clear and unbroken surface. 
 All October was passed in cutting through the ice into 
 a more secure locality, and another dreary winter hav- 
 ing set in, it became necessary to reduce the allowance 
 of provisions. This winter was one of unparalleled 
 severity, tie thermometer falling 92° below freezing 
 point. During the ensuing spring a variety of explo- 
 ratory journeys were carried on, and in one of these 
 Commander Koss succeeded in planting the British 
 flag on the North Magnetic Pole. The position which 
 had been usually assigned to this interesting spot by 
 the learned of Europe, was lat. 70° N., and long. 98° 
 30' W. ; but Ross, by careful observations, determined 
 it to lie in lat. 70° 6' 17" IST., and long. 96° 46' 45" W., 
 to the southward of Cape Nikolai, on the western shore 
 of Boothia. But it has since been found that the cen- 
 ter of magnetic intensity is a movable point revolving 
 within the frigid zone. 
 
 " The place of the observatory," Ross remarks, " was 
 as near to the magnetic pole as the limited means which 
 I possessed enabled me to determine. The amount of 
 the dip, as indicated by my dipping-needle, was 89° 
 69', being thus within one minute of the vertical ; 
 while the proximity at least of this pole, if not its ac- 
 tual existence where we stood, was further confirmed 
 by the action, or rather by the total inaction, of the 
 several horizontal needles then in my possession." 
 
 Parry's observations placed it eleven minutes distant 
 only from the site determined by Ross. 
 
 "As soon," continues Ross, "as I had satisfied my 
 own mind on the subject, I made known to the party 
 this gratifying result of all our joint labors ; and it was 
 then that, amidst mutual congratulations, we fixed the 
 
 
 -■■'•-'^^■l. " - i-Xl'S^ .JL^/.M.!.- 
 
162 
 
 rROGRESS OF AECTIO BIBQOYEBY. 
 
 British flag on the spot, and took possession of the 
 North Magnetic Pole and its adjoining territory in the 
 name of Great Britain and King William IV. We 
 had abundance of materials for ouilding in the frag- 
 ments of limestone that covered the beach, and we 
 therefore erected a cairn of some magnitude, under 
 which we buried a canister containing a record of the 
 interesting fact, only regretting that we had not the 
 means of constructing a pyramid of more importance, 
 and of strength sufficient to withstand the assaults of 
 time and- of the Esquimaux. Had it been a pyramid 
 as large as that of Cheops, I am not quite sure that it 
 would have done more than satisfy our ambition under 
 the feelings of that exciting day." 
 
 On the 28th of August, 1831, they contrived to warp 
 the Victory out into the open sea, and made sail on 
 the following morning, but were soon beset with ice, 
 as on the former occasion, being once more completely 
 frozen in by the 27th of September. 
 
 On the previous occasion their navigation had been 
 three miles ; this year it extended to four. This pro- 
 tracted detention in the ice made their present posi- 
 tion one of great danger and peril. As there seemed 
 no prospect of extracting their vessel, the resolution 
 was come to of abandoning her, and making the best 
 of their way up the inlet to Fury Beach, there to avail 
 themselves of the boats, provisions, and stores, which 
 would assist them in reaching Davis' Straits, where 
 they might expect to fall in with one of the whale 
 ships. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1832, having collected all that 
 was useful and necessary, the expedition set out, drag- 
 ging their provisions and boats over a vast expanse of 
 rugged ice. " The loads being too heavy to be car- 
 ried at once, made it necessary to go backward and 
 forward twice, and even oftener, the same day. They 
 had to encounter dreadful tempests of snow and drift, 
 and to make several circuits in order to avoid impas- 
 sable barriers. The general result was, that by the 
 12th of May they had traveled 329 miles to gain thirty 
 
CAPTAIN E068'8 SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 163 
 
 in a direct line, having in this labor expended a 
 month." After this preliminary movement, thev bade 
 a farewell to their little vessel, nailing her colors to 
 the mast. Capt. Boss describes himself as deeply af- 
 fected ; this being the first vessel he had been obliged 
 to abandon of thirty-six in which he had served dur- 
 ing the course of forty-two years. On the 9th of June, 
 Commander Eoss and two others, with a fortnight's 
 provisions, left the main body, who were more heav- 
 ily loaded, to ascertain the state of the boats and sup- 
 plies at Fury Beach. Ketuming they met their com- 
 rades on the 25th of June, reporting that they had 
 found three of the boats washed away, but enough still 
 left for their purpose, and all the provisions were in 
 good condition. The remainder of the journey was 
 accomplished by the whole party in a week, and on 
 the Ipt of July they reared a canvas mansion, to 
 which they gave the name of Somerset House, and 
 enjoyed a hearty meal. 
 
 By the 1st of August the boats were rendered ser- 
 viceable, and a considerable extent of open sea being 
 visible, they set out, and after much buffeting among 
 the ice in their frail shallops, reached the mouth of 
 the inlet by the end of August. After several fruit- 
 less attempts to run along Barrow's Strait, the obstruc- 
 tions of the ice obliged them to haul the boats on shore, 
 and pitch their tents. Barrow's Strait was found, from 
 repeated surveys, to be one impenetrable mass of ice. 
 After lingering here till the third week in September, 
 it was unanimously agreed that their only resource 
 was to fall back on the stores at Fury Beach, and there 
 spend their fourth winter. They were only able to get 
 half the distance in the boats, which were hauled on 
 shore in Batty Bay on the 24th of September, and 
 the rest of their journey continued on foot, tlie pro- 
 visions being dragged on sledges. On the 7th of Oc- 
 tober they once more reached their home at the scene 
 of the wreck. They now managed to shelter their 
 canvas tent by a wall of snow, and setting up an ex- 
 tra stove, made themselves tolerably comfortal'le until 
 
 i 
 
164 
 
 PROGRESS OF AROTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 the increasing severity of the winter, and rigor of 
 the cold, added to the tempestuous weather, made 
 them perfect prisoners, and sorely tried their patience. 
 Scurvy now becan to attack several of the party, and 
 on the 16th of February, 1833, Thomas, the carpenter, 
 fell a victim to it, and two others died. " Their situ- 
 ation was becoming truly awful, since, if they were 
 not liberated in the ensuing summer, little prospect 
 appeared of their surviving another year. It was 
 necessary to make a reduction in the allowance of 
 ^reserved meats ; bread was somewhat deficient, and 
 the stock of wine and spirits was entirely exhausted. 
 However, as they caught a few foxes, which were con- 
 sidered a delicacy, and there was plenty of flour, 
 sugar, soups, and vegetables, a diet could be easily 
 arranged sufficient to support the party." 
 
 "While the ice remained firm, advantage was taken 
 of the spring to carry forward a stock of provisions to 
 Batty Bay, and this, though only thirty-two miles, oc- 
 cupied them a whole month, owing to their reduced 
 numbers from sickness and heavy loads, with the jour- 
 ney ings to and fro, having to go over the ground eight 
 times. 
 
 On the 8th of July they finally abandoned this de- 
 pot, and encamped on the 12th at their boat station in 
 batty Bay, where the aspect of the sea was watched 
 with intense anxiety for more than a month. On the 
 15th of August, taking advantage of a lane of water 
 which led to the northward, the party embarked, and 
 on the following morning had got as far as the turn- 
 ing point of their last year's expedition. Making their 
 way slowly among the masses of ice with which the 
 inlet was encumbered, on the 17th they found the wide 
 expanse of Barrow's Strait open before them, and nav- 
 igable, and reached to within twelve miles of Capo 
 York. Pushing on with renewed spirits, alternately 
 rowing and sailing, on the night of the 25th they 
 rested in a good harbor on the eastern shore of Navy 
 Board Inlet. At four on the following morning they 
 were roused from their slumbers by the joyful intelli- 
 
 %: 
 
CAPTAIN boss's SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 165 
 
 
 gence of a ship being in sight, and never did men 
 more hurriedly and energetically set out ; but the ele- 
 ments conspiring against them, after being baffled by 
 calms and currents, they had the misery to see the 
 ship leave them with a fair breeze, and found it im- 
 possible to overtake her, or make themselves seen. A 
 few hours later, however, their despair was relieved by 
 the sight of another vessel which was lying to in a calm. 
 By dint of hard rowing they were this time more for 
 tunate, and soon came up with her ; she proved to bo 
 the Isabella, of Hull, the very ship in which Ross had 
 made his first voyage to these seas. Capt. Ross was 
 told circumstantially of his own death, &c., two years 
 previously, and he had some difficulty in convincing 
 them that it was really he and his party who now stood 
 before them. So great was the joy with which they 
 were received, that the Isabella manned her yards, 
 and her former commander and his gallant band of 
 adventurers were saluted with three hearty cheers. 
 The scene on board can scarcely be described ; each 
 of the crew vied with the other in assisting and com- 
 forting the party, and it cannot better be told than in 
 Ross's own words : — 
 
 " The ludicrous soon took place of all other feelings ; 
 in such a crowd, and such confusion, all serious thought 
 was impossible, while the new buoyancy of our spirits 
 made us abundantly willing to be amused by the scene 
 which now opened. Every man was hungry, and waa 
 to be fed ; all were ragged, and were to be clothed ; 
 there was not one to whom washing was not indispen- 
 sable, nor one whom his beard did not deprive of all 
 human semblance. All, every thing too, was to be done 
 at once : it was washing, shaving, dressing, eating, all 
 intermingled ; it was all the materials of each jumbled 
 together, while in the midst of all there were intermina- 
 ble questions to be asked and answered on both sides ; 
 the adventures of the Yictory, our own escapes, the 
 politics of England, and the news which was now four 
 years old. 
 
 "But all subsided into peace at last. The sick were 
 
 . ■,<?■ 
 
 #* ¥ 
 
166 
 
 PIIOOBEPS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 m 
 
 accommodated, the scaraen disposed of, and all was 
 done for us which care and kindnesB could perform. 
 
 " Night at length brought quiet and serioua thoughts, 
 and I trust there was not a man among us who did not 
 then express, where it was due, his gratitude for that 
 interposition which had raised us ail from a despair 
 which none could now forget, and had brought us from 
 the very borders of a most distant grave, to life and 
 friends and civilization. Long accustomed, however, 
 to a cold bed on the hard snow or the bare rock, few 
 could sleep amid the comfort of our new accommoda- 
 tions. I was myself compelled to leave the bed which 
 liad been kindly assigned me, and take my aljode in a 
 chair for the night, nor did it fare much better with the 
 rest. It was for time to reconcile us to this sudden and 
 violent change, to break through what had bccomo 
 habit, and inure us once more to the usages of our 
 former days." 
 
 The Isabella remained some time longer to prosecute 
 the fishery, and left Davis' Strait on lier homeward 
 passage on the 30th September. On the 12th of Oc- 
 tober they made the Orkney Islands, and arrived at 
 Hull on the 18th. The bold explorers, who had long 
 been given up as lost, were looked upon as men risen 
 from the grave, and met and escorted by crowds of 
 sympathizers. A public entertaiiiment was given to 
 them by the townspeople, at which the freedom of the 
 town was presented to Captain Ross, and next day ho 
 left for London, to report to the Admiralty, and was 
 honored by a presentatirm to the king at Windsor. 
 
 The Admiralty liberally rewarded all the parties, 
 except indeed Captain Koss. Commander J. C. Rosa 
 was appointed to the guardship at Portsmouth to com- 
 plete his period of service, and then received his post 
 rank. Mr. Thom, the purser, Mr. M'Diarmid, the sur- 
 geon, and the petty officers, were appointed to good 
 situations in the navy. The seamen received the usual 
 double pay given to arctic explorers, up to the time 
 of leaving their ship, and full pay from that date until 
 their arrival in England. 
 
CAPTAIN ROBS^B B£COND VOYAGE. 
 
 167 
 
 A coramitteo of the House of Commons toolc up tho 
 case of Captain Koss early in the session of 1834, and 
 on their recommendation 5,000/. was granted him as a 
 remuneration for his pecuniary outlay and privations. 
 
 A baronetcy, on the recommendation ot the same 
 committee, was also conferred by his Majesty William 
 IV. on Mr. Felix Booth. 
 
 In looking back on the results of this voyage, no im- 
 
 {)artial inquirer can deny to Captain Ross the merit of 
 laving effected much good by tracing and surveying 
 the wnole of tho long western coast of Regent Inlet, 
 proving Boothia to bo a peninsula, and setting at rest 
 the probability of any navigable outlet being discovered 
 from this inlet to the Polar Sea. The lakes, rivers and 
 islands which were examined, proved with sufficient 
 accuracy the correctness of the information furnished to 
 Parry by the Esquimaux. 
 
 To Commander James Ross is due tho credit of 
 resolving many important, scientific questions, such as 
 the comoination of light with magnetism, fixing tho 
 exact position of the magnetic pole. lie was also tho 
 onl^ person in tho expedition competent to make obser- 
 vations in geology, natural history and botany. Out 
 of about 700 miles of new land explored. Commander 
 Ross, in the expeditions which he planned and con- 
 ducted, discovered nearly 500. He had, up to this 
 time, passed fourteen summers and eight winters in 
 these seas. 
 
 The late Sir John Barrow, in his " Narrative of Yoy- 
 Ages of Discovery and Research," p. 518, in opposition 
 to Ross's opinion, asserted that Boothia was not joined 
 to the continent, but that they vrere " completely divi- 
 ded by a navigable strait, ten miles wide and upward, 
 leading past Sack's Estuary, and into the Gulf (of 
 Bouthia,) of which the proper name is Akkolee, not 
 Boothia ; and moreover, tnat the two seas flow as freely 
 into each other as Lancaster Sound does into the Polar 
 Sea." This assumption has since been shown to bo 
 incorrect. Capt. Ross asserts there is a difference in 
 the level of these two seas. 
 
 t 
 
• tpiT^UU ; - 
 
 168 
 
 PROGRESS OF ABCTIC iifSOOVERT. 
 
 I may liero fitly take a review of Captain Ri,<(i8*8 ser- 
 vices, lie entered tiie navy in 1700, Herved fifteen yeura 
 ns a midshipman, seven as a lieutenant, and seven as a 
 commander, and was posted on the 7tli of December, 
 1818, and appointed to the command of the first arctio 
 expedition ot this century. On his return he received 
 many marks of favor from continental sovereigns, was 
 knii^lited and made a Companion of the Bath on tliu 
 24tli of December, 1834 ; made a Commander of the 
 Sword of Sweden, a Knight of the Second Class of St 
 Anne of Prussia (in diamonds,) Second Class of tho 
 Legion of Honor, and of the Red Eagle of Prunsia, and 
 of Leopold of Belgium. Received the royal ])remiuii 
 from tho Geographical Society of London, in 183e3, fo 
 his discoveries in the arctic regions; also gold meduh 
 from the Geographical Society of Paris, and the Royrl 
 Societies of Sweden, Austria, and Denmark. The free- 
 dom of the cities of London, Liverpool, and Rristo) ; 
 six gold snuff-boxes from Russia, Ilolland, Denmark, 
 Austria, London and Baden ; a sword valued at lOO 
 guineas from the Patriotic Fund, for his sufferings, hav 
 ing been wounded thirteen times in three different 
 actions during the war ; and one of the value of 200.?. 
 from the King of Sweden, for service in the Baltic and 
 the White Sea. On the 8th of March, 1839, he was 
 appointed to the lucrative post of British consul at 
 Stockholm, which he held for six years. 
 
 Captain Back's Land Journey, 1833-35. 
 
 Four years having elapsed without any tidings being 
 received of Capt. Ross and his crew, it began to bo 
 generally feared in England that they had been added 
 to the number of former sufierers, in the prosecution of 
 their arduous undertaking. 
 
 Dr. Richardson, who nad himself undergone such 
 fright fril perils in the arctic regions with Franklin, was 
 tlie fir-- f to call public attention to the subject, in a letter 
 to t]u^ < ' eographical Society, in which he suggested a 
 project tor relieving them, if still alive and to be found ; 
 
OAJTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 169 
 
 and ttt the same time volunteered his serviees to the 
 Colonial Secretary of the day, to conduct an exploring 
 party. 
 
 Although the expedition of Capt. Ross was not under- 
 taken under the auspices of government, it became a 
 national concern! to ascertain the ultimate fate of it, and 
 to make some effort for the relief of the party, whoso 
 home at that time might be the boisterous Kua, or whoso 
 shelter the snow hut or the floating iceberg. Dr. Rich- 
 ardson proposed to proceed from Hudson's Bay, in a 
 northwest direction to Coronation Gulf, where he was 
 to commence his search in an easterly direction. Pass- 
 ing to the north, along the eastern side of this ixiilf, he 
 would arrive at Point Turnagain, the eastern poinr of 
 his own former discovery. Ilaving accomplisli. I tli';, 
 he would continue his search toward theeastwa:'! until 
 he reached Melville Island, thus perfecting geographical 
 discovery in that quarter, arid a continued cojist lino 
 might be laid down from the Fury and Hecla Strait to 
 Beechey Point, leaving only the small space between 
 Franklm's discovery and that of the Blossom unexplored. 
 The proposal was mvorably received ; but owing to tho 
 political state of the country at the time, the oner was 
 not accepted. 
 
 A meeting was held in November, 1832, at the rooms 
 of the Horticultural Society, in Regent street, to obtain 
 funds, and arrange for fitting out a private relief expe- 
 dition, as the Admiralty ana Government were unablo 
 to do this officially, in consequence of Captain Ross's 
 expedition not being a public one. Sir George Cock- 
 burn took the chair, and justly observed that those offi- 
 cers who devoted their time to the service of science, 
 and braved in its pursuit the dangers of unknown and 
 ungenial climates, demanded the sympathy and assist- 
 ance of all. Great Britain had taken the lead in geo- 
 graphical discovery, and there was not one in this coun- 
 try who did not feel pride and honor in the fame she 
 had attained by the expeditions of Parry and Franklin ; 
 but if we wished to create future Parrys and Franklins, 
 if we wished to encourage British enterprise and cour 
 
'\- 
 
 iro 
 
 PKOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 affe, we must prove that the officer who is out cf sight 
 ot his countrymen is not forgotten ; that there is con- 
 sideration for his sufferinffs, and appreciation of his 
 spirit. This reflection will cheer him in the hour of 
 trial, and will permit him, when surrounded by dangers 
 and privations, to indulge in hope, the greatest blessing 
 of man. Captain George Back, R. jN., who was in 
 Italy when the subject was first mooted, hastened to 
 England, and offerea to lead the party, and his services 
 were accepted. A subscription was ent^sred into, to 
 defray the necessary expenses, and upward of 6000^. 
 was raised ; of this sum, at the recommendation of Lord 
 Goderich, the then Secretary of State, the Treasury con- 
 tributed 2000^. 
 
 After an interview with the king at Brighton, to which 
 he was specially summoned. Captain Back made prepa- 
 rations for his journey, and laid down his plan of opera- 
 tions. In order to facilitate his views, and give him 
 greater authority over his men, special instructions and 
 authority were issued by the Colonial Office, and the 
 Hudson's Bay Company granted him a commission in 
 their service, and placed every assistance at his disposal 
 throughout their territory in North America. 
 
 Every thing being definitely arranged, Capt. Back, 
 accompanied by Dr. Richard King as surgeon and natu- 
 ralist, with three men who had been on the expedition 
 with Franklin, left Liverpool on the 17th of February, 
 1833, in one of the New York packet ships, and arrived 
 in America after a stormy passage of thirty-five days. 
 He proceeded on to Montreal, where he had great diffi- 
 culty in preventing two of the men from leaving him, 
 as their hearts began to fail them at the prospect of 
 the severe journey with its attendant difficulties, which 
 they had to encounter. 
 
 Four volunteers from the Royal Artillery corps here 
 joined him, and some voyageurs having been engaged, 
 the party left, in two canoes, on the 25th of April. Two 
 of his party deserted from him in the Ottawa -'iver. 
 
 On the 28th of June, having obtained his comple- 
 ment of men, he may be said to have commenced his 
 
CArTAI.V BACKS LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 171 
 
 journey. They Buffered dreadfully from myriads of 
 siind-flies and musquitoes, being so disfiffurea by their 
 attacks that their features could scarcely be recognized. 
 Horse-flies, appropriately styled -' bull-dogs," were an- 
 other dreadful pest, which jDertinaciously gorged them- 
 selves, like the leech, until they seemed ready to burst. 
 
 " It is in vain to attempt to defend yourself against 
 these puny bloodsuckers ; though you crush thousands 
 of them, tens of thousands arise to avenge the death of 
 their companions, and you very soon discover that tho 
 conflict w^hich you are waging is one in which you are 
 sure to be defeated. So great at last are the pains and 
 fatigue in buffeting away this attacking force, that in 
 despair you throw yourself, half suffocated, in a blanket, 
 with your face upon the ground, and snatch a few min- 
 utes of sleepless rest." Capt. Back adds that the vig- 
 orous and unintermitting assaults of these tormenting 
 pests conveyed the moral lesson of man's helplessness, 
 since, with all our boasted strength, we are unable to 
 repel these feeble atoms of creation. " How," he says, 
 " can I possibly give an idea of the torment we endured 
 from the sand-flies ? As we divided into the confined 
 and suffocating chasms, or waded through the close 
 swamps, they rose in clouds, actually darkening the air ; 
 to see or to speak was equally difficult, for they rushed 
 at every undefended part, and fixed their poisonous 
 fangs in an instant. Our faces streamed with blood, as 
 if leeches had been applied, and there was a burning 
 and irritating pain, followed by immediate inflamma- 
 tion, and producing giddiness, which almost drove ug 
 mad, and caused us to moan with pain and agony. 
 
 At the Pine portage, Captain Back engaged the 
 services of A. R. McLeod, in the employ of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, and who had been fixed upon by 
 Governor Simpson, to aid the expedition. He was 
 accompanied by his wife, three children, and a ser- 
 vant; and had just returned from the Mackenzie River, 
 with a large cargo of furs. The whole family were at- 
 tached to tho party, and after some detentions of a 
 general and unimportant character they arrived at 
 8 
 
 
172 
 
 niOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 Fort Chipewyan on the 20th of July. Fort Resoiu 
 tion, on Great Slave Lake, was reached on the 8th of 
 August. 
 
 The odd assemblage of goods and voyageurs in their 
 encampment are thus graphically described by the 
 traveler, as he glanced around him. 
 
 "At my feet was a rolled bundle in oil-cloth, con- 
 taining some three blankets, called a bed ; near it a 
 piece of dried buffalo, fancifully ornamented with long 
 black hairs, which no art, alas, can prevent from insin- 
 uating themselves between the teeth, as you laboriously 
 masticate the tough, hard flesh; then a tolerably cleau 
 napkin, spread by way of table-cloth, on a red piece of 
 canvas, and supporting a tea-pot, some biscuits, and a 
 salt-cellar ; near this a tin plate, close by a square kind 
 of box or safe of the same material, rich with a pale, 
 greasy hair, the produce of the colony at Red River ; 
 and the last, the far-renowned j9^m??2i*(?£j^, unquestion- 
 ably the best food of the country for expeditions such 
 as ours. Behind me were two boxes containing astro- 
 nomical instruments, and a sextant lying on the ground, 
 while the different corners of the tent were occupied 
 by a washing apparatus, a gun, an Indian shot-pouch, 
 bags, basins, and an unhappy-looking japanned pot, 
 whose melancholy bumps and hollows seemed to re- 
 proach me for many a bruise endured upon the rocks 
 and portages between Montreal and Lake Winnipeck. 
 ]N"or were my crew less motley than the furniture of 
 the tent. It consisted of an Englishman, a man from 
 Stornaway, two Canadians, two Metifs or half-breeds, 
 and three Iroquois Indians. Babel could not have pro- 
 duced a worso confusion of unharmonious sounds than 
 was the conversation they kept up." 
 
 Having obtained at Fort Resolution all possible in- 
 formation, from the Indians and others, relative to the 
 course of the northern rivers of which he was in search, 
 he divided his crew into two parties, five of whom were 
 left as an escort for Mr. McLeod, and four were to ac- 
 company himself in search of the Great Fish River, 
 since appropriately named after Back himself. 
 
CAITAIN KACK's land JOURNEY. 
 
 173 
 
 On tho lOtli of August they began the ascent of the 
 Hoar Frost River, whose course was a series of the 
 most fearful cascades and rapids. The woods hero 
 were so thick as to render them almost impervious 
 consisting chiefly of stunted firs, which occasioned in 
 finite trouble to the party to force their way through 
 added to which, thev had to clamber over fallen trees 
 through rivulets, and over bogs and swamps, until tho 
 difiiculties ajDpeared so appalling, as almost to dis- 
 hearten the party from prosecuting their journey. Tho 
 heart of Captain Back was, however, of too stern a cast 
 to be dispirited by difiiculties, at which less perse ver 
 ing explorers would have turned away discomfited, 
 and cheering on his men, like a bold and gallant leader, 
 the first in the advance of danger, they arrived at length 
 in an open space, where they rested for awhile to recruit 
 their exhausted strength. The place was, indeed, one 
 of barrenness and desolation ; crag was piled upon crag 
 to the height of 2000 feet from the base, and the course 
 of the river liere, in a state of contraction, was marked 
 by an uninterrupted line of foam. 
 
 However great the beauty of the scenery may be, 
 and however resolute may be the will, severe toil will 
 at length relax the sp'iv's v^nd bring a kind of despon- 
 dency upon a hfirt n.tu -ally oold and undaunted. This 
 was found particularly the • u e now with i''^ 'nterpre- 
 ter, who became a le^d weight upon the pa.-b- Rapid 
 now succeeded r.;|id ; scarcely had they surmounted 
 one fall than another p'esented it-elf, rising like an am- 
 phitheater before them to the height of fifty feet. They, 
 however, gained at length the ascent of this turbulent 
 and unfriendly ri'/or, the romantic beauty and wild 
 Bcenery of which were strikingly grand, and after pass- 
 ijig successively a series of ^ rtageg, rapids, falls, lakes, 
 and rivers, on the 27th Bac'c observed from the summit 
 of a high hill a very large lake full of deep bays and 
 islands, and which has been nairicd Aylmer Lake, after 
 the Governor-General of Canada at that time, The 
 boat was ^ent out >vith three mm to pearph for the lake, 
 or outlet of the river, which thev discovered on the eeo- 
 
 u 
 
 iPs 
 
 
 "^'tl 
 
 M 
 
H4 
 
 PE0GRES9 or AKCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 ond day, and Captain Back himself, during their ab^ 
 sence, also accidentally discovered its source in the 
 Sand Hill Lake, not far from his encampment. Kot 
 prouder was Bruce when he stood on the green god 
 which covers the source of the Nile, than was Captain 
 Back when he found that he was standing at the source 
 of a river, the existence of which was known, but the 
 course of which was a problem, no traveler had yet ven- 
 tured to solve. Yielding to that pleasurable emotion 
 which discoverers, in the first bound of their transport, 
 may be pardoned for indulging, Back tells us he threw 
 himself down on the bank and drank a hearty draught 
 of the '"mpid water. 
 
 "For this occasion," he adds, "I had reserved a lit- 
 tle grog, and need hardly say with what cheerfulness 
 it was shared among the crew, whose welcome tidings 
 had verified the notion of Dr. Richardson and myself, 
 and thus placed beyond doubt the existence of the 
 Thlew-ee-choh, or Great Fish River. 
 
 On the 30th of August, they began to move toward 
 the river, but on reaching Musk-ox Lake, it was found 
 impossible to stand the force of the rapids in their frail 
 canoe, and as winter was approaching, their return to 
 the rendezvous on Slave Lake was determined on. 
 
 At Clinton Colden Lake, some Indians visited them 
 from the Chief Akaitcho, who, it will be remembered, 
 was the guide of Sir John Franklin. Two of these In- 
 dians remembered Captain Back, one having accom- 
 panied him to the Coppermine River, on Franklin's 
 first expedition. 
 
 At the Cat or Artillery Lake, they had to abandon 
 their canoe, and perform the rest of the journey on foot 
 over precipitous rocks, through frightful gorges and ra- 
 "vines, heaped with masses of granite, and along narrow 
 ledges, where a fabe step would have been fatal. 
 
 At Fort Reliance, the party found Mr. McLeod had, 
 during their absence, erected the frame-work of a com- 
 fortable residence for them, and all hands set to work 
 to complete it. After many obstacles and difficulties, 
 it was finished. 
 
I I 
 
 ..;. 
 
 OAI-TAIN B.iCK'B LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 171 
 
 Dr. Kinff joined them on the 16th of September, with 
 two laden oateaux. 
 
 On the 6th of November, they exchanged their cold 
 tents for the new house, which was fifty feet long by 
 thirty broad, and contained four rooms, besides a spa- 
 cious hall in the center, for the reception and accom- 
 modation of the Indians, to which a sort of rude kitchen 
 was attached. 
 
 As the winter advanced, bands of starving Indians 
 continued to arrive, in the hc»pe of obtaining some re- 
 lief, as little or nothing was to be procured by -hunting. 
 They would stand around while the men were taking 
 their meals, watching every mouthful with the most 
 longing, imploring look, but yet never uttered a com- 
 plaint. 
 
 At other times they would, seated round the fire, oc- 
 cupy themselves in roasting and devouring small bits 
 of their reindeer garments, which, even when entire, 
 afforded them a very insufficient protection against a 
 temperature of 102° below freezing point. 
 
 The sufferings of the poor Indians at this period are 
 described as frightful. " Famine with her gaunt and 
 bony a'Di," sayo Back, " pursued them at every turn, 
 withered their energies, and strewed tliem lifeless on 
 the cold bosom of the snow." It was impo^^^ible to 
 afford relief out of their scanty store to all, bnt even 
 small portions of the mouldy pemmican inten'KMl for 
 the dogs, unpalatable as it was, was gladly r« (:t;ived, 
 and fcaved many from perishing. " Often," add- [>ack, 
 " did I share my own plate with the children whose 
 helpless state and piteous cries were peculiarly distress- 
 ing ; compassion for the full-grown may, or may not, 
 be felt, but that heart must be cased in steel which is 
 insensible to the cry of a child for food." 
 
 At this critical juncture, Akaitcho made his appear- 
 ance with an opportune supply of a little meat, which 
 in some measure enabled Captain Back to relievo the 
 sufferers around him, many of whom, to his great de- 
 light, went away with Akaitcho. The stock of meat 
 was soon exhausted, and they had to open their pcm- 
 
176 
 
 PBOORESS OF AROTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 
 Wl 
 
 mican. Tho officers contented themselves with the 
 short supply of half a pound a day, but the laboring 
 men could not do with less than a pound and three- 
 quarters. The cold now set in with an intensity which 
 Captain Back had never before experienced, — the ther- 
 mometer, on the 17th of Januarv, being 70° below zero. 
 " Such indeed, (he says,) was the abstraction of heat, 
 that with eight laree logs of dry wood on the fire, I 
 could not get the tnermometer higher than 12° below 
 zero. Ink and paint froze. The sextant cases and 
 boxes of seasoned wood, principally fir, all split. The 
 skin of the hands became dry, cracked and opened 
 into unsightly and smarting gashes, which we were 
 obliged to anoint with grease. On one occasion, after 
 washing my face within three feet of the fire, my hair 
 was actually clotted with ice before I had time to dry it." 
 
 The hunters suffered severely from the intensity of 
 jhe cold, and compared the sensation of handling their 
 guns to that of touching red-hot iron, and so excessive 
 was the pain, that they were obliged to wrap thongs of 
 leather round the triggers to keep their fingers from 
 coming into contact with the steel. • 
 
 The sufferings which the party now endured were 
 great, i:nd had it not been for tne exemplary conduct 
 of Akaitcho in procuring them game, it is to be doubted 
 whether any would have survived to tell the misery 
 they had endured. The sentiments of this worthy sav 
 age were nobly expressed — " The great chief trusts in 
 us, and it is better that ten Indians perish, than that 
 one ';v}jite man should perish through our negligencQ 
 and breach of faiiJ," 
 
 On the 14th of February, Mr. McLeod and his family 
 removed to a place half way between the fort and tho 
 Indians, in order to facilitate their own support, and 
 assist in procuring food by hunting. His situation, 
 however, became soon one of the greatest embarrass- 
 ment, he and his family being surrounded by difficul- 
 ties, privations, and death>^. Six of the natives near 
 him sank under the horrors of starvation, and Akaitchc 
 and his hunters were twelve days' march distant. 
 
; 
 
 CAITAIN BACK'S LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 177 
 
 Toward the end of April, Capt. Back began to make 
 arrangements for constructing boats for prosecuting the 
 expedition once more, and while so employed, on the 
 25th a messenger arrived with the gratifying intelli- 
 gence, that Capt. Ross had arrived safely in England, 
 confirmation of which, was afibrded in extracts from 
 the Times and Herald, and letters from the long lost 
 adventurers themselves. Their feelings at these glad 
 tidings are thus described : — " In the fullness of our 
 hearts we assembled together, and humbly offered up 
 our thanks to that merciful Providence, who in the 
 beautiful language of scripture hath said, ' Mine own 
 will I bring again, as I did sometime from the deeps 
 of the sea.' iSie thought of so wonderful a preserva- 
 tion overpowered for a time the common occurrences 
 of life. We had just sat down to breakfast ; but our 
 appetite was gone, and the day was passed in a fever- 
 ish state of excitement. Seldom, indeed, did my friend 
 Mr. Ejng or I indulge in a libation, but on this joyful 
 occasion economy was forgotten ; a treat was given to 
 the men, and for ourselves the social sympathies were 
 quickened by a generous bowl of punch." Capt. Back's 
 former interpreter, Augustus, hearing that he was in 
 the country, set out on foot from Hudson's Bay to join 
 him, but getting separated from his two companions, 
 the gallant little fellow was either exhausted by suffer- 
 ing and privations, or, caught in the midst of an open 
 traverse, in one of those terrible snow storms which 
 may be said to blow almost through the frame, he had 
 sunk to rise no more, his bleachea remains being dis- 
 covered not far from the Riviere a Jean. " Such," 
 says Capt. Back, " was the miserable end of poor Au- 
 gustus, a faithful, disinterested, kind-hearted creature, 
 who had won the regard, not of myself only, but I 
 may add, of Sir J. Franklin and Dr. Richardson also, 
 by qualities which, wherever found, in the lowest is ia 
 the highest forms of social life, are the ornament and 
 charm of humanity." 
 
 On the Tth of June, all the preparations being com- 
 j^etedj McLeod having been previously sent on to hunt, 
 
178 
 
 PROOBESS OF AROTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 !i!i 
 
 , 1 r 
 
 and deposit casks of meat at various stages, Back sot 
 out with Mr. King, accompanied by four voyagers and 
 an Indian guide. The stores not required were buried, 
 and the doors and windows of the liouso blocked up. 
 
 At Artillery Lake, Back picked up the remainder 
 of his party, with the carpenters who had been em- 
 ployed jjreparing boats. The lightest and best was 
 chosen and placed on runners plated with iron, and in 
 this manner she was drawn over the ice by two men and 
 six fine dogs. The eastern shore of the lake was fol- 
 lowed, as it was found less rocky and precipitous than 
 the o])posite one. The march was prosecuted by night, 
 the air being more fresh and pleasant, and the party 
 took rest in the day. The glare of the ice, the difh- 
 culty encountered in getting the boat along, the ice be- 
 ing so bad that the spikes of the runners cut through 
 instead of sliding over it, and the thick snow which 
 fell in June, greatly increased the labor of getting along. 
 The cold, raw wind pierced through them in spite of 
 cloaks and blankets. After being caulked, the boat 
 was launched on the 14th of June, the lake being suf- 
 ficiently unobstructed to admit of her being towed 
 along shore. The weather now became exceedingly 
 unpleasant — hail, snow, and rain, pelted them one after 
 tlie other for some time without respite, and then only 
 yielded to squalls that overturned the boat. With 
 alternate spells and baitings to rest, they however, 
 gradually advanced on the traverse, and were really 
 making considerable progress when pelting showers of 
 sleet and drift so dimmed and confused the sight, dark- 
 ening the atmosphere, and limiting their view to only 
 a few paces before them, as to render it an extremely 
 perplexing task to keep their course. 
 
 On the 23d of June, they fortunately fell in with a 
 cache made for them by their avant-coiirier^ Mr. Mc- 
 Leod, in which was a seasonable supply of deer and 
 musk-ox flesh, the latter, however, so impregnated with 
 the odor from whicli it takes its namo, that tlio men de- 
 clared they ^vould rather (;tavv\> thwe days than swal- 
 low a mouthful r)f it. To remove this unfavorable im- 
 
CAPTAIN DACK 8 LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 179 
 
 pression, Capt. Back ordered the daily rations to l)o 
 served from it for Lis own mess as well as theirs, tak- 
 ing occasion at the same time, to impress on their minds 
 the injurious consequences of voluntary aljstinence, 
 and the necessity of accommodating their tastes to 
 such food as the country might supply. Soon after an- 
 other caclie was met with, thus making eleven animals 
 in all, that had been thus obtained and secured for 
 them by the kind care of Mr. McLeod. 
 
 On the 27th, they reached Sandy Hill Bay, where 
 they found Mr. McLeod encamped. On the iJ8th, the 
 boat being too frail to be dragged over the portage, 
 about a quarter of a mile in length, was carried bodily 
 by the crew, and launched safely in the Thlew-ee-choh 
 or Fish River. After crossing the portage beyond 
 Musk-ox Rapid, about four miles in length, and having 
 all his party together. Captain Back took a survey ot 
 his provisions for the three months of operations, which 
 he found to consist of two boxes of maccaroni, a case 
 of cocoa, twenty-seven bags of pemmican of about 80 
 lbs. each, and a keg with two gallons of rum. This he 
 considered an adequate supply if all turned out sound 
 and good. The difficulty, however, of transporting a 
 weight of 5000 lbs, over ice and rocks, by a circuitous 
 route of full 200 miles,, may be easily conceived, not to 
 mention the pain endured in walking on some parts 
 where the ice formed innumerable spilvcs that pierced 
 like needles, and in other places where it wae so black 
 and decayed, that it threatened at every step to engulf 
 tlie adventurous traveler. These and similar difhcul 
 ties could only be overcome by the most steady perse 
 vorance, and the most determined resolution. 
 
 Among the group of dark figures huddled together 
 in the Indian encampment around them, Capt. Back 
 found his old acquaintance, the Indian beauty of whom 
 mention is made in Sir John Franklin's narrative un- 
 der the name of Green Stockings. Although sur- 
 rounded with a family, with one urchin in her cloak 
 clinging to her back, and several other matei'nal ac- 
 Jompaniments, Copt. Back immediately recognized 
 
 8* 
 
••""•r 
 
 18C 
 
 rROOUlCSS OF AltCllO DfSCOVKItY. 
 
 I 
 t 
 
 !! 
 
 her, and called her by her iiamc, ut which she laughed, 
 and said she was an old womo.n liow, and brg-ged that 
 she might be relieved by the " medicine man " tor she 
 wrt8 very much out of health. However, notwithstand- 
 ing all this, she was still the beauty of her tribe, and 
 with that consciousness which belongs to all belles, sav- 
 age or polite, she seemed by no means displeased when 
 lUick sketched her portrait. 
 
 Mr. McLeod was now sent back, taking with him ten 
 persons arid fourteen dogs. His instructions were to 
 ])rocced to Fort Resolution for the stores expected to be 
 sent there by the Hudson's Bay Company, to build a 
 house in some good locality, lor a permanent fishing 
 station, and to be again on the banks of the Fish lliver 
 ]jy the middle of September, to afford Back and his 
 l^arly any assistance or relief they might require. 
 
 The old Indian chief Akaitcho, hearing from the in- 
 terpreter that Capt. Back was in his immediate neigh- 
 borhood, said, " I have known the chief a long time, 
 and I am afraid I shall never see him again ; I will go 
 to hjm." On his arrival he cautioned Back against the 
 dangers of a river which he distinctly told him the 
 present race of Indians knew nothing of. He also 
 warned him against the treachery of tlie Esquimaux, 
 which he said was always masked under the guise of 
 friendship, observing they would attack him when ho 
 least expected it. " I am afraid," continued the good 
 old chief, " that I shall never see you again ; but should 
 you escape from the great water, take care you are not 
 caught by the winter, and thrown into a situation like 
 that in which you were on your return from the Cop- 
 permine, for you are alone, and the Indians cannot 
 assist you." 
 
 The carpenters, with an Iroquois, not being further 
 required, were dismissed to join Mr. McLeod, and on 
 the 8th of July they proceeded down the river. The 
 boat was now launched and laden with her cargo, which, 
 together with ten persons, she stowed well enough for 
 a smooth river, but not for a lake or sea way. The 
 weight was calculated at 3360 lbs., exclusive of the 
 av'ning, polos, sails, &c., and the crew. 
 
CAPTAIN BACK 8 LAND JOUKNEY. 
 
 181 
 
 
 Their progress to the sea was now one continncd suc- 
 cusHi(»ii of (Innt^crous and formidable falls, rapiflH, and 
 cataracts, which freqiientlv made Back hold his breath, 
 expecting to see the boat (lashed to shivers against some 
 protruding rocks amidst the foam and furv at the foot 
 of a rapid. The only wonder is how in their frail leaky 
 boat they ever shot one of the rapids. Rapid after 
 rapid, and fall after fall, were passed, each accomj.a- 
 nied with more or less danger ; and in one instance the 
 boat was only ^ed by all hands jumping into tlio 
 breakers, and ping her stern up the stream, until 
 she was cleared from a rock that had brought .her up. 
 
 They had hardly time to get into their places again, 
 when they were carried with considerable velocity 
 past a river which joined from the westward. After 
 passing no less than five rapids within the distance of 
 three miles, they came to one long and appalling one, 
 full of rocks and lar^e boulders ; the sides hemmed in 
 by a wall of ice, and the current flying with the veloc- 
 ity and force of a torrent. The boat was lightened of 
 her cargo, and Capt. Back placed himself on a high 
 rock, with an anxious desire to see her run the rapid. 
 He had every hope which confidence in the judgment 
 and dexterity of his principal men could inspire, but it 
 was impossible not to feel that one crash would be fatal 
 to the expedition. Away they went with the speed of 
 an arrow, and in a moment the foam and rocks hid 
 them from view. Back at last heard what sounded in 
 his ear like a wild shriek, and he saw Dr. King, who 
 was a hundred yards before him, make a sign with his 
 gun, and then run forward. Back followed with an 
 agitation which may be easily conceived, when to his 
 inexpressible joy he found that the shriek was the tri 
 umpnant whoop of the crew, who had landed safely in 
 a small bay below. For nearly one hundred miles of 
 the distance they were impeded by these frightful whirl 
 pools, and strong and heavy rapids. 
 
 On opening one of their bags of pemmican, the in 
 genuity of the Indians at pilfering was discovered, sue 
 cessive layers of mixed sand, stones, and green mea 
 
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182 
 
 ritOGRESS OV ARCTIC DISCOVER i'. 
 
 having been artfully and cleverly substituted for tho 
 dry meat. Fearful that they might be carrying heaps 
 of stone instead of provision, Back had to examine 
 carefully the remainder, which were all found sound 
 and well-tasted. He began to fear, from the inclination 
 of the river at one time toward the south, that it would 
 be found to discharge itself in Chesterfield Inlet, in 
 Hudson's Bay, but subsequently, to his great joy, it 
 took a direct course toward the north, andnis hopes of 
 reaching the Polar Sea were revived. The river now 
 led into several large lakes, some studded with islands, 
 which were named successively after Sir H. Pelly, and 
 Mr. Garry, of the Hudson's Bay Company ; two others 
 were named Lake Macdougall and Lake Franklin. 
 
 On the 28th of July, they fell in with a tribe of about 
 thirty-five very friendly Esquimaux, who aided them 
 in transporting their boat over the last long and steep 
 portage, to which his men were utterly unequal, and 
 Back justly remarks, to their kind assistance he is 
 mainly indebted for getting to the sea at all. 
 
 It was late when they got away, and while threading 
 their course between some sand-banks with a strong 
 current, they first caught sight of a majestic headland 
 in the extreme distance to the north, which had a 
 coast-like appearance. This important promontory. 
 Back subsequently named after our gracious Queen, 
 then Princess Victoria. 
 
 " This, then," observes Back, " may be considered as 
 the mouth of the Thlew-ee-choh, which after a violent 
 and tortuous course of 530 geographical miles, running 
 through an iron-ribbed country, without a single tree 
 on the whole line of its banks, expanding into five 
 large lakes, with clear horizon, most embarrassing to 
 the navigator, and broken into falls, cascades, and rap- 
 ids, to the number of eighty-three in the whole, pours 
 its water into the Polar Sea, in lat. 67° 11' N., and long. 
 94° 30' W., that is to say, about thirty-seven miles 
 more south than the Coppermine River, and nineteen 
 miles more south than that of Back's Eiver, (of Frank 
 lin,) at the lower extremity of Bathurst's Inlet." 
 
CAl'TAIN BACKS LAND JOUUNEV. 
 
 183 
 
 k or several iliiys Back was abio to make but slow 
 \ rof'ress along the easteiii shore, in consequence of the 
 solid body of drift-ice. A barren, rocky elevation of 
 800 feet high, was named Cape Beaufort, after the 
 present hydrographer to the Admiralty. A bluff point 
 on the eastern side of the estuary, which he considered 
 to be the northern extreme, he named Cape Hay. 
 Dean and Simpson, however, in 1839, traced the shore 
 much beyond this. The difficulties met with here, be- 
 ean to dispirit the men. For a week or ten days they 
 hud a continuation of wet, chilly, foggy weather, and 
 tlie only vegetation, fern and moss, was so wet that it 
 would not burn ; being thus without fuel, during this 
 time they had but one hot meal. Almost without 
 water, without anv means of warmth, or any kind of 
 warm or comfortmg food, sinking knee-deep, as they 
 
 Sroceeded on land, m the soft slush and snow, no won- 
 er that some of the best men, benumbed in their lim])s 
 and dispirited by the dreary and unpromising prospect 
 before tliem, broke out for a moment, in low murmur- 
 ings, that theirs was a hard and painful duty. 
 
 Captain Back found it utterly impossible to proceed, 
 as he had intended, to the Point Tumagain of Franklin, 
 and after vainly essaying a land expedition by three of 
 the best walkers, and these having returned, after mak- 
 ing but fifteen miles' way, in consequence of the heavy 
 rains and the swampy nature of the ground, he came 
 to the resolution of returning. Reflecting, he says, on 
 the long and dangerous stream they had to ascend, 
 combining all the bad features of the worst rivers in 
 the country, the hazard of the falls and the rapids, and 
 the slender hope which remained of their attaining 
 even a single mile further, he felt he had no choice. 
 Assembling, therefore, the men around him, and un- 
 furling the British flag, which was saluted with three 
 cheers, he announced to them this determination. The 
 latitude of this place was 68° 13' 67" N., and longitude 
 94° 68' 1" W. The extreme point seen to the north- 
 ward on the western side of the estuary, in latitude 68° 
 46' N., longitude 96° 20' W., Back named Cape Rich- 
 
 i 
 
184 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 ardson. The spirits of many of the men, whose health 
 ]ia<l suffered greatly for want of warm and nourishing 
 food, now brightened, and they set to work with alac- 
 rity to prepare for their return journey. The boat be- 
 ing dragged across, was brought to the place of their 
 former station, after which the crew went back four 
 miles for their baggage. The whole was safely con- 
 veyed over before the evening, when the water-casks 
 weie broken up to make a fire to warm a kettle of 
 cocoa, the second hot meal they had had for nine days. 
 
 On tl«) 15th of August, they managed to make their 
 way about twenty miles, on their return to the south- 
 ward, through a breach in the ice, till they came to 
 open water. The difficulties of the river were doubled 
 in the ascent, from having to proceed against the stream. 
 All the obstacles of rocks, rapids, sand-banks, and long 
 portages had to be faced. In some days as many as 
 sixteen or twenty rapids were ascended. They found, 
 as they proceeded, tnat many of the deposits of pro- 
 visions, on which they relied, had been discovered and 
 destroyed by wolves. On the 16th of September, they 
 met Mr. McLeod and his party, who had been several 
 days at Sand Hill Bay, waiting for them. On the 24th, 
 they reached the Ah-hel-dessy, where they met with 
 some Indians. They were ultimately stopped by one 
 most formidable perpendicular fall, and as it was found 
 impossible to convey the boat further over so rugged 
 and mountainous a country, most of the declivities of 
 which were coated with thin ice, and the whole hidden 
 by snow, it was here abandoned, and the party pro- 
 ceeded the rest of the journey on foot, each laden with 
 a pack of about 75 lbs. weight. 
 
 Late on the 27th of September, they arrived at their 
 old habitation. Fort Reliance, after being absent nearly 
 four months, wearied indeed, but " trmy grateful for 
 the manifold mercies they had experienced in the 
 course of their long and perilous journey." Arrange- 
 ments were now made to pass the winter as comforta- 
 bly as their means would permit, and as there was no 
 probability that there would Le sufficient food in the 
 
 C( 
 
 T 
 
 lin 
 
 so 
 
 W( 
 
 fie 
 
 i 
 
CAPTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 
 
 185 
 
 house for the consumption of the whole party, all ex- 
 cept six were sent with Mr. JVlcLeod to the fisheries. 
 The Indians brought them provisions from time to time, 
 and their friend Akaitcho, with his followers, though 
 not very successful in hunting, was not wanting in 
 his contributions. This old cnieftain was, however, 
 no longer the same active and important personage he 
 had been in the days when he rendered such good 
 service to Sir John Franklin. Old age and infirmities 
 were creeping on him and rendering him peevish and 
 fickle. 
 
 On the 2l8t of March following, having left- direc- 
 tions with Dr. King to proceed, at the proper season, 
 to the Company's factory at Hudson's Bay, to embark 
 for England in their spring ships. Captain Back set 
 out on his return through Canada, calling at the Fishe- 
 ries to bid farewell to his esteemed friend, Mr. McLeod, 
 and arriving at the Norway House on the 24th, where 
 he settled and arranged the accounts due for stores, 
 &c., to the Hudson's Bay Company. He proceeded 
 thence to New York, embarked for England, and ar- 
 rived at Liverpool on the 8th of September, after an 
 absence of two years and a half. Back was honored 
 with an audience of his Majesty, who expressed his ap- 
 probation of his efforts — 6rst in the cause of human- 
 ity, and next in that of geographical and scientific re- 
 search. He has since been knighted ; and in 1835, the 
 Itoyal Geographical Society awarded him their gold 
 medal, (the Eoyal premium,) for his discovery of the 
 Great Fish River, and navigating it to the sea on the 
 arctic coast. 
 
 Dr. King, with the remainder of the party, (eight 
 men,) reached England, in the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany's ship, in the following month, October. 
 
 Of Captain Back's travels it has been justly observed 
 that it is impossible to rise from the perusal of them 
 ^^^ithout being struck with astonishment at the extent of 
 sufferings which the human frame can endure, and at the 
 same time the wondrous display of fortitude which was 
 exhibited under circumstances of so appalling a nature, 
 
 I 
 
 
180 
 
 PB00RES8 OF AliCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 l! 
 
 as to invest tho narrative with tlie character of a roman- 
 tic fiction, rather than an iinexaggerated tale of actual 
 reality. lie, however, suftered not despair nor despon- 
 dency to overcome him, but gallantly and undauntedly 
 inirsued his course, until he returned to his native land 
 to add to the number of those noble spirits whose names 
 will bo earned to posterity as the brightest ornaments 
 to the country which gave them birth. 
 
 Captain Back's Voyage of the Terror. 
 
 In the year 1836, Captain Back, who had only re- 
 turned the previous autumn, at the recommendation of 
 the Geographical Societpr, undertook a voyage in tho 
 Terror up Hudson's Strait. 
 
 He was to reach "Wager River, or Eepulse Bay, and 
 to make an overland journey, to examine the bottom 
 of Prince Begent's Inlet, sending other parties to tho 
 north and west to examine the Strait of the Fury and 
 Hecla, and to reach, if possible, Franklin's Point Turn- 
 again. 
 
 Leaving England on the 14th of June, he an*ived on 
 the 14th of August at Salisbury Island, and proceeded 
 up the Frozen Strait ; off Cape Comfort the ship got 
 frozen in, and on the breaking up of the ice by one of 
 those frequent convulsions, the vessel was drifted right 
 uj) the Frozen Channel, grinding large heaps that op- 
 posed her progress to powder. 
 
 From December to March she was driven about by 
 the fur^ of the storms and ice, all attempts to release 
 her being ntterly powerless. She thus floated till tho 
 10th of July, and for three days was on her beam-ends ; 
 but on the 14th she suddenly righted. The crazy vessel 
 with her gaping wounds was scarcely able to transport 
 the crew across the stormy waters of the Atlantic, but 
 the return voyage which was rendered absolutely neces- 
 sary, was fortunately accomplished safely. 
 
 I shall now give a concise summary of Captain Sir 
 George Back's arctic services, so as to present it more 
 readily to the reader: 
 
 % 
 
 j;l„i,: »». 
 
DBASE AND HIMPSON S DISCOVERIES. 
 
 187 
 
 10 
 
 In 1818 lio was Admiralty Mate on board the Trent, 
 viiidcr Franklin. In 1819 ho again accompanied liiin 
 dn his first overland journey, and was with him in all 
 those perilous sufferings which are elsewhere narrated, 
 lie was also as a Lieutenant with Franklin on his sec- 
 /)nd journey in 1825. Having been in the interval ]>n> 
 moted to the rank of Commander, he proceeded, in 183.*^, 
 accompanied by Dr. King and a party, through North- 
 ern America to the Polar Sea, in search ol Captain 
 John Ross. He was posted on the 30th of September, 
 1835, and appointed m the following year to the com- 
 mand of the Terror, for a voyage of discovery in Hud- 
 son's Bay. 
 
 Messrs. Dease and Simpson's Discwveries. 
 
 In 1836 the Hudson's Bay Company resolved upon 
 undertaking the completion of the survey of the north 
 crn coast of their territories, forming the shores of 
 Arctic America, and small portions ot which were lell 
 undetermined between the discoveries of Captains Back 
 and Franklin. 
 
 They commissioned to this task two of their officers, 
 Mr. Thomas Simpson and Mr. Peter "Warren Dease, who 
 were sent out with a party of twelve men from the com 
 pany's chief fort, with proper aid and appliances. De- 
 scending the Mackenzie to the sea, they reached and 
 surveyed in July, 1837, the remainder of the western 
 part of the coast left unexamined by Franklin in 1825, 
 from his Return Reef to Cape Barrow, where the Bios 
 som's boats turned back. 
 
 Proceeding on from Return Reef two new rivers 
 were discovered, — the Gany and the Colville; the 
 latter more than a thousand miles in length. Althougli 
 it was the height of summer, the ground was found 
 frozen several inches below the surface, the spray froze 
 on the oars and rigging of their boats, and the ice lay 
 smooth and solid in the bays, as in the depth of winter. 
 
 On the 4th of August, having left the boats and pro- 
 \;ceded on by land, Mr. Simpson arrived at Elson Bay, 
 
 .•¥ 
 
188 
 
 PROOBESS OF A.RCriO DISCXJVERY. 
 
 r-i 
 
 ■ 
 
 which point Lieutenant Elson had reached in the Blos- 
 som's barge in 1826. 
 
 The party now returned to winter at Fort Confidence, 
 on Great 'feear Lake, whence they were instructed to 
 prosecute their search to the eastward next season, and 
 to communicate if possible with Sir George Back's 
 expedition. 
 
 They left their winter quarters on the 6th of June, 
 1838, and descended Dease's River. They found the 
 Coppermine River much swollen by floods, and encum- 
 bered with masses of floating ice. The rapids they had 
 to pass were very perilous, as may be inferred from the 
 following graphic description; — 
 
 " We had to pull for our lives to keep out of the suc- 
 tion of the precipices, along whose base the breakers 
 raged and foamed with overwhelming fury. Shortly 
 before noon, we came in sight of Escape Rapid ot* 
 Franklin ; and a glance at the overhanging clift' told us 
 that there was no alternative but to run down with a 
 full cargo. Li an instant," continues Mr. Simpson, " we 
 were in the vortex ; and before we were aware, my boat 
 was borne toward an isolated rock, which the boiling 
 surge almost concealed. To clear it on the outside was 
 ne longer possible ; our only chance of safety was to 
 run between it and the lofty eastern clift*. The word 
 was passed, and every breath was hushed. A stream 
 which dashed down upon us over the brow of the prcci 
 pice more than a hundred feet in height, mingled with 
 the spray that whirled upward from the rapid, forming 
 a terrific shower-bath. The pass was about eight feet 
 wide, and the error of a single foot on either side would 
 have been instant destruction. As, guided by Sinclair's 
 consummate ' skill, the boat shot safely through those 
 jaws of death, an involuntary cheer arose. Our next 
 impulse was to turn round to view the fate of our com- 
 rades behind. They had profited by the peril we in- 
 curred, and kept without the treacherous rock in time." 
 
 On the 1st of July they reached the sea, and en- 
 camped at the mouth of the river, where they waited 
 for the openiug of the ice till the 17th. They doubled 
 
 l 
 
DKAHh AND SIMl'riO-N H DISCOVKUIKS. 
 
 ISO 
 
 we 
 
 om- 
 in- 
 
 ited 
 )led 
 
 Cupu Barrow, one of the northern points of Butliurst'n 
 Inlet, on the 2i)th, but were prevented eroyaing the inlet 
 1)V the continuity of the ice, and obliged to make a 
 circuit of nearly 160 miles by Arctic Sound. 
 
 Some very pure specimens of copper ore were found 
 on one of the Barry Islands. After doubling Capo 
 Flinders on the Oth of August, the boats were arrested 
 by the ice in a little bay to which the name of Boat 
 ilaven was given, situate about three miles from Frank- 
 lin's farthest, llere the boats lingered for the best 
 l)art of a month, in utter hopelessness. Mr. Simpson 
 l)ushed on therefore on the 20tli, with an exploring party 
 of seven men, provisioned for ten days. On the first 
 day they passed Point Turnagain, the limit of Frank- 
 lin's survey in 1821. On the 23d they had reached an 
 elevated cape, with land apparently closing all round 
 to the northward, so that it was feared they had only 
 licen traversing the coast of a huge bay. But the 
 l)erseverance of the adventurous explorer was fully re- 
 warded. 
 
 "AVith bitter disappointment," writes Mr. Simpson, 
 " 1 ascended the height, from whence a vast and splen- 
 did prospect burst suddenly upon me. The sea, as if 
 transformed by enchantment, rolled '■ ; tierce waves at 
 my feet, and beyond the reach of vision o the eastwai-d, 
 Islands of various shape and size overspread its surface ; 
 and the northern land tenninated to the eye in a bold 
 and lofty cape, bearing east northejist, thirty or forty- 
 miles distant, while the continental coast trended away 
 suntheast. I stood, in fact, on a remarkable headland, 
 at the eastern outlet of an ice-obstructe<l strait. On the 
 extensive land to the northward I bestowed the name 
 of our most gracious sovereign Queen Victoria. Its 
 eastern visible extremity I called Cape Pelly, in com- 
 pliment to the governor of Hudson's Bay Company." 
 
 Having reached the limits which prudence, dictated 
 in the face of the long journey back to the boats, many 
 of his men too being lame, Mr. Simpson retraced his 
 eteps, and the party reached Boat-haven on the 20th of 
 August, having traced nearly 140 miles of new coast. 
 
 'f 
 
190 
 
 rUCKJKIiSS OK AKCriC IHSCOVKKY. 
 
 The boats were cut out of tlieir icy prison, and com 
 nienced their re-ascent of the Coj)i)ernilne on tlie 3il oi 
 September. At its junction with the Kendal lliver thvy 
 lett their boats, and shouldering their packs, traversed 
 the barren grounds, and arrived at their resilience on 
 tlic lake l)y the 14tii of September. 
 
 The following season these persevering' explorers com- 
 menced tiieir tliird voyage. Thev readied the lilomly 
 Fall on the 22d of June, 1839, and occupied themselves 
 for a week in carefully examining liichardson's llivt r, 
 which was discovered in the previous year, and dis- 
 charges itself in the head of Back's Inlet. On the od 
 of July they reached Cape Barrow, and from its rocky 
 lieights were surprised to observe Coronation Gulf 
 almost clear of ice, while on their former visit it could 
 have been crossed on tb(.»t. 
 
 They were at Cape Franklin a month earlier than 
 Mr. Simpson reached it on foot tlio ])revion8 year, and 
 doubled Cape Alexander, the northennnost cape in this 
 quarter, on the 28th of July, after encountering a vio- 
 lent gale. They coasted the huge bay extending i'vv 
 about nine degrees eastw^ard from this point, being fa- 
 vored with clear weather, and protectecl by the various 
 islands they met from the crushing state of the i<*e 
 drifted from seaward. 
 
 On the 10th of August they opened a strait about 
 ten miles wide at each extremity, but narrowing to lour 
 or five miles in the center. This strait, which divides 
 the main-land from Boothia, has been called Simpson's 
 Strait. 
 
 On the 13th of Augiist they had passed Richardson's 
 Point and doid3led Point Ogle, the furthest point of 
 Back's journey in 1834. 
 
 By the 16th they had reached Montreal Island in 
 Back's Estnary, where they found a deposit of ]iro- 
 visions which Captain Back bad left there that day li\ o 
 years. The pemmican was unlit tor use, but out of 
 several pounds of chocolate half decayed the men con- 
 trived to pick sufficient to make a kettleful acceptable 
 drink in honor of the occasion. There were also a tin 
 
DEASK AND SIMI'SON 8 D1SCOVEUIE8. 
 
 191 
 
 cape and a few fifih-liooks, of wliich, observes Mr. 
 Simpson, "AFr. Dcaso and I took ptKSsessiun, as memo- 
 rials of our Ijavinp^ breakfasted on the very spot wliero 
 the tent of our gallant, thcjugh less successful precursor 
 stood that very day live years before. 
 
 By the 20th of August they had reached as far as 
 Aberdeen Island to the eastward, from which they had 
 a view of an apparently large gulf, corresponding with 
 that which hacf been so correctly described to Parry by 
 the intelligent Esquimaux female as Akkolec. 
 
 From a mcuntamous ridge about thuce miles inland 
 a view of la'tA in the northeast was obtained supposed 
 to be one of the southern promontories of Boothia. 
 Iligli and distant islands stretching from E. to E. N. E. 
 (prol)ab]y some in Committee Bay) were seen, and two 
 cunsidera'olc ones were noted far out in the offing. 
 Remembering the length and difficulty of their return 
 route, the explorera now retraced their steps. On their 
 return voyage they traced sixty miles of the south coast 
 of Boothia, where at one time they were not more than 
 ninety miles from the site of the magnetic pole, as de- 
 termined by Captain Sir James C. Ross. On the 25th 
 of August they erected a high cairn at their farthest 
 point, near Cape Ilerscliel. 
 
 About 150 miles of the high, bold shores of Victoria 
 Land, as far as Ca])e Parry, were also examined; 
 AVellington, Cambridge, and Byron Bays being sur- 
 veyed and accurately laid down. They then stretched 
 across Coronation Gulf, and re-entered the Copper- 
 mine River on the IGth of September. 
 
 Abandoning here one of their boats, with the re- 
 mains of their useless stores and other articles not 
 required, they ascended the river and reached Fort 
 Confidence on the 24th of September, after one of the 
 longest and most successful boat voyages ever per- 
 formed on the Polar Sea, having traversed more than 
 1600 miles of sea. 
 
 In 1838, before the intelligence of this last trip 
 had been received, Mr. Simpson was presented by 
 the Royal Geographical Society of London with the 
 
 
192 
 
 rkOOKEbS OF AKCTIC DItJCOVKUY. 
 
 I 
 
 
 F(nmder'fl Gold Medal, for diHcovcring and tracing lu 
 1837 and 1838 about 300 miles of tlie arctic chorea; 
 but the voyage which I have just recorded has added 
 greatly to the laurels which ho and his bold compan- 
 ions have achieved. 
 
 Dr. Joun Rae's Land Expedition, 18-16^7. 
 
 Althouoii a little out of its chronological order, I 
 give Dr. Kao's exjiloring trip before I proceed to no- 
 tice ' Franklin's last voyage, and the different relief 
 expeditions that have been sent out during the past 
 two years. 
 
 In 1846 the Hudson's Company dispatched an ex- 
 pedition of thirteen persons, under the command of 
 Dr. John Rae, for the purpose of surveying the unex- 
 plored portion of the arctic coast at the northeastern 
 angle of the American continent between Dease and 
 Simpson's farthest, and the Strait of the Fury and 
 llecla. 
 
 The expedition left Fort Churchill, in Hudson's 
 Bay, on the 5th of July, 1846, and returned in safety 
 to York Factory on the 6th September in the follow- 
 ing year, after having, by traveling over ice and snow 
 in the spring, traced the coast all the way from the 
 Lord Mayor's Bay of Sir John Ross to within eight 
 or ten miles of the Fury and Ilecla Strait, thus prov- 
 ing that eminent navigator to have been correct in 
 stating Boothia to be a peninsula. 
 
 On the 15t}i of July the boats first fell in with the 
 ice, about ten miles north of Cape Fullerton, and it 
 was so heavy and closely packed that they were 
 obliged to take shelter in a deep and narrow inlet 
 that opportunely presented itself, where they were 
 closed up two days. 
 
 On the 22d the party reached the most southerly 
 opening of Wager River or Bay, but were detained 
 the whole day by the immense quantities of heavy ice 
 driving in and out with the flood and ebb of the tide, 
 which ran at the rate of eight miles an hour, forcing up 
 
DR. JUIIN KAL8 LAND KXTKIU'lION. 
 
 11)3 
 
 the ico "and i]^rin(lin<^ it n'^ainst tho rocks witli a noiao 
 like thunder. )n the nij^lit of tho 'J4lh tlie bouts 
 nncliorcd at tlio head «)t'the Uc])ulHe Ihiy. The tullow- 
 ing day they anchored in Gibson's Cove, on the banks 
 ot* which they met with a small party of Ktj(|uiinaux ; 
 several of the women woro beacis round tlieir wrists, 
 which thev had obtained from Captain J'arry's sliip 
 when at Igloolik and Winter Island, liut they iiad 
 neither heard nor seen anything of Sir .l<»hn Franklin. • 
 
 Learning from a chart drawn by one of the natives, 
 that the istlimus of Melville peninsula was only about 
 forty miles across, and that of this, owing to a nuniljer 
 of large lakes, but live miles of land would have to be 
 passed over. Dr. Kao determined to make his way 
 over this neck in preference to proceeding by I jx's 
 Channel through the Fury and Ilecla Strait. 
 
 One boat was therefore laid up with her cargo in 
 security, and with the other the party set out, assisted 
 by three Esquimaux. After traversing several large 
 lakes, and crossing over six " portages," on the 2d of 
 August they got into tho salt water, in Committee 
 Bay, but being able to make but little progress to tho 
 northwest, in consequence of heavy gales and closely 
 packed ice, he returned to his starting point, and made 
 preparations for wintering, it being found impossible 
 to proceed with the survey at that time. The other 
 boat was brought across the isthmus, and all hands 
 were set to work in making preparations for a long 
 and cold winter. 
 
 As no wood was to be had, stones were collected to 
 build a house, which was finished by the 2d of Sep- 
 tember. Its dimensions were twenty feet by fourteen, 
 and about eight feet high. The roof was formed of 
 oil-cloths and morse-skin coverings, the masts and 
 oars of the boats serving as rafters, while the door 
 was made of parchment skins stretched over a wooden 
 frame. 
 
 The deer had already commenced migrating south- 
 ward, but whenever he had leisure, Dr. Eae shoul- 
 dered his rifle, and had frequently good success, shoot- 
 
 II 
 
 «i 
 
 I .' 
 
 ' i 
 

 194 
 
 PKOORESS OF AUCJTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 '') ' 
 
 
 ing on one day seven deer within two miles of their 
 encampment. 
 
 On the 16th of October, the thermometer fell to 
 zero, and the greater part of the reindeer had passed ; 
 but the party uad by this time shot 130, and during 
 the remainder of Ociober, and in November, thirty- 
 two more were killed, so that with 200 partridges and 
 a few salmon, their snow-built larder was pretty well 
 stocked. 
 
 Suj0icient fuel had been collected to last, with econ- 
 omy, for cooking, until the spring ; and a couple of 
 seals which had been shot produced oil enough for 
 their lamps. By nets set in the lakes under the ice, a 
 few salmon were also caught. 
 
 After passing a very stormy winter, with the tem- 
 perature occasionally 47° below freezing point, and 
 often an allowance of but one meal a day, toward the 
 end of February preparations for resuming their sur- 
 veys in the spring were made. Sleds, simuar to those 
 used by the natives, were constructed. In the begin- 
 ning 01 March the reindeer began to migrate north- 
 ward, but were very shv. One was shot on the 11th. 
 Dr. Rae set out on the 6th of April, in company 
 with three men and two Esquimaux as interpreters, 
 their provisions and bedding being drawn on sleds by 
 four dogs. Nothing worthy of notice occurs in this 
 exploratory trip, till on the 18th Kae came in sight of 
 Lord Mayor's Bay, and the group of islands with which 
 it is studded. The isthmus which connects the land 
 to the northward with Boothia, he found to be only about 
 a mile broad. On their return the party fortunately fell 
 in with four Esquimaux, from whom they obtained a 
 quantity of seal's blubber for fuel and dog's food, and 
 some of the flesh and blood for their own use, enough 
 to maintain them for six days on half allowance. 
 
 All the party were more or less affected with snow 
 blindness, but arrived at their winter quarters in Re- 
 pulse Bay on the 6th of May, all safe and well, but as 
 black as negroes, from the combined effects of frost- 
 bites and oil smoke. 
 
 L . ^^ 
 
;iO) 
 
 DR. JOHN KAKS LAND KXPEDITION. 
 
 195 
 
 On the evening of the 13th Ma}-, Dr. Rao again 
 started with a cliosen party of four men, to trace the 
 west shore of Melville peninsula. Each of the men 
 carried about 70 lbs. weight. 
 
 Being unable to obtain a drop of water of nature's 
 thawing, and fuel being rather a scarce article, they 
 were obliged to take small kettles of snow under the 
 blankets with them, to thaw by the heat of the body. 
 
 Having reached to about 69° 42' N. lat., and 85° 8' 
 long., and their provisions being nearly exhausted, 
 they were obliged, much to their disappointment, to 
 turn back, when only within a few miles of the Hecla 
 and Fury Strait. Early on the morning of the 30th 
 of May, the party arrived at their snow hut on Cape 
 Thomas Simpson. The men they had left there were 
 well, but very thin, as they had neither caught nor 
 shot any thing eatable, except two marmots, and they 
 were preparing to cook a piece of parchment skin for 
 their supper. 
 
 " Our journey," says Dr. Rae, " hitherto had been 
 the most fatiguing I had ever experienced ; the severe 
 exercise, with a limited allowance of food, had reduced 
 the whole party very much. However, we marched 
 merrily c.i, tightening our belts — mine came in six 
 inches — the men vowing that when they got on full 
 allowance, they would make up for lost time." 
 
 On the morning of the 9th of June, they arrived at 
 their encampment in Repulse Bay, after being absent 
 twenty-seven days. The whole party then set actively 
 to work procuring food, collecting fuel, and preparing 
 the boats for sea ; and the ice in the bay having broken 
 up on the 11th of August, on the 12th they left their 
 winter quarters, and after encountering head winds 
 and stormy weather, reached Churchill River on the 
 31st of August. 
 
 A gratuity of 4:001. was awarded to Mr. Rae, by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, for the important services he 
 had thus rendered to the cause of science. 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 v.: 
 
 111 
 
19G 
 
 PKOGRKSS OK AKCTIC ]>IbCOVKKV 
 
 Captain Sir John Frank lin's Last Expedition, 
 
 1845-51. 
 
 That Sir John Franklin, now nearly six years ab- 
 sent, is alive, we dare not affirm ; bnt that his ships 
 should be so utterly annihilated that no trace of them 
 can be discovered, or if they have been so entirely 
 lost, that not a single life should have been saved to 
 relate the disaster, and that no traces of the crew or 
 vessels should have been met with by the Esquimaux, 
 or the exploring parties who have visited ana investi- 
 gated those coasts, and bays, and inlets to so consid- 
 erable an extent, is a most extraordinary circumstance. 
 It is the general belief of those officers who have 
 served in the former arctic expeditions, that whatever 
 accident may have befallen the Erebus and Terror, 
 they cannot wholly have disappeared from those seas, 
 and that some traces of their fale, if not some living 
 remnant of their crews, must eventually reward the 
 search of the diligent investigator. It is possible that 
 they may be found in quartei*s the least expected. 
 There is stil] reason, then, for hoj^e^ and for the great 
 and honorable exertions which that divine spark in 
 the soul has prompted and still keeps alive. 
 
 "There is something," says the Athenseum, "in- 
 ■lensely interesting in the picture of those dreary seas 
 amid whose strange and unspeakable solitudes our lost 
 countrymen are, or have been, somewhere imprisoned 
 for so many years, swarming with the human life that 
 is risked to set them free. No haunt was ever so ex- 
 citing — so full of a wild grandeur and a profound 
 pathos — as that which had just aroused the arctic 
 echoes ; that wherein their brothers and companions 
 have been beating for the track by which they may 
 rescue the lost mariners from the icy grasp of the Ge- 
 nius of the North. Fancy these men in their adaman 
 tine prison, wherever it may be, — chained up by tha 
 polar spirit whom they had dared, — lingering through 
 years of cold and darkness on the stinted ration that 
 scarcely feeds the blood, and the feeble hope that 
 
 ■% 
 
fkanklin's last expedition. 
 
 197 
 
 scarcely sustains the heart, — and then imagine the rush 
 of emotions to greet the first cty from that wild hunting 
 ground which should reach their ears ! Through many 
 Kummers has that cry been listened tor, no doubt. 
 Something like an expectation of the rescue which it 
 should announce has revived with each returning sea- 
 fion of comparative light, to die of its own baffled in- 
 tensity as the long dark monlJis once more settled down 
 upon their dreary prison-house. — There is scarcely a 
 doubt that the track being now struck, these long- 
 ])ining hearts may be traced to their lair. But what to 
 the anxious questioning which has year by. year gone 
 forth in search of their fate, will be the answer now 
 revealed ? The trail is found, — but what of the weary 
 feet that made it? We are not willing needlessly to 
 alarm the public sympathies, which have been so gene- 
 rously stirred on behalf of the missing men, — but we 
 are bound to warn our readers against too sanguine an 
 entertainment of the hope which the first tidings of the 
 recent discovery is calculated to suggest. It is scarcely 
 possible that the provisions which are sufficient for three 
 years, and adaptable for four, can by any economy 
 which implies less than starvation have been spread 
 over five, — and scarcely probable that thev can have 
 Ijeen made to do so by the help of any accidents which 
 the place of confinement supplied. We cannot hear of 
 this sudden discovery of traces of the vanished crews as 
 
 living 
 
 men, without a wish which comes like a 
 
 pang 
 
 that it had been two years ago — or even last year. It 
 makes the heart sore to think how close relief may have 
 been to their hiding-place in former years — when it 
 turned away. There is scarcely reason to doubt that 
 had the present circumstances of the search occurred 
 two years ago — last year perhaps — the wanderers 
 would have been restored. Another year makes a 
 frightful diflference in the odds : — and we do not think 
 the public will ever feel satisfied with what has been 
 dene in this matter if the oracle so long questioned, and 
 silent so long, shall speak at last — and the answer shall 
 be, * It is too late.' " 
 
 -1 
 
 !"- 
 
 J - 
 
 I 
 
 
198 
 
 TROGEESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 It W 
 
 In the prosecution of the noble enterprise on which 
 all eyes are now turned, it is not merely scientific re- 
 search and geographical discovery that are at present 
 occupying the attention of the commanders of vessels 
 Bent out ; the lives of human beinss are at stake, and 
 abojpB all, the lives of men who nave nobly periled 
 every thing in the cause of national — nay, of universal 
 progress and knowledge ; — .of men who have evinced 
 on this and other expeditions the most dauntless bra- 
 very that any men can evince. Who can think of the 
 probable fate of these gallant adventurers without a 
 shudder? 
 
 Alas I how truthfully has Montgomery depicted the 
 fatal imprisonment of vessels in these regions : — 
 
 There lies a vessel in that realm of frost. 
 Not wrecked, not stranded, yet forever lost ; 
 Its keel embedded in the soUd mass ; 
 Its glistening sails appear expanded glass ; 
 The transverse ro{)es with pearls enormous strongs 
 The yards with icicles grotesquely hung. 
 Wrapt in the topmast shrouds there rests a boy. 
 His old sea-fEuing father's only joy ; 
 Sprune' from a race of rovers, ocean bom, . ^ 
 
 Nursed at the helm, he trod dry land widi scorn , 
 Through foui-score years from port to port he ve^d ; 
 Quicksand, nor rock, nor foe, nor tempest fear'd ; 
 Now cast ashore, though like a hulk he lie, 
 His son at sea is ever m his eye. 
 He ne'er shall know in his Northumbrian cot, 
 How bi-ief that son's career, how strange his lot ; 
 Writhed round the mast^ aud sepulchrra in air. 
 Him shall no worm devour, no vulture tear ; 
 Congeal'd to adamant his frame shall last, 
 Though empires change, till tide and time be past 
 Mom shall return, and noon, and eve, and night 
 Meet here with interchanging shade and light ; 
 But from that barque no timber shall decay, 
 Of these cold forms no feature pass away ; ' 
 
 Perennial ice around th» encrusted bow. 
 The peoplcd-deck, and fuU-rigg'd mast shall grow 
 Till from the sun himself the whole be hid. 
 Or spied beneath a crystal pyramid : «. 
 
 As in pure amber with divergent lines, v 
 
 A mgged shell embossed with sea-weeid, shines^ 
 From age to ago increased with annual snow. 
 This now Mont Blane among the clouds may glow, 
 Whose conic peak that earliest greets the dawn. 
 And latest from the sun's shut* eye withdrawn, 
 
FRANiaJN's LAST EXPEDITION. 
 
 199 
 
 Shall from the Zenith, tlirough incumbent gloom, 
 Burn like a lump upon this naval tomb. 
 But when th' archangel's trumpet sounds on high, 
 The pile sliall burst tu atoms through the sky, 
 And leave its dead, upstarting at the call. 
 Naked and pale, before the Judge of alL 
 
 All who read these pages will, I am sure, feel the 
 deepest sympathy and admiration of the zeal, persever- 
 ance, and conjugal aiiection displayed in the noble and 
 untiring efforts of Lady Franklin to relieve or to dis- 
 cover the fate of her distinguished husband and the gal- 
 lant party under his command, despite the difficulties, 
 disappointments, and heart-sickening "hope deferred" 
 with which these efforts have been attended. All men 
 must feel a lively interest in the fate of these bold men, 
 and be most desirous to contribute toward their resto- 
 ration to their country and their homes. The name of 
 the present Lady Franklin is as "familiar as a house- 
 hold word " in every bosom in England ; she is alike 
 the object of our admiration, our sympathy, our hopes, 
 and our prayers. Nay, her name and that of her hus- 
 band is breathed in prayer in many lands — and, oh! 
 how earnest, how zealous, how courageous, have been 
 her efforts to find and relieve her husband, for, like 
 Desdemona, 
 
 " She loved him for the dangers he had passed. 
 And he loved her that she did pity them." 
 
 IIow has she traversed from port to port, bidding " God 
 epeed their mission " to each public and private ship 
 going forth on the noble errand of mercy — how freely 
 and promptly has she contributed to their comforts. 
 IIow has she watched each arrival from the north, 
 scanned each stray paragraph of news, hurried to the 
 Admiralty on each rumor, and kept up with unremit- 
 ting labor a voluminous correspondence with all the 
 quarters of the globe, fondly wishing that she had tho 
 wings of the dove, that she might flee away, and be 
 with him from whom Heaven has seen tit to separate 
 her so long. 
 
 An American poet well depicts her sentiments in tliQ 
 foJV)winff lines : — 
 
 U 1 
 
 li 
 
200 
 
 VliOOUKSS OF AUCriC DISCOVKUY. 
 
 i 
 
 ill 
 
 ii 
 
 m 
 
 LADY FRANKLIN'S APPEAL TO THE NORTH. 
 
 Oh, whero, my long lost-oiio I nrt thou, 
 
 'Mid Arctic seas iind wintry skiofl ? 
 Deep, Polar night in on me now, 
 
 And Hope, long wrcckutl, but mocks my orui 
 I am like tnev 1 from frozen plainH 
 
 In the drcnr zone and muilewi air. 
 My dying, lonely heart complainH, 
 
 And chills in sorrow and despair. 
 
 Tell me, ye Northern winds I that sweep 
 
 Down from the rayless, dusky day — 
 Where ye have borne, and whero ye keep. 
 
 My well-beloved within your sway ; 
 Tell me, when next y^ wildly bear 
 
 The icy message in your breath, 
 Of my beloved I Oh toll me where 
 
 Te keep him on the shores of death. 
 
 Toll me, ye Pokr seas I that roll 
 
 From ice-bound shore to sunny isle — 
 Tell me, when next ye leave the Pole, 
 
 Where ye have chained ray lord the while I 
 On the bleak Northern cliff I wait 
 
 With tear-pained eyes to see ye come I 
 Will ye not tell me, ere too late ? 
 
 Or will ye mock while I am dumb ? 
 
 Tell me, oh tell me, mountain waves I 
 
 Whence have ye leaped and sprung to-day f 
 Have ye passed o'er their sleeping graves 
 
 That ye nish wildly on your way ? 
 Will ye sweep on and bear me too 
 
 Down to the caves within the deep ? 
 Oh, bring some token to my view 
 
 That ye my loved one safe will keepl 
 
 Canst thou not toll me. Polar Star I 
 
 Where in the frozen waste he kneels T 
 And on the icy plains afar 
 
 His love to Qod and me reveals T 
 Wilt thou not send one brighter ray 
 
 To my lone heart and aching eye ? 
 Wilt thou not turn my night to day. 
 
 And wake my spint ere I die ? 
 
 Tell me, oh dreary North I for now 
 
 My soul is like thine Arctic zone ; 
 Beneath the darkened skies I bow; 
 
 Or ride the stonny sea alone I 
 Tell me of my beloved ! for I 
 
 Know not a ray my lord without ! 
 Oh, tell me, that I may not die 
 
 A sorrower on the sea of doubt ! 
 
 > 
 
 -A^"^^ 
 
 -k«';_iL£-..4-.i.-..- 
 
FRANKLIN 8 LAST EXPEDITION. 
 
 201 
 
 In tlio earl^ part of 1849, Sir E. Parry stated, tlmJ 
 in oficring his opinions, lie did so under a deep sensc 
 of the anxious and even painful responsiMlity, ooth at? 
 rcf^arded the risk of life, as well as the inferior coiisid 
 (^ration of expense involved in further attempts to res 
 cue our gallant countrymen, or at least the surviving 
 ])ortion of them, from their perilous position. 
 
 But it was his deliberate conviction, that the time 
 1 1 ad not yet arrived when the attempt ought to be given 
 up as hopeless : the further efforts making might also 
 be the means of determining their fate, and whether it 
 
 })loa8ed God to give success to those effort* or not, the 
 ^ords of the Admiralty, and the country at large, would 
 hereatler be better satisfied to have followed up the 
 noble attempts already made, so long as the most dis- 
 tant hope remains of ultimate success. 
 
 In the absence of authentic information of the fate 
 of the gallant band of adventurers, it has been well 
 observed, the terra incognita of the northern coast of 
 Arctic America, will not only be traced, but minutely 
 surveyed, and the solution of the probleii of centuries 
 will engage the marked attention of the House of Com- 
 mons, and the legislative assemblies of other parts of 
 the world. The problem is very safe in their hands, so 
 safe indeed that two years will not elapse before it is 
 solved. 
 
 The intense anxiety and apprehension now so gener- 
 ally entertained for the safety of Sir John Franklin, 
 ond the crews of the Erebus and Terror, under his com- 
 mand, who, if still in existence, are now passing through 
 the severe ordeal of a fifth winter, in those inclement 
 regions, imperatively call for every available effort to 
 be made for their rescue from a position so perilous ; 
 and as long as one possible avenue to that position re- 
 mains unsearched, the country will not feel satisfied 
 that every thing has been done, which perseverance 
 and experience can accomplish, to dispel the mystery 
 which at present surrounds their fate. 
 
 Capt. Sir James Ross having returned successful from 
 \»ifi antarctic expedition in the close of the preceding 
 
202 
 
 I'ROGIiESS OF AKCmu lUSCOVEUY. 
 
 year, in tbo spring of 1845, the Lords Commissioners 
 of tlio Admiralty, upon the recommendation of Sir 
 John Barrow, determmed on sending out another ex- 
 pedition to the North Pole. 
 
 Accordingly the command was given to Sir John 
 Franklin, who re-commissioned the Erebus and Terror, 
 the two vessels which had just returned from the South 
 Polar Seas. The expedition sailed from Sheemess on 
 the 20th of May, 1845. The following are the officers 
 helqnging to these vessels, and for whose safety so deep 
 an interest is now felt : — 
 
 Erebus, 
 
 » Captain — Sir John Franklin, K. C. H. 
 Commander — James Fitzjames, (Capt.) 
 Lieutenants — Graham Gore, (Commander,) Henry 
 
 T. D. Le Vesconte, James William Fairholme. 
 Mates — Chas. F. des Yaux, (Lieut.,) Kobert O'Sar- 
 
 gent, (Lieut.) 
 Second Master — Henry F. Collins. 
 Surgeon — Stephen S. Stanley. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — Harry D. S. Goodsir, (acting.) 
 Paymaster and Purser — Chas. H. Osmer. 
 Ice-master — James Reid, acting. 
 68 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. 
 
 Full Complement, 70. 
 
 Terror. 
 
 Captain — Fras. B. M. Crozier. 
 
 Lieutenants — Edward Little, (Commander,) Geo. H. 
 
 Hodgson, John Irving. 
 ^ Mates — Frederick J. Hornby, (Lieutenant,) Robert 
 
 Thomas, (Lieut.) 
 Ice-master — T. Blanky, ^acting.) 
 Second Master — G.A.Maclean. 
 Surgeon — John S. Peddie. ''i^ 
 
 Assistant-Surgeon — Alexander McDonald. 
 Clerk in Charge — Edwin J. H. Helpman. 
 67 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. 
 
 Full ComplemcTit, 08. 
 
 » 
 
FRANKLIN S LAST EXPEDITION. 
 
 203 
 
 Those ofticers wlioso rank is within parenthesis have 
 been promoted during their absence. 
 
 The following is an outline of Capt. Franklin's ser- 
 vices as recorded in O'Hyrne's Naval Biography : — 
 
 Sir John Franklin, Kt., K. K. (I., K. C. 11., J). C. L., 
 F. II. S., was born in 1780, at Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, 
 and is brother of the late Sir W. Franklin, Kt, Chief 
 Justice of Madras. lie entered the navy in October, 
 1800, as a boy on board the Polyphemus, 64, Captain 
 John Lawford, under whom he served as midshiinniin 
 in the action oft* Copenhagen, 2d of April, 1801. He 
 tlien sailed with Captain Flinders, in II. M. sloop In- 
 vestigator, on a voyage of discovery to New Holland, 
 joining there the armed store-ship Porpoise ; he was 
 wrecked on a coral reef near Cato Bank on the 17th of 
 August, 1803. I shall not follow him through all his 
 subsequent period of active naval service, in which ho 
 displayed conspicuous zeal and activity. But we find 
 him taking part at the battle of Trafalgar, on the 21st 
 of October, 1805, on board the Bellerophoh, where he 
 was signal midshipman. He was connrmed as Lieu- 
 tenant, on board the Bedford, 74, 11th of February, 
 1808, and he then escorted the royal family of Portugal, 
 from Lisbon to South America. He was engaged in 
 very arduous services during the expedition against 
 New Orleans, in the close of 1814, and was slightly 
 wounded in boat service, and for his brilliant services on 
 this occasion, was warmly and officially recommended 
 for promotion. On the 14th of January, 1818, he as- 
 sumed command of the hired brig Trent, in which he 
 accompanied Captain D. Buchan, of the Dorothea, on 
 the perilous voyage of discovery to the neighborhood 
 of Spitzbergen, which I have fully recorded elsewhere. 
 In April, 1819, having paid off the Trent in the pre- 
 ceding November, he was invested with the conduct 
 of an expedition destined to proceed overland from the 
 shores of Hudson's Bay, for the purpose more particu- 
 larly of ascertaining the actual position of the mouth 
 of the Coppermine Kiver, and the exact trending of the 
 shores of the Polar Sea, to the eastward of that river. 
 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 '^ 
 
ii' i 
 
 111!' 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 204 
 
 PROOUKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVEUY. 
 
 The details of this fearful undertaking, which en- 
 dured until the sunnner of 1822, and in tne courfie of 
 wliicii, he reached as far as Point Turnagain, in latitude 
 (58° ID' N., and longitude 100° 25' W., and effected a 
 journey altogether of 5550 miles, Captain Franklin 
 lias ably set forth in his "l^arrative of a Journey to 
 the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the year 1819-22," and 
 which I have abridged in preceding pages. He was 
 promoted to the rank of Commander, on the Ist of 
 January, 1821, and reached his post rank on the 20th 
 of November, 1822. On the 16th of February, 1825, 
 this energetic officer again left England on another ex- 
 pedition to the Frozen Regions, having for its object a 
 co-operation with Captains F. W. Beechey, and W. E. 
 Parry, in ascertaining from opposite quarters the ex- 
 istence of a northwest passage. The results of this 
 mission will be found in detad in Captain Franklin's 
 "Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the 
 Polar Sea, in 1825-7." 
 
 On his return to England, where he an'ived on the 
 26th of Sept., 1827, Franklin was presented by the 
 Geographical Society of Paris, with a gold medal val- 
 ued at 1200 francs, tor having made the most important 
 acquisitions to geographical knowledge during the pre- 
 ceding year, and on the 29th of April, 1829, he received 
 the honor of knighthood, besides being awarded in July 
 following the Oxford degree of a D. C. L. 
 
 From 1830 to 1834, he was in active service in com- 
 mand of H. M. S. Rainbow, on the Mediterranean sta- 
 tion, and for his exertions during that period as con- 
 nected with the troubles in Greece, was presented with 
 the order of the Redeemer of Greece. Sir John was 
 created a K. 0. H. on the 25th of January, 1836, and 
 was for some time Governor of Yan Diemen's Land. 
 He married, on the 16th of August, 1823, Eleanor 
 Anne, youngest daughter of W. Porden, Esq., architect, 
 of Bemers Street, London, and secondly, on the 6th of 
 November, 1828, Jane, second daughter of John Grif- 
 fin, Esq., of Bedford Place. 
 
 Captain Crozier was in all Parry's expeditions, hav- 
 
IKANKMNS LAST KXl'MIHTION. 
 
 ii()5 
 
 mrr 1)0011 inldsliipman in tlic Fury in 1S21, in tlio 
 Jlocla ill 18:^4, went out as Lieutenant in the Jlocia, 
 with Parry, on liis boat expedition to the Pole in IS27, 
 volunteered in 1830 to go out in Hoarch of the nii^ssing 
 whalers and their crews to Davis' Straits, was made a 
 Captain in 1841, and was second in command of the 
 antarctic exj^edition under Sir James lloss, and on his 
 return, appointed to the Terror, as second in command 
 under Franklin. 
 
 Lieutenant Gore served as a mate in the last fearful 
 voyage of the Terror, under Back, and was also with 
 Ivoss in the antarctic expedition, lie has attained his 
 commander's rank during bis absence. 
 
 Lieutenant Fairholme was in the Niger expedition. 
 
 Lieutenant Little has also been promoted during his 
 absence, and so have all the mates. 
 
 Commander Fitzjames is a brave and gallant officer, 
 who has seen much service in the East, and has attained 
 to his post rank since his departure. 
 
 The Terror, it may be remembered, is the vessel in 
 which Captain Sir G. Back made his perilous attempt 
 to reach Kepulse Bay, in 1836. 
 
 The Erebus and Terror were not expected home un- 
 less success had early rewarded their efforts, or some 
 tjasualty hastened their return, before the close of 1847, 
 nor were any tidings anticipated from them in the in- 
 terval ; but when tne autumn of 1847 arrived, without 
 any intelligence of the ships, the attention of H. M. 
 Government was directed to the necessity of searching 
 for, and conveying relief to them, in case of their being 
 imprisoned in the ice, or wrecked, and in want of pro- 
 visions and means of transport. 
 
 For this purpose a searching expedition in three 
 divisions was fitted out by the government, in the early 
 part of 1848. The investigation was directed to three 
 different quarters simultaneously, viz : 1st, to that by 
 which, in case of success, the ships would come out of 
 tlie Polar Sea, to the westward, or Behring's Straits. 
 This consisted of a single ship, the Plover, commanded 
 by Captain Moore, which left England in the latter end 
 
 '111 
 
 1 
 
200 
 
 rKOOUKSS OF AKCTIO lUSCOVKKY. 
 
 I. 
 
 )i : 
 
 % i 
 
 
 (»t' January, for tlie purpose of cnterin^jf IJehrin^'d Strait. 
 It was inteiided tliat hIic should arrive tliere in the 
 niontli of July, and having looked out for a winter har- 
 lior, Hhe nii«^lit send out her boats northward and east- 
 ward, in which directions the discovery ships, if suc- 
 cessful, would be met with. The Plover, however, in 
 lier lirnt season, never even approached the place of her 
 destination, owing to her setting oif too late, and to her 
 bad sailing properties. 
 
 Jler subsequent proceedings, and those of her boats 
 along the coast, will be found narrated in after pages. 
 
 The second division of the expedition was one of 
 boats, to explore the coast of the Arctic Sea between 
 the Mackenzie and Coppermine llivers, or from the 
 135th to the 115th degree of \V. longitude, together 
 with the south coast of Wollaston Land, it being sup- 
 posed, that if Sir John Franklin's party had been com- 
 pelled to leave the ships and take to the boats, they 
 would make for this coast, whence they could reach the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's posts. This party was placed 
 under the commana of the faithful friend of Franklin, 
 and the companion of his former travels. Dr. Sir John 
 Kichardson, who landed at New York in April, 1848, 
 and hastened to join his men and boats, wliich were 
 already in advance toward the arctic shore. He was, 
 liowever, unsuccessful in his search. 
 
 The remaining and most important portion of this 
 searching expedition consisted of two snips under the 
 command of Sir James Ross, which sailed in May, 1848, 
 for the locality in which Franklin's ships entered on 
 this course of discovery, viz., the eastern side of Davis' 
 Straits. These did not, however, succeed, owing to the 
 state of the ice in getting into Lancaster Sound until 
 the season for operations had nearly closed. These ships 
 wintered in the neighborhood of Leopold Island, Regent 
 Inlet, and missing the store-ship sent out with pro- 
 visions and fuel, to enable them to stop out another 
 year, were driven out through the Strait by the pack 
 of ice, and returned home unsuccessful. The subse- 
 quent expeditions consequent upon the failure of the 
 
 --J^*'-^ ---^ .'^^i^j; -■:£— ■: -^ - 
 
FIJANKLJN - L\fiT KXPliDITlON. 
 
 iior 
 
 foregoing ^ ill l)o I'ouikI tiilly detailed and narrated in 
 tiicir i)roper order. 
 
 Among the niuiil)er of voluntoefs for the service of 
 exploration, in thedilierent searching expeditions, were 
 
 respectability. 
 
 Till) llov. Joseph Wolff, who went to Bokhara in 
 search of Capt. Conolly and Col. Stoddart. 
 
 Mr. John McLean, who had passed twenty-five years 
 as an otlicer and partner of the iludson's Bay Company, 
 and who has recently published an interesting narra- 
 tive of his experience in the northwest regions. 
 
 Dr. Kicharu King, who accompanied Capt. Back in 
 his land journey to the mouth of the Great Fish Kiver. 
 
 Lieut. Sherard Osborn, R. N., who had recently gone 
 out in the Pioneer, tender to the Resolute. 
 
 Commander Forsyth, R. N., who volunteered for all 
 the expeditious, and was at last sent out by Lady Frank- 
 lin in the Prince Albert. 
 
 Dr. McCormick, R. N., who served under Captain Sir 
 E. Parry, in the attempt to reach the North Polo, in 1827, 
 wlio twice previously volunteered his services in 1847. 
 
 Capt. Sir John Ross, who has gone out in the Felix, 
 fitted out bv the Iludson's Bay Company, and by pri- 
 vate subscriptions ; and many others. 
 
 Up to the present time no intelligence of any kind 
 has oeen received respecting the expedition, and its 
 fate is now exciting the most intense anxiety, not only 
 on the part of the British government and public, but 
 of the whole civilized world. The maratime powers of 
 Europe and the United States are vying with each other 
 as to who shall be the first to discover some trace of the 
 aiissing navigators, and if they be still alive, to render 
 #hem assistance. The Hudson's Bay Company have, 
 with a noble liberality, placed all their available re- 
 sources of men, provisions, and the services of their 
 chief and most experienced traders, at the disposal of 
 government. The Russian authorities have also given 
 
 ft, 
 
 
! i 
 
 M. 
 
 208 
 
 PKOOBESS OF ARCTIC' DISCOVERY. 
 
 . !i!!3li 
 '4 
 
 every facility for diifusing information and aftbrding 
 assistance in their territories. 
 
 In a letter from Sir John Franklin to Colonel Sabine, 
 dated from the Whale Fish Islands, 9th of July, 1845, 
 alter noticing that, including what they had received 
 from the transport which had accompanied them so far, 
 tlie Erebus and '^error had on board provisions, fuel, 
 clothing and stores for three years complete from that 
 date, i. e. to July, 1848, he continues as follows: — "I 
 hope my dear wite and daughter will not be over-anxious 
 if we should not return by the time they have fixed upon; 
 and I must beg' of you to give them the benefit of your 
 advice and experience when that arrives, for you know 
 well, that even after the second winter, without success 
 in our object, we should wish to try some other channel, 
 if the state of our provisions, and the health of the 
 crews justify it. 
 
 Capt. Dannett, of the whaler. Prince of "Wales, while 
 in Melville Bay, last saw the vessels of the expedition, 
 moored to an iceberg, on the 26th of July, in lat. 74° 
 48' N., long. GG^ 13' W., waiting for a favorable open- 
 ing through the middle ice from Baflin's Bay to Lancas- 
 ter Sound. Capt. Dannett states that during three weeks 
 after parting company with the ships, he experienced 
 very fine weather, and thinks they would have made 
 good progress. 
 
 Lieut. Grifiith, in command of the transport which 
 accompanied them out with provisions to Baffin's Bay, 
 reports that he left all hands well and in high spirits. 
 They were then furnished, he adds, with every species 
 of provisions for three entire years, independently of 
 five bullocks, and stores of every description for the 
 same period, with abundance of fuel. • 
 
 The following is Sir John Franklin's official letter 
 sent home by the transport : — 
 
 " ITer Majesty^ 8 Ship * Erebus^ 
 «< Whale-Fish Islands, 12th of July, 1845. 
 
 " I have the honor to acquaint you, for the informa- 
 tion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that 
 
FBANKLLN 6 LAST EXPEDITION. 
 
 209 
 
 letter 
 
 846. 
 
 ^rma- 
 that 
 
 her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror, with the trans- 
 port, arrived at this anchorage on the 4th instant, hav- 
 ing had a passage of one month from Stromness : the 
 transport was immediately taken alongside this ship, 
 that she might be the more readily cleared ; and we 
 have been constantly employed at that operation till 
 last evening, the delay having been caused not so 
 much in getting the stores transferred to either of the 
 sliips, as in making the best stowage of them below, 
 as well as on the upper deck ; the ships are now com- 
 ])lete with supplies of every kind for three years; they 
 are therefore very deep; but, happily, we have no 
 reason to expect much sea as we proceed farther. 
 
 " The magnetic instruments were landed the same 
 morning ; so also were the other instruments requisite 
 for ascertaining the position of the observatory ; and 
 it is satisfactory to find that the result of the observa- 
 tions for latitude and longitude accord very nearly 
 with those assigned to the same place by Sir Edward 
 Parry; those for the dip and variation are equally sat- 
 isfixctory, which were made by Captain Crozier with 
 the instruments belonging to the Terror, and by Com- 
 mander Fitzjames with those of the Erebus. 
 
 " The ships are now being swung, for the purpose 
 of ascertaining the dip and deviation of the needle on 
 board, as was done at Greenhithe, which, I trust, will 
 be completed this afternoon, and I hope to be able to 
 sail in the night. 
 
 "The governor and principal persons are at this 
 time absent from Disco, so that I have not been able 
 to receive any communication from head quarters as 
 to the state of the ice to the north ; I have, however, 
 learnt from a Danish carpenter in charge of the Es- 
 quimaux at these islands, that though the winter was 
 severe, the spring was not later than usual, nor was 
 the ice later in breaking away hereabout ; he supposes 
 also that it is now loose as far as 74° latitude, and that 
 our prospect is favorable of getting across the barrier, 
 and as far as Lancaster Sound, without much obstruc- 
 tion. 
 
210 
 
 rnOGBESS OF AKCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 *'Tbe transport will sail for England this day. 1 
 bIilW instruct the agent, Lieutenant Griffiths, to pro- 
 ceed to Deptford, and report his arrival to the Secre- 
 tary of the Admiralty. I have much satisfaction in 
 bearing my testimony to the careful and zealous man- 
 ner in which Lieut. Griffiths has performed the service 
 intrusted to him, and would beg to recommend him, 
 as an officer who appears to have seen much service, 
 to the favorable consideration of their lordships. 
 
 ."It is unnecessary for me to assure their lordships 
 
 of the energy and zeal of Captaiii Crozier, Commander 
 
 Fitzjames, and of the officers and men with whom I 
 
 have the happiness of being employed on this service. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) John Feanklin, Captain. 
 
 "The Eight Hon. H. L. Corry, M. P." 
 
 It has often been a matter of surprise that but one 
 of the copper cylinders which Sir John Franklin was 
 instructed to throw overboard at stated intervals, to 
 record his progress, has ever come to hand, but a re- 
 cent sight of the solitary one which has been received 
 proves to me that they are utterly useless for the 
 purpose. A small tube, about the size of an ordi- 
 nary rocket-case, is hardly ever likely to be observed 
 among huge masses of ice, and the waves of the At- 
 lantic and Jracific, unless drifted by accident on shore, 
 or near some boat. The Admiralt}^ have wisely or- 
 dered them to be rendered more conspicuous by being 
 headed up in some cask or barrel, instructions being 
 issued to Captain Collinson, and other officers of the 
 different expeditions' to that effect. 
 
 According to Sir John Richardson, who was on inti- 
 mate terms with Sir John Franklin, his plans were to 
 shape his course in the first instance for the neighbor- 
 hood of Cape Walker, and to push to the westward in 
 that parallel, or, if that could not be accomplished, to 
 make his way southward, to the channel discovered on 
 the north coast of the continent, and so on to Behring's 
 Straits ; failing success in that quarter, he meant to re- 
 trace his course to Wellington Sound, and attempt a 
 
FBANKLIN S LA8T EXl'EDITION. 
 
 211 
 
 passage northward of Parry's Islands, and if foiled there 
 also, to descend Kegent Inlet, and seek the passage 
 along the coast discovered by Messrs. Dease and Simp- 
 son. 
 
 Captain Fitziaraes, the second in command under 
 Sir John Franklin, was much inclined to try the pas- 
 sage northward of Parry's Islands, and he would no 
 doubt endeavor to persuade Sir John to pursue this 
 course if they failed to the southward. 
 
 In a private letter of Captain Fitzjames to Sir John 
 Barrow, dated January, 1845, he writes as follows : — 
 
 " It does not appear clear to me what led Parry down 
 Prince Regent Inlet, after having got as far as Melville 
 Island before. Hie northwest passage is certainly to 
 be gone through by Barrow's Strait, but whether south 
 or north of Parry 'n Group, remains to be proved. I am 
 for going north, edging northwest till in longitude 140^, 
 if possible." 
 
 I shall now pro<*.eed to trace, in chronological order 
 and succession, the opinions and proceedings of the 
 chief arctic explorers and public authorities, with the 
 private suggestions offered and notice in detail the re- 
 lief expeditions resulting therefrom. 
 
 In February, 1847, the Lords of the Admiralty state, 
 that having unlimited confidence in the skill and re- 
 sources of Sir John Franklin, they " have as yet felt no 
 apprehensions about his safety ; but on the other hand, 
 it is obvious, that if no accounts of him should arrive 
 by the end of this year, or, as Sir John Ross expects, at 
 an earlier period, active steps must then be taken." 
 
 Captain Sir Edward Parry fully concurred in these 
 views, observing, " Former experience has clearly shown 
 tliat with the resources taken from this country, two 
 winters may be passed in the polar regions, not only in 
 safety, but with comfort ; and if any. inference can be 
 drawn from the absence of all intelligence of the expe- 
 dition up to this time, I am disposed to consider it ra- 
 ther in favor than otherwise of the success which has 
 attended their effoi-ts." 
 
 Captain Sir G. Back, in a letter to the Secretary of 
 
 ! ■: 
 
 I 
 
212 
 
 I'KOGliESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 the Admiralty, under date 27th of January, 1848, says, 
 " I cannot bring myself to entertain more than ordi^ 
 nary anxiety for tlie safety and return of Sir John 
 Franklin and his gallant companions." 
 
 Captain Sir John Ross records, in February, 1847, 
 his opinion that the expedition was frozen up beyond 
 Melville Island, from the known intentions of Sir John 
 Franklin to put his ships into the drift ice at the west- 
 ern end of Melville Island, a risk which was deemed 
 in the highest degree imprudent by Lieutenant Parry 
 and the oflScers of the expedition of 1819-20, with 
 ships of a less draught of water, and in every respect 
 better calculated to sustain the pressure of the ice, and 
 other dangers to which they must be exposed ; and as 
 it is now well known that the expedition has not suc- 
 ceeded in passing Behring's Strait, and if not totally 
 lost, must have been carried by the ice that is known 
 to drift to the southward on land seen at a great dis- 
 tance in that direction, and from which the accumu- 
 lation of ice behind them will, as in Ross's own case, 
 forever prevent the return of the ships ; consequently 
 they must be abandoned. When we remember with 
 what extreme difficulty Ross's party traveled 300 miles 
 over much smoother ice after they abandoned tl^eir 
 vessel, it appears very doubtful whether Franklin and 
 his men, 138 in number, could possibly travel GOQ 
 miles. 
 
 In the contingency of the ships having penetrated 
 some considerable distance to the southwest of Capo 
 Walker, and having been hampered and crushed in tho 
 narrow channels of the Archipelago, which there are 
 reasons for believing occupies the space between Vic- 
 toria, Wollaston, and Banks' Lands, it is well re 
 marked by Sir John Richardson, that such accident? 
 among ice are seldom so sudden but that the boats of 
 one or of both ships, with provisions, can be saved ; 
 and in such an event the survivors would either returc 
 to Lancaster Strait, or make for the continent, accord 
 jng to their nearness. 
 
 Colonel Sabine remarks, in a letter dated Woolvicl*. 
 
 
 5 
 ti 
 
 V 
 V 
 
r,.i' ■ 
 
 FliANKLIN S LAST EXPEDITION. 
 
 213 
 
 ;aj)o 
 tho 
 
 5th of May, 1847,—" It was Sir Jolin Franklin's inten- 
 tion, if foiled at one point, to try in succession all tho 
 probable openings into a more navigable part of the 
 Polar Sea: the range of coast is considerable in which 
 memorials of the ships' progress would have to be 
 sought for, extending from Melville Island, in the west, 
 to the great Sound at the head of Bathn's Bay, in the 
 east." 
 
 Sir John Richardson, when appealed to by the Admi- 
 ralty in the spring of 1847, as regarded the very strong 
 apprehensions expressed at that time for the safety of 
 the expedition, considered they were premature, as tiio 
 ships were specially equipped to pass two winters in 
 the Arctic Sea, and until the close of that year, he saw 
 no well-grounded cause for more anxiety tlian was nat- 
 urally felt when the expedition sailed from this country 
 on an enterprise of peril, though not greater than that 
 which had repeatedly been encountered by others, and 
 on one occasion by Sir John Ross for two winters also, 
 but who returned in safety. 
 
 Captain Sir James C. Ross, in March, 1847, writes* 
 "I do not think there is the smallest reason for appre- 
 hension or anxiety for the safety and success of tiio 
 expedition ; no one acquainted with the nature of tiie 
 navigation of the Polar Sea would have expected tluy 
 would have been able to get through to Behring's Strait 
 without spending at least two winters in those regions, 
 except under unusually favorable circumstances, which 
 all the accounts from the whalers concur in proving 
 they have not experienced, and I am quite sure neither 
 Sir John Franklin nor Captain Crozier expected to do so, 
 
 "Their last letters to me from Whale Fish Islands, 
 the day previous to their departure from them infoiin 
 me that they had taken on board provisions for three 
 years on full allowance, which they could extend to four 
 years without any serious inconvenience ; so that we 
 may feel assured they cannot want from that cause until 
 after the middle of July, 1849 ; it therefore does not 
 appear to me at all desirable to send after them until the 
 spring of the next year." (1848.) 
 
 i 
 
2U 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 In the plan submitted by Captain F. W. Beechey, 
 R. N., in April, 1847, after premising " that there does 
 not at present appear to be any reasonable apprehen- 
 sion for the safety of the expedition," he suggested that 
 it would perhaps be prudent that a relief expedition 
 should be sent out that season to Cape Walker, where 
 information of an important nature would most likely 
 be found. From this vicinity one vessel could proceed 
 to examine the various points and headlands in Regent 
 Inlet, and also those to the northward, while the other 
 watched the passage, so that Franklin and his party 
 might not pass unseen, should he be on his return. At 
 the end of the season the ships could winter at Pork 
 Bowen, or any other port in the vicinity of Leopold 
 Island. 
 
 " In the spring of 1848," he adds, " a party should bo 
 directed to explore the coast, down to liecla and Fury 
 Strait, and to endeavor to communicate with the party 
 dispatched by the Hudson's Bay Company in that direc- 
 tion ; and in connection with this part of the arrange- 
 ment, it would render the plan complete if a boat could 
 be sent down Back's River to range the coast to the 
 eastward of its mouth, to meet the above mentioned 
 party ; and tJius, while it would complete the geography 
 of that part of the American coast, it would at the same 
 time complete the line of information as to the extensive 
 measures of relief which their lordships have set on 
 foot, and the precise spot where assistance and depots 
 of provisions are to be found. This part of the plan 
 has suggested itself to me from a conversation I had 
 with Su* John Franklin as to his first effort being made 
 to the westward and southwestward of Cape Walker. 
 It is possible that, after passing the Cape, he may have 
 been successful in getting down upop Victoria Land, 
 and have passed bis first winter (1845) thei-kibout, and 
 th&t he may have spent his second winter at a still moro 
 advanced station, and even endured a third, without 
 either a prospect of success, or of an extrication of his 
 vessels withii: a given period of time, 
 
 " If, in this condition, which I trust may not be Ihe 
 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 215 
 
 lade 
 Iker. 
 
 case, Sir John Franklin should resolve upon taking to 
 his boats, he would prefer atteniptinj' a boat navigation 
 through Sir James Koss's Strait, and up Regent Inlet, 
 to a long land journey across the continent, to the Hud- 
 son's Bay Settlements, to which the greater part of hiu 
 crew would be wholly unequal." 
 
 Sir John llichardson remarks upon the above sugges- 
 tions, on the 5th of May, 1847, — " With respect to a 
 party to be sent down Back's River to the bottom of 
 Regent Inlet, its size and outlit would require to be 
 equal with that of the one now preparing -to descend 
 the Mackenzie River, and it could scarcely with the 
 utmost exertions be organized so as to start this sum- 
 mer. The present scarcity of provisions in the Iludsoirs 
 Bay country precludes the hope of assistance from tho 
 Company's southern posts, and it is now too late to 
 provide the means of transport through the interior of 
 supplies from this country, which require to be embarked 
 on board the Hudson's Bay ships by the 2d of June at 
 the latest. 
 
 " Moreover there is no Company's post on the line of 
 Back's River nearer than the junction of Slave River 
 with Great Slave Lake, and I do not think that under 
 any circumstances Sir John Franklin would attempt 
 that route. 
 
 " In the summer of 1849, if the resources of the party 
 I am to conduct remain unimpaired, as I have every 
 reason to believe they will, much of what Capt. Beechey 
 suggests in regard to exploring Victoria Land may be 
 done by it, and indeed ibrms part of the original scheme. 
 The extent of the examination of any part of the coast 
 in 1848 depends, as I formerly stated, very much on 
 the seasons of this autumn and next spring, which influ- 
 ence the adviuc^e of the boats through a long course of 
 iviffatidte' As Governor Simpson will most 
 
 river navij 
 
 likely succeed in procuring an Esquimaux to accom- 
 pany my party, I nope by his means to obtain such 
 information from parties of that nation as may greatly 
 facilitate our finding the ships, should they be detained 
 in that quarter. 
 
 u 
 
 nil 
 
 -1. l-i 
 
 y',' 
 
\ 
 
 21fi 
 
 PROORESg OF ARCrrO DISCOVERY. 
 
 "• Wore Sir John Fi-unklin thrown upon the north 
 coa 't of tlic continent with his bouts, and all his crew, 
 1 do not tliink he would utteni[)t the ascent of any river, 
 except the Mackenzie. It is navi^al)le for boats of largo 
 draiigiit, without a portage, for 1300 miles from the 
 sea, or within forty miles of Fort Chipewyan, one of 
 the Com})any'8 principal depots, and there are five 
 other posts in that distance. Though these posts could 
 not furnish provisions to such a party, they could, by 
 j)r(>viding them with nets, and distributing the men to 
 vai'ious lishing stations, do much toward procuring food 
 
 r 
 
 >r 'iieni. 
 
 '• L concur generally in what: Captain Beechey has 
 said M itli regard to feehring's Straits, a locality witii 
 whicli lie is so intimately acquainted, but beg leave to 
 add oiio I'emark, viz : that in high northern latitudes 
 the i']'linary allowance of animal food is insufficient in 
 th*' winter season to maintain a laboring man in health ; 
 and as Sir John Franklin would deem it prudent when 
 detained a second winter to shorten the allowance, 
 symptoms of scurvy may show themselves among the 
 men, as was the case when Sir Edward Parry wintered 
 twu years in Fox's Channel. 
 
 " A vessel, therefore, meeting the Erebus and Terror 
 this season in Eehring's Straits, might render great 
 service." * 
 
 The late Sir John Barrow, Bart., in a memorandum 
 dated July, 1>^47, says : — 
 
 '• The anxiety that prevails regarding Sir John Frank- 
 lin, and the brave fellows who compose the crews of 
 the two ships, is very natural, but somewhat premature ; 
 it arises chiefly from nothing having been received from 
 them since fixed in the ice of Baflin's Bay, where the 
 last whaling ship of the season of 1845 left them, oppo- 
 site to the opening into Lancaster Sound. Hitherto no 
 difficulty has been found to the entrance into that 
 Sound. If disappointed, rather than return to the south- 
 ward, with the view of wintering at or about Disco, I 
 
 • Pari. Paper, No. 264, Session 1848. -' 
 
OriNIONa AND Sl'OORSTIONS. 
 
 217 
 
 pliould be ineliiRHl to think that they would en(U»avMi'to 
 (.'UtcM' Siuith\s Sound, so hiirlilv s|)ukt»n of 1)V liallin. :ui<l 
 Avhicli just MOW that «^alhint and adventurous iiu- 1.1:1, 
 Admiral Count Wrangel, has jxMnted out in a ] .[it 
 addressed to the Geoi^raphical Society as the stai- iiil? 
 place for an attempt to reach the North Pole; it would 
 a})pear to be an inlet that runs up hiojh to the northw.ird. 
 as an otlicer in one of Parry's ships states that he <\\v 
 in the line of direction along that inlet, the sun at laid- 
 night skimming the horizon. 
 
 '' From Lancaster Sound Franklin's instructions di- 
 rected him to proceed through Barrow's Strait, as far as 
 the islands on its southern side extended, which is short 
 of Melville Island, which was to be avoided, not only 
 on account of its dangerous coast, but also as beiui: out 
 of the direction of the course to the intended olMt'ct. 
 Having, therefore, reached the last known land 01 the 
 houthern side of Barrow's Strait, they were to si ())o 
 a direct course to Behring's Strait, without any d<'>ia- 
 tion, except what obstruction might be met with from 
 ice, or from, islands, in the midst of the Polar Sea, of 
 which no knowledge had at that time been procured ; 
 but if any such existed, it would of coui-se l)e left to 
 their judgment, on the spot, how to get rid of such ob- 
 Btructions, by taking a northerly or a southerly course. 
 
 " The only chance of bringing them upon this • rho 
 American) coast is the possibility of some obstni< iion 
 having tempted them to explore an immense ink 011 
 the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, (short of M '. 
 ville Island,) called Wellington Channel, which Parry 
 felt an inclination to explore, and more than one of 
 the present party betrayed to me a similar inclinuflon, 
 which I discouraged, no one venturing to conjoduie 
 even to what extent it might go, or into what difficulties 
 it might lead. 
 
 " Under all these circumstances, it would It an act 
 of folly to pronounce any opinion of the ?t;i e. ^' •!!- 
 tion, opposition of those two ships ; they are weU .Milce<l 
 
 10 
 
 II' 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 218 
 
 I'KOGRKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 for their purpose, and the only doubt I liave is that of 
 their being hampered by the screws among the ice." 
 
 Sir James C. Koss, in his outline of a plan for afford- 
 ing relief, submitted to the Admiralty in December, 
 1847, suggested that two ships shoulci be sent out to 
 examine Wellington Channel, alluded to in the forego- 
 ing memorandum of Sir John Barrow, and the coast 
 between Capes Clarence and Walker. A convenient 
 winter harbor might be found for one of the ships near 
 Garnier Bay or Cape Rennell. From this position the 
 coast line could be explored as far as it extended to the 
 westward, by detached parties, early i.i the spring, as 
 well as the western coast of Boothia, a considerable 
 distance to the southward ; and at a more advanced 
 period of 'the season the whole distance to Cape Nicolai 
 might bo completed. 
 
 The other ship should then proceed alone to the 
 westward, endeavoring to reach Winter Harbor, in 
 Melville Island, or some convenient port in Banks' 
 Land, in which to pass the winter. 
 
 From these points parties might be sent out early in 
 the spring. 
 
 The first party should be directed to trace the west- 
 em coast of Banks' Land, and proceed direct to Cape 
 Bathurst or Cape Parry, on each of which Sir John 
 Richardson proposes to leave depots of provisions for 
 its use, and then to reach the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 settlement at Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie, 
 whence they might travel by the usual route of the 
 traders to the principal settlement, and thence to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The second party should explore the eastern shore of 
 Banks' Land, and make for Cape Krusenstem, where, 
 or at Cape Hearne, they will find a cache of provision 
 left by Sir John Richardson, with whom this party 
 may communicate, and whom it may assist in comple- 
 ting the examination of WoUaston and Victoria Lands, 
 or return to England by the route he shall deem most 
 advisable. 
 
 Sir James Ross was intrusted with the carrying out 
 
OPINIONS AND 8UOOESTION8. 
 
 219 
 
 in 
 
 m 
 
 of 
 
 jre. 
 
 ds, 
 ost 
 
 of this eearch, in the Enterprise and Investigator, and 
 an account of the voyage and procecdini^ of these ves- 
 6c1h will be found recorded in its chronological order. 
 
 The following letter from Dr. Richard King to the 
 Lords of the Admiralty contains some useful sugges- 
 tions, although it is mixed up with a good deal of ego- 
 tistical remark: — 
 
 ** 17, Saville JioWy February, 1848. 
 
 "'The old route of Parry, through Lancaster Sound 
 and Barrow's 8trait, as far as to the last land on its 
 southern shore, and thence in a direct line to Behrlng's 
 Straits, is the route ordered to be pursued by Frank- 
 lin.'* 
 
 "The gallant officer has thus been dispatched to push 
 his adventurous way between Melville Island and 
 Banks' Land, which Sir E. Parry attempted for two 
 years unsuccessfully. A.fter much toil and hardship, 
 and the best consideration that great man could give 
 to the subject, he recorded, at the moment of retreat, 
 in indelible characters, these impressive thoughts: 
 ' We have been lying near our present station, with 
 an easterly wind blowing fresh, for thirty-six hours 
 together, and although this was considerably off the 
 land, the ice had not during the whole of that time 
 moved a single yard from the shore, affording a proof 
 that there was no space in which the ice was at liberty 
 to move to the westward. The navigation of this part 
 of the Polar Sea is only to be performed by watching 
 the occasional opening between the ice and the shore, 
 md therefore, a continuity of land is essential for this 
 purpose ; such a continuity of land, which was here 
 about to fail, as must necessarily be furnished by the 
 northern coast of America, in whatsoever latitude it 
 may be found.' Assuming, therefore. Sir John Frank- 
 lin has been arrested between Melville Island and 
 Banks' Land, where Sir E. Parry was arrested by dif- 
 ficulties which he considered insurmountable, and hr 
 has followed the advice of that gallant officer, and 
 
 • Barrow's Arctic Voyages, p. 11. 
 
 -i^'^A.-^: 
 
':f 
 
 
 220 
 
 ruooKK.sa of auctkj dhcovkuv. 
 
 in;i(le for the continuity of America, he will have 
 turned the nrows t»f his vcsBel south and west, accord- 
 \w^ as BaiiKs' J^and tends for Victoria or Wollaston 
 JiUruls. It is lierc, therefore, that we may expect to 
 iind the expedition wrecked, wlience they will make 
 in their hoats for the western land t>f North Somerset, 
 if tliat land should not be too far distant. 
 
 "In order to save the i)arty from the <jrdeal of u 
 fo.urth winter, when starvation must he their lot, L 
 propose to undertake the ])olde8t journey that has ever 
 uocn attempted in the northern regions of America, 
 one which was justiliable only from the circumstances. 
 I ])ropo8e to attemi)t to reach the western land of Ninth 
 Somerset or the eastern portion of Victoria Laud, as 
 may be deemed advisable, by the close of the ap- 
 proaching summer; to accomplish, in fact, in one sum- 
 mer that which has not been done under two. 
 
 " I rest my hope of success in the performance of 
 this Herculean task upon the fact, that I possess an in- 
 timate knowledge of the country and the people through 
 which I shall have to pass, the health to stand the 
 rigor of the climate, ana the strength to undergo the 
 fatigue of mind and body to which I must be subjected. 
 A glance at the map of North America, directed to 
 IJeliring's Strait in the Pacific, Barrow's Strait in tlio 
 Atlantic, and the land of North Somerset between 
 tlicm, will make it apparent that, to render assistance 
 to a party situated on tnat coast, there are two ways by 
 sea and one by land. Of the two sea-ways, the route 
 by tlie Pacific is altogether out of the question ; it is an 
 idea of by-gone days ; while that by trie Atlantic is so 
 (loul)tful of success, that it is merely necessary, to put 
 tliis assistance aside as far from certain, to mention that 
 Sir John Ross found Barrow's Strait closed in the sum- 
 mer of 1832. To a land journey, then, alone we can 
 look for success ; for the failure of a land journey 
 Would be the exception to the rule, while the sea expe- 
 flition \vould lie tlio rule itself. To tlie western land of 
 Nv>ith Somerset, where Sir John Franklin is likely to 
 be found, the Gi-eat Fish River is the direct and only 
 
oriNIoNS AND aUOOI-MilONS. 
 
 221 
 
 IS so 
 
 put 
 
 1 that 
 sinii- 
 
 e can 
 arney 
 expa- 
 nd of 
 ely to 
 only 
 
 route ; aud although the approach to it id tlirough a 
 country too poor, and too dimcult of access to admit of 
 the transport of provisionB, it may he made the medi- 
 um of communication hetween the lost expedition and 
 the civilized world, and guides be thus placed at their 
 disposal to convey them to the hunting grounds of the 
 Indians. Without such guides it is impossible that 
 they can reach these hunting grounds, it was by the 
 Great Fish lliver that I reached the Polar Sea while 
 acting as second officer, in search of Sir John Koss. 
 I feel it my duty, therefore, as one of two officers bo 
 peculiarly circumstanced, at the present moment to 
 place my views on record, as an earnest of my sincer- 
 ity. Even if it should be determined to try and force 
 provision vessels through Barrow^s Strait, and scour 
 the vicinity in boats for the lost expedition, and should 
 it succeed, it will be satisfactory to know that such a 
 mission as I have proposed should be adopted ; while, 
 if these attempts should fail, and the service under con 
 sideration be put aside, it will be a source of regret 
 that not only the nation at largo will feel, but the whole 
 civilized world. When this regret is felt, and every 
 eoul has perished, such a mission as I have proposed 
 will be urged again and again for adoption ; for it is 
 impossible that the country will rest satisfied until a 
 search be made for the remains of the lost expedition; 
 "The fact that all lands which have a wester aspect 
 are generally ice-free, which I dwelt largely upon when 
 Sir John Franklin sailed, must have had weight with 
 the gallant officer ; he will therefore, oh finding him- 
 self m a serious difficulty, while pushing along the east- 
 ern side of Victoria Land, at once fall upon the western 
 land of North Boraers^t, as a reftige ground, if he have 
 the opportunity. The eifort by Senring's Strait and 
 Bftjiks* Jjand i? praiseworthy in attempt, but forlorn in 
 hope. In the foriper effort, it is assumed that Sir John 
 Franklin has n^ade the passage, and that his arrest is 
 between the Mackenzie Kiver and Icy Cape ; in the 
 latter, that Sir James Ross will reach Banks' Land, and 
 trace its continuity to Victoria and WoUaston Land j 
 
 |.i 
 
 4 
 
222 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 and thus make the * passage.' First, We have no rea- 
 son to believe that Sir John Franklin and Sir James 
 Ross will be more fortunate than their predecessors, 
 and we cannot trust to their success. Secondly, We 
 are unable to assume that Sir James Koss will reach 
 Bank's Land ; Sir E. Parry was unable to reach it, and 
 only viewed it from a distance ; much less are we able 
 to assume that the gallant officer will find a high road 
 to Victoria Land, which is altogether a terra incognita. 
 
 "'Mr. T. Simpson, who surveyed the arctic coast 
 comprised between the Coppermine and Castor and 
 Pollux Rivers, has set that (question at rest, and is the 
 only authority upon the subject. ' A further explora- 
 tion,' remarks Mr. Simpson, from the most eastern limit 
 of his journey, ' would necessarily demand the whole 
 time and energies of another expedition, having some 
 point of retreat much nearer to tne scene of operations 
 than Great Bear Lake, and Great Bear Lake is to be 
 the retreat of Sir John Richardson.' 
 
 " What retreat could Mr. Simpson have meant but 
 Great Slave Lake, the retreat of the land party in search 
 of Sir John Ross ? and what other roaa to the unex- 
 plored ground, the western land of North Somerset, 
 could that traveler have meant than Great Fish River, 
 that stream which I have pointed out as the ice free 
 and high road to the land where the lost expedition is 
 likely to be found, — to be the boundary of that pass- 
 age which for three and a half centuries we have oeen 
 in vain endeavoring to reach in ships ? " 
 
 Captain Sir W. E. Parry, to whom Dr. King's pro- 
 posal was submitted by the Admiralty, thus comments 
 on it : — 
 
 " Mv former opinion, quoted by Dr. King, as to the 
 difficulty of ships penetrating to the westward beyond 
 Cape Dundas, (the southwestern extremitv of Melville 
 island,) remains unaltered ; and I should expect that 
 Sir Jphn Franklin, being aware of this difficulty, would 
 use his utmost efforts to get to the southward and west- 
 ward before he approached that point, that is, between 
 the 100th and 110th degree of longitude. The more I 
 
1' 
 
 OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 
 
 ^3 
 
 /«. 
 
 have considered this subject, (which has i u itZ^ occu- 
 pied much of my attention lately,) the more difficult I 
 find it to conjecture where the expedition may iuive 
 stopped, either with or without any serious accident to 
 the ships ; but as no information has reached us up to 
 this time, I conceive that there is some considerable 
 probability of their being situated somewhere between 
 the longitude I have just named ; how far tkey may 
 have penetrated to the southward, between those meri- 
 dians, must be a matter of speculation, depending on 
 the state of the ice, and the existence of land in a space 
 hitherto blank on our maps. 
 
 "Be this as it may, I consider it not improbable as 
 suggested by Dr. King, that an attempt will be irade 
 by them to fall back on the western coast of I^ rth 
 Somerset, wherever that may be found, as being the 
 nearest point affording a hope of communication, ei lier 
 with whalers or with ships sent expressly in searci of 
 the expedition. 
 
 "Agreeing thus far with Dr. King, I am compo led 
 to differ with him entirely as to the readiest mod of 
 reaching that coast, because I feel satisfied that, a' ith 
 the resources of the expedition now equipping iir ler 
 Sir James Boss, the energy, skill, and mtelligence of 
 that officer will render it a matter of no very diffi ult 
 enterprise to examine the coast in question, either v ith 
 liis ships, boats, or traveling parties ; whereas an at- 
 tempt to reach that coast by an expedition from the 
 continent of America must, as it appears to me, be 3X- 
 tremely hazardous and uncertain. And as I under- 
 stand it to be their lordships' intention to direct Sir 
 James Ross to station one of nis ships somewhere al)out 
 Cape Walker, while the other proceeds on the search, 
 and likewise to equip his boats specially for the pur- 
 pose of examining the various coasts and inlets, 1 am 
 decidedly of opinion, that, as regards the western coast 
 of North Somerset, this plan will be much more likely 
 to answer the proposed object, than any overland 
 expedition. This object will, of course, be the more 
 easily accomplished in case of Sir James Ross finding 
 
 ir 
 
 I! 
 
 !.1 
 
 '^- 
 
HI 
 
 i 
 
 224 
 
 I'ROOEESS OF AKCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 the western coast of North Somerset navigable for his 
 ships. 
 
 " In regard to Dr. King's suggestion respecting Yic 
 toria Land and WoUaston Land, supposing Sir John 
 Franklin's ships to have been arrested between the 
 meridians to which I have already alluded, it does 
 seem, by an inspection of the map, not improbable that 
 parties may attempt to penetrate to the continent in 
 that direction ; but not being well acquainted with the 
 facilities for reaching the coast of America opposite 
 those lands in the manner proposed by Dr. King, I am 
 not competent to judge of its practicability." 
 
 Nearly the whole of the west coast of North Somer- 
 set and Boothia was, (it will be found hereafter,) ex- 
 plored by parties in boats detached jfrom Sir James 
 Ross's ships in 1849. 
 
 I append, also, the most important portions of Sir 
 James Koss's remarks on Dr. King's plan. 
 
 " Dr. King begins by assuming that Sir John Frank- 
 lin has attempted to push the ships through to the west- 
 ward, between Melville Island and Banks' Land, (al- 
 though directly contrary to his instructions ;) that hav- 
 ing been arrested by insurmountable difficulties, he 
 would have ' tm'ned the prows of his vessels to tlie 
 south and. west, according as Banks' Land tends for 
 Victoria or WoUaston Land ;' and having been wrecked, 
 or from any other cause obliged to abandon their ships, 
 their crews would take to tne boats, and make for the 
 west coast of North Somerset. 
 
 "If the expedition had failed to penetrate to the 
 westward between Banks' Land and Melville Island, it 
 is very probable it would have next attempted to gain 
 the continent by a more southerly course ; and suppos- 
 ing that, after making only small progress, (say 100 
 mues,) to the southwest, it should have been then finally 
 stopped or wrecked, the calamity will have occurred 
 in about latitude 72 i° N., and longitude 115° W. This 
 point is only 280 miles from the Coppermine River 
 and 420 miles from the Mackenzie, either of whicl 
 would, therefore, be easily attainable, and at each of 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 225 
 
 wliicb, abundance of provision might be procured by 
 them, and their return to England a measure of no 
 great difficulty. 
 
 " At the point above mentioned, the distance from 
 the west coast of North Somerset is probably about 360 
 miles, and the mouth of the Great Fiflll River full 500 ; 
 at neither of these places could they hope to obtain a 
 single day's provisions for so larse a party ; and Sir 
 John Franklin's intimate knowledge of the impossibil- 
 ity of ascending that river, or obtaining any food for 
 his party in passing through the Barren grounds, would 
 concur in deterring him from attempting to gain either 
 of these points. 
 
 " I think it most probable that, from the situation 
 pointed out, he would, when compelled to abandon his 
 ships, endeavor in the boats to retrace his steps, and 
 passing through the channel by which he had advanced, 
 and which we have alwavs found of easy navigation, 
 seek the whale ships whicn annually visit the west coast 
 of Baffin's Bay. 
 
 " It is far more probable, however, that Sir John 
 Franklin, in obedience to his instructions, would en 
 deavor to push the ships to the south and west as soon 
 as they passed Cape Walker, and the consequence of 
 such a measure, owing to the known prevalence of 
 westerly wind, and the drift of the main body of the 
 ice, would be (in my opinion) their inevitable embarrass- 
 ment, and if he persevered in that direction which he 
 probably would do, I have no hesitation in stating my 
 conviction he would never be able to extricate his 
 ships, and would ultimately be obliged to abandon them. 
 It is tlierefore in latitude 73° N". and longitude 105° W. 
 that we may expect to find them involved in the ice, 
 or shut up in some harbor. This is almost the only 
 point in which it is likely they would be detained, or 
 from which it would not be possible to convey informa- 
 tion of their situation to the Hudson's Bay Settlements. 
 
 " If, then, we suppose the crews of the ships should 
 be compelled, either this autumn or next spring, to 
 abandon their vessels at or near this point, they wouM 
 
 f| 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 4v 
 
 Si 
 
 I' 
 
 f.? 
 
226 
 
 PROOhKsa OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 most assuredly endeavor, in their boats, to reach Lan- 
 caster Sound ; but I cannot conceive any position in 
 which they could be placed from which they would 
 make for the Great Fish Kiver, or at which any party 
 descending that river would be likely to overtake them ; 
 and even if it dW, of what advantage could it be to 
 them? 
 
 " If Dr. King and his party, in their single canoe, 
 did fall in with Sir John Franklin and his party on the 
 west coast of North Somerset, how does he propose to 
 assist them ? he would barely have sufficient provision 
 for his own party, and would more probably be in a 
 condition to require rather than afford relief. He could 
 only tell them what Sir John Franklin already knows, 
 from former experience, far better than l)r. King, that it 
 would be impossible for so large a party, or indeed any 
 party not previously provided, to travel across the bar- 
 ren grounds to any of the Hudson's Bay Settlements." 
 
 " AH that has been done by the way of search since 
 February, 1848, tends," persists Dr. King, " to draw 
 attention closer and closer to the western land of North 
 Somerset, as the position of Sir John Franklin, and to 
 the G-reat Fish (or Back) River, as the high road to 
 reach it." 
 
 Dr. Eang has twice proposed to the Admiralty to 
 proceed on the search by this route. " It would," he 
 states, " be the happiest moment of my life (aud my 
 delight at being selected from a long list of volunteers, 
 for tne relief of Sir John Ross, was very great) if their 
 lordships would allow me to go by my old route, the 
 Great Fish River, to attempt to save human life a sec- 
 ond time on the shores of the Polar Sea. What I did 
 in search of Sir John Ross is the best earnest of what 
 I could do in search of Sir John Franklin." 
 
 A meeting of those officers and gentlemen most con- 
 versant with arctic voyages was convened by the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the if th of 
 January, 1849, at which the following were present : — 
 Rear- Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, K. C. B., Captain 
 Sir W. E. Parry, R. N., Captain Sir George Back, B. 
 
of 
 
 OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 227 
 
 N., Captain Sir E. Belcher, R. N., Colonel Sabine, R. 
 A., and the Rev. Dr. Scoresby. 
 
 A very pretty painting, containing portraits of all the 
 principal arctic voyagers in consultation on these mo- 
 mentous matters, has been made by Mr. Pearse, artist, 
 of 63, Berners Street, Oxford Street, which is well 
 worthy of a visit. The beautiful Arctic Panorama of 
 Mr. Burford, in Leicester Square, will also give a 
 graphic idea of the scenery and appearance of the icy 
 regions; the whole being designed from authentic 
 sketches by Lieut. Browne, now of the Resolute, and 
 who was out in the Enterprise in her trip in 1848, and 
 also with Sir James Ross in his antarctic voyage. 
 
 The expedition under Sir James Ross having re- 
 turned unsuccessful, other measures of relief were now 
 determined on, and the opinions of the leading officers 
 again taken. 
 
 Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, in his report to the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on jSTovember 
 24th, 1849, observes : — 
 
 " There are four ways only in which it is likely that 
 the Erebus and Terror woula have been lost — by fire, 
 by sunken rocks, by storm, or by being crushed be- 
 tween two fields of ice. Both vessels would scarcely 
 have taken fire together ; if one of them had struck on a 
 rock the other would have avoided the danger. Storms 
 in those narrow seas, encumbered with ice, raise no 
 swell, and could produce no such disaster ; and there- 
 fore, by the fourth cause alone could the two vessels 
 have been at once destroyed ; and even in that casd 
 the crews would have escaped upon the ice (as happens 
 every year to the whalers ;) they would have saved 
 their loose boats, and reached some part of the American 
 shores. As no traces of any such event have been found 
 on any part of those shores, it may therefore be safely 
 affirmed that one ship at least, and both the crews, 
 are still in existence ; and therefore the point where 
 they now are is the great matter for consideration. 
 
 "Their ordere would have carried them toward Mel- 
 ville Island, and then out to the westward, where it is 
 
 »•- 
 
 ]< \r- 
 
228 
 
 P110GRES8 OF ARCTIC DISOOVERl 
 
 therefore probable that they are entangle* amonff 
 islands ana ice. For should they have been arrested 
 at some intermediate place, for instance, Cape Walker, 
 or at one of the northervi chain of islands, tliey would, 
 undoubtedly, in the course of the three following years, 
 have contrived some method of sending notices of theii 
 iK)sition to the shores of North Somerset or to Barrow's 
 Strait. 
 
 "If they had reached much to the southward of 
 Bank's Land, they would surely have communicated 
 with the tribes on Mackenzie Eiver ; and if, failing to 
 get to the westward or southward, they had returned 
 with the intention of penetrating through Wellington 
 Channel, they would have detached parties on the ice 
 toward Barrow's Strait, in order to have deposited 
 statements of their intentions. 
 
 " The general conclusion, therefore, remains, that they 
 are still locked up in the Archipelago to the westward 
 of Melville Islana. Now, it is well known that the 
 state of the weather alternates between the opposite 
 sides of Northern America, being mild on the one when 
 rigorous on the other ; and accordingly, during the two 
 last years, which have been unusually severe in Baffin's 
 Bay, the United States whalers were successfully trav- 
 ersing the Polar Sea to the northward of Benring's 
 Straits. The same severe weather may possibly prevail 
 on the eastern side during the summer of 1850, and if 
 so, it is obvious that an attempt should be now made 
 by the western opening, and not merely to receive the 
 two ships, if they should be met coming out (as for- 
 merly,) but to advance in the direction of Melville 
 Island, resolutely entering the ice, and employing every 
 possible expedient by sledging parties, by reconnoitering 
 balloons, and by blasting the ice, to communicate with 
 them. ' 
 
 "These vessels should be intrepidly commanded, 
 effectively manned, and supplied with the best means 
 for traveling across the ice to the English or to the 
 Russian setSements, as it will be of the greatest impor- 
 tance to be informed of what progress the expedition 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 220 
 
 has made; and for this purpose likewise tlic Plover 
 will be of material service, lying at some advanced 
 poiJiK near Icy Cape, and readv to receive intelligence, 
 and to convey it to Petropaulski or to Panama. 
 
 " These vessels should enter Behring's Straits before 
 the first of August, and therefore every effort should 
 be now made to dispatch them from England before 
 Cliristmas. They might water at the Falkland Islands, 
 and again at the Sandwich Islands, where they would 
 be ready to receive additional instructions via Panama, 
 l)y one of the Pacific steamers, and by which vessel 
 they might be pushed on some little distance to the 
 northward. 
 
 " It seems to me likely that the ships have been push- 
 ing on, summer after summer, in the direction of 13ehr- 
 ing's Straits, and are detained somewhere in the space 
 Bouthwestward of Banks' Land. On the other hand, 
 should they, after the first or second summer, have been 
 unsuccessful in that direction, they may have attempted 
 to proceed to the northward, either through Wellington 
 Channel, or through some other of the openings among 
 the same group of islands. I do not myself attach any 
 superior importance to Wellington Channel as regards 
 the northwest passage, but I understand that Sir John 
 Franklin did, and tnat he strongly expressed to Lord 
 Haddington his intention of attempting that route, if 
 he should fail in eifecting the more direct passage to 
 the westward. 
 
 "The ships having been fully victualed for three 
 years, the resources inay, by due precautions, have 
 been extended to four years for the whole crews ; but 
 it has occurred to me, since I had the honor of confer- 
 ring with their lordships, that, if their numbers have 
 been gradually diminished to any considerable extent 
 by death, (a contingency which is but too probable, con- 
 sidering their unparalleled detention in the ice,) the 
 resources would be proportion ably extended for the 
 survivors, whom it might, therefore, be found ex])edieiit 
 to transfer to one of the ships, with all the remaining 
 stores, and with that one shij^ to continue the endeavor 
 
 \m 
 
230 
 
 PBOaBESS OF AECTIO DISCOVERT. 
 
 to push westward, or to return to the eastward, as cir- 
 cumstances might render expedient ; in that case, the 
 necessity for quitting both the ships in the past sum- 
 mer might not improbably have been obviated. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, which, it must be admit 
 ted, amount to no more than mere conjecture, it seems 
 to me expedient still to prosecute the search in both 
 directions, namely, by way of Behring's Strait (to which 
 I look with the strongest hope,) and also by that of 
 Barrow's Strait. In the latter direction, it ought, I 
 think, to be borne in mind, that the more than usual 
 difficulties with which Sir James Boss had to contend, 
 have, in reality, left us with very little more informa- 
 tion than before he left £ngland, and I cannot contem- 
 plate without serious apprehension, leaving that opening 
 without still further search in the ensuing spnng, in 
 case the missing crews have fallen back to the eastern 
 coast of North Somerset, where they would naturally 
 look for supplies to be deposited for them, in addition 
 to the chance of finding some of those left by the Fury. 
 For the purpose of further pursuing the search by way 
 of Barrow's Strait, perhaps two small vessels of 160 or 
 200 tons might suffice, but they must be square rigged 
 for the navigation among the ice. Of course the object 
 of such vessels would be nearly that which Sir James 
 Boss's endeavors have failed to accomplish ; and the 
 provisions, &c., left by that officer at Whaler Point, 
 as well as any which may be deposited in that neigh- 
 borhood by the Noiih Star, would greatly add to the re- 
 sources, facilitate the operations, and lessen the risk of 
 any attempt made in tnat direction. 
 
 " If, however, there be time to get ships to Behring's 
 Straits by the first week in August, 1850, which woi3d 
 perhaps require the aid of steam /essels to accomplish 
 with any degrea of certainty, I recommend that the 
 Enterpnse and Investigator be forthwith equipped and 
 dispatched there, with instructions to push through the 
 ice to the £. N. £. as far as possible in the ensuing sca- 
 pon, with the hope of meeting with at least one of the 
 ships, or any of the parcies which may have been 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 231 
 
 n 
 
 detached from them. This attempt has never yet been 
 made by any ships, and I cling very strongly to the 
 belief that such an effort might be attended with suc- 
 cess in rescuing at least a portion of our people. 
 
 " My reason for urging this upon their Lordships is, 
 that the admirable instructions under which the Plover, 
 assisted by the Herald, is acting, embraces only tho 
 search of the coast line eastward from Icy Cape ; since 
 the boats and baidars cannot effect any thing except by 
 creeping along as opportunities offer, between the ice 
 and the land, so that tnis plan of operations meets only 
 the contingency of parties reaching, or nearly reaching, 
 the land ; whereas the chance ol rescue would, as it 
 appears to me, be immensely increased by ships push- 
 ing on, clear of the coast, toward Banks' Land and 
 Melville Island, as far at least as might be practicable 
 in the best five or six weeks of the season of 1850." 
 
 Captain Parry says — "Although this is the first at- 
 tempt ever made to enter the ice in this direction, with 
 ships properly equipped for the purpose, there is no 
 reason to anticipate any greater difficulties in this navi- 
 
 fation than those encountered in other parts of the 
 lorth Polar Sea ; and, even in the event of not suc- 
 ceeding in reaching Banks' Land in the summer of the 
 present year, it may be possible to make such progress 
 as to afford a reasonable hope of effecting that object 
 in the following season (1851.) Indeed it is possible 
 that, from the well known fact of the climate being 
 more temperate in a given parallel of latitude, in going 
 westward from the Mackenzie Kiver, some comparative 
 advantage mav be derived in the navigation of this 
 part of the Polar Sea. 
 
 " It is of importance to the security of the ships and 
 of their crews that they should winter in some harbor 
 or bay not at a distance from land, where the ice might 
 be in motion during the winter ; and it will be desira- 
 ble, should no land be discovered fit for this purpose, 
 in the space at present unexplored between Point Bar- 
 row and Banks' Land, that endeavors should be made to 
 reach the continent about the mouth of the Mackenzie 
 
232 
 
 PROGRESS OB' ARCTIC TUSOOVKUY. 
 
 River, or further eastward, toward Liverpool Bay, 
 w licri' tliere is reason to suppose tliat sutKcieiit shelter 
 \ui\.y l)e found, and in which neighljurhood, it appears, 
 there is generally no ice to he seen from the shore for 
 ul)out six weeks in the months of August and ^eptem- 
 her. Sir John Franklin's narrative of his second jour 
 ney, that of Messrs. Dease and Simpson, and the 
 Admiralty Charts, will furnish the requisite hydro 
 grai)liical information relative to this line of coast, se 
 tar as it has been attained. 
 
 " The utmost economy should be exercised in the use 
 of provisions and fuel uuring the time the ships are in 
 winter quarters ; and if they should winter on or near 
 tiie continent, there would probably be an opportunity 
 of increasing their stock of provisions by means of 
 game or iish, and likewise of fuel, by drift or other 
 wood, to some considerable amount. 
 
 "If the progress of the ships in 1850 has been con- 
 siderable — for instance, as far as the meridian of 120° 
 W. — the probability is, that the most practicable way 
 of returning to England will be, still to push on in the 
 same direction during the whole season of 1851, with 
 a view to reach Barrow's Strait, and take advantage, 
 if necessary, of the resources left by Captain Sir James 
 lloss at Whaler Point, near Leopola Harbor ; if not the 
 same season, at least after a second winter. If, on the 
 other hand, small progress should have been made to 
 the eastward at the close of the present summer, it 
 might be prudept that when half the navigable season 
 of 1851 shall have expired, no further attempts should 
 be made in proceeding to the eastward, and that the 
 remaining half of that season should be occupied in 
 returning to the westward, with a view to escape from 
 the ice by way of Behring's Straits after the winter of 
 1851-52, so as not to incur the risk of passing a third 
 winter in the ice. 
 
 " During the summer season, the most vigilant look- 
 out should be kept from the mast-heads of both ships 
 nigiit and day, not only for the missing ships, but tor 
 Any detached parties belonging to them ; and during 
 
the 
 le to 
 
 look- 
 ships 
 
 OPlNh'KS ANlJ SUGUKSIIONS. 
 
 233 
 
 tlie few hours of darkness wliicli prevail toward the close 
 vi' each Huasoii's iuivi«^ation, and also when lit wiiiti'r 
 (juarters, signals, by lires, blue li«j;lits, rockets or jL;;iins, 
 shoidd be made as the means of pointing out the posi- 
 tion of the ships to any detached parties belonging to 
 tlie missing expedition. And in the spring before the 
 ships can be released from the ice, searching j)artles 
 might be sent out in various directions, either in boats 
 or by land, to examine the nelgldjoring coasts and inlets 
 for any trace of the missing crews/' 
 
 Captain Sir George Back also comments (1st of Do- 
 (■end)er, 18-19,) on these intentions, in a letter to the Sec- 
 retary of the Admiralty : — 
 
 '• ion will be pleased. Sir, to Impress upon my Lords 
 Commissioners, that I wholly reject all and every idea 
 of any attempts on the part of Sir John Franklin to 
 send boats or detachments over the ice to any part of 
 tlic main-land eastward of the Mackenzie River, because 
 I can say from experience, tliat no toil-worn and ex- 
 luiusted party could have the least chance of existence 
 bv i>'oin<x there. 
 
 '' On the other hand, from my knowledge of Sir John 
 Franklin, (having been three times on discovery to- 
 gether,) I much doubt if he would quit his ship at all, 
 except in u boat ; for any attempt to cross the ice a long 
 distance on foot would bo tempting deatii ; and it is too 
 hiliorious a task to sledge far over such an imeven sur- 
 face as those regions generally present. That great 
 mortality must have occurred, ana that one ship, as Sir 
 K. Beaufort hints at, may be lost, are greatly to be feared ; 
 and, as on all former expeditions, if the survivors are 
 ])aralyzed by the depressing attacks of sc^irvy, it would 
 then be impossible for them, however desirous they 
 miglit be, to leave the ship, which must thus become 
 tlieir last most anxious abode. 
 
 "If, however, open water should have allowed Sir 
 John Franklin to have resorted to his boats, then I am 
 persuaded he would make for either the Mackenzie 
 Kiver, or, which is far more likely, from the almost 
 certainty he must have felt of finding provision, Capo 
 
 n 
 
234 
 
 ritOGKKSS OF AKCIIO DISCOVKRV. 
 
 I 
 
 " I am awuro that tlio wliolo cjianccs of lite in this 
 )aintul case depend on food ; bnt wiicn 1 refleet on 
 sir John Franklin's former extraordinary preservation 
 imder miseries and trials of the most severe description, 
 living otlen on 8cra))S of old leather and other refuse, I 
 cannot despair of his finding the means to prolong exist- 
 ence till aid be happily sent^^liim." 
 
 Dr. Sir John Richardson on the same day also sends 
 in his opinion, as requested, on the proposed dispatch 
 of the Enterprise and Investigator to Beliring's Strait : 
 ' " It seems to me to be very desirable that the western 
 shores of the Archipelago of Parry's Islands should bo 
 searched in a high latitude in the manner proposed by 
 the hydrograi>her. 
 
 "If the proposed expedition succeeds in establishing 
 its winter quarters among these islands, parties de- 
 tached over the ice may travel to the eastward and 
 soutlieastward, so as to cross the line of search which it 
 is hoped Mr. Rao has been able to pureuo in the present 
 summer, and thus to determine wnether any traces of 
 the missing ships exist in localities the most remote 
 from Behrmg's Strait and Lancaster Sound, and from 
 whence shipwrecked crews would find the greatest diffi- 
 culty in traveling to any place wliere they could hope 
 to find relief. 
 
 " The climate of Arctic America improves in a sensi- 
 ble manner with an increase of western longitude. On 
 the Mackenzie, on the 135th meridian, the summer is 
 warmer than in any district of the continent in the same 
 
 {)arallel, and it is still finer, and the vegetation more 
 uxuriant on the banks of the Yucon, on the 150th me- 
 ridian. This superiority of climate leads me to infer, 
 that ships well fortified against drift-ice, will find tlie 
 navigation of the Arctic Seas more practicable in its 
 western portion than it has been founa to the eastward. 
 This inference is supported by my own personal expe- 
 rience, as far as it goes. I met with no ice in the month 
 of August, on my late voyage, till I attainea the 123d 
 meridian, and which I was led, from that circumstance, 
 to suppose coincided with the western limits of Parry's 
 Archipelago. 
 
Ol'INIONS AND SLOOKSTlUNS. 
 
 235 
 
 *Tlio grcfttertiicility ot* navigating from tlic west has 
 Leon i)uwert*»lly advocated by others on furiiier occa- 
 Bions ; and tlio chief, ])erliap8 the only reason why the 
 attempt to ))cnctrato tiio Polar Sea from that (luarter 
 lias not been resumed since the time of Cook is, tiiat 
 tlie length of the previous voyage to Behring's Strait 
 would considerably diminish the store of ])rovibion8 ; 
 but the facilities ot obtaining supplies in the Pacific are 
 now 80 augmented, that this objection has no longer thu 
 same force." 
 
 Cai)tain F. W. Beechey, writing from Cheltenham, 
 on the Ist of December, 1849, says : — 
 
 "I quite agree with Sir Francis Beaufort in what ho 
 has stated with regard to any casualties which Sir J. 
 Franklin's 6hii)s may have sustained, and entirel v agree 
 with him and Sir Edward Parry, that the expc(ution \n 
 ])robably hampered among the ice somewhere to the 
 southwcstward of Melville Island ; but there is yet a 
 ])os8ibility which does not appear to have been contem- 
 ]»lated, wliicli is, that of the scurvy having spread among 
 the crew, and incapacitated a large proportion of thoni 
 iVom making any exertion toward their release, or that 
 the whole, in a debilitated state, may yet be clinging 
 by their vessels, existing sparingly upon the provision 
 wiiich a large mortality may have spun out, in the hope 
 of relief. 
 
 " In the first case, that of the sliips being hampered 
 and the crews in good health, I think it certain that, as 
 tlie resources of the ships would bo expended in May 
 last, Sir John Franklin and his crew have abandoned 
 tlie ships, and pushed forward for the nearest point 
 where they might reasonably expect assistance, and 
 which they could reasonably reach. 
 
 "There are consequently three points to which it 
 would be proper to airect attention, and as the case is 
 urgent, every possible method of relief should be ener- 
 getically ])ushed forward at as early a period as possi- 
 dIc, and directed to those points, which,! need scarcely 
 say, are Barrow's Strait, Behring's Strait, and the 
 northern coast of America. 
 
23G 
 
 PKOGliESS OF AliCnC DISCO V Eli Y. 
 
 " Of the measures which can be resorted to on thi 
 northern coast of America, the officers who have hao 
 experience there, and the Hudson's Bay Company, will 
 be able to judge ; but I am of opinion that nothing 
 should be neglected in that quarter ; for it seems to 
 nie almost certain that Sir John Franklin and his crew, 
 if able to travel, have abandoned their ships and made 
 for the continent ; and if they have not succeeded in 
 gaining the Hudson's Bay outposts, they have been 
 overtaken by winter before they could accomplish their 
 purpose. 
 
 " Lastly as to the opinion which naturally forces itself 
 upon us, as to the utility of the sending relief to per- 
 sons whose means of subsistence will have failed them 
 more than a year by the time the relief could reach 
 them, I would' observe, that a prudent reduction of the 
 allowance may have been timely made to meet an 
 emergency, or great mortality may have enabled the 
 survivors to subsist up to the time required, or it may 
 bj that the crews have just missed reaching the points 
 visited by our parties last year before they quitted them, 
 :iii.l in the one case may now be subsisting on the sup- 
 j>lies at Leopold Island, or be housed in eastward of Point 
 LtiiTow, sustaiued by depots which have been fallen in 
 with, or by tlie native supplies ; so that under all the 
 circumstancjGs, I do not consider their condition so 
 utterly hopeless that we should give up the expectation 
 of yet being able to render them a timely assistance. 
 
 " The endeavors to push forward might be continued 
 until the 30th of August, at latest, at 'vAich time, if th< 
 ships be not near some land where they can conven 
 iently ])ass a winter, they must direct their course for 
 the main-land, and seek a secure harbor in which they 
 could remain. And on no account should they risk a 
 winter in the pack, in consequence of the tides and 
 shallow water lying off the coast. 
 
 "Should the expedition reach Herschel Island, or 
 any other place of refuge on the coast near the mouth 
 of the Mackenzie or Colville Rivers, endeavors should 
 be made to communicate information of the ships' posi- 
 
Lnd, or 
 
 1 mouth 
 
 should 
 
 Ls' posi- 
 
 OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 237 
 
 tioti ikhJi snmmer's proceedings through the Hudson's 
 Bay Oonipany or Russian settlements, and by means 
 of iuCerpreters ; and no opportunity should be omitted 
 of gaining from the natives information of the missing 
 ressels, as well as of any boat expeditions that may have 
 ^one forward, as well as of the party under Dr. Rae. 
 
 " If nothing should be heard ot Sir John Franklin in 
 1850, parties of observation should be sent forward in 
 the spring to intercept the route the ship would have 
 pursued, and in other useful directions between winter 
 quarters and Melville Island ; taking especial care that 
 tney return to the ship before the time of liberation 
 of the ships arrives, which greatly depends upon their 
 locality. 
 
 " Then, on the breaking up of the ice, should any 
 favorable appearance of the ice present itself, the expe- 
 dition might be left free to take advantage of such a 
 prospect, or to return round Point Barrow ; making it 
 imperative, however, either to insure their return, so 
 far as human foresight may be exercised, or the cer- 
 tainty of their reaching Melville Island at the close of 
 that season, and so securing their return to England 
 in 1852. 
 
 " If, after all, any unforeseen event should detain the 
 ships beyond the period contemplated above, every 
 exertion should be used, by means of boats and in- 
 terpreters, to communicate with the Mackenzie ; and 
 should any casualty render it necessary to abandon the 
 vessels, it should be borne in mind that the reserve-ship 
 will remain at her quarters until the autumn of 1853, 
 unless she hears of the safety of the ships and boats 
 in other directions ; while in the other quarter. Fort 
 Macpherson, at the entrance of the Mackenzie, may bo 
 relied upon as an asylum. 
 
 "The Plover, or reserve-ship, should be provided 
 with three years' provisions for her own crew, and for 
 contingencies besides. She should be placed as near 
 as possible to Point Barrow, and provided with inter- 
 preters, and the means of offering rewards for infor- 
 mation ] and she should remain at her quarters so long 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 il'. 
 
 
 
238 
 
 PBOOBEBS OF ABCTIC DISCOVEBY. 
 
 as there can be any occasion for her presence in u 6 
 Arctic Seas ; or, if she does not hear any thing ol t.je 
 expedition under Captain Collinson, as long as her 
 provisions will last." 
 
 Sir John Richardson offers the following advice for 
 this expedition: — "If," he says, "it should winter 
 near the mouth of the Yucan or Colville, that river 
 may be ascended in a boat in the montli of June, be- 
 fore the sea ice begins to give way. The river varies 
 in width from a mile and a half to two miles, and 
 flows through a rich, well-wooded valley, abounding in 
 moose deer, and having a comparatively mild climate. 
 A Bussian trading post has been built on it, at the dis 
 tance of three or four days' voyage from the sea, with 
 the current ; but as the current is strong, from nine to 
 twelve days must be allowed for its ascent, with the 
 tracking line. It would be unsafe to rely upon receiv- 
 ing a supply of provisions at the Russian post, as it is 
 not likely that any stock beyond what is necessary for 
 their own use is laid up by the traders ; and the moose 
 deer being a very shy animal, is not easily shot by an 
 unpracticed hunter ; but the reindeer abound on the 
 neighboring hills, and ire much more approachable. 
 The white-fronted goose also breeds in vast flocks in 
 that district of the country, and may be killed in num- 
 bers, without difficulty, in the month of June. 
 
 "If the expedition should winter within a reason- 
 able distance of the Mackenzie, Captain Collinson 
 may have it in his power to send dispatches to England 
 by that route. 
 
 "The river opens in June, and as soon as the ice 
 ceases to drive, may be ascended in a boat, with a fair 
 wind, under sail, or with a tracking line* 
 
 " The lowest post at present occupied by the Ilud- 
 son's Bay Company on this river is Fort Good Hope. 
 The site of this post has been changed several times, 
 but it is at this time on the right bank of the river, in 
 latitude 66° 16' K., and is ten or eleven days' voyage 
 from the sea. At Point Separation, opposite to the 
 middle channel of the delta of the river, and on the 
 
 P: 
 
 c 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 i: 
 r 
 1. 
 
 
 
 I 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 239 
 
 ice 
 fair 
 
 [ud- 
 
 Lope. 
 
 lines, 
 
 Ir, ill 
 
 ^age 
 
 the 
 
 the 
 
 •<)romontoiy which separates the Peel and the Mac- 
 tenzie, there is a case of pemmican (80 lbs.) buried, ten 
 feet distant from a tree, which has its middle branches 
 lopped off, and is marked on the trunk with a broad 
 arrow in black paint. A fire was made over the pit 
 in which the case is concealed, and the remains of the 
 charcoal will point out the exact spot. This hoard 
 was visited last year by a party from Fort Macpher- 
 Bon, Peel's River, when all was safe. 
 
 " Eight bags of pemmican, weighing 90 lbs. each, 
 were deposited at Fort Good Hope in 1848, and would 
 remain there last summer for the use of any boat 
 parties that might ascend the river in 1849 ; but it is 
 probable that part, or the whole, may have been used 
 by the Company by next year. 
 
 "A boat party should be furnished with a small 
 seine and a short herring net, by the use of which a 
 good supply of fish may often be procured in the 
 eddies or sandy bays of the Mackenzie. They should 
 also be provided with a good supply of buck-shot, swan- 
 shot, duck-shot, and gunpowder. The Loucheux and 
 Hare Indians will readily give such provisions as they 
 may happen to have, in exchange for ammunition. 
 They will expect to receive tobacco gratuitously, as 
 they are accustomed to do from the traders. 
 
 "The Mackenzie is the only water-way by which 
 any of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts can be 
 reached from the Arctic Sea. There is a post on the 
 Peel River which enters the delta of the Mackenzie, 
 but no supplies can be procured there. To the east- 
 ward of the Mackenzie no ship-party would have a 
 chance of reaching a trading post, the nearest to the 
 sea being Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, situ- 
 ated on the 61st parallel of latitude, and the interven- 
 ing hilly country, intersected by numerous lakes and 
 rapid rivers, could not be crossed by such a party ir 
 less than an entire summer, even could they depeny 
 on their guns for a supply of food. Neither would 
 be advisable for a party from the ships to attempt to 
 reach the posts on the Mackenzie by way of the Cop- 
 
 ^' 
 
240 
 
 rROGEKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 permine Eiver and Fort Confidence; as, in the ab- 
 sence of means of transport across Great Bear Lake, 
 the journey round that irregular sheet of water, would 
 be long and hazardous. Sear Lake River is more 
 than fifty miles long, and Fort Norman, the nearest 
 post on the Mackenzie, is thirty miles above its mouth. 
 Mr. Rae was ingtructed to engage an Indian family or 
 two to hunt on the tract of country between the Cop- 
 
 E ermine and Great Bear Lake in the summer of 1850 ; 
 ut no great reliance can be placed on these Indians 
 remaining long there, as they desert their hunting 
 quarters on very slight alarms, being in continual 
 dread t>f enemies, real or imaginary. 
 
 " A case of pemmican was buried on the summit ot 
 the bank, about four or five miles from the summit of 
 Cape Bathurst, the spot being marked by a pole planted 
 in the earth, and the exact locality of the deposit by a firo 
 of drift-wood, much of which would remain unconsumed. 
 
 " Another case was deposited in the cleft of a rock, 
 on a small battlemented clifi^, which forms the extreme 
 part of Cape Parry. The case was covered with loose 
 stones ; and a pile of stones painted red and white, 
 was erected immediately in front of it. This clifi" re- 
 sembles a cocked-hat in some points of view, and pro- 
 jects like a tongue from the base of a rounded hill, 
 which is 500 or 600 feet hi^h. 
 
 ' " Several cases of pemmican were left exposed on a 
 ledge of rocks in latitude 68° 35' N., opposite Lambert 
 Island, in Dolphin and Union Strait, and in a bay to 
 the westward of Cape Krusenstern, a small boat and 
 ten pieces of pemmican were deposited under a high 
 cliff, above high water mark, without concealment. 
 The Esquimaux on this part of the coast are not nu- 
 merous, and from the position of this hoard, it may 
 escape discovery by them ; but I have every reason to 
 believe that the locality has been visited by Mr. Rae in 
 the past summer. A deposit of larger size, near Cape 
 Kendall, has been more certainly visited by Mr. Rae." 
 
 Captain Sir J. 0. Ross writes from Haslar, 11th of 
 February, 1860. 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 241 
 
 nu- 
 
 ein 
 
 of 
 
 " With respect to the probable position of the Erebus 
 and Terror, I consider that it is hardly possible they 
 can be anywhere to the eastward of Metville Island| 
 or within 300 miles of Leopold Island, for if that were 
 the case, they would assuredly, during the last spring, 
 have made their way to that point, with the hope of 
 receiving assistance from the whale-ships which, for 
 several years previous to the departure of that expedi- 
 tion from England, had been in the habit of visiting 
 Prince Regent Inlet in pursuit of whales ; and in that 
 case they must have been met with, or marks of their 
 encampments have been found by some of the numer- 
 ous parties detached from the Enterprise and Investi- 
 gator along the shores of that vicinity during the only 
 period of the season in which traveling is practicable 
 in those regions. 
 
 "It is probable, therefore, that during their first 
 summer, vrhich was remarkably favorable for the navi- 
 gation of those seas, they have been enabled (in obedi- 
 ence to their orders) to push the ships to the westward 
 of Banks' land, and have there become involved in the 
 heavy pack of ice which was observed from Melville 
 Island always to be setting past its westernmost point 
 in a southeast direction, and from which pack they may 
 not have been able to extricate their ships. 
 
 " From such a position, retreat to the eastward would 
 be next to impossible, while the journey to the Mac- 
 kenzie River, of comparatively easy accomplishment, 
 together with Sir John Franklin's knowledge of the 
 resources in the way and of its practicability, would 
 strengthen the belief that this measure will have been 
 adopted by them during the last spring. 
 
 "if this be assumed as the present position of the 
 Erebus and Terror, it would manifestly be far more 
 easy and safe to afford them relief by means of an ex- 
 pedition entering Behring's Straits, than from any other 
 direction, as it would not be necessary for the ships to 
 depart so far from the coast of North America as to 
 preclude their keeping up a regular communication 
 with the Russian settlements on the River Oolville, or 
 
 : K 
 
 ^ft- 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 
 ff 
 
242 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVIJSV. 
 
 those of the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth 
 of the Mackenzie, while the whole space between any 
 
 Eosition in which the ships might winter, and Banks' 
 and could be thoroughly examined by traveling par- 
 ties early in the spring, or by boats or steam launches 
 at a more advanced period of the following season." 
 
 Mr. W. Snow, in a letter from New York, dated 7th 
 of January, 1850, suggests a plan for a well organized 
 expedition of as many men as could be fitted out from 
 private funds. " For instance, let a party of 100 picked 
 men, well disciplined and officered, as on board a ship, 
 and accompanied with all the necessary food, scientinc 
 instruments, and every thing useftd on such expeditions, 
 proceed immediately, by the shortest and most avail- 
 able routes, to the lands in tho neighborhood of the un- 
 explored regions. If possible, I would suggest that 
 they should proceed first to Moose Fort, on the south 
 iern part of Hudson's Bay, and thence by small craft 
 to Chesterfield Inlet, or otherwise by land reach that 
 quarter, so as to arrive there at the opening of summer. 
 From this neighborhood let the partv, minus ten men, 
 be divided into three separate detachments, each with 
 specific instructions to extend their researches in a 
 northerly and northwesterly direction. The wfjatern- 
 most party to proceed as near as possible in a direct 
 course to the easternmost limits of discovery yet made 
 from Behring's Straits, and on no account to deviate 
 from that course on the western side of it, but, if ne- 
 cessary, to the eastward. Let the central party shape a 
 course as near as possible to the position of the Mag- 
 netic Pole ; and the easternmost division direct to 
 Prince Regent Inlet, or the westernmost point of dis- 
 covery from the east, and not to deviate from that courso 
 easterly. Let each of these detachments be formed 
 again into three divisions, each division thus consisting 
 of ten men. Let the first division of each detachmeni 
 pioneer the way, followed on the same track by thb 
 second and the third, at stated intervals of time. Oa 
 the route, let the pioneers, at every spot necessary, leave? 
 distinguishing marks to denote the way, and also to 
 
 ^■^i 
 
 i. 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 248 
 
 five information to either of the other two principal 
 etachments as may by chance fall into their track 
 To second the efforts of the three detachments, let con 
 stant succors and other assistance be forwarded by 
 way of Moose Fort, and through the ten men left at 
 Cliesterfield Inlet ; and should the object for which 
 such an expedition was Ti - \ed be happily accom- 
 plished by the return of th<5 lost voyagers, let messen- 
 gers be forwarded with the news, as was done with 
 Captain Back, in the case of Captain Ross. Let each 
 of the exti'eme detachments, upon arriving at their re- 
 spective destinations, and upon being joined by the 
 wliole of their body, proceed to form plans for uniting 
 with the central party, and ascertaining the results 
 already obtained by each by sending parties in that 
 direction. Also, let a chosen number be sent out from 
 each detachment as exploring parties, wherever deemed 
 requisite ; and let no effort be wanted to make a search 
 in every direction where there is a possibility of its 
 proving successful. 
 
 " If a public and more extensive expedition be set on 
 foot, I would most respectfully draw attention to the 
 following suggestions: — Let a land expedition be formed 
 upon a similar plan, and with the same number of men, 
 say 300 or more, as those fitted out for sea. Let this 
 expedition be formed into three great divisions ; the one 
 proceeding by the Athabasca to the Great Slave Lake, 
 and following out Captain Back's discoveries ; the 
 second, through the Churchill district ; or, with the 
 third, according to the plan laid out for a private expe- 
 dition alone ; only keeping the whole of their forces as 
 much as possible bearing upon the points where success 
 may be most likely attamalble. 
 
 " Each of these three great divisions to be subdivided 
 and arranged also as in the former case. The expense 
 of an expedition of this kind, with all the necessary 
 outlay for provisions, &c., I do not think would be more 
 than half what the same would cost if sent by sea ; but 
 of this I am not a competent judge, having no definite 
 means to make a comparison. But there is yet another, 
 
 ,1' 
 
 ■1' 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
 y 
 
244 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIO Dl^OOVKRY. 
 
 and, I cannot help conceiving, a more easy way of ob- 
 viating all difficulty on this point, and of reducing the 
 expense considerably. 
 
 " It must be evident that the present position of the 
 arctic voyagers is iwu( very accessible, either by land 
 or sea, else the distinguished leader at the head of the 
 expedition would long ere this have tracked a route 
 whereby the whole party, or at least some of them 
 could return. 
 
 "In such a case, therefore, the only way to reach 
 them is by, if I may use the expression, /brc^/l^ an ex- 
 pedition on toward them ; I mean, by keeping it con- 
 stantly upheld and pushing onward. There may be, 
 and indeed there are, very great difficulties, and diffi- 
 culties of such a nature that, I believe, they would 
 themselves cause another great difficulty in the procur- 
 ing of men. But, if I might make another bold sug- 
 festion, I would respectfiSly ask our government at 
 ome, why not employ picked men from convicted 
 criminals, as is done^ in exploring expeditions in Aus- 
 tralia ? Inducements might be held out to them ; and 
 by proper care they would be made most serviceable 
 auxiliaries. Generally speaking, men convicted of 
 offenses are men possessed of almost inexhaustible 
 mental resources ; and such men are the men who, 
 with physical powers of endurance, are precisely those 
 required. But this I speak of, merely, if sufficient free 
 men could not be found, and if economy is studied." 
 
 Mr. John McLean, who has been twenty-five years a 
 partner and officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
 has published an interesting narrative of his adven- 
 tures and experience, writing to Lady Franklin from 
 Canada "West, in January, 1850, suggests the following 
 very excellent plan as likely to produce some intelli- 
 gence, if not to lead to a discovery of the party. 
 
 " Let a small schooner of some thirty or forty tons 
 burden, built with a view to draw as little water as 
 possible, and as strong as wood and iron could make 
 her, be dispatched from England in company with the 
 Hudson's Bay ships. This vessel would, immediately 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 245 
 
 on arriving at York Factory, proceed to the Strait 
 termed Sir Thomas Eoe's Welcome, wliich divides 
 Southampton Island from the main-land ; then direct 
 her course to Wager River, and proceed onward until 
 interrupted by insurmountable oostacles. The party 
 being safely landed, I would recommend their remain- 
 ing stationary until winter traveling became practicable, 
 when they should set out for the shores of the Arctic 
 Sea, which, by a reference to Arrowsmith's map, ap- 
 pears to be only some sixty or seventy miles distant ; 
 then dividing in two parties or divisions, the one would 
 proceed east, the other west ; and I think means could 
 be devised of exploring 250 or 300 miles in either 
 direction ; and here a very important question pre- 
 sents itself, — how and by what means is this enterprise 
 to be accomplished ? 
 
 " In the first place, the services of Esquimaux would 
 be indispensable, for the twofold reason, that no reliable 
 information can be obtained from the natives without 
 their aid, and that they alone properly understand the 
 art of preparing snow-houses, or ' igloes,' for winter en- 
 campment, the only lodging which the desolate wastes 
 of the arctic regions afford. Esquimaux understanding 
 the English language sufficiently well to answer our 
 purpose, frequent the Hudson's Bay Company's post 
 in Labrador, some of whom might be induced, (I should 
 fain hope,) to engage for the expedition , or probably 
 the ' half-breed ' natives might do so more readily than 
 the aborigines. They should, if possible, be strong, 
 active men, and good marksmen, and not less than four 
 in number. Failing in the attempt to procure the na- 
 tives of Labrador, theti I should think Esquimaux 
 might be obtained at Churchill, in Hudson's Bay ; the 
 two who accompanied Sir John in his first land expedi- 
 tion were from this quarter." 
 
 An expedition of this kind is to be sent out by Lady 
 Franklin this spring under the charge of Mr. Kennedy. 
 There are various ways of accomplishing this object, 
 the choice of which must mainly depend on the views 
 and wishes of the officer who may undertake the com- 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 ''it 
 
 
 i 
 
 * 
 
 t 
 
 mi 
 m 
 
 h 
 
 m 
 
 
 v.i 
 
240 
 
 rUOOBESB OF AUCnc DISCX)VERV. 
 
 mand. Besides the northern route, or that by Recent 
 Inlet, it is possible to reach Sir James Eoss and Simp- 
 son's Straits from the south, entering Hudson's Ba^, 
 and passing up the Welcome to Rae Isthmus, or agam 
 by entering Chesterfield or Wager Inlet, and gaining 
 the coast by Back's or the Great Fish Eiver. 
 
 By either of these routes a great part of the explora- 
 tion must be made in boats or on foot. In every case 
 the main points to be Bearched are James Eoss's Strait 
 and Simpson's Strait, if indeed there be a passage in 
 that direction, as laid down in Sir John Franklm's charts, 
 though contradicted by Mr. Eae, and considered still 
 doubtful by some arctic navigators. 
 
 . The following extract from the Geograpliical Jour- 
 nal shows the opinion of Franklin upon the search of 
 tills quarter. Dr. Eichardson says,* — " No better plan 
 can be proposed than the one suggested by Sir John 
 Franklin, oi sending a vessel to Wager Eiver, and car- 
 rying on the survey from thence in boats." 
 
 Sir John Franklin observes^f — " The Doctor alludes 
 in his letter to some propositions which he knew I had 
 made in the vear 1828, at the command of his present 
 Majesty, yWilliam IV.,) on the same subject, and partic- 
 ulariy to th<5 suggestion as to proceeding from Eepulse 
 or Wager Bay. * * * A recent careful reading of all 
 the narratives connected with the surveys of the Wager 
 and Eepulse Bays, and of Sir Edward ±*arry's Voyage, 
 together with the information obtained from the Esqui- 
 maux by Sir Edward Parry, Sir John Eoss, and Cap- 
 tain Back^ confirm me in opinion that a successful de- 
 lineation of the coast ea^t of Point Turnagain to the 
 Strait of the Fury and Hecla, would be best attained 
 by an expedition proceeding from Wager Bay, the 
 northern parts of which cannot, I think, be farther dis- 
 tant than forty miles from the sea, if the information 
 received by the above-mentioned officers can be de- 
 pended on." 
 
 Dr. McGormick particularly draws attention to Jones' 
 and Smith's Sounas, recommending a careM exainin 
 
 • Journal of Geographical Society, vol vi, p, 40. t Ibid. p. 43, 
 
 L.Utlii "I itiTA -i . ^ 
 
1 '" . ll 
 
 OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 247 
 
 ation of tliese to their probable termination in tlio 
 Polar Sea : — 
 
 " Jones' Sound, with the "Wellington Channel on the 
 west, may be found to form an island of the land called 
 * North Devon.' All prominent positions on both sides 
 of these Sounds should be searched for flag stavca iind 
 piles of stones, under whcih copper cylinders or but- 
 tles may have been deposited, containing accounts of 
 the proceedings of the missing expedition ; and if suc- 
 cessful in getting upon its track, a clue would be ob- 
 tained to the fate ot our gallant countrymen." 
 
 The Wellington Channel he considers affords one of 
 the best chances of crossing the track of the missing 
 expedition. 
 
 To carry out this plan eflSciently, he recommended 
 that a boat should be dropped, by the ship conveying 
 the searching party out, at the entrance to the Welling- 
 ton Channel in Barrow's Strait ; from this point one or 
 both sides of that channel and the northern shores of 
 the Parry Islands might be explored as far west as the 
 season would permit of. But should the ship be en- 
 abled to look into Jones' Sound, on her way to Lancas- 
 ter Sound, and find that opening free from ice, an 
 attempt might be made by the Boat Expedition to push 
 through it mto the Wellington Channel. In the event, 
 however, of its proving to be merely an inlet, which a 
 short delay would be sufficient to decide, the ship miglit 
 perhaps be in readiness to pick up the boat on its re- 
 turn, for conveyance to its ultimate destination through 
 Lancaster Sound ; or as a precaution against any un- 
 foreseen separation from the ship, a depot of provinions 
 should be left at the entrance to Jones' Sound for the 
 boat to complete its supplies from, after accomplisliing 
 the exploration of this inlet, and to afford the means, 
 if compelled from an advanced period of the season 
 or other adverse circumstances, of reaching some place 
 of refuge, either on board a whaler or some one of the 
 depots of provisions on the southern shores of Barrow's 
 Strait. 
 
 1' 
 
 
 IV 
 
248 
 
 I'KOORESS OF ARCTIC DI8C0VEUY. 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Penny, in charge of tlie Lady Franklin, before 
 <ailin» observed : — 
 
 " It an early passage bo obtained, I would examine 
 Tones' Sound, as I have generally found in all my early 
 voyages clear water at the mouth of that sound, and 
 tJiere is a probability that an earlier passage by tins 
 route might befouna into Wellington Strait, which out- 
 let ought by all means to bo thoroughly examined at 
 the earliest opportunity, since, if Sir J. Franklin had 
 taken tliat route, with the hope of finding a paesaffo 
 "\vo8tward, to the north of tne Parry and Mclvillo 
 Islands, ho may be beyond the power of helping him- 
 self. No trace of the expedition, or practical commu- 
 nication with Wellington Strait, being obtained in this 
 quarter, I would proceed in time to take advantage of 
 tlio first opening of the ice in Lancaster Sound, with 
 the view of proceeding to the west and entering Wel- 
 lington Strait, or, if this should not be practicable, of 
 proceeding farther westward to Cape Walker, and be- 
 yond, on one or other of which places Sir John Frank- 
 lin will probably have left some notices of his course." 
 
 The government has seen the urgent necessity of 
 causing the Wellington Channel to be carefully exam- 
 ined ; imperative orders were sent to Sir James Ross 
 to search it, but he was drifted out of Barrow's Strait 
 against his* will, before be received those orders by the 
 North Star. 
 
 I have already stated that Sir John Franklin's in- 
 structions directed him to try the first favorable open- 
 ing to the southwest after passing Cape Walker ; and 
 failing in that, to try the Wellington Channel. Every 
 officer in the British Service, as a matter of course, 
 follows his instructions, as far as they are compatible 
 with the exigencies of the case, be it what it may, nor 
 ever deviates from them without good and justifiable 
 cause. If, then. Sir John Franklin failed in finding an 
 opening to the southwest of Cape Walker it is reason- 
 able to suppose he obeyed his instructions, and tried 
 the Wellington Channel. The second probability in 
 favor of this locality is, that Sir John Franklin ex- 
 
vlTNlONS AND 8UG0K8T1ON9. 
 
 249 
 
 pressed o many of his friends a favorable opinion of 
 the Wellington Chunnel, and, which is of far more 
 consequence, intimated his opinion ofHcially, and be- 
 fore the expedition was determined upon, that this 
 strait seemed to offer tlie best chance of success. 
 
 Moreover, Capt. Fitzjamcs, his immediate second in 
 command in the Erebus, was strongly in favor of the 
 Wellington Channel, and alwavs so expressed himself. 
 See his letter, before quoted, to Sir John Harrow, p. 203. 
 
 Who can doubt that t- e opinion of Cant. Fitzjames, 
 a man of superior mind, l)elo ved by all wno knew him, 
 and in the service "the observe d of .i!l observers," would 
 have great weight with Su* Johi? Frank'm, e en if Sir 
 John had not been himself predisposed < • listen to him. 
 What adds confirmation to thtae view . i^, that in 1840, 
 a few years prior to the starting of the expedi* )n. Col. 
 Sabine published the deeply inccie^vlng "rfanutivc of 
 Baron Wrangel's Expedition to the Polar Sea, under- 
 taken between the years 1820 and 1823," and iuhis pro 
 face the translator points to the Wellington ChaDncI as 
 the most likely course for the successful accomplishment 
 of the northwest passage. "S itting aside," he says, 
 " the possibility ot the existence of unknown land, the 
 probability of an open sea existing to the north of the 
 rarry islands, and communicating with Behring Strait, 
 appears to rest -on strict analogical reasoning." And 
 again he adds, ** all the attempts to effect the northwest 
 passage, since JBarrov.' \>i t>trait was first passed in 1819, 
 liave consisted in an endeavor to force a vessel by one 
 route or another throiigh this land-locked and ice-encum- 
 bered portion of the Polar Ocean." 
 
 Ko exarainat!^oii has made kuown what may bo the 
 state of the sea to the north of the Parry Islands; 
 whether' wmilar impediments may there present them- 
 selves to navigation, or whether a sea may not there 
 exist offering no difficulties whatever of the Kind, as M. 
 Von Wrangel has shown to be the case to the north of 
 the Siberian Islands, and as by strict analogy we should 
 be justified in expecting. 
 
 Colonel Sabine is an officer of gi*eat scientific expe- 
 
 I 
 
 ^t 
 
 r*. 
 
 if: 
 
250 
 
 PBOORESB OB' AKCTIC DISCOVEKT. 
 
 rience, and from liis having made several polar voya^jcs, 
 he has devoted great attention to all that relates to tnat 
 quarter. He was in constant communication with Sir 
 John Franklin when the expedition was fitting out, and 
 it is but reasonable to suppose that he would be some- 
 what guided bv his opinion. 
 
 We have, then, the opinions of Franklin himself. 
 Colonel Sabine, and Captain Fitzjames, all bearing on 
 this point, and wo must remember that Parry, who dis- 
 covered and named this channel, saw nothing when 
 passing and re-passing it, but a clear open sea to the 
 northward. 
 
 Lieut. S. Osborn, in a paper dated the 4:th of January, 
 1850, makes the following suggestions : — 
 
 "General opinion places the lost expedition to the 
 west of Cape Walker, and south of the latitude of Mel- 
 ville Island. The distance from Cape Bathurst to Banks' 
 Land is only 301 miles, and on reference to a chart it 
 will be seen that nowhere else does the American conti- 
 nent approach so near to the supposed position of Frank- 
 lin's expedition. 
 
 " Banks' Land bears fi'om Cape Bathurst N. 41° 49', 
 E. 302 miles, and there is reason to believe that in the 
 summer season a portion of this distance may be trav- 
 ersed in boats. 
 
 " Dr. Richardson confirms previous reports of the ice 
 being light on the coast east of the Mackenzie River to 
 Cape Bathurst, and informs us that the Esquimaux had 
 seen ' no ice to seaward for two moons.' 
 
 '* Every mile traversed northward by a party from 
 Cape Bathurst would be over that unknown space in 
 which traces of Franklin may be expected. It is advis- 
 able that such a second party be dispatched from Cape 
 Bathurst, in order that the prosecution of Dr. Rae's 
 examination of the supposed channel between Wollas- 
 ton and Victoria Lands may in no way be interfered 
 with, by his attention being called to the westward." 
 
 In March, 1848, the Admiralty announced their inten- 
 tion of rewarding the crews of any whaling ships that 
 brought accurate information of the missing expedition, 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 2 
 
 i>l 
 
 with the sum of 100 guineas or more, according to cir- ' 
 cumstances. Lady Irankiin also about the same time 
 offered rewards of 2000^. and 3000^., to be distributed 
 among the owner, officers, and crew discovering and 
 affording relief to her husband, or making extraordi- 
 nary exertions for the above object, and, if required, 
 bringing Sir John Franklin and his party to England. 
 
 In March, 1850, the following further rewards were 
 offered by the British government to persons of any 
 country : — 
 
 Ist. To any party or person who in the judgment of 
 the Board of Admiralty, shall discover and eSectually 
 relieve the crews of II. M. ships Erebus and Terror, the 
 sum of 20,000^., or, 
 
 2d. To any party or parties, &c., who shall discover 
 and effectually relieve any portion of the crews, or shall 
 convey such intelligence as shall lead to the relief of 
 any of the crew, the sum- of 10,000Z. 
 
 3d. To any party or parties who shall by virtue of 
 his or their efforts, first succeed in ascertaining their 
 fate, 10,000Z. 
 
 In a dispatch from Sir George Simpson to Mr. Kae, 
 dated Lachine, the 21st of January, 1850, he says : — 
 
 "If they be still alive, I feel satisfied that every effort 
 it may be in the power of man to make to succor them 
 will be exerted by yourself and the Company's officers 
 in Mackenzie River ; but should your late search have 
 unfortunately ended in disappointment, it is the desire 
 of the Company that ^ou renew your explorations next 
 summer, if possible. 
 
 " By the anftexed correspondence you will observe that 
 the opinion in England appears to be that our explora- 
 tions ought to be more particularly directed to that por- 
 tion of the Northern Sea lying between Cape Walker 
 on the east, Melville Island and Banks' Land to the 
 north, and the continental shore or the Victoria Islands 
 to the south. 
 
 " As these limits are believed to embrace the course 
 that would have been pursued by Sir John Franklin, 
 Cape Walker being one of the points he was particu- 
 
 ! 
 i 
 
 I* 
 
 
 ■>■* 
 
 \i 
 
 
252 
 
 PKOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 larly instructed to make for, you will therefore be 
 pleased, immediately on the receipt of this letter, to lit 
 out another exploring party, to proceed in the direction 
 above indicated, but varying the route that may have 
 been followed last summer, which party, besides their 
 own examination of the coast and islands, should be 
 instructed to ofter liberal rewards to the Esquimaux to 
 search for some vestiges of the missing expedition, and 
 similar rewards should be offered to the Indians inhab 
 iting near the coast and Peel's River, and the hali-bred 
 , hunters of Mackenzie River, the latter being, perhaps, 
 more energetic than the former ; assuring them that 
 whoever may procure authentic intelligence will be 
 largely rewarded. 
 
 " Simultaneously with the expedition to proceed to- 
 ward Cape Walker, one or two small parties should bo 
 dispatched to the westward of the Mackenzie, in the 
 direction of Point Barrow, one of which might pass over 
 to the Youcon River, and descending that stream to the 
 sea, carry on their explorations in that quarter, while 
 the other, going down the Mackenzie, might trace the 
 coast thence toward the Youcon. And these parties 
 must also be instructed to offer rewards to the natives 
 to prosecute the search in all directions. 
 
 ** By these means there is reason to believe that in 
 the course of one year so minute a search may be made 
 of the coast and the islands, that in the event of the 
 expedition having passed in that direction, some trace 
 of their progress would certainly be discovered. 
 
 " From your experience in arctic discovery, and pe- 
 cul'ar qualifications for such an undertaking, I am in 
 hopes you may be enabled yourself to assume the 
 command of the party to proceed to the northward ; 
 and, as leaders of the two parties to explore the coast 
 to the westward of the Mackenzie, you will have to 
 select such officers of the Company's service within 
 the district as ma^ appear best qualified for the duty : 
 Mr. Murray, I think, would be a very fit man for one 
 of the leaders, and if one party b© sent by way of the 
 Youcon, he might take charge of it. In the event of 
 

 OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 253 
 
 your going on this expedition, you will be pleased to 
 make over the charge of the district to Chief Trader 
 Bell during your absence. 
 
 "In case you may be short-handed, I have by this 
 conveyance instructed Chief Factor Ballenden to en- 
 gage in Red River ten choice men, accustomed to boat- 
 ing, and well fitted for such a duty as will be required 
 of them ; and if there be a chance of their reaching 
 Mackenzie River, or even Athabasca, before the break- 
 ing up of the ice, to forward them immediately. 
 
 " Should the season, however, be too far advanced 
 to enable them to accomplish the journey by winter 
 traveling, Mr. Ballenden is directed to increase the 
 party to fourteen men, with a guide to be dispatched 
 from Red River immediately after the opening of the 
 navigation, in two boats, laden with provisions and 
 flour, and a few bales of clothing, in order to meet, in 
 some degree, the heavy drain that will be occasioned 
 on our resources in provisions and necessary supplies 
 in Mackenzie River. The leader of this party from 
 Red River may, perhaps, be qualified to act as the 
 conductor of one of the parties to examine the coast 
 to the westward." 
 
 On the 5th of February, 1850, another consultation 
 took place at the Admiralty among those officers most 
 experienced in these matters, and their opinions in 
 writing were solicited. It is important, therefore, to 
 submit these as fully as possible to the consideration 
 of the reader. 
 
 The first is the report of the hydrographer of the 
 Admiralty, dated the 29th of January, 1850: — 
 
 " Memorandum hy JRea/r- Admiral Sir Francis Beau- 
 fort, K. a B, 
 
 "The Behring's Strait expedition being at length 
 wiirly off, it appears to me to be a duty to submit to 
 their Lordships that no time should now be lost in 
 equipping another set of vessels to renew the search 
 on the opposite side, through Baffin's Bay ; and this 
 being the fifth year that the Erebus and Terror have 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 ? 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 
 i 
 
 t.' 
 
254 
 
 rnooREss of arctic discovery. 
 
 n 
 
 been absent, and probably reduced to only casual sup- 
 plies of food and fuel, it may be assumed that this 
 search should be so complete and effectual as to leave 
 unexamined no place in which, by any of the supposi- 
 tions that have been put forward, it is at all likely they 
 may be found. 
 
 " Sir John Franklin is not a man to treat his orders 
 M'ith levity, and therefore his first attempt was un- 
 doubtedly made in the direction of Melville Island, and 
 not to the westward. If foiled in that attempt, ho 
 naturally hauled to the southward, and using Banks' 
 Land as a barrier against the northern ice, he would 
 try to make westing under its lee. Thirdly, if both of 
 these roads were found closed against his advance, he 
 perhaps availed himself of one of the four passages 
 between the Parry Islands, including the Wellington 
 Channel. Or, lastly, he may have returned to Baffin's 
 Bay and taken the inviting opening of Jones' Sound. 
 
 " All those four tracks must therefore be diligently 
 examined before the search can be called complete, 
 and the only method of rendering that examination 
 prompt and efficient will be through the medium of 
 steam ; while only useless expense and reiterated dis- 
 appointment will attend the best efforts of sailing ves- 
 sels, leaving the lingering survivors of the lost ships^ 
 as well as their relatives in England, in equal despair. 
 Had Sir James Ross been in a steam vessel, he would 
 not have been surrounded with ice and swept out of 
 the Strait, but by shooting under the protection of Leo- 
 pold Island, he would have waited there till that fatal 
 field had passed to the eastward, and he then would 
 have found a perfectly open sea np to Melville Island. 
 
 "The best application of steam to ice-going vesselt 
 would be Ericson's screw ; but the screw or paddles of 
 any of our moderate-sized vessels might be made t( 
 elevate with facility. Vessels so fitted would not re- 
 quire to be fortified in an extraordinary degree, not 
 more than common whalers. From the log-like quies- 
 cence with which a sailing vessel must await the crush 
 of two approaching floes, they must be as strong aa 
 
 
 
OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 255 
 
 wood and iron can make them ; but the steamer slips 
 out of the reach of the collision, waits till the shock is 
 past, and then profiting by their mutual recoil, darts 
 at once through the transient opening. 
 
 "Two such vessels, and each of them attended by 
 two tenders laden with coals and provisions, would be 
 Buflicient ior the main lines of search. Every promi- 
 nent point of land where notices might have been left, 
 would be visited, details of their own proceedings would 
 be deposited, and each of the tenders would bo left in 
 proper positions, as points of rendezvous on which to 
 fall back. 
 
 "Besides these two branches of the expedition, it 
 would be well to allow the whaling captain (Penny,) to 
 carry out his proposed undertaking. His local knowl- 
 edge, his thorougn acquaintance with all the mysteries 
 of the ice navigation, and his well known skill and 
 resources, seem to point him out as a most valuable 
 auxiliary. 
 
 " But whatever vessels may be chosen for this service, 
 I would beseech their lordsnips to expedite them ; all 
 our attempts have been deferred too long ; and there is 
 now reason to believe that very early in the season, in 
 May or even in April, Baffin's Bay may be crossed be- 
 fore the accumulated ice of winter spreads over its 
 surface. If they arrive rather too soon, they may very 
 advantageously await the proper moment in some of 
 the Greenland harbors, preparing themselves for the 
 coming efforts and struggles, and procuring Esquimaux 
 interpreters. 
 
 " In order to press every resource into the service of 
 this noble enterprise, the vessels should be extensively 
 furnished with means for blasting and splitting the ice, 
 perhaps circular saws might be adapted to the steamers, 
 a launch to each party, with a small rotary engine, 
 sledges for the shore, and light boats with sledge bear- 
 ings for broken ice-fields, balloons for the distribution 
 of advertisements, and kites for the explosion of lofty 
 fire-balls. And, lastly, they should have vigorous and 
 numerous crews, so tnat when detachments are away, 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 ' - 
 
 ':! 
 ii 
 
25G 
 
 ntOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 otlier operations should not be intermitted for want of 
 physical strengtli. 
 
 " As the council of the Ro^al Society, some time ago, 
 thought proper to remind their lordships of the propriety 
 of instituting this search, it would be lair now to call oii 
 tiiat learned body for all the advice and suggestions, 
 that science and philosophy can contribute toward the 
 accomplishment of the great object on which the eyes 
 of all England and indeed of all the world, are now 
 entirely hxed." 
 
 Captain Beechey, writing to the Secretary of the Ad- 
 miralty, 7th of February, 1850, says : — 
 
 " The urgent nature of the case alone can justify the 
 use of ordinary steamers in an icy sea, and great pru- 
 dence and judgment will bo required on the part of 
 their commanders, to avoid being disabled by collision 
 and pressure. 
 
 " 1 would also add, as an exception, that I think Leo- 
 pold Island and Cape Walker, if possible, should both 
 be examined, prior to any attempt being made to pene- 
 trate in other directions from Barrow's Strait, and that 
 the bottom of Regent Inlet, about the Pelly Islands, 
 should not be left unexamined. In the memorandum 
 submitted to their lordships on the 17th of January, 
 1849, this quarter was considered of importance ; and 
 I am still ot opinion, that, had Sir John Franklin aban- 
 doned his vessels near the coast of America, and much 
 short of the Mackenzie River, he would have preferred 
 the probability of retaining the use of his boats until 
 he found relief in Barrow's Strait, to risking an over- 
 land journey via the before-mentioned river ; it must 
 be remembered, that at the time he sailed. Sir George 
 Back's discovery had rendered it very probable that 
 Boothia was an island. 
 
 " An objection to the necessity of- this search seems 
 to be, that had Sir John Franklin taken that route, he 
 would have reached Fury Beach already. However, I 
 cannot but think there will yet be found some good 
 grounds for the Esquimaux sketch, and that their mean- 
 ing has been misunderstood ; and as Mr. M'Cormick is 
 
OPINIONS OF ARCTIC "OTAOERS. 
 
 257 
 
 aut of 
 
 le ago, 
 jpriety 
 call on 
 Bstions, 
 ard the 
 lie eyes 
 re now 
 
 ;lie Ad- 
 
 itify the 
 jat pni- 
 part of 
 jollibiou 
 
 nk Leo- 
 dd both 
 to pene- 
 mci that 
 Islands, 
 iranduin 
 anuary, 
 ;o; and 
 lin aban- 
 id much 
 •referred 
 tts until 
 Ian over- 
 it must 
 George 
 Ible that 
 
 Ih seems 
 [oute, he 
 ever, I 
 
 le good 
 hr mean- 
 
 rmick is 
 
 an enterprising person, whose name has already been 
 before their lorclships, I would submit, whether a boat 
 expedition from Leopold Depot, under his direction, 
 would not satisfactorily set at rest all inquiry upon this, 
 now the onljr quarter unprovided for." 
 
 Captain Sir W. E. Parry states : — 
 
 "I am decidedly of opinion that the main search 
 should be renewed in the direction of Melville Island 
 and Banks' Land, including as a part of the plan the 
 thorough examination of Wellington Strait and of the 
 other similar openings between the islands of the group 
 bearing my name. I entertain a crowing conviction of 
 the probabilitjr of the missing ships, or at least a con- 
 siderable portion of the crews, being shut up at Mel 
 villo Island, Banks' Land, or in that neigliborhood, 
 agreeing as I do with Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beau- 
 fort, in Ti'3 report read yesterday to the Board that * Sir 
 John Franklin is not a man to treat his orders with 
 levity,' which he would be justly chargeable with doing 
 if he attached greater weight to any notions he might 
 personally entertain than to the Admiralty instructions, 
 M'hich he well knew to be founded on the experience of 
 former attempts, and on the best information which 
 could then be obtained on the subject. For these rea- 
 sons I can scarcely doubt that he woidd emj^loy at least 
 two seasons, those of 184:5 and 1846, in an unremitting 
 attempt to penetrate directly westward or south westward 
 to Behring's Strait. 
 
 " Supposing this conjecture to be correct, nothing can 
 be more likely than that Sir John Franklin's ships, hav- 
 ing penetrated in seasons of ordinary temperature a 
 considerable distance in that direction, have been locked 
 up by successive seasons of extraordinary rigor, thus 
 baffling the efforts of their weakened crews to escape 
 from the ice in either of the two directions by Behring's 
 or Barrow's Straits. 
 
 "And here I cannot but add, that my own conviction 
 of this probability — for it is only with probabilities 
 that we have to deal — has been greatly strengtlumed 
 by a letter I have lately received from Col. Sabine, of 
 
 • ij 
 
 *l 
 
 ' 1 
 
 .If 
 
258 
 
 PKOORKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 the Royal Artillery, of which I had the honor to sub- 
 mit a copy to Sir Francis Baring. Colonel Sabine 
 having accompanied two successive expeditions to Baf- 
 fin's Bay, including that under mv command which 
 reached Melville Island, I consider his views to be well 
 worthy of their lordships' attention on this part of the 
 subject. 
 
 "It must be admitted, however, that considerable 
 weight is due to the conjecture which has been offered 
 by persons capable of forming a sound judgment, that 
 having failed, as I did, in the attempt to penetrate west- 
 ward. Sir John Franklin might deem it prudent to re- 
 trace his steps, and was enabled to do so, in order to try 
 a more northern route, either through Wellington Strait 
 or some other of those openings between the Parry 
 Islands to which I have already referred. And this idea 
 receives no small importance from the fact, (said to be 
 beyond a doubt,) of Sir John Franklin having, before 
 his departure, expressed such an intention in case of 
 failing to the westward. 
 
 "I cannot, therefore, consider the intended search to 
 be complete without making the examination of Wel- 
 lington Strait and its adjacent openings a distinct part 
 of the plan, to be performed by one portion of the 
 vessels which I shall presently propose for the main 
 expedition. 
 
 " Much stress has likewise been laid, and I think not 
 altogether without reason, on the propriety of search- 
 ing Jones' and Smith's Sounds in the northwest parts of 
 Baffin's Bay. Considerable interest has lately been at- 
 tached to Jones' Sound, from the fact of its having been 
 recently navigated by at least one enterprising whaler, 
 and found to be of great width, free from ice, with a 
 swell from the westward, and having no land visible from 
 the mast-head in that direction. It seems more than 
 probable, therefore, that it may be found to communi- 
 cate with Wellington Strait ; so that if Sir John Frank- 
 lin's ships have been detained anywhere to the north- 
 ward of the Parry Islands, it would be by Jones' Sound 
 that he would probably endeavor to eflect his escape, 
 
OriNIOKS AND SUGQESTIONb. 
 
 259 
 
 rather than by the less direct route of Barrow's Strait. 
 I do not nivself attach much importance to the idea of 
 Sir John Franklin having so far retraced his steps as 
 to come back through Lancaster Sound, and recom- 
 mence his enterprise by entering Jones' Sound ; but 
 the possibility of his attempting his escape through 
 this iine opening, and the report, (though somewhat 
 vague,) of a cairn of stones seen by one of the whalers 
 on a headland within it, seems to me to render it highly 
 expedient to set this question at rest by a search in 
 this direction, including the examination of Smith's 
 Sound also." 
 
 I beg to cite next an extract from the letter of Dr. Sir 
 John liichardson to the Secretary of the Admiralty : — 
 
 '''•Ilaslar Hospital^ Gosport^^th of February ^ 1850. 
 
 " "With respect to the direction in which a successful 
 search may be predicated with the most confidence, 
 very various opinions have been put forth ; some have 
 supposed either that the ships were lost before reaching 
 Lancaster Sound, or that Sir John Franklin, finding an 
 impassable barrier of ice in the entrance of Lancaster 
 Sound, may have sought for a passage through Jones' 
 Sound. I do not feel inclined to give much weight to 
 cither conjecture. When we consider the strength of 
 the Erebus and Terror, calculated to resist the strongest 
 pressure to which ships navigating BaflBn's Bav have 
 been known to be subject, in conjunction with the fact 
 that, of the many whalers which nave been crushed or 
 abandoned since the commencement of the fishery, the 
 crews, or at least the greater part of them, have, in 
 almost every case, succeeded in reaching other ships, or 
 the Danish settlements, we cannot believe that the two 
 discovery ships, which were seen on the edge of the 
 middle ice so early as the 26th of July, can have been 
 so suddenly and totally overwhelmea as to preclude 
 some one of the intelligent oflicers, whose minds were 
 prepared for every emergency, with their select crews 
 of men, experienced in 3ie ice, from placing a boat on 
 the ice or water, and thus carrying intelligence of tho 
 
 .■J 
 
 4 \ 
 
2C0 
 
 mOORESS OF AIICTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 disaster to one of the many whalers which remained for 
 two months after that date in those seas, and this in tlio 
 absence of any unusual catastrophe among the fishing 
 vessels that season. 
 
 " "With respect to Jones' Sound, it is admitted by all 
 who are intimately acquainted with Sir John Franklin, 
 that his first endeavor would be to act up to the letter 
 of his instructions, and that therefore ne would not 
 lightly abandon the attempt to pass Lancaster Sound. 
 From the logs of the whalers year after year, we learn 
 that when once they have succeeded in rounding tlie 
 middle ice, they enter Lancaster Sound with facUity : 
 had Sir John Franklin, then, gained that Sound, and 
 from the premises we appear to be fully justified in 
 concluding that he did so, and had he afterward en- 
 countered a compact field of ice, barring Barrow's 
 Strait and Wellington Sound, he would then, after be- 
 ing convinced that he would lose the season in attempt 
 ing to bore through it, have borne up for Jones' Sound, 
 but not until he had erected a conspicuous landmark, 
 and lodged a memorandum of his reason for deviating 
 from his instructions. 
 
 "The absence of such a signal-post in Lancaster 
 Sound is an argument against the expedition having 
 turned back from thence, and is, on the other hand, a 
 strong support to the suspicion that Barrow's Strait wiT^ 
 as open in 1845 as when Sir W. E. Parry first passed 
 it in 1819 ; that, such being the case, Sir John Frank 
 lin, without delay and without landing, pushed on to 
 Cape "Walker, and that, subsequently, in endeavoring 
 to penetrate to the southwest, he became involved in 
 the drift ice, which, there is reason to believe, urged 
 by the prevailing winds and the set of the flood tides, 
 is carried toward Coronation Gulf, through channels 
 more or less intricate. Should he have found no open- 
 ing at Cape "Walker, he would, of course, have sought 
 one further to the west ; or, finding the southerly and 
 westerly opening blocked by ice, he might have tried a 
 northern passage. 
 
 " In either case, the plan of search propounded by 
 
 
OPINIONS AND HU(JGL8TlONH. 
 
 261 
 
 en- 
 
 Sir FmnciH l>caufort Roonm to provide nf^'Jiinst overv' 
 contingency, cHpeciiilly when taken in conjunction with 
 Ciinttiin Collinnon's expedition, via lieliring'a Strait, 
 and the hoat parties from the Mackenzie. 
 
 " I do not venture to offer an opinion on the Btrcngtli 
 or equipment of tlie vessels to be employed, or other 
 merely nautical questions, further than by remarking, 
 that the use of the small vessels, which forms part of 
 Sir Francis Beaufort's scheme, is supported by the suc- 
 cess of the early navigators with their very small craft, 
 and the late gallant exploit of Mr. Shedden, in round- 
 ing Icy Capo and Point Barrow, in the J^ancy Dawson 
 yacht. 
 
 " And further, with respect to the comparative merits 
 of the paddles and screw in the arctic seas, I beg leave 
 merely to observe, that as long as the screw is immersed 
 in water it will continue to act, irrespective of the tern 
 peraturo of the air ; but when, as occurs late in tiio 
 autumn, the atmosphere is suddenly cooled below tho 
 freezing point of sea water, by a northerly gale, while 
 the sea itself remains warmer, the i)addles will bo 
 speedily clogged by ice accumulating on the floats as 
 tliey rise through the air in every revolution. An in- 
 cident recorded by Sir James C. lloss, furnishes a strik- 
 ing illustration of the powerful action of a cold wind ; 
 I allude to a fish having been thrown u]> by the spray 
 Jigainst the bows of the Terror, and firmly frozen there, 
 during a gale in a high southerly latitude. Moreover, 
 even with the aid of a ready contrivance for topping 
 the ])addle8, the flatness or hollowness of the sides of a 
 paddle steamer renders her less fit for sustaining pres- 
 sui'e ; the machinery is more in the way of oblique 
 beams for strengthening, and she is less efficient as a 
 sailing vessel when the steam is let off." 
 
 Memorandum inclosed in Dr. WCormiclc's Letter 
 of the 1st of January^ 1850. 
 
 " In the month of April last, I laid before my Lords 
 Commissioners of the Admiralty a plan of search for 
 the missing expedition under the command of Captain 
 
202 
 
 rU«)(JKi:M OK AKC-' f ;;:ytON KliV. 
 
 Sir John Frmiklin, hy inetuiB of ii liont expedition up 
 JoneH^ and Sniitli^b bouudB, voluntoering niyeelf to 
 conduct it. 
 
 *^ In tiiiitplan I stated tlio reasons which had induced 
 mo to direct my attention more especially to the open- 
 ings at the Iiead of l^afiin^s 13ay, whicli, at the time, 
 were not included within the general scheme of search. 
 
 "Wellington Channel, however, of all the ])robal)lo 
 openings into the l*olar Sea, possesses the higliept de- 
 gree of interest, and the exploration of it is of such 
 paramount importance, that 1 should most unquestion- 
 ably have comprised it within my plan of search, had 
 not Her Majesty's ships Enterprise and Investigator 
 been employed at the time in Barrow's Strait for the 
 express purpose of examining this inlet and Capo 
 Walker, two of the most essential ix^ints of search in 
 the whole track of the Erebits and Terror to the west- 
 ward ; being those points at the very threshold of his 
 ontei^prise, from which Sir John Franklin would take 
 his departure from the known to the unknown, whether 
 lie shaped a southwesterly course from the latter, or 
 attempted the passag^o in a higher latitude from the 
 former point. 
 
 " The return of the sea expedition from Port Leo- 
 pold, and the overland one from the Mackenzie River, 
 both alike unsuccessful in their search, leaves the fate 
 of the gallant Franklin and his companions as })Foblc- 
 matical as ever ; in fact, the case stands precisely as it 
 did two years ago ; the work is yet to bo begun ; every 
 thing remains to bo accomplished. 
 
 " In renewal of the search in the ensuing spring, 
 more would be accomplished in boats than in any other 
 way, not only by Behring^s Strait, but from the east- 
 ward. For the difficulties attendant on icy navigation 
 which form so insuperable a barrier to the progress of 
 ships, would be readily surmounted by boats ; by means 
 of which the coast line may be closely examined for 
 cairns of stones, under which Sir John Franklin would 
 most indubitably deposit memorials of his progress 
 ^n all prominent positions, as opportunities might offer. 
 
Ol'lNluNH AM> bUUULUTlONti. 
 
 203 
 
 Lco 
 
 "Tho diricovery of one of these nioiiiciitort wmiM, in 
 a i probability, atiord a clue that iiii^ht lead to the rcH- 
 ctic of our cntorpriHiiig countrymen, ere anotintr and 
 sixth winter close in upon them, should they be still 
 in oxistonco ; and the time has not yet arrived for aban- 
 doning hope. 
 
 "In renewing once more the oflfer of my services, 
 which r do most cheerfully, I see no reason for chang- 
 ing the opinions I entertained last sprin<^; Hu1)se<[ueiit 
 events have only tended to conlirm them. I then be- 
 lieved, and I do so still, after a long and nuiturc con- 
 sideration of the subject, that Sir John Franklin's shipd 
 have been arrested in a high latitude, and beset in tifu 
 heavy polar ice northward of the Parry Islands, and 
 that their probable course thither has been through the 
 Wellington Channel, or one of the sounds at the north- 
 ern extremity of Baffin's Bay. 
 
 "This ai)pears to mo to be the only view of the case 
 that can in any way account for the entire absence oi' 
 all tidings of them throughout so protracted a period 
 of time (unless all have perished by some sudden and 
 overwhelming catastrophe.) 
 
 "Isolated as their position would be under snch cir- 
 cumstances, any attempt to reach the continent of 
 America at such a distance would be hopeless in the 
 extreme : and the mere chance of any party from the 
 fillips reaching the top of Baffin's Bay at the very mo- 
 ment of a whaler's brief and uncertain visit would bo 
 Attended with by far too great a risk to justify the at- 
 tempt, for failure would insure inevitable destruction 
 to the whole party; therefore their only alternative 
 would be to keep together in their ships, should no dis- 
 aster have happened to them, and by husbanding their 
 remaining resources, eke them out with whatever wild 
 animals may come within their reach. 
 
 " Had Sir John Franklin been able to shape a south- 
 westerly course from Cape Walker, as directed by his 
 instructions, the probability is, some intelligence of 
 him would have reached this country ere this, (nearly 
 five years Laving already elapsed since his departm-e 
 
 12 
 
 m 
 
264 
 
 rtiOGKESS OF AKCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 from it.) Parties would have been sent out from his 
 ships, either in the direction of the coast of America 
 or Barrow's Strait, whichever happened co be the most 
 accessible. Esquimaux would have been fallen in 
 with, and tidings of the long-absent expedition have 
 been obtained. 
 
 " Failing in penetrating beyond Cape "Walker, Sir 
 John Franklin would have left some notice of his fu- 
 ture intentions on that spot, or the nearest accessible 
 one to it ; and should he then retrace his course for the 
 Wellington Channel, the most probable conjecture, he 
 would not pass up that inlet without depositing a fur- 
 ther account of his proceedings, either on the western 
 or eastern point of the entrance to it. 
 
 " Therefor t^ should my proposal meet with their 
 Lordships' approbation, I would most respectfully sub- 
 mit, that the party I have volunteered to conduct 
 should be landed at the entrance to the Wellington 
 Channel, or the nearest point attainable by any ship 
 that their Lordships may deem fit to employ in a fu- 
 ture search, consistently with any other services that 
 ship may have to perform ; and should a landing bo 
 eifected on the eastern side, I would propose commenc- 
 ing the search from Cape Riley or Beechey Island in 
 a northeriy direction, carefully examining every re- 
 markable headland and indentation of the western 
 coast of North Devon for memorials of the missing ex- 
 pedition; I would then cross over the Wellington 
 Channel and continue the search along the northern 
 shore of Cornwallis Island, extending the exploration 
 to the westward as far as the remaining portion of tlio 
 season would permit, so as to secure the retreat of the 
 party before the winter set in, returning either by the 
 eastern or western side of Cornwallis Island, as cir- 
 cumstances might indicate to be the most desirable at 
 the time, after ascertaining the general extent and 
 trending of the shores of that island. 
 
 "As, however, it would be highly desirable that 
 Jones' Bound should not be omitted in the search, more 
 especially ae a whaler, last season, reached its entrance 
 
OPlNIOxSS AND SUOGESTIOInP. 
 
 2f)5 
 
 and reported it open, I would furlner pffo^pose, that tlie 
 ship conveying the exploring party out should look into 
 this opening on her way to Lancaster Sound, if circum- 
 stances permitted of her doing so early in the season ; 
 and, if found to be free from ice, the attempt might be 
 made by the boat expedition to push through it to the 
 westward in this latitude ; and should it prove to be 
 an opening into the Polar Sea, of which I think there 
 can be little doubt, a great saving of time and distance 
 would be accomplished. Failing in this, the ship should 
 be secm'ed in some central position in the vicinity of 
 the Wellington Channel, as a point d^appui to tall back 
 upon in the search from that quarter. 
 
 (Signed,) K. M'Coemick, K. N. 
 
 " Twickenham^ 1st of Janua/ry^ 1850." 
 
 Outline of a Plan of an Overland Journey to the 
 Polar Sea, hy the Way of the Coppermine Biver, 
 in Search of Sir John M'anMin^s Mopediticm, sug- 
 gested in 1*84:7. 
 
 " If Sir John Franklin, guided by his instructions, 
 has passed through Barrow's Strait, and shaped a south- 
 westerly course, from the meridian of Cape "Walker, 
 with the intention of gaining the northern coast ®i the 
 continent of America, and so passing through the Dol- 
 phin and Union Strait, along the shore of that conti- 
 nent, to Behring's Strait; 
 
 " His greatest risk of detention by the ice through- 
 out this course would be found between the parallels of 
 74° and 69° north latitude, and the meridians of 100° 
 and 110° west longitude, or, in other words, that por- 
 tion of the northwest passage which yet remains unex- 
 plored, occupying the space between the western coast 
 of Boothia ou the one side, and the island or islands 
 forming Banks' and Victoria Lands on the other. 
 
 " Should the Erebus and Terror have been beset in 
 the heavy drift-ice, or wrecked among it and the bro- 
 ken land, which in all probability exists there while 
 contending with the prevalent westerly winds in this 
 quarter ; 
 
 \- 
 
2b«5 
 
 PKOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 " Tbo Coppermine River would decidedly offer tho 
 most direct route and nearest approach to that portion 
 of the Polar Sea, and, after crossing Coronation Gulf, 
 the average breadth of the Strait between the Conti 
 nent and Victoria Land is only about twenty-two miles. 
 
 " From this point a careful search should be com- 
 menced in the direction of Banks' Land ; the interven- 
 ing space between it and Yictoria Land, occupying 
 about five degrees, or little more than 300 miles, could, 
 I think, be accomplished in one season, and a retreat to 
 winter quarters effected before the winter set in. As 
 the ice m tlie Coppermine River breaks up in June, 
 the searching party ought to reach the sea by the be- 
 ginning of August, which would leave two of the best 
 months of the year for exploring the Polar Sea, viz : 
 August and September. 
 
 " As it would be highly desirable that every available 
 day, to the latest period of the season, should be de- 
 voted to the search, I should propose wintering on the 
 coast in the vicinity of the mouth of the Coppermine 
 River, which would also afford a favorable position 
 from which to recommence the search in the following 
 spring, should the first season prove unsuccessful. 
 
 " Of course the object of sucn an expedition as I have 
 proposed is not with the view of taking supplies to such 
 a numerous party as Sir John Franklin has under his 
 command ; but to find out his position, and acquaint 
 bim where a depot of provisions would be stored up 
 for himself and crews at my proposed winter quarters, 
 where a party should be left to build a house, establish 
 a fishery, ana hunt for game, during the absence of the 
 searching party. 
 
 " To carry out this plan efficiently, the Hudson's Bay 
 Company should be requested to lend their powerful 
 cooperation in furnishing guides, supplies of pemmican, 
 &c., for the party on their route and at winter quarters. 
 Without entering into details here, I may observe, that 
 I should consider one boat, combining the necessary 
 requisites in L3r construction to fit her for either the 
 river navigation, or that of the shores of the Polar Sea, 
 
Bay 
 
 erful 
 
 ican, 
 
 'ters. 
 
 that 
 
 sary 
 
 the 
 
 Sea, 
 
 OnXIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 207 
 
 would be quite sufficient, with a crew one lialf sailors, 
 and the other half Canadian boatmen ; the latter to be 
 engaged at Montreal, for which place I would propose 
 leaving England in tlie montii of February. 
 
 " Sliould such an expedition even fail in its main ob- 
 ject — tlic discovery ot the position of the missing ships 
 and their crews, the long-sought-for polar passage may 
 be accomplished. 
 
 (Signed,) R. M'Coemick, R. N. 
 
 " Woolwich, 1847." 
 
 Copy of a Letter froin Lieutenant Sherard Oshorn to 
 the Lords Commissioners of the . idiriiralty. 
 
 " Ealing, Middlesex, 4:th January, 1850. 
 
 " My IjOrds, — A second attempt to reach Sir John 
 Franklin's expedition being about to be tried during 
 tlie present year, I take the liberty of calling your at- 
 tention to the inclosed proposition for an overland party 
 to be dispatched to the shores of the Polar Sea, with a 
 view to their traversing the short distance between Capo 
 Bathurst and Banks' L{i.id. My rcasonr. f-T thus tres- 
 passing on your attention ;-v. 3 a-^ follows ; 
 
 "1st. General opiincn ]>]accs the lost expedition to 
 tl.o west of Cape Walkei,, and rridh of iho li^itude of 
 Melville Island. 
 
 " The distance fro n Cape BaiJir.rst to Ba _i^s' Land 
 is only 301 miles, and on r< fercnce to a chart it will bo 
 seen that nowhere else does the American continent 
 approach so near to the supposed position of Franklin's 
 expedition, 
 
 " 2d. As a starting point. Cape Bathurst offers great 
 advantages ; the arrival of a ^'^rty sent there from 
 England may be calculated u^/v/xi tO a day ; whereas 
 the arrival of Captain Collinson in the longitude of 
 Cape Barrow, or that of an eastern expedition in Lan- 
 caster Soimd, will depend upon many uncontrollable 
 contingencies. The distance to bo performed is com- 
 paratively little, and the certainty of being able to fall 
 back upon supplies offers great advantages. Captain 
 
 i 
 
 "ft!"' 
 
 t 
 
 iw 
 
 i. 
 
 k 
 
 htf ' n 
 
268 
 
 TKOaiiESS CF AlKrriC DI.SCO\'Ki:V. 
 
 Iji '|i 
 
 i& ■ 
 
 
 CoUinson ■will have 680 miles of longitude to traverse 
 between Caj^e Barrow and Banks' Land. An Eastern 
 Expedition, if opposed hy the ice, (as -Sir James Ross 
 has been,) and nnable to proceed in their vessels farther 
 than Leopold Harbor, will have to journey on foot 330 
 miles to reach the lonr^itude of Banks' Land, and if 
 any accident occur to their vessels, they will be in as 
 critical a position as those they go to seek. 
 
 ••' 3d. Banks' Land bears from Cape Bathurst N. 41° 
 49' E. 302 miles, and there is reason to believe that in 
 the summer season a portion of this distance may be 
 traversed in boats. 
 
 " i '\ and 5th. Dr. Richardson confirms previous re- 
 ports of the ice being light on the coast east of tiie 
 Mackenzie River to Oapp Bathurst, and informs us 
 that the Esquimaux had seen no ice to seaw^ard for tw< > 
 moons. 
 
 " 6th. Every mile traversed northward by a party 
 from Cape Bathurst would be over that unknown space 
 in which traces of Franklin may be expected. 
 
 " 7th. It is advisable that such a second party be 
 dispatched from Cape Bathurst, in order that the pros- 
 ecution of Dr. Rae's examination of the supposed chan- 
 nel between Wollaston and Victoria Lands may in no 
 way be interfered with by his attention being called to 
 the westward. 
 
 "8th. The caohes of provisions made at difterent 
 points of the Mackenzie and at Cape Bathurst, would 
 enable a party to push down to their starting point with 
 great celerity directly the River Mackenzie opens, 
 which may be as early as May. 
 
 *' I would also remind your Lordships that the pro- 
 posed expedition would carry into execution a very im- 
 portant clause in the instructions given to Sir James 
 Ross ; viz : that of sending exploring parties from 
 Banks' Land in a southwesterly direction toward Cape 
 Bathurst or Cape Parry. 
 
 " In conclusion, I beg to ofier my willing services to- 
 ward the execution of the proposed plan ; and seeking 
 it from no selfish motives, but thoroughly impressed 
 
OPINI03S5 AND r^lQOESTIONS. 
 
 2G9 
 
 Jape 
 
 with its feasibility, you may rest assured, my lords, 
 should I have the honor of being sent upon this service, 
 that I shall not disappoint your expectations. 
 "I have, &c., 
 .^Signed,) " Sheeaed Osborn, Lieut., R. N." 
 
 Coipy of a Letter from Colonel Sabine^ R. A., to Caj^- 
 tavn Sir W. Edward Parry. 
 
 " Castle-down Terra^ct^ Houttings^ 
 " 15^A of Januar^j^ 185(>. 
 
 "There can be little doubt, I imagine, in the miud of 
 any one who has read attentively Franklin's instruc- 
 tions, and, (in reference to them,) your description of 
 the state of tlie ice and of tlie navigable water in 1819 
 and 1820, in the route which he was ordered to pursue; 
 still less, I think, can there oe a doubt in the mind of 
 any one who had the advantage of being with you in 
 those years, that Franklin, (ah/ays supposing no pre- 
 vious disaster,) must have made his way to the south- 
 west part of Melville Island either in 1845 or 1846. It 
 has been said that 1845 was an unfavorable season, and 
 as the navigation of Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay was 
 liGW to Franklin, we may regard it as more probable 
 that it may have taken him two seasons to accomplish 
 what we accom]>iIshed in one. So far, I think, guided 
 by his instructions and by the experience gained in 
 1819 and 1820, we may reckon pretty confidently on 
 the first stage of his proceedings, and doubtless, in his 
 progress he would have left memorials in the usual 
 manner at places where he may have landed, some of 
 which would be likely to fall in the way of a vessel fol- 
 lowing in his track. From the west end of Melville 
 Island our inferences as to his further proceedings must 
 become more conjectural, being contingent on the state 
 of the ice and the existence of navigable water in the 
 particular ecnson. If he found tlie ocean, as we did, 
 covered to tiiP, west and south, as liar as the eye couhl 
 reach from llie summit of the highest hills, with ice of 
 a thickness unparalleled in anv other part of the Polar 
 
 ilii 
 
 ill 
 
 
 i. 
 
270 
 
 riiOGRKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 
 P"^:^^!! 
 
 S' f»>\ ^f'ji 
 
 Sea, he would, after probably waiting through one whole 
 Beason in the hope of some favorable change, have re- 
 traced his fiteps, in obedience to the second part of his 
 instructions, in order to seek an opening to the north 
 which might conduct to a more open sea. In this case 
 some memorial of the season passed by him at the 
 southwest end of Melville Island, and also of his pur- 
 pose of retracing his steps, would doubtless have been 
 left by him ; and should ho subsequently have found 
 an opening to the north, presenting a favorable appear- 
 ance, there also, should circumstances have permitted, 
 would a memorial have been Ijft. 
 
 " lie may, however, have found a more favorable 
 Btate of things at the southwest end of Melville Island 
 than we did, and may have been led thereby to at 
 tempt to fo) ce a passage for his ships in the direct lint* 
 of Behrin^^'s Strait, or perhaps, in the first instance, to 
 the south of that direction, namely, to Banks' Land 
 In such case two contingencies present themselves* 
 first, that in the season of navigation of 1817 he may 
 have made so much progress, that in 1848 he may have 
 preferred the endeavor to push through to Behring's 
 Strait, or to some western part of the continent, to an 
 attempt to return by the way of Barrow's Strait ; thu 
 mission of the Plover, the Enterprise, and the Inves- 
 tigator together with Dr. llae's expedition, supply, 1 
 presume, (^for I am but partially acquainted with their 
 instructions,) the most judicious means of affording re- 
 lief in this direction. There is, however, a second coii- 
 tiiig^ncj .; and it is the one which the impression left 
 on my mind b;- the nature and general aspect of the 
 icf.- in the twelve months which we ourselves passed at 
 the southwest end of Melville Island, compels me, iu 
 spite of my wishes, to regard as the more probable, 
 viz., that his advance from Melville Island in the sea- 
 eon of 1847 may have been limited to a distance of 
 fifty, or perhaps one hundred miles at farthest, and 
 that in 1848 he may have endeavored to retrace hi^ 
 steps, but only with partial success. It is, I apprehend, 
 quite a conceivable case, that under these circumstances, 
 
 
OPINIONS AND SUOOESTIONB. 
 
 271 
 
 hring ;s 
 to nil 
 ; thu 
 
 con- 
 on left 
 of the 
 sed at 
 me, iu 
 biible, 
 le sea- 
 ice of 
 t, and 
 ce liis 
 jliend, 
 ances, 
 
 incapable of extricating the ships from the ice, the 
 crews may have been, at length, obliged to quit them, 
 and attempt a retreat, not toward the continent, because 
 too distant, but to Melville Island, where certainly 
 food, and probably fuel (seals,) might bo obtained, and 
 where they would naturally suppose that vessels dis- 
 patched from England for their relief would, in the 
 lirst instance, seek them. It is quite conceivable also, 
 I apprehend, that the circumstances might be such 
 that their retreat may have been made without their 
 boats, and probably in the April or May of IS-iO. 
 
 "Where the Esquimaux have lived, there Englishmen 
 may live, and no valid argument against the attempt 
 to relieve can, I think, be founded on the improbability 
 of finding Englishmen alive in 1850, who .may have 
 made a retreat to Melville Island in the spring of 1849 ; 
 nur would the view of the case be altered in any ma- 
 terial degree, if we suppose their retreat to Lave been 
 made in 1848 or 1849 to Banks' Land, which may 
 afford facilities of food and fuel equal or superior to 
 Melville Island, and a further retreat iu the following 
 year to the latter island as the point at which they 
 would more probably look out for succor. 
 
 " Without disparagement, therefore, to the attempts 
 made in other directions, I retain my original opinion, 
 which seems also to have been the opinion of the 
 Board of A(imiralty, by which Ross's instructions were 
 drawn up, that the most promising direction for re- 
 search would be taken by a vessel which should follow 
 them to the southwest point of Melville Island, be jn-e- 
 pared to winter there, and, if necessary, to send a 
 party across the ice in April or May to examine Banks' 
 Land, a distance (there and back) less than recently 
 accomplished by Ross in his land journey. 
 
 "I learn from Ross's dispatches, that almost imme- 
 diately after he got out of Port Leopold (1849,) he was 
 entangled in apparently interminable fields and tlooa 
 of ice, with which, in the course of the summer, ho 
 was drifted down through Barrow's Strait and Baffin's 
 Bay nearly to Davis' Strait. It is reasooftble to pro- 
 
 Li* 
 
272 
 
 PROGRESn OF ARCTIC PISCOTERY. 
 
 Bumo, therefore, that the localities from whence thi^ 
 ice drifted are likely to be less encumbered than usua 
 by accumulated ice in 1850. It is, of course, of the 
 highest importance to reach Barrow's Strait at the ear 
 liest possible period of the season ; and, connected witi 
 this point I learn from Captain Bird, whom I had tlu 
 pleasure of seeing here a few days ago, a very remark 
 able fact, that the ice which prevented their crossing 
 Baffin's Bay in 72° or 73° of latitude (as we did iii 
 1819, arriving in Barrow's Strait a month earlier than 
 we had done the preceding year, when we went round 
 by Melville Bay, and nearly a month earlier than Rtiss 
 did last year) was young ice, which had formed in the 
 remarkably calm summer of last year, and which the 
 absence of wind prevented their forcing a passage 
 through, on the one hand, while on the other, the ice 
 was not heavy enough for ice anchors. It was, he said, 
 not more than two or two and a half feet thick, and ol)- 
 viously of very recent formation. There must, there- 
 fore, liave been an earlier period of the season when 
 this part of the sea must have been free from ice ; and 
 this comes in confirmation of a circumstance of which 
 I was informed by Mr. Petersen (a Danish gentleman 
 eent to England some months ago by the Northern So- 
 ciety of Antiquaries of Copenhagen, to make extracts 
 from books and manuscripts in the British Museum,) 
 that the Northmen, who had settlementEu some centu- 
 ries ago on the west coast of Greenland, were in the 
 habit of crossing Baffin's Bay in the latitude of Uper- 
 navic in the spring of the year, for the purpose of fish- 
 ing in Barrow's Strait, from whence they returned in 
 August ; and that in the early months they generally 
 found the passage across free from ice. 
 
 " In the preceding remarks, I have left one contin- 
 gency unconsidered ; it is that which would have fol 
 lowed in pursuance of his instructions, if Franklin should 
 liavo found tlie aspect of the ice too imfavorablo to the 
 W'est and south of Melville Island to attempt to force a 
 passage tlirongh it, and should base retraced his ntepn 
 m liopes of iiii'ling a more ^^pen aea to the northward, 
 
OPINIONS AND SnOOKSTIONfl. 
 
 273 
 
 Hither in Wellington Strait or elsewhere. It is quite 
 conceivable that licre also the expedition may have en- 
 countered, at no very great distance, insuperable ditti- 
 culties to their advance, and may have failed in accom- 
 plishing a return witli their ships. In this case, the 
 retreat of the crews, supposing it to have been nuide 
 across land or ice, would most probably be directed to 
 some part of the coast on the route to Melville Island, 
 on which route they would, without doubt, expect that 
 succor would be attempted." 
 
 Mr. Robert A. Goodsir, a brother of Mr. 11. D. Good- 
 sir, the assistant-surgeon of Sir John Franklin's ship, 
 the Erebus, left Stromness, as surgeon of the Advice, 
 whaler, Capt. Penny, on the 17th of March, 1849, in 
 the hopes of gaining some tidings of his brother ; but 
 returned unsuccesstul after an eight months' voyage, 
 lie has, however, published a very interesting little 
 narrative of the icy regions and of his arctic voyage. 
 
 In a letter to Lady Franklin, dated Edinburgh, 18th 
 of January, 1850, he says : — " I trust you are not allow- 
 ing yourself to become over-anxious. I know that, 
 although there is much cause to be so, there is still not 
 the slightest reason that we should despair. It may be 
 presumptuous in me to say so, but I have never lor a 
 moment doubted as to their ultimate safe return, having 
 always had a sort of presentiment that I would meet my 
 brother and his companions somewhere in the regions 
 in which their adventures are taking place. This nope 
 I have not yet given up, and I trust tnat by next sum- 
 mer it may be ftilfilled, when an end will be put to the 
 suspense which has lasted so long, and which must have 
 tripd you so much." 
 
 The arctic regions, far from being so destitute of ani- 
 mal life as might be supposed from the bleak and inhos- 
 Eitable character of the climate, are proverbial for the 
 oundless profusion of various species of the animal 
 kingdom, which arc to be mot witli in different locali- 
 ties during a great part of the year. 
 
 The air is often darkened by innumerable flocks of 
 arctic and blue gulls, {Lestris Parasiticus^ and Lariis 
 
 ii 
 
 ,1 
 
 m 
 
274 
 
 I»R()ORKSS OF AllCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 glaucusi) tho ivory gull or 8no^*-bird, {Larua chtnieuSj) 
 the kittiwake, the tulmar or poirel, snow ceese, terns, 
 couiis, dovckicc, iSzc. The cetaceou.s anitTiRlH conmriRC 
 the great Greenland whale, {Balmna r/iyaticetus^) the 
 sea unicorn or narwhal, {Moiiodon monoceros^ tho 
 white whale or beluga, (Delpldnua leucos,) tho morse 
 or walrus, (Trlchecus rosmarua^ and the seal. There 
 are also plenty of porpoises occasionally to be met with, 
 and although these animals may not be the best of food, 
 yet tliey can bo eaten. Of the land animals I may in- 
 stance tho polar bear, the musk-ox, the reindeer, tho 
 arctic fox and wolves. 
 
 Parry obtained nearly 40001b8. weight of animal food 
 during his winter resiaence at Melville Island ; Ross 
 nearly tho same quantity from birds alone when winter- 
 ing at Port Leopold. 
 
 In 1719, the crews of two Hudson's Bay vessels, the 
 Albany and Discovery, a ship and sloop, under the 
 command of Mr. Barlow and Mr. Knight, were cast on 
 shore on Marble Island, and it was subsequently ascer- 
 tained that some of the party supported life for nearly 
 three years. Mr. Hearne learneu the particulars from 
 some of the Esquimaux in 1729. The ship it appeared 
 went on shore in the fall of 1719 ; the party being then 
 in number about fifty, began to build their house for 
 the winter. As soon as the ice permitted in the follow- 
 ing summer the Esquimaux paid them another visit, and 
 found tho number of sailors much reduced, and very 
 unhealthy. 
 
 Sickness and famine occasioned such havoc among 
 them that by the petting in of the second winter, their 
 number was reduced to twenty. Some of the Esqui- 
 maux took up their abode at this period on the opposite 
 side of the harbor, and supplied them with what provis- 
 ions they could spare in the shape of blubber, seal's 
 fl^sh, and train oil. 
 
 The Esquimaux left for their wanderings in the 
 spring, and on revisiting the island in the summer of 
 1721, only five of the crews were found alive, and these 
 were so ravenous for food, that they devoured the blub- 
 
ABUNDANCK or ANIMAL FOOD MIT WITH. 
 
 07 r 
 
 eir 
 ui- 
 ite 
 
 ds- 
 
 the 
 of 
 
 l)cr and bquVh ilesli mw, as they jnirchasod it of tho 
 nativos, •Nvhieli proved so injurious in their weak state, 
 tliat three of tlieni (li«i(l in a few days. Tlio two sur- 
 vivors, though very weak, managed to bury their com- 
 rades, and protracted their existence for some days 
 lonfjer. 
 
 "They frequently," in the •words of the narraMve, 
 •'went to the top of an adj^ent rock, and earnestly 
 looked to the sou^lt and east, as if in expectation of*sonie 
 vessels coming ^ leir relief. After continuing tlii^ro 
 a considerable tmio, and nothing appearing in sight, 
 they sat down close together, and wept bitterly. At 
 length one of the two died, and the other's strength was 
 so far exhausted, that ho fell down and died also in 
 attcnnpting to dig a grave for his companion. The skulls 
 and otlier large bones of these two men are now lying 
 al)ove grounff close to the house." 
 
 Sir John Richardson, speaking of tho amount of food 
 to be obtained in the polar region, says, " Deer migrate 
 over the ice in the spring from the main shore to Vic- 
 toria and Wollaston Lands in large herds, and return in 
 the autumn. These lands are also the breeding places 
 of vast flocks of snow geese ; so that with ordinary 
 skill in hunting, a largo supply of food might be pro- 
 cured on their shores, in the months of June, July, and 
 August. Seals are also numerous in those seas, and 
 are easily shot, their curiosity rendering them a ready 
 prey to a boat party." In these ways and by fishing, 
 the stock of provisions might be greatly augmented — 
 and wo have the recent example of Mr. Kae, who 
 passed a severe winter on the very barren shores of 
 Repulse Bay, with no other fuel than the withered tufts 
 of a herbaceous andromada, and maintained a numer- 
 c»us party on the spoils of the chase alone for a whole 
 year. Such instances, forbid us to lose hope. Should 
 Sir John Franklin's provisions become so far inade- 
 quate to a winter's consumption, it is not likely that ho 
 would remain longer by his ships, but rather that in 
 one body, or in several, the officers and crews, with 
 boats cut down so as to be light enough to drag over 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STRiET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
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27G 
 
 PROORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 the ice, or built expressly for that purpose, would en- 
 deavor to make their way eastward to Lancaster Sound, 
 or southward to the main-land, according to the longi- 
 tude in which the ships were arrested. 
 
 We ought not to judge of the supplies of food that 
 can be procured in the arctic regions by diligent hunt- 
 ing, from the quantities that have been actually ob- 
 tained on the several es^^editions that have returned, 
 and consequently of the means of preserving life there. 
 When there was abundance in the ships, the address 
 arid energy of the hunting parties was not likely to be 
 called fortn, as they woula inevitably be when the exis- 
 tence of the crews depended solely on their personal 
 efforts, and formed their chief or only object in their 
 march toward quarters where relief might be looked 
 for. This remark has reference to the supposition that 
 on the failure of the stock of provisions in the ships, 
 the crews would, in separate parties under their officers, 
 seek for succor in several directions. 
 
 With an empty stomach, the power of resisting exter- 
 nal cold is greatly impaired ; out when the process of 
 digesting is going on vigorously, even with compara- 
 tively scanty clothing, the neat of the body is preserved. 
 There is in the winter time, in high latitudes, a craving 
 for fat or oleaginous food, and for such occasions the 
 flesh of seals, walruses, or bears, forms a useful article 
 of diet. Captain Cook says that the walrus is a sweet 
 and wholesome article of food. Whales and seals would 
 also furnish light and fuel. The necessity for increased 
 food in very cold weather, is not so great when the 
 people do not work. 
 
 Mr. Gilpin, in his narrative in the Nautical Maga- 
 zine for M!arch, 1850, writes thus : — 
 
 "About the 20th of June a small water bird, called 
 the doveky, had become so numerous, and so many 
 were daily shot by those who troubled themselves to go 
 after them, that shooting parties from each ship, con- 
 sisting of an officer and marine, were established at 
 Whaler Point, where they remained the whole week, 
 returning on board on Saturday night. In a week or 
 
ADUNDAKCK OF ANIMAL FOOD MET WITH. 
 
 277 
 
 Laga- 
 
 jalled 
 lany 
 I to go 
 L con- 
 led at 
 reek, 
 bck or 
 
 so after this the coon, a much lieavier bird, became 
 more plentiful than the little doveky, and from this 
 time to the middle of August, so successful and untir- 
 ing were our sportsmen, that the crew received each a 
 bird per man a day. 
 
 " The account kept on board the Investigator showed 
 the number of birds killed to have amounted to about 
 4000, and yielding near 25001b8. of meat. But more 
 than tliis was obtained, as many were shot by individ- 
 uals for amusement, and not alwavs noted." 
 
 Mr. Goodsir, surgeon, when in the Advice whaler, on 
 her voyage up Lancaster Sound, in the summer of 18-40, 
 sjK'aking of landing on one of the WoUaston Islands, on 
 tlie west side of Wavy Board Inlet, says he disturbed 
 about half a dozen pairs of the eider-duck {/Somateria 
 mollissima.) Their eggs he found to be within a few 
 hours of maturity. There were, besides, numerous nests, 
 the occupants of which had probably winged their way 
 southward. Two brent geese, (Anser lernicla,) and a 
 single pair of arctic terns, {Sterna arctica^ were most 
 vociferous and courageous in defense of their downy 
 offspring wherever he approached. These were the 
 only birds he saw, with the exception of a solitary ra- 
 ven, {Corvus corax^ not very high overhead, whose 
 sharp and yet musically bell-like croak came startling 
 upon the ear. 
 
 Mr. Snow, in his account of the voyage of the Prince 
 Albert, p. 162, says, (speaking of Melville Bay, at the 
 northern head of Baffin's Bay,) " Innumerable quanti- 
 ties of birds, especially the little auk, {Alca alle^ and 
 the doveky, {Colymhus grylle,) were now seen, (Au- 
 gust 6th,) in every direction. They were to be ob- 
 served in thousands, on the wing and in the water, 
 and often on pieces of ice, where they were clustered 
 together so thick that scores might have been shot at a 
 time by two or three fowling pieces." 
 
 In passing up Lancaster Sound a fortnight later sev- 
 eral snoal of eider-ducks and large quantities of otl>*r 
 birds were also seen. 
 
 I 
 
 ^(1 1 
 
 I 
 
273 
 
 rROGREPS OF ARCTIC DIRCOVFRY. 
 
 A BALLAD OP SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 
 
 " The ice waa here, the ice was there, 
 Tlio ico was all around." — Colkriock. 
 
 Whither sail you. Sir John Franklin ? 
 
 Cried a whiiler in Baffin's Bay ; 
 To know if between the land and the Pola^ 
 
 I may find a broad sea-way. 
 
 I charge you back, Sir John Franklin, 
 
 As yoJ would live and thrive. 
 For between the land and the frozen P<^ 
 
 No man may sail aliva 
 
 But lightly laughed the stout Sir John, 
 
 And spoke unto his men : — 
 Half England is wrong, if he is right ; 
 
 Bear off to westward then. 
 
 O, whither sail vou, brave Knglishraan t 
 
 Cried the little Esquimaux. 
 Between your land and the polar star 
 
 My goodly vessels go. 
 
 Come down, if you would journey there, 
 
 The little Inuian said ; 
 And change your cloth for fur clothing, 
 
 Your vessel for a sled. 
 
 But lightly laughed the stout Sir John, 
 And the crew laughed with him too ; 
 
 A sailor to change m>m ship to sled, 
 I ween, were something new ! 
 
 All through the long, long polar day, 
 
 The vessels westward sped ; 
 And wherever the sail of Sir John was blown. 
 
 The ice gave way and fled. 
 
 Gave mj with many a hollow groan. 
 
 And with many a surly roar ; 
 But it murmured and threatened on evoiy iidi;- 
 
 And dosed where he sailed beforei 
 
 Ho f see ye not, my merry men, 
 
 The broad and open sea ? 
 Bethink ye what the whaler said. 
 Bethink ye of the little Indian's ded t 
 
 The crew laughed out in glee. 
 
 6ir John, Sir John, 'tis bitter cold, \ 
 
 The scud drives on the breese, >^ 
 
 fhe ice comes looming from the north, 
 The very sunbeams freeze. 
 
 tright summer goes, dark winter comet— 
 
 We cannot rule the year ; 
 .uit long ere summer's sun goes down. 
 
 On yonder sea we '11 steen 
 
A nAIJ.AP OF SIU JOIIN FRANKT.TN. 
 
 270 
 
 The dripping icebergs dipped and roae. 
 
 And floundered d«>iirn the gale ; 
 The shipfl were Htaid, the yaras were manned. 
 
 And rurled the useless sail 
 
 The Bumnior 's gone, the winter 's come, 
 
 We sail not on yonder sea ; 
 Why sail we not, Sir John Franklin ? 
 
 — A silent man was he. 
 
 The winter goes, the summer comes, ' 
 
 We cannot rule the year ; 
 I ween, we cannot rule the ways, 
 
 Sir John, wherein we 'd steer. 
 
 The cruel ice came floating on, 
 
 And closed benoath the lee. 
 Till the thickening waters (lashed no more, 
 'T was ice around, behind, before — 
 
 My God I thcra is no sea I 
 
 Wliat think you of the whaler now ! 
 
 What of the Esquimaux V 
 A sled were better than a ship. 
 
 To cruise through ico and snow. 
 
 Down sank the baleful crimson sun ; 
 
 The northern -light came out, 
 And glared u{X)n the ice-bound ships, 
 
 And shook its spears about 
 
 The snow came down, storm breeding storm, 
 
 And on the decks was laid ; 
 Till the weary sailor, sick at heart. 
 
 Sank down beside his spade. 
 
 Sir John, the night is black and long. 
 
 The hissing wind is bleak ; 
 The hard, green ice is strong as death : — 
 
 I prithee, captain, speak. 
 
 The night is neither bright nor short; 
 
 The singing breeze is cold, 
 The ice is not so strong as hope, 
 
 The heart of man is bold I 
 
 What hope can scale this icy wall, 
 
 High o'er the main flag-staff? 
 Above the ridges the wolf and bear 
 Look down with a patient, settled stare — 
 
 Look down on us and laugh. 
 
 The summer went, the winter came— 
 
 We could not rule the year ; 
 But summer will melt the ice again, 
 And open a path to the sunny main, 
 
 Whereon our ships shall steer. 
 
 i 
 
 s 
 
280 
 
 TROOKESS OF AUCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 The winter went, the summer went. 
 
 The winter caino around ; 
 But the hard, green ice was strong as death, 
 And the voice of hope sank to a breath, 
 
 Yet caught at every sound. 
 
 Hark I heard you not the sound of guns t 
 
 And there, and tlicre again ? 
 *T is some uneasy iceberg's roar. 
 
 As he turns in the frozen main. 
 
 Hurra t hurra ! the Esquimaux 
 
 Across the ice-fields steal : 
 God give them grace for their chariiy I 
 
 Ye pray for the silly seaL 
 
 Sir John, where are the English fields^ 
 
 And where tlie English trees. 
 And where are the little English flowers, 
 
 That open in the breeze ? 
 
 Be still, be still, my brave sailors I 
 
 You shall see the fields again. 
 And smell the scent of the opening flowery 
 
 The gi'ass, and the waving grain. 
 
 Oh I when shall I see my orphan child t 
 
 My Maiy waits for me ; 
 Oh ! when sliall I see my old mother. 
 
 And pray at her trembling knee ? 
 
 Be still, be still, my brave sailors 1 
 Think not such thoughts again I 
 
 But a tear froze slowly on his cheek — 
 He thought of Lady Jane. 
 
 Ah ! bitter, bitter grows the cold. 
 The ice grows more and more ; 
 
 More settl^ stare the wolf and bear, • 
 More patient than before. 
 
 Oh ! think you, good Sir John Franklin, 
 We '11 ever see the land ? , 
 
 'T was cruel to send us here to stiure. 
 Without a kelping hand. 
 
 'T was cruel, Sir John, to send us here, 
 
 So far from help or home ; 
 To starve and freeze on this lonely sea ; 
 I ween, the Lords of the Admiralty 
 
 Had rather send than come. N 
 
 Oh I whether we starve to death alone. 
 
 Or sail to our own country. 
 We have done what man has never done - 
 The open ocean danced in the sun — 
 
 We passed the Northern Sea I • 
 
THE SEARCniNO EXPEDITIONS. 281 
 
 The Government and Private Searciiino Expeditions 
 AFTER Sir John Franklin. 
 
 The following is a complete list of the several relief 
 and exploring vessels which have been sent out during 
 the last two years by the British government, by private 
 individuals, and by the American nation : — 
 
 Ships. Men. Commandors. 
 
 1. II. M. S. Enterprise - - 68 Capt. Collinsou. 
 
 2. H. M. S. Investigator - - 65 Com. M'Clure. 
 
 3. H. M. S. Plover - - - 52 Com. Moore. 
 
 4. H. M. S. Kesolutc - - - 68 Capt. li. Austin. 
 
 5. II. M. S. Assistance - - 60 Capt. E..Ommaney. 
 C. II. M. S. Intrepid, (screw 
 
 steamer,) 30 Lieut. S. Osbom. 
 
 7. II. M. S. Intrepid, (screw 
 
 steamer,) 38 Lieut. Cator. 
 
 8. The Lady Franklin - - 25 Mr. Penny. 
 
 9. Tlie Sophia, (a tender to 
 
 the above,) 22 Mr. Stewart. 
 
 10. United States brig Ad- 
 vance 20 Lieut. Do Haven. 
 
 11. United States vessel Res- 
 
 cue 18 Mr. S. P. Griffin. 
 
 12. Felix yacht Capt. Sir John Koss. 
 
 13. Mary, (tender to tbe Felix.) 
 
 M. Tlie Korth Star, Master and Commander Saunders. 
 15. The Prince Albert - - 18 Com. Forsyth. 
 
 Of these vessels the Enterprise, Investigator, and 
 Plover, are at present cngagccl on the western l)ran('h 
 ctf pcarch through Behring's Straits. The rest have all 
 j»iocecdcd throu<^h Baffin's Bay to Lancaster Sound, and 
 tlic channels branching out from thence, except the last 
 two, which have returned home. 
 
 Voyage of the "Enterprise" and "Investigator" 
 UNDER Captain Sir James C. Ross, 1848-49. 
 
 In the spring of 1848, Captain Sir James C. Ross 
 ^.iR placed in command of a well found and fitted ex- 
 pedition, with moans and advantages of unusual extent, 
 
 if 
 
282 
 
 I'ltOGUESS OF ARCTIC D18C0VKKV. 
 
 and with an object that could not fail to Btimulate in 
 the highest degree the energies and perseverance of all 
 embarked in it. With the ever present feeling, too, that 
 the lives of their countrymen and brother sailors de- 
 pended, (under God's good providence,) upon their 
 unflinching exertions, Captain Ross and his followers 
 went forth in the confident hope that their efforts might 
 be crowned with success. 
 
 The season was considerably advanced before tLo 
 whole of the arrangements were completed, for it was 
 not until the 12th of Juno, 1848, that Captain Ross left 
 England, having under his charge the Enterprise and 
 Investigator, with the following oflScers and crews :— - 
 
 JEnterpriae, 540 tons. 
 
 Captain — Sir James C. Ross. 
 
 Lieutenants — R. J. L. M'Cluro, F. L. McClintock, 
 
 and W. II. J. Browne. 
 Master — W. S. Couldery, (actingj 
 Surgeon — "W. Robertson, (/>) M. u, 
 Assistant-Surgeon — H. Matthias. 
 Clerk — Edward Whitehead. 
 
 Total complement, 68. 
 
 Investigator^ 480 tons. 
 Captain — E. J. Bird. 
 Lieutenants — M. G. H. W. Ross, Frederick Robinson 
 
 and J. J. Barnard. 
 Master — W. Tatham. 
 Surgeon — Robert Anderson. 
 Mates — L. J. Moore and S. G. Creeswell. 
 Second Master — John H. Allard. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — E. Adams. 
 Clerk in Charge — James D. Gilpin. 
 Total complement, 67. 
 
 The ships reached the Danish settlement of Upper- 
 navick, situated on one of the group of Woman's Islands 
 on the western shore of Baffin's Bay, on the 6th of 
 July. Running through this intricate archipelago, they 
 
ate in 
 of all 
 o, that 
 ►re de- 
 their 
 lowers 
 might 
 
 )re tl.0 
 it was 
 loss left 
 so and 
 cwB :— 
 
 Jlintock, 
 
 )bin8on 
 
 Upper- 
 Islands 
 6th of 
 
 Lgo, they 
 
 VOYAGE OF ENTEKI'ltlSli AND INVESTIGATOR. 283 
 
 were made fast, on the 20tli, to an iceberg agi-ound off 
 Cape Shackleton. The nhips were towed, during the 
 next few days, through loose streams of ice, and on tho 
 iiioming of tho 26th were off the three islands of Baffin 
 in latitude 74° N. Calms and light winds so greatly 
 impeded any movement in tho pack, that day aftei 
 day passed away until the season had so far advanced 
 as to preclude every hope of accomplishing much, if 
 any thing, before the setting in of winter. 
 
 No exertions, however, were spared to take advantago 
 of every opportunity of pushing forward, until, on the 
 20th of August, during a heavy breeze from the north- 
 cast, the ships under all sail bored through a pack of ice 
 of but moderate thickness, but having among it heavy 
 masses, througli which it was necessary to drive them at 
 all hazards. The shocks the ships sustained during this 
 povere trial were great, but fortunately without serious 
 damage to them. Getting into clear water in lat. 75 i N., 
 .111(1 long. 68° W., on the 23d the ships stood in to 
 Pond's fiay, but no traces of Esquimaux or other human 
 hi'ings were discovered^ although signals were made and 
 guns fired at i*epeated intervfis. The ships were kept 
 dose to the land, and a rigid examination made of tho 
 coast to the northward, so that neither people nor boats 
 could have passed without being i,ecn. On the 2Gth 
 the ships arrived off Possession J:= m % and a party was 
 sent on shore to search for any tracea of the expedition 
 liaviug touched at this general point of rendezvous. 
 Nothing was found but trie paper left there recording 
 the visit of Sir Edward Parry, on tho very day (August 
 oOtli) in 1819. From this point the examination of the 
 f'oast was continued with equal care. On the 1st of 
 September they arrived off Cape York, and a boat's 
 crew was sent on shore, to fix a conspicuous mark, and 
 leave information for the guidance of any future party 
 that might touch here. 
 
 I shall now take up the narrative in Sir James Ross's 
 own words — " We stood over toward northeast capo 
 until we came in with the edge of a pack, too dense for 
 us to penetrate, lying between us and Leopold Island, 
 
5iS4 
 
 I'lKXiKKHS OF AUCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 about fourteen miles broad ; wo therefore coa8te<l tiio 
 north Hhorc of Barrow's Strait, to seek a harbor furtlior 
 to the westward, and to examine the numerous inlets of 
 that shore. Maxwell Bay, and several smaller indcntii- 
 tions, were thoroughly explored, and, although wo got 
 near tho entrance of Wclhngton Channel, the firm bar- 
 rier of ice which stretched across it, and which had not 
 broken away this season, convinced us all was imprac- 
 ticable in that direction. Wo now stood to tho south- 
 west to seek for a harbor near Capo Rennell, but found 
 a heavy body of ice extending from tho west of Corn- 
 wallis Island in a compact mass to Leopold Island. 
 Coasting along tho pack during stormv and foggy 
 weather, wo had difhculty in keeping the ships fi'co 
 during the nights, for I believe so great a quantity of ico 
 was never before seen in Barrow's Strait at this period 
 of the season." 
 
 Fortunately, after some days of anxious and arduous 
 work, tho ships were got through tho pack, and secured 
 in tho harbor of Port Leopold on tho 11th of September. 
 No situation could bo better adaj^ted for the purposo 
 than this locality ; being at tho junction of tne four 
 great channels of Barrow's Strait, Lancaster Sound, 
 Brinco Regent Inlet, and "Wellington Channel, it was 
 hardly possible for any party, after abandoning their 
 bhips, to pass along tho shores of any of those illk't^^, 
 without finding indications of the proximity of thoso 
 6hii)S. 
 
 The night following tho very day of tho ships' gettini,' 
 in, the main pack closed with the land, and completely 
 sealed the month of the harbor. The long winter wa> 
 passed in exploring and surveying journeys along tho 
 coasts in all directions. During the winter as jnany a^ 
 fifty white foxes wore taken alive, in traps made of 
 empty casks set for tho pui'pose. As it was well known 
 how large a tract of country these animals traverse in 
 search of food, copper collars, (upon which a notice of 
 the position of the ships and depots of provisions was 
 engraved,) were clinched round their necks,, and they 
 were then set free, in the hope that some of these four- 
 
VOYAGE OF ENTEUPRISE AND INVESTIQATOR. 
 
 285 
 
 looied messengers might be the means of conveying the 
 intelligence to the Erebus and Terror, as tlie crews of 
 
 examining and thoroughly exploring all the inlets and 
 smaller indentations ot the northern and western coasts 
 of Boothia peninsula, in which any ships might havo 
 found shelter. 
 
 From the high land in the neighborhood of Cape 
 Bunny, Capt. Ross obtained a verv extensive v'ew, and 
 observed that the whole space between it and Cape 
 Walker to the west, and Wellington Strait to the north, 
 was occupied by very heavy hummocky ice. 
 
 " The examination of the coast," Sir James Ross tells 
 us, " was pursued until the 5th of June, when, having 
 consumed more than half our provisions, and the strength 
 of the party being much reduced, I was reluctantly 
 compelled to abandon further operations, as it was, 
 moreover, necessary to give the men a day of rest. 
 But that the time might not wholly bo lost, I proceeded 
 with two hands to the extreme south point in sight from 
 our encampment, distant about eight or nine miles." 
 
 This extreme point is situate in lat. 72"^ 38' N., and 
 lung. 95° 40' W., and is the west face of a small high 
 peninsula. The state of the atmosphere bein^ at the 
 time peculiarly favorable for distinctness of vision, land 
 of any great elevation might have been seen at the dis- 
 tance ot 100 miles. The nighest cape of the coast was 
 not more than fifty miles distant, bearing nearly duo 
 South. A very narrow isthmus was found to separate 
 Prince Regent Inlet from the western sea at Crcsswell 
 and Brentford Bays. The ice in this quarter proved to 
 be eight feet thick. A large cairn of stones was erected, 
 and on the 6th of June, the return journey was com- 
 menced. After encountering a variety of difficulties 
 they reached the ships on the 23d, so completely worn 
 out by fatigue, that every man was, from some cause or 
 other, in the doctor's hands for two or three weeks. 
 During their absence, Mr. Matthias, the assistant-surgeon 
 
 13 
 
as6 
 
 rU<JUU]£&B OV AKCriC DI6CUVKKY. 
 
 of the Enton^riflo, had died of consnmption. Several of 
 the crews ot botli shins were in ii declining state, and 
 the jgeneral report of nealth was hy no means cheering. 
 While Captain Iloss was away, Commander Bird 
 had dispatched other surveying parties in different di- 
 rections. One, under the command of Lieutenant Har- 
 nard, to the northern shore of Barrow^s Strait, crossing 
 the ice to Cape Hind ; a second, commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant Browne, to the eastern shore of liegent Lilet ; 
 and a third party of six men, conducted by Lieutenant 
 Robinson, along the western shore of the Inlet. The 
 latter officer extended his examination of the coast uh 
 far as Cresswell Bay, several miles to the southward 
 of Fury Beach. He found the house still standing in 
 whick Sir John Ross passed the winters vf 1 832-313, 
 together with a quantitv of the stores and provisions 
 of the Fury, lost there m 1827. On opening some of 
 the packages containing flour, sugar and peas, they 
 were all found to be in excellent preservation, and the 
 
 {>re8erved soup as good as when manufactnrod. The 
 abors of these searching parties were, however, of 
 comparatively short duration, as they all suffered from 
 snow-blindness, sprained ankles, and debility. 
 
 As it was now out too evident, from no traces of tlio 
 absent expedition having been met with by any of 
 these parties, that the ships could not have been de- 
 tained anywhere in this part of the arctic regions, 
 Captain Ross considered it most desirable to pusn for- 
 ward to the westward as soon as his ships should be lib- 
 erated. His chief hopes now centered in the efforts of 
 Sir John Richardson^s party; but he felt persuaded 
 that Sir John Franklin ^s ships must have penetrated 
 so far beyond Melville Island as to induce him to prefer 
 making for the continent of America rather than seek- 
 ing assistance from the whale ships in Bailings Bay. 
 The crews, weakened by incessant exertion, were now 
 in a very unfit state to undertake the heavy labor 
 which they had yet to accomplish, but all hands that 
 were able were set to work with saws to cut a channel 
 toward the point of the harbor, a distance of vather 
 
VOYAGE OF ENTERrRISE AUD INVICSTIOATOR. 287 
 
 more than two miles, and on the 28th of Au^iiut tlio 
 shins got clear, l^et'oro quitting tlto port, a house wua 
 built of the spare B|>ar8 ot both stiips, and covered with 
 such of the housing cloths ofi couhl bo disi)ensed with. 
 Twelve months^ provisions, fuel, and other : ecesHaries 
 were also left behind, together with the steam launch 
 belonging to the Investigator, whicli, having been pur- 
 posely lengthened seven feet, now formed a fine vtssel, 
 capable oi conveving the whole of Sir John Franklin'd 
 party to the whale ships, if necessary. 
 
 The Investigator and Enterprise now ])roceeded 
 toward the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, for the 
 purpose of examining Wellington Channel; and, if nos- 
 sible, penetrating as far as Melville Island, but wnen 
 about twelve mues from the shore, the ships came to 
 the fixed land-ice, and found it impossible to proceed. 
 
 On the 1st of September a strong wind suddenly 
 irising, brought the loose pack, through which they 
 had been struggling, do^vn upon the ships, which were 
 closely beset. At times, during two or three days, 
 they sustained severe pressure, and ridges of hum- 
 mocks were thrown up all around ; but after that time 
 the temperature falling to near zero, it formed the 
 whole body of ice into one solid mass. 
 
 The remainder of the narrative, as related by the 
 Commander of the expedition in his official dispatch, 
 will not bear abridgment. 
 
 " We were so circumstanced that for some days w^e 
 could not unship the rudder, and when, by the labori- 
 ous operation oi sawing and removing the hummocks 
 from under the stem, we were able to do so, we found 
 it twisted and damaged ; and the ship was so much 
 strained, as to increase the leakage from three inchea 
 in a fortnight to fourteen inches daily. The ice was 
 stationary for a few days ; the pressure had so folded 
 the lighter pieces over each other and they were so 
 interlaced, as to form one entire sheet, extending from 
 shore to shore of Barrow's Strait, and as far to the east 
 and west as the eye could discern from the mast-head, 
 while the extreme severity of the temperature bad 
 
 lU 
 
 If 
 
 i 
 
 ■ 
 
288 
 
 PKOORESS OF ABCrriO DISCOVEltr. 
 
 cemented the whole so firmly together that it appeared 
 highly improbable that it could break up agam this 
 season. In the space which had been cleared away 
 for unshipping the rudder, the newly-formed ice was 
 fifteen inches thick, and in some places along the ship's 
 Bide the thirteen-feet screws were too short to work. 
 We had now fally made up our minds that the ships 
 were fixed for the winter, and dismal as the prospect 
 appeared, it was far preferable to being carried along 
 the west co.&st of Baffin's Bay, where the grounded 
 bergs are in such numbers upon the shallow banks off 
 that shore, as to render it next to impossible for phips 
 involved in a pack to escape destruction. It was, 
 therefore, with a mixture of hope and anxiety that, on 
 the wind shifting to the westward, we perceived the 
 whole body of ice begin to drive to the eastward, at the 
 rate of eight to ten miles daily. Every effort on our 
 
 Eart was totally unavailing, for no human power could 
 ave moved either of the ships a single inch ; they were 
 thus completely taken out of our own hands, and in the 
 center of a field of ice more than fifty miles in circum- 
 ference, were carried along the southern shore of 
 Lancaster Sound. 
 
 " After passing its entrance, the ice drifted in a more 
 southerly direction , along the western shore of Baffin's 
 Bay, until we were abreast of Pond's Bay, to the south- 
 , ward of which we observed a great number of icebergs 
 stretching across our path, and presenting the fearful 
 prospect of our worst anticipations. But when least 
 expected by us, our release was almost miraculously 
 brought about. The great field of ice was rent into 
 innumerable fragments, as if by some unseen power." 
 By energetic exertion, warping, and sailing, the ships 
 got clear of the pack, and reached an open space of 
 water on the 25th of September. 
 
 " It is impossible," says Captain Ross, in his con 
 eluding observations, " to convey any idea of the sen 
 sation we experienced whfen we found ourselves once 
 more at liberty, while many a grateful heart poured 
 forth its praises and thanksgivings to Almighty God 
 for this unlooked for deliverance.'* 
 
VOYAGE OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIOATOR. 289 
 
 "The advance of winter had now closed all the har- 
 bors against us ; and as it was impossible to penetrate 
 to the westward through the pack from which we had 
 just been liberated, I made the signal to the Investi- 
 gator of my intention to return to England." 
 
 After a favorable passage, the ships arrived home 
 early in November, Captain Sir J. C. Ross reporting 
 himself at the Admiralty on the 6th of November. 
 
 As this is the last arctic voyage of Sir James C. Ross, 
 it is a fitting place for some record of- his arduous 
 services. 
 
 Captain Sir James Clarke Ross entered the navy in 
 1812, and sei-ved as volunteer of the first class, mid- 
 shipman and mate until 1817, with his uncle Com- 
 mander Ross. In 1818 he was appointed Admiralty 
 midshipman in the Isabella, on Commander Ross's first 
 voyage of discovery to the arctic seas. He was then 
 midshipman in the two following years with Captain 
 Parry, in the Hecla ; followed him again in the Furv 
 in his second voyage, and was promoted on the 26tn 
 of December, 1822. In 1824 and 1825, he was lieu- 
 tenant in the Fury, under Captain Hoppner, on Parry's 
 third voyage. In 1827, he was appointed first lieuten- 
 ant of the Hecla, under Parry, ana accompanied him 
 in comiiiand of the second boat in his attempt to reach 
 the North Pole. On his return he received nis promo- 
 tion to the rank of commander, the 8th of November, 
 1827. From 1829 to 1833, he was employed with his 
 uncle as second in command in the Victory on the pri- 
 vate expedition sent out by Mr. Felix Booth. Diunng 
 this period he planted, on the 1st of June, 1831, the 
 British flag on tne North Magnetic Pole. For this, on 
 his return, he was presented by the Herald's College 
 with an addition to nis family arms of an especial crest, 
 representing a flag-staff erect on a rock, with the union 
 jack hoisted thereon, inscribed with the date, " 1 June, 
 1831." On the 23d of October, 1834, he was promoted 
 to the rank of Captain, and in the following year em- 
 ployed in making magnetic observations, preparatory 
 to the general magnetic survey of England. In the 
 
290 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 close of 1836, it having been represented to the Ad- 
 miralty, from Hull, that eleven wliale ships, having on 
 board 600 men, were left in the ice in bavis' Strait, 
 and in imminent danger of perishing, unless relief were 
 forwarded to them, the Lords Commissioners resolved 
 upon sending out a ship to search for them. Captain 
 Boss, with that promptitude and humanity which has 
 always characterized him, volunteered to go out in the 
 depth of winter, and the Lieutenants, F. K. M. Crozier, 
 Inman, and Ommaney, with the three mates, Jesse, 
 Buchan, and John Smith, and Mr. Hallett, clerk in 
 charge, joined him. They sailed from England on the 
 21st of December, and on arriving in Davis' Strait, after 
 a stormy passage, found that nine of the missing ships 
 were by that time in England, that the tenth was re- 
 leased on her passage, and that the other was in all 
 probability lost, as some of her water-casks had been 
 picked up at sea. From 1837 to 1838, Captain Boss 
 was employed in determining the variation of the com- 
 pass on all parts of the coast of Great Britain ; and 
 from 1839 to 1843, as Captain of the Erebus, in com- 
 mand of the antarctic expedition. In 1841, he was 
 presented with the founder's medal of the Koyal Geo- 
 graphical Society of London, for his discoveries toward 
 the South Pole ; and he has also received the gold 
 medal of the Geographical Society of Paris. On the 
 13th of March, 1844,ne received the honor of knight- 
 hood from the Queen, and in June of the same year 
 the University of Oxford bestowed on him their honor- 
 ary degree of D. C. L. In 1848, he went out, as we 
 have just seen, in the Enterprise, in Command of one 
 of the searching expeditions sent to seek for Franklin. 
 
 VoTAOB OP H. M. S. " North Stab." 
 
 The North Star, of 600 tons, was fitted out in the 
 spring of 1849, tmder the command of Mr. J. Saunders, 
 who had been acting master with Captain Back, in the 
 Terror, in her perilonB voyage to the Frozen Strait, in 
 1336. 
 
VOYAGE OF THE NORTH STAB. 
 
 291 
 
 The following are the officers of the ships : — 
 
 Master Commanding — J. Saunders. 
 
 Second Masters — John Way, M. Korman, H. B. 
 
 Gawler. 
 Acting Ice-masters — J. Leach, and G. Sabestor. 
 Assistant Surgeon — James Rae, M. D. 
 Clerk in Charge — Jasper Butter. 
 
 The North Star sailed from the river Thames, on the 
 26th of May, 1849, freighted with provisions for the 
 missing expedition, and with orders and supplies for 
 the Enterprise and Investigator. 
 
 The following is one of the early dispatches from the 
 commander : — 
 
 " To the Secretary of the Admiralty. 
 
 " H. M. 8. North Star, July 19, 1849, 
 lat.WZ' N'.,long.b%'= iff TT. 
 
 "Sir, — I addressed a letter to their Lordships on the 
 18th ult., when in lat. 73° 30' N., and long. 56° 63' W., 
 detailing the particulars of my proceedings up to that 
 date, which letter was sent by a boat from the Lady 
 Jane, whaler, which vessel was wrecked, and those boats 
 were proceeding to the Danish settlements. Since then, 
 t regret to state, our progress has been almost entirely 
 itopped, owing to the ice being so placed across Md- 
 ville Bay as to render it perfectly impassable. 
 
 " On the 6th inst., finding it impossible to make any 
 progress, I deemed it advisable to run as far S. as 72 , 
 examining the pack as we went along. At 72° 22' the 
 pack appeared slacker, and we entered it, and, after 
 proceeding about twelve miles, found ourselves com- 
 pletely stopped by large floes of ice. We accordingly 
 put back, and steered again lor the northward. 
 
 " Having this day reached the latitude of 74° 3' N., 
 and long. 59° 40' W., the ice appeared more open, and 
 we stood in toward the land, when we observed two 
 boats approaching, and which afterward, on coming 
 ilongside, were found to belong to the Prince of Wales, 
 A^haler, which vessel was nipped by the ice on the 12th 
 nst., in Melville Bay. 
 
 if f\ 
 
 1 '. 
 
 li 
 
292 
 
 rROGRESa OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 " By the captain of the Prince of Wales I forward 
 this letter to their Lordships, he intending to proceed 
 in his boats to the Danish settlements. 
 " 1 have the honor to be, &c. 
 
 " J. Saunders, Master and Commander. 
 " P. S. — Crew all well on board." 
 
 On the 29th of July, having reached the vicinity of 
 the Devil's Thumb and Melville Bay, in the northerly 
 part of Baffin's Bay, she was beset in an ice-field, with 
 which ' she drifted helplessly about as the tide or wind 
 impelled her, until the 16th of August, when, a slight 
 opening in the ice appearing, an effort was made to 
 heave tnrough into clear water. This proved labor in 
 vain, and no further move was made until the 21st of 
 September, except as she drifted in the ice floe in which 
 ehe was fixed. On the day last named she was driving 
 before a hard ^ale from the S. S. W., directly down upon 
 an enormous iceberg in Melville Sound, upon which if 
 she had struck in the then prevailing weather, her total 
 destruction would have been inevitable. Providen- 
 tially a comer of the ice-field in which she was being 
 carried furiously along came into violent collision with 
 the berg, a large section was carried away, and she 
 escaped. On the 29th of September, 1849, having been 
 sixty-two days in the ice, she took up her winter quar- 
 ters in North Star Bay, so called after herself, a small 
 bay in "Wolstenholme Sound, lying in 76° 33' north lat- 
 itude, and 68° 56' west longitude ; the farthest point to 
 the north at which a Britisn ship ever wintered. The 
 ship was fixed about half a mile fi*om the shore, and 
 made snug for the winter, sails were unbent, the masts 
 struck, and the ship housed over and made as warm 
 and comfortable as circumstances would permit. The 
 ice soon after took across the Sound, so that the crew 
 could have walked on shore. The cold was intense ; 
 but two or three stoves warmed the ship, and the crews 
 were cheered up and encouraged with all sorts of games 
 and amusements, occasionally visiting the shore for the 
 
 {mrpose of skylarking. There' was, unfortunately, Vmt 
 ittle game to shoot. Former accounts gave this pl> ^» 
 
VOYAP^ OF TlIE NOUTII STAR. 
 
 893 
 
 a high character for deer and other animals ; but the 
 crew of the North Star never saw a single head of deer, 
 and other animals were scarce ; about fifty hares were 
 killed. Foxes were numerous, and a number shot, but 
 none taken alive. A few Esquimaux families occasion- 
 ally visited the ship, and one poor man was brought on 
 board with his feet so frozen that they dropped. He 
 was placed under the care of the assistant-surgeon, Dr. 
 Eae, who paid him much attention, and his legs were 
 nearlv cured ; but he died from a pulmonary disorder 
 after naving been on board some six weeks. The North 
 Star was not able to leave this retreat until the Ist of 
 August, 1850, and got into clear water oh the third of 
 that month. On tne 21st of August, she spoke the 
 Lady Franklin, Captain Penny, and her consort the 
 Sophia, and the following day the Felix, Sir John Koss, 
 in Lancaster Sound. Captain Peunv reported that he 
 had left Captain Austin all well on the 17th of August 
 On the 23d of August, the North Star began landing 
 the provisions she had carried out in Navy Board Li- 
 let ; 73° W N. latitude, 80° 56' W. longitude. She 
 remained five days there, and was occupied four and a 
 half in landing the stores, ".^'hich were deposited in a 
 ravine a short distance from the beach of Supply Bay, 
 the bight in Navy Board Lilet, which the commander 
 of the North Star so named. The position of the stores 
 was indicated by a flag-staff, with a black ball, and a 
 letter placed beneath a cairn of stones. They had pre- 
 viously tried to deposit the stores at Port Bowen, and 
 Port N eale, but were prevented approaching them by 
 the ice. On the 30th of August, the North Star saw 
 and spoke the schooner Prince Albert, Commander 
 Forsyth, in Possession Bay. On the 3l8t, a boat was 
 sent to the Prince Albert, when Commander Forsyth 
 came on board and reported that he had also been to 
 Port Neale, but had not been able to enter for the ice, 
 and had found one of the American ships sent out to 
 search for Sir John Franklin ashore in Barrow's Strait, 
 that he had tendered assistance, which had been de^ 
 clined by the American commander, as, his ship being 
 
 13* 
 
294 
 
 I'ROORESS OF ARCnC DISCOVERY. 
 
 iininjurecl, ho believed his own crew competent to get 
 her off. Commander Forsyth reported that Captain 
 Austin had proceeded to tond's JSay in the Intrepid, 
 tender to the Assistance, to land letters. The North 
 Star went on to Pond's Bay, but could not find any in- 
 dication of Captain Austin's having been there. It is 
 conjectured that he had passed the appointed spot in a 
 fog. The North Star's people suffered much from the 
 intense cold, but only lost five hands during her peril- 
 ous trip and arctic winter quarters. She left there on 
 September 9th, and reached Spithead on the 28th of 
 September, 1850. Since his return Mr. Saunders has 
 been appointed Master Attendant of the Dock-yard at 
 Malta. The Admiralty have received dispatches from 
 Captain Sir J. Boss, Captain Penny, and Captain Om- 
 maney. Captain Ommaney, in the Assistance, dating 
 from ofl;' Lancaster Sound, latitude 75° 46' N., longi- 
 tude 75° 49' "W., states that some Esquimaux had de- 
 scribed to him a ship being hauled in during the last 
 winter, and, on going to the spot, he found, from some 
 papers left, that it was the North Star. He was pro- 
 ceeding to search in Lancaster Sound. Captain Penny, 
 of the Lady Franklin, writing from Lancaster Sound, 
 August 21, states, that having heard on the 18th from 
 Captain Austin of a report from the Esquimaux, that 
 Sir John Franklin's ships had been lost forty miles 
 north, and the crews murdered, he went with an inter- 
 preter, but could find no evidence for the rumor, and 
 came to the conclusion that the whole story had been 
 founded on the North Star's wintering there. He con- 
 sidered that his interpreter, M. Petersen, had done much 
 food by exposing the fallacy of the story of Sir J 
 Ross's Esqmmaux. 
 
 Her Majesty's Smps "Enterprise" and "Investiga 
 tor" under Captain Collinson. n 
 
 The Enterprise and Investigator were fitted out agair 
 immediately on their return home, and placed undei 
 the charge of Captain B. Collinson, C. B., with the fol 
 
SECOND TKir OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 
 
 pro- 
 
 enny, 
 
 ound, 
 
 from 
 
 that 
 miles 
 inter- 
 
 and 
 been 
 
 con- 
 mucb 
 >ir J 
 
 5TIGA 
 
 295 
 
 I wing officers attached, to proceed to Behring's Strait. 
 U) resume the search in that direction : — 
 
 Enterpris',^ 340 tons. 
 
 Captain — K. Collinson. 
 
 Lieutenants — G. A. Phayre,* J. J. Barnard,* and 
 
 C. T. Jago. 
 Master — K. T. G. Legg. 
 Second Master — Francis Skead. 
 Mate — M.T. Parks. 
 Surgeon — Kobert Anderson.* 
 Assistant-Surgeon — Edward Adams.* ■ 
 Clerk in Charge — Edward Whitehead.* 
 Total complement, 66. 
 
 Investigator, 
 
 Commander — E. J. M'Clure.* 
 Lieutenants — "W". H. Haswell and S. G. Cresswell.* 
 Mates — H. H. Saintsburjr and R. J. Wyniatt. 
 Second Master — Stephen Court.* 
 Surgeon — Alexander Armstrong, M. D. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — Hy. Piers. 
 Ckrk in Charge — Joseph C. Paine. 
 Total complement, 66. 
 
 Those officers marked with a star had been with the 
 Bhips in their last voyage. 
 
 These vessels sailed from Plymouth on the 20th of 
 January, 1850. A Mr. Miortsching, a Moravian mis- 
 sionary, was appointed to the Enterprise, as interpreter. 
 Tliis gentleman is in the prime of life, of robust health, 
 inured, by a service of nve years in Labrador, to tho 
 hardships and privations of the arctic regions, and suffi- 
 cientihr acquainted with the language and manners of 
 the Esquimaux to be able to hold friendly and unre- 
 served intercourse with them. 
 
 The Investigator and the Enterprise were at the 
 Sandwich Islands on June 29th. Captain Collinson 
 purposed sailing in a few days, and expected to reach 
 the ice about t£e 8ti of July. Prior to his arrival, 
 
296 
 
 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 numerous wlmlers had started for the Strait, one in par- 
 ticular, under the command of a Captain Roys, witli 
 the expressed intention of endeavoring to earn the 
 Frankhn reward. 
 
 These vessels are intended to penetrate, if possible, to 
 the western extremity of Melville Island, there to winter, 
 and make further search, in the spring of 1851, for tho 
 crews of the lost ships. 
 
 In a letter from Captain Collinson to Commander Mc 
 Clure, dated Oahu, June 29th, 1860, with a sight of 
 which I have been favored at the Admiralty, he thus 
 describes his intentions — "I intend making the pack 
 close to the American shore, and availing myself of the 
 first favorable openins west of the coast stream ; pressing 
 forward toward Melville Island. In the event of meet- 
 ing land, it is most probable that I would pursue the 
 southern shore." 
 
 The latest letter received from Commander McClure 
 IS dated Kotzebue Sound, July 27th, 1850, and the 
 following is an extract : — 
 
 " You will be glad to learn that to this we have been 
 highly favored, carrying a fair wind from Whoa, which 
 place we left on the 2th. We passed the Aleutian 
 Islands on the 20th, in 172° 30' W., and got fairly 
 through the Straits to-day, and we consider we are upon 
 our ground ; the only detriment has been very dense 
 fogs, which have rendered the navigation of the islands 
 exceedingly nervous work ; but as the object to be 
 achieved is of so important a nature, all hazards must 
 be run to carry out the intentions of those at home, 
 which have very fortunately terminated without acci- 
 dent. We are now making the most of our wind, and 
 we hope to meet an American whaler, of which I be- 
 lieve tnere are a great number fishing this season, and 
 to whom we must intrust our last dispatches. Sincerely 
 do I trust that, ere we return, some tidings of poor Sir 
 John and his noble companions may reward our search ; 
 which will render the long-sought for passage, should 
 it be our fortune to make it, one of the most memorable 
 in the annals of our times, and relieve many an anxious 
 breast " 
 
SECOND TRIP OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIOATOIl. 297 
 
 Dispatches have been received at the Admiralty from 
 «>«ptain Kellet, C. B., of her Majesty's ship Herald, 
 dated at sea, the 14th of October, 1850, on his return 
 from Behrin^'s Strait. The Herald had communicated 
 with her Majesty's ship Plover, on the 10th of July, at 
 Chamisso Island, where the Plover had passed the pre- 
 ceding winter. The two ships proceeded to the north- 
 ward until they sighted the pack-ice, when the Herald 
 returned to Cape Lisburne, in quest of Captain CoUin- 
 Bon's expedition, and on the 31st fell in with her Maj- 
 esty's ship Investigator, which had made a surprisingly 
 short passage of twenty-six days from the Sandwich 
 Islands. The Herald remained cruising off Cape Lis- 
 burne, and again fell in with the Plover on the 13th of 
 August, on her return from Point Barrow, Commander 
 Moore having coasted in his boats, and minutely exam- 
 ined the several inlets as far as that point from Icy Cape 
 without gaining any intelligence or the missing expeai- 
 tion. Commander Moore and his boat's crew had suf- 
 fered severely from exposure to cold. Captain Kellet, 
 having fully victualed the Plover, ordered ner to winter 
 in Grantley Harbor (her former anchorage at Chamisso 
 Island not being considered safe,) and then returned to 
 the southward on his way to England 
 
 Dispatches have also been received from Captain Col- 
 linson, C. B., of her Majesty's ship Enterprise, and 
 Commander M'Clure, of her Majesty's ship Investigator 
 of which the following are copies : — 
 
 " Her Mamainfa Bhjm ^Enterpriser 
 ^^Port Clarence^ Sept. 13, 1850. 
 
 "Sir, — I have the honor to transmit an account of 
 the proceedings of her Majesty's ship under my com 
 mand since leaving Oahn on the 30th of June. 
 
 "Being delayed by light winds, we only reached the 
 western end of the Aleutian Chain by the 29th of July, 
 and made the Island of St. Lawrence on the 11th of 
 August, from whence I shaped a course for Cape Lis- 
 burne, in anticipation of falling in with the Herald or 
 
 ) « 
 
 j^- 
 
298 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCmC DISCJOVERT. 
 
 the Plover. Not, however, scoinff either of these ves- 
 sels, and finding nothing deposited on shore, I went on 
 to Wainwright Inlet, the last rendezvons appointed. 
 Here wo communicated on the 16th, and being alike 
 unsuccessful in obtaining any information, I stood to 
 the north, made the ice following morning, and reached 
 the latitude 72° 40' N. in the meridian of 159° 30' W., 
 without serious obstruction. Here, however, the pacli 
 became so close that it was impossible to make way in 
 any direction except to the southward. Having extri* 
 cated ourselves by noon on the 19th, we continued to 
 coast along the edge of the main body, which took a 
 southeasterly trend, running through the loose streams, 
 so as not to lose sight of tight pack. At 4 a. m. on the 
 20th we were in the meridian of Point Barrow, and 
 twenty-eight miles to the north of it, when we found 
 open water to the N. E., in which we sailed, without 
 losing sight of the ice to the north until the morning 
 of the 21st, when we were obstructed by a heavy bar- 
 rier trending to the southwest. A thick fog coming on, 
 we made a board to the north, in order to leel the pack 
 edge in the upper part of the bight, and not to leave 
 any part unexplored. Having satisned myself that no 
 opening existed ^n this direction, we bore away to the 
 south, running through heavy floes closely packed, and 
 pushing to the eastward when an opportunity offered. 
 In this, however, we were unsuccessful, being com- 
 
 {)elled to pursue a westerly course, the floes being very 
 icavy and hummocky. !By 8 p. m. we were within 
 thirty miles of the land, and having clear weather, 
 could see the ice closely packed to the south that left 
 no doubt in my mind that a stop was put to our pro- 
 ceeding in this direction, by the ice butting so close on 
 the shoal coast as to leave no chance that our progress 
 along it would justify the attempt to reach Cape fiath- 
 urst, a distance of 670 miles, during the remaining 
 portion of this season; and finding this opinion was 
 coincided in by those oflScers on board qualified to 
 form an opinion on the subject, I determined to lose 
 no time in communicating with Point Barrow, but to 
 
inmg 
 was 
 3d to 
 ) lose 
 ut to 
 
 SECOND TRIP OF KNTERl'RISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 299 
 
 nttompt the passage further north, in hopes that the 
 lane of water seen last year by the Ilcrakt and Plover 
 would afford me an opening to the eastward. I there- 
 fore reluctantly proceeded again to the west, and turn- 
 ing the pack edge fifteen miles further to the south 
 than it was on the day after we left Wainwright lulet, 
 we followed the edge of a loose pack greatly broken 
 up, until we reached 163° W. long., when it took a 
 sudden turn to the north, in which direction we fol- 
 lowed it until the morning of the 27th, when we were 
 in latitude 73° 20', and found the pack to the westward 
 trending southerly. I therefore plied to the eastward, 
 endeavoring to make way, but such was its close con- 
 dition that we could not work, although we might have 
 warped through, had the condition of the ice in that 
 direction afforded us any hope ; but this, I am sorry to 
 say, was not the case, and, on the contrary, the further 
 we entered, the larger the floes became, leaving us, in 
 thick weather, often in great difficulty where to find a 
 lane. On the 29th the thermometer having fallen to 
 28°, and there being no prospect of our being able to 
 accomplish any thing toward the fulfillment of their 
 Lordships' instructions this season, I bore away for 
 Point Elope, where I arrived on the 31st, and found a 
 bottle deposited by the Herald, which informed me 
 that it was intended to place the Plover in Grantley 
 Harbor this season. I accordingly proceeded thither, 
 with the view of taking her place for the winter, and 
 enabling Commander Moore to recruit his ship's com- 
 pany by going to the southward. On my arrival I 
 found her inside, preparing her winter quarters, and 
 having examined and buoyed the bar, I attempted to 
 take this vessel inside, but failed in doing so, owing 
 to the change of wind from south to north having re- 
 duced the depth of water four feet, and had to relieve 
 the ship of 100 tons, which was quickly done by the 
 opportune arrival of the Herald, before she was re- 
 leased from a very critical position. The tides being 
 irregular, the rise and fall depending principally on 
 the wind, and that wind which occasions the highest 
 
 
 I 
 
300 
 
 PROGRESS OF AKOTIO DISCOVERT. 
 
 
 water producing a swell on the bar, it became a ques- 
 tion wliether a considerable portion of the ensuing 
 season might not be lost in getting the ship out ot 
 Grantley Harbor ; and on consulting Captains Kellet 
 and Moore, finding it to be their opinion, founded on 
 the experience of two years, that tne whalers coining; 
 from tL south pass through the Strait oarly i„ June, 
 whereas the harbors are blocked until the middle of 
 July, I have come to the conclusion that I shall better 
 perform the important duty confided in me by return- 
 ing to the south, and replenishing my provisions, in- 
 stead of wintering on the Asiatic Shore, where there 
 is not a prospect of our being of the slightest use to 
 the missing expedition. It is therefore my intention 
 to proceed to Hong Kong, it being nearer than Valpa- 
 raiso, and the cold season having set in, my stores and 
 provisions will not be exposed to the heat of a double 
 passage through the tropics ; and as I shall not leave 
 until the 1st of April, I may receive any further in- 
 structions their Lordships may please to communicate. 
 
 "The Plover has been storea and provisioned, and 
 such of her crew as are not in a fit state to contend 
 with the rigor of a further stay in these latitudes have 
 been removed, and replaced by Captain Kellet, and the 
 paragraphs referring to her in my instructions fulfilled. 
 
 "1 have directed Commander Moore to communi* 
 cate annually with an Island in St. Lawrence Bay, in 
 latitude 66° 38' N., and longitude 170** 43' W., which 
 is much resorted to by the whalers, and where any 
 communication their Lordships may bo pleased to send 
 may be deposited by them, as they are not in the 
 habit of cruising on this side of the Strait ; and I have 
 requested Captain Kellet to forward to the Admiralty 
 all the information on this head he may obtain at the 
 Sandwich Islands. 
 
 " It is my intention to proceed again to the north, 
 and remain in the most eligible position for affording 
 assistance to the Investigator, which vessel, having 
 been favored with a surprising passage from the Sand- 
 wich Islands, was fallen in with by the Herald on the 
 
RKt'ONI) mil' OF ENTKUI'RISK AND INVKSTUJATOK. .'{01 
 
 niflt of July, off Point Hope, and aj^ain on the Sth of 
 August by tlio 1 'lover, in hititudo 7U° 44' N., and lon- 
 gitude 151> ^ 52' W., when she was standing to the north 
 under a press of sail, and in all probability reached 
 the vicinity of Point Barrow, fitleen days previous to 
 tlio Enterprise, when Captain M'Clure, having the 
 whole season before him, and animated with the de- 
 termination so vividly expressed in his letter to Cap- 
 tain Kellctt, has most likely taken the inshore route, 
 and I hope before this period reached Cape Bathurst ; 
 l)ut as he will be exposed to the imminent risk of being 
 forced on a shoal snore and compelled to take to his 
 boats, I shall not forsake the coast to the northward 
 of Point Ilojpe until the season is so fUr advanced as 
 to insure their having taken up their winter quarters 
 for this season. 
 
 " I have received from my oflScers and ship's com- 
 pany that assistance and alacrity in the performance 
 of their duty, which the noble cause in which we are 
 engaged must excite, and I have the satisfaction to re- 
 port that (under the blessing of God) owing to the 
 means their Lordships have supplied in extra clothing 
 and provisions, we are at present without a man on 
 the sick list, notwithstanding the lengthened period of 
 our voyage. 
 
 "I have, &c., 
 
 KioHABD CoLLiNBON, Captain. 
 
 "The Secretary of the Admiralty." 
 
 *^IIer Majeaty^s Discovery -ship ^Investigator^ at sea, 
 latitude 61° 26' iV^., longitude 172° 35' F., July 20. 
 
 Sir, — As I have received instructions from Captain 
 CoUinson, C. B., clear and unembarrassing, (a copy of 
 which I inclose,) to proceed to Cape Lisburne in the 
 hope of meeting him in that vicinity, as he anticipates 
 being detained a day or two by the Plover in Kotzebue 
 Sound, it is unnecessary to add that every exertion shall 
 be made to reach that rendezvous, but can scarce ven- 
 ture to hope that even under very favorable circum- 
 
 K 
 
 ll;t 
 
 li. 
 
 7 
 
302 
 
 PROORKSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 Btances I shall be so fortunate as to accomplish it ere 
 the Enterprise will have rounded that cape, from her 
 superior sail ins, she hitherto having beaten us by eight 
 days to Cape virgins, and from Magellan Strait to Oahu 
 six. It is, therefore, under the probable case that this 
 vessel may form a detached part of the expedition that 
 I feel it my duty to state, for the information of the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the course 
 which, under such a contingency, I shall endeavor to 
 
 Eursue, and have to request that you will lay the same 
 efore their Lordships. 
 
 " 1. After passing Cape Lisburne, it is my intention 
 to keep in the open water, which, from the different 
 reports that I have read,- appears about this season of 
 the year to make between the American coast and the 
 main pack as far to the northward as the 130th meridian, 
 unless a favorable opening should earlier appear in the 
 ice, which would lead me to infer that I might push 
 more directly for Banks' Land, which I think is of the 
 utmost importance to thoroughly examine. In the event 
 of thus far succeeding, and the season continuing favor- 
 able for further operations, it would be my anxious 
 desire to get to the northward of Melville Island, and 
 resume our search along its shores and the islands adja- 
 cent as long as the navigation can be carried on, and 
 then secure for the winter in the most eligible position 
 which offers. 
 
 ^' 2. In the ensuing spring, as soon as it is practicable 
 for traveling parties to start, I should dispatch as many 
 as the state of the crew will admit of in different direc- 
 tions, each being provided with forty days' provisions, 
 with directions to examine minutely all bays, inlets and 
 islands toward the northeast, ascending occasionally 
 some of the highest points of land, so as to be enabled 
 to obtain extended views, being particularly cautious in 
 their advance to observe any indication of a break up in 
 the ice, so that their return to the ship may be effected 
 without hazard, even before the expenditure of theii 
 provisions would otherwise render it necessary. 
 
 " 3. Supposing the parties to have returne<i w^'•^»^f^ 
 
SECOND TRIP OF ENTERrEISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 303 
 
 t)'i/««&a)ing any cine of the absent ships, and the vessel 
 liberated about the 1st of August, ray object would then 
 be to push on toward Wellington Inlet, assuming that 
 that channel communicates with the Polar Sea, and 
 search both its shores, unless in doing so some indication 
 should be met with to show that parties from any of 
 Captain Austin's vessels had previously done so, when 
 I should return, and endeavor to penetrate in the direc- 
 tion of Jones' Sound, carefully examining every place 
 that was practicable. Should our efforts to reach this 
 point be successful, and in the route no traces are dis- 
 cernible of the long missing expedition, I should not 
 then be snabled longer to divest myself of the feelings, 
 painful as it must be to arrive at such a conclusion, that 
 all human aid would then be perfectly unavailing ; and 
 therefore, under such a conviction, I would think it my 
 duty, if possible, to return to England, or at all events 
 endeavor to reach some port that would insure that ob- 
 ject upon the following year. 
 
 "4. In the event or this being our last communica- 
 tion, I would request you to assure their lordships that 
 no apprehensions whatever need be entertained of our 
 safety until the autumn of 1854, as we have on board 
 three years of all species of provisions, commencing 
 from the 1st of September proximo, which, without 
 much deprivation, may be made to extend over a period 
 of four years ; moreover, whatever is killed by the hunt- 
 ing parties, I intend to issue in lieu of the usual rations, 
 which will still further protract our resources. 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure to say that the good 
 effects of the fruit and vegetables, (a large quantity of 
 which we took on board at Oahu,) are very i)erceptible 
 in the increased vigor of the men, who at this moment 
 are in as excellent condition as it is possible to desire, 
 and evince a spirit of confidence and a cheerfulness of 
 disposition which are beyond all appreciation. 
 
 " 6. Should difficulties apparently insurmountable en- 
 compass our progress, so as to render it a matter of 
 doubt whether the vessel could be extricated, I should 
 deem it expedient in that case not to hazard the lives 
 
•T' 
 
 304 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 of those intrusted to my charge after the winter of 1852, 
 but in the ensuing spring quit the vessel with sledgea 
 and boats, and make the best of our way either to 
 Pond's Bay, Leopold Harbor, the Mackenzie, or for 
 whalers, according to circumstances. 
 
 "Finally. In this letter I have endeavored to give an 
 outline of what I wish to accomplish, (and what, under 
 moderately favorable seasons, appears to me attainable,) 
 the carrying out of which, however, not resting upon 
 human exertions, it is impossible even to surmise if any, 
 or what, portion may be successful. But my object in 
 addressing you is to place their Lordships in possession 
 of my intentions up to the latest period, so far as possi- 
 ble, to relieve their minds from any unnecessary anxiety 
 as to our fate ; and having done this, a duty which is 
 incumbent from the deep sympathy expressed by their 
 Lordships, and participated in by all classes of our 
 countrymen, in the interesting object of this expedition, 
 I have only to add, that with the ample resources which 
 a beneficent government and a generous country have 
 placed at our disposal, (not any thing that can add to 
 our comfort being wantir.g,) we enter upon this distin- 
 guished service with a firm determination to carry out, 
 as far as in our feeble strength we are permitted, their 
 benevolent intentions. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 "Egbert M'Clttee, Conmiander." 
 
 "JTJ?/* Majesty's shvp ''Enterprise^ 
 '^6ahu^ Jtme 29, 1850. 
 
 "Memorandum. — As soon as Her Majesty's ship under 
 your command is ftdly complete with provisions, fuel, 
 and water, you will make the best of your way to Cape 
 Lisburne, keeping a good look-out for the Herald, or 
 casks, and firing guns in foggy weather, after passing 
 Lawrence Bay. The whalers also may afford you infor- 
 mation of our progress. 
 
 " Should you obtain no intelligence, you will under- 
 Btand that I intend to make the pack close to the Araeri- 
 
DISPATCHES FKOM ENTEBPBISE AND Df \ IsaTlGATOE. 305 
 
 f 1852, 
 
 iledgea 
 
 ;her to 
 
 or for 
 
 Drive an 
 ;, under 
 inable,) 
 g upon 
 3 if any, 
 bjectin 
 ssession 
 IS possi- 
 anxiety 
 irhich is 
 by their 
 i of our 
 iedition, 
 38 which 
 try have 
 n add to 
 distin- 
 irry out, 
 ed, their 
 
 nder." 
 
 150. 
 
 ip under 
 ms, fuel, 
 
 to Cape 
 erald, or 
 
 passing 
 ou infor- 
 
 1 under- 
 Ameri- 
 
 can shore, and pursue the first favorable opening west 
 of the Coast stream, pressing forward toward Melville 
 Island. In the event of meeting land, it is most probr • 
 ble that I would pursue the soutnern shore, but conspic 
 uous marks will be erected, if practicable, and informs 
 tion buried at a ten-foot radius. 
 
 " As it is necessary to be prepared for the contin 
 genc^ of your not being able to follow by the ice clos 
 mg in, or the severity of the weather, you will in that 
 case keep the Investigator as close to the edge of the 
 pack as is consistent with her safety, and remain there 
 until the season compels you to depart, when you will 
 look into Kotzebue Sound for the Plover,- or informa- 
 tion regarding her position ; and having deposited un- 
 der her charge a twelve month's provisions, you will 
 proceed to Valparaiso, replenish, and return to the 
 Strait, bearing in mind that the months of June and 
 July are the most favorable. 
 
 " A letter from the hydrographer relative to the vari- 
 ation of the compass is annexed ; and you will bear in 
 mind that the value of these observations will he greatly 
 enhanced by obtaining the variation with the ship's 
 head at every second or fourth point round the com- 
 pass occasionally, and she should be swung for devia- 
 tion in harbor as often as opportunity may offer. 
 
 " Should you not find the Plover, or that any casualty 
 has happened to render her inefficient as a depot, you 
 will take her place ; and if, (as Captain Kellett sup- 
 l)oses,) Kotzebue Sound has proved too exposed for a 
 winter harbor, you will proceed to Grantley Ilarboi*, 
 leaving a notice to that effect on Chamisso Island. 
 The attention of your officers is to be called, and you 
 will read to your ship's company, the remarks of Sir 
 J. Richardson concerning the communication with the 
 Esquimaux, contained in the arctic report received at 
 Plymouth. 
 
 " Your operations in the season 1851, cannot bo 
 guided by me, nor is there any occasion to urge you to 
 proceed to the northeast ; yet it will be highly desir- 
 able, previous to entering the pack, that yon completed 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 f ! 
 
 •^ 
 
 ■I 
 
 'I' 
 
,v<i 
 
 rROGKESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 provisions from whalorB, and obtained as much reindeer 
 meat as possible. Captain Kellett's narrative will point 
 out where the latter is to be had in most abundance, 
 and where coal can bo picked up on the beach ; but 
 husband the latter article during the winter, by using 
 all the drift-wood in your power. 
 
 " In the event of leaving the Strait this season, you 
 will take any weak or sickly men out of the Plover, 
 and replace them from your crews, affording Com- 
 mander Moore all the assistance in your power, and 
 * leaving with him Mr. Miertsching, the interpreter ; in- 
 structions with regard to whose accommodations you 
 have received, and will convey to the captain of the 
 Plover. "Richard Collinson. 
 
 " To Commander WGlure^ of her 
 Majesty* 8 shijp * Investigator? 
 
 " Should it be the opinion of Commander Moore that 
 the services of the Investigator's ship's company in ex- 
 ploring parties during the spring would be attended 
 with material benefit to the object of the expedition, 
 he will, notwithstanding these orders, detain you for 
 that purpose ; but care must be taken that your effi- 
 ciency as a sailing vessel is not crippled by the parties 
 not returning in time for the opening of the sea. 
 
 « R. C." 
 
 " Her Majesty's discovery shvp ' Investigator^ July 
 28, 1850. Kotzelue Sound, latitude 66° 54' JV., 
 longitude 16%'' W. 
 
 " Sir, — I have the honor to acquaint you, for the in- 
 formation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- 
 ralty, that to this date we have had a most excellent 
 run. Upon getting clear of Oahu, on the morning of 
 the 5th, we shaped a course direct for the. Aleutian 
 group, passing them in 172° 40' W., upon the eveninp; 
 of the 20th ; continued our course with a fine south- 
 easterly breeze, but extremely thick and foggy weather, 
 (which retarded the best of our way being made.) Got 
 fairly out of Behring's Strait upon the evening of the 
 
VOYAGE OF TIIE PLOVEK, ETC. 
 
 307 
 
 indeer 
 I point 
 dance, 
 1 ; but 
 r using 
 
 >n, you 
 Plover, 
 r Com- 
 ber, and 
 ber ; in- 
 ms you 
 a of the 
 
 [NSON. 
 
 ai 
 
 3ore that 
 ay in ex- 
 attended 
 edition, 
 you tor 
 jrour effi- 
 parties 
 
 ia. 
 
 R. C." 
 
 )r 
 
 , July 
 54' X 
 
 e 
 
 Dr the in- 
 Adnii- 
 excellent 
 rning of 
 Aleutian 
 ! evening; 
 ne south- 
 weather, 
 e.) Got 
 g of the 
 
 27th, and are now in a fair way of realizing tlieir Lord- 
 ships' expectations of reaching the ice by the begin- 
 ning of August, our progress oeing advanced by the 
 favorable circumstances of a fine southerly wind and 
 tolerably clear weather. The latter we have known 
 nothing of since the 19th, which, I can assure you, ren- 
 dered the navigation among the islands a subject of 
 much and deep anxiety, seloom having a horizon above 
 480 yards, that just enabled the dark outline of the land 
 to be observed and avoided. 
 
 " It is with much satisfaction that I report the good 
 qualities of this vessel, having well tried her in the 
 heavy gales experienced during five weeks oft' Capo 
 Horn, and in moderate weather among the intricate 
 navigation of these islands, where so much depended 
 upon her quick obedience to the helm, although laden 
 with every species of stores and provisions for upward 
 of three years. From these circumstances I am, there- 
 fore, fully satisfied she is as thoroughly adapted for this 
 service as could be reasonably wished. 
 
 " I have not seen any thing of the Enterprise, nor is 
 it my intention to lose a moment by waiting off Cape 
 Lisbume, but shall use my best endeavors to carry out 
 the intentions contained in my letter of the 20th, of 
 which I earnestly trust their Lordships will approve. 
 
 " I am happy to be able to state that the wliole crew 
 are in excellent health and spirits, and every thing as 
 eatisfactory as it is possible to desire. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 " EoBERT M'Cluke, Commander. 
 
 " The Secretary of the Admiralty.''* 
 
 Voyage of H. M. S. " Plover," and Boat Expeditions 
 UNDER Commander Pullen, 1848-61. 
 
 In the copy of the. instructions issued from the Ad- 
 miralty to Lieutenant, (now Commander,) Moore, of 
 the Plover, dated 3d of January, 1848, he was directed 
 to make the best of his way to Petropaulowski, touch- 
 ing at Panama, where she was to be joined by H. M. 
 
 14 
 
308 
 
 rROGRESS OP AEOTIO DISCOVERT. 
 
 S. Herald, and afterward both vessels were to proceed 
 to Behring's Strait, where they were expected to arrive 
 about the Ist of July, and then push along the Ameri- 
 can coast, as far as possible, consistent with the cer- 
 tainty of preventing the ships being beset by the ice. 
 The I*lover was then to be secured for the winter in 
 some safe and convenient port from whence boat par- 
 ties might be dispatched, and the Herald was to return 
 and transmit, via Panama, any intelligence necessary; 
 to England. Great caution was ordered to be observed 
 in communicating with the natives in the neighborhood 
 of Kotzebue Sound, should that quarter be visited, as 
 the people in that part of the country differ in charac- 
 ter from the ordinary Esquimaux, in being compara- 
 tively a fierce, agile, and suspicious race, well armed 
 with knives, &c., for offense, and prone to attack. 
 They were also ordered to take interpreters or guides 
 from a small factory of the Russian- American Company 
 in Norton Sound. 
 
 The Plover was safely ensconced for the winter of 
 1849-50 in Kotzebue Sound, after the termination of a 
 hard season's work. She had, conjointly with the Her- 
 ald, discovered to the north of Eehring's Strait, two 
 islands, and several apparently disconnected patches 
 of very elevated ground. Lieut. Pullon had previously 
 quitted her off Wainwright Inlet, with four boats, for 
 tne purpose of prosecuting his adventurous voyage 
 along the coast to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, 
 where he arrived safely on the 26th of August, after Ji 
 perilous navigation of thirty-two days, but had obtained 
 no clue or intelligence regarding the prime object of his 
 expedition. At a later date he encountered at Fort 
 Simpson, higher up the river. Dr. Rae, and gathered 
 "from tha*: gentleman that the party led by him down 
 the Coppermine, with the vie^. ca crossing over to Vic 
 toria or Wollaston Land, had, owing to the unusual 
 difficulties created by the more thdn customary rigor of 
 the season, met with entire failure ; the farthest point 
 attair ad being Cape Erusenstem. 
 
 Lieut. Pullen is occupied during the present year in 
 
VOYAGE OF THE I'LOVEK, ETC. 
 
 300 
 
 proceed 
 ) arrive 
 Ameri- 
 the cer- 
 the ice. 
 inter in 
 oat par- 
 
 return 
 ecessary 
 observed 
 iborbood 
 isited, as 
 
 1 charac- 
 compara- 
 11 armed 
 attack. 
 3r guides 
 Company 
 
 ivinter of 
 Eition of a 
 tbe Her- 
 trait, two 
 patcbcs 
 )reviously 
 boats, for 
 8 voyage 
 ie Biver, 
 Lst, after ii 
 obtained 
 iect of his 
 at Fort 
 gathered 
 iim down 
 er toYic 
 Ie unusual 
 •y rigor ot 
 Lest point 
 
 [nt year in 
 
 a journey from the mouth of the Mackenzie eastward, 
 along the arctic coast, as far as Cape Bathurst, and this 
 being successfully accomplished, he purposes attempt- 
 ing to cross the intervening space to feanxs' Land. He 
 is turnished with two boats, both open. 
 
 Lieut. W. H. Hooper, one of the party, in a recent 
 letter to his father in London, writing from Great Slave 
 Lake, under date June 27, 1850, gives some further de- 
 tails of their proceedings. Having had considerable 
 trouble and a slight skirmish with some parties of Es- 
 quimaux, thev were obliged to be continually on the 
 watch. At the end of August, the party entered the 
 Mackenzie River, and in a lew days reached one of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's posts on the Peel River, a 
 branch of the MacKenzie, where Commander Pullen 
 left Lieut. Hooper and half the party to winter, while 
 he proceeded farther up the river to a more important 
 post at Fort Simpson. After remaining at Peel's River 
 station about a fortnight, Mr. Hooper found that his 
 party could not be maintained throughout the winter 
 tliere, and in consequence determined on following 
 Capt. Pullen, but was only able to reach Fort Norman, 
 one of his party being frost-bitten on the journey. 
 Tliey thence made their way across to Great Bear Lake, 
 where they passed the winter, subsisting on fish and 
 water. Dr. Rae arrived there as soon as the ice broke 
 up, and the party proceeded with him to Fort Simpson. 
 
 On the 20th of June, Commander Pullen and all his 
 party left with the company's servants, and the stock of 
 furs, on their way to the sea, to embark for England, 
 when they were met, on the 25th, by a canoe with Ad- 
 miralty dispatches, which caused them to retrace their 
 steps ; and they are now on their route by the Great 
 Slave Lake to Fort Simpson, and down the Mackenzie 
 once more, to the Polar Sea, in search of Sir John. 
 Franklin. 
 
 " However grieving," Lieut. Hooper adds, " it is to 
 be disappointed of returning home, yet I am neverthe- 
 less delighted to go again, and think that we do not 
 hopelessfy undertake another search, since our intended 
 
 *i. 
 
310 
 
 I'ROGRESS OF AKCfIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 direction is considered the most probable channel for 
 finding the missing ships or crews. We ^o down the 
 Mackenzie, along flie coast eastward to Point Bathurst, 
 and thence strike across to Wollaston or Banks' Land. 
 The season will, of course, much influence our proceed- 
 ings ; but we shall probably return up the hitherto 
 unexplored river which runs into the Arctic Ocean 
 from Liverpool Baj, between the Coppeniiine and 
 Mackenzie." 
 
 The latest official dispatch from Commander Pullen 
 is dated Great Slave Lake, June 28th. He had been 
 stopped by the ice, and intended returning to Fort 
 Simpson on the 29th. One of his boats was so battered 
 about as to bo perfectly useless ; he intended patchiii;]j 
 up the other, and was also to recoive a new oout be- 
 longing to the IIikIsod's Bay Company, fi*om Fort 
 Simpson. He had dismissed two of his party, as they 
 were both suffering from bad health, but proposed en- 
 gaging, at Fort Good Hope, two Hare Indians as hunt- 
 ei'd and guides, one of whom had accompanied Messrs. 
 Dease and Simpson on their trips of discovery in 1838 
 and 1839. This would augment the party to seventeen 
 persons in all. 
 
 " My present intentions," he says, " are to proceed 
 down the Mackenzie, along the coast, to Cape Bathurst, 
 and then strike across for Banks' Land ; my operations 
 must then, of course be guided by circumstances, but I 
 shall strenuously endeavor to search along all coasts in 
 that direction as far and as late as I can with safety 
 venture ; returning, if possible, by the Mackenzie, or 
 by the Beghoola, which the Indians speak of as being 
 navigable, as its head waters are, (according to Sir John 
 Richardson,) only a nine-days' passage from Fort Good 
 Hope ; to meet wiiich, or a sinular contingency, I tako 
 snow shoes and sledges, &c. 
 
 " In conclusion, I beg to assure their Lordships of 
 my earnest determination to carry out their views to 
 the utmost of my ability, being confident, from the 
 eagerness of the party, that no pains will bo spared, no 
 necessary labor avoided, and, ny God's blessing, wo 
 
"'T-' 
 
 VOYAGE OF THE rLOVt ETC. 
 
 3iX 
 
 hope to be successful in discovering some tidings of our 
 gallant countrymen, or even in restoring them to their 
 native land and anxious relatives." 
 
 Mr. Chief Factor Rae was about to follow Com- 
 mander PuUen and his party from Portage La Lociie. 
 
 Dr. Eichardson observes that " Commander Pnllen 
 will require to be fully victualed for at least 120 days 
 from the 20tb of July, when he may be expected to 
 commence his sea voyage ; which, for sixteen men, will 
 require forty-five bags of pemmican of 90 lbs. each. 
 This is exclusive of a further supply which he ought to 
 take for the relief of any of Franklin's people he may 
 have the good fortune to find. After he leaves the 
 main-land at Cape Bathui*st, he would have no chance 
 of killing deer till he makes Banks' Land, or some in- 
 tervening island ; and he must provide for the chance 
 of being caught on the floe ice, and having to make his 
 way across by the very tedious portages, as fully de- 
 scribed by Sir "W. E. Parry in the narative of his most 
 adventurous boat voyage north of Spitzbergen. 
 
 " Mr. Kae can give Commander PuUen the fullest 
 information respecting the depots of pemmican made 
 on the coast. 
 
 " With respect to Commander Pullen's return from 
 sea, his safest plan will be to make for the Mackenzie ; 
 but should circumstances place that out of his power, 
 the only other course that seems to me to be practicable 
 is for him to ascend a large river which falls into tiie 
 bottom of Liverpool Bay, to the westward of Cape Ba- 
 thurst. This river, which is named the Begloola Dessy 
 by the Indians, runs parallel to the Mackenzie, and in 
 the latitude of Fort Good Hope, {66° 30' N.,) is not 
 above five or six days' journey from that post. Hare 
 Indians, belonging to Fort Good Hope, might bo en 
 gaged to hunt on the banks of the river till the arrival 
 of the party. The navigation of the river is unknown ; 
 but even should Commander Pullen be compelled to 
 quit his boats, his Indian hunters, (of which he should 
 at least engage two for his sea voyage,) will support 
 and guide his party. Wood and animals are most cer- 
 tainly found on the banks of rivers. 
 
 f 
 
 
 I 
 
 
812 
 
 PR00EES8 OF ARCriC DISCOVERY. 
 
 "It is not likely that under any circumstances Com- 
 mander Pullen should desire to reach the Mackenzie 
 by way of the Coppermine River, and this could be 
 enected only by a boat being placed at Dease River, 
 for the transport of the party over Great Bear Lake. 
 This would require to be arranged previously with 
 Mr. Rae ; and Commander Pullen should not be 
 later in arriving at Fort Confidence than the end of 
 September." 
 
 Voyage op the "Lady Franklin" and "Sopiha," 
 Government Vessels, under the command of Mr. 
 Penny, 1850-61. 
 
 A vessel of 230 tons, named the Lady Franklin, fit- 
 ted out at Aberdeen, with a new brig as a tender, built 
 at Dundee, and named the Sophia, in honor of Miss 
 S. Cracroft, the beloved and attached niece of Lady 
 Franklin, and one of the most anxious watchers for 
 tidings of the long missing adventurers, were purchased 
 by the government Ian year. 
 
 The cnarge of this exj>edition was intrusted to Cap- 
 tain Penny, foi*merly commanding the Advice whaler, 
 and who has had much experience in the icy seas, hav- 
 ing been engaged twenty-eight years, since the age of 
 twelve, in the whaling trade, and in command of ves- 
 sels for fourteen vears ; Mr. Stewart was placed in 
 charge of the Sophia. 
 
 The crew of the Lady Franklin number twenty-five, 
 and that of the Sophia, twenty, all picked men. 
 
 These ships sailed on the 12th of April, 1850, pro- 
 visioned and stored for three years. They were pro- 
 vided with a printing press, and every appliance to 
 relieve the tedium of a long sojourn in the icy regions. 
 
 In the instructions issued by the Admiralty, it is 
 stated that in accepting Captain Parry's offer of service, 
 regard has been had to his long experience in arctic 
 navigation, and to the great attention he has paid to 
 the subject of the missing ships. 
 
 He "was left in a great measure to the exercise of his 
 
VOYAGE OF TirE RESOLUTE AND ASSISTANCE, ETr 313 
 
 »wn judgment and discretion, in combining the most 
 Active and energetic searcli after the Erehus and Terror, 
 witli a strict and careful regard to tlie safety t)f tho 
 ships and their crews under his cliarge. He was di- 
 rected to examine Jones' Sound at the head of Ballin's 
 liay, and if possible, penetrate through to the Parry 
 Islands ; failing in this, he was to try Wellington Strait, 
 and endeavor to reach Melville Island, lie was to uso 
 his utmost endeavors, (consistent with the safety of tho 
 lives of those intrusted to his command,) to succor, in 
 tlie summer of 1850, the party under Sir John Frank- 
 lin, taking care to secure his winter-quarters in good 
 time ; and 2dly, the same active measures were to be 
 used in the summer of 1851, to secure tho return of the 
 ships under his charge to this country. 
 
 The Lady Franklm was oft' Cape York, in Bafiin's 
 Bay, on tho 13th of August. From thence she pro- 
 ceeded, in company with H. M. S. Assistance, to Wol- 
 stenholme Sound. She afterward, in accordance with 
 her instructions, crossed over to the west with the in- 
 tention of examining Jones' Sound, but owing to the 
 accumulation of ice, was unable to approach it within 
 twenty-five miles. This was at midnight on the 18th. 
 She, therefore, continued her voyage to Lancaster 
 Sound, and onward to Wellington Channel, where she 
 was seen by Commander Forsyth, of the Prince Albert, 
 )n the 25th of August, with her tender, and IT. M. S. 
 Assistance in company, standing toward Cape Ilotham. 
 
 Voyage of H. M. Ships " Resolute " and " Assistance," 
 WITH the Steamers "Pioneer" and "iNTRErro" 
 as Tenders, under command of Captain Austin, 
 1850-51. 
 
 Two fine teak-built ships of about 500 tons each, the 
 Baboo and Ptarmigan, whose names were altered to 
 the Assistance and Resolute, were purchased by the 
 government in 1850, and sent to the naval yards to be 
 oroperly fitted for the voyage to the polar regions. 
 
 Two screw-propeller steamers, intended to accompany 
 
 iiJ 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
^pg'yj' ■■^^"■j-^ 
 
 
 814 
 
 PnOORESS OF AUCTIO DISGOVEKT. 
 
 theno vessels ns steam tenders, were also purchasocl and 
 similarly fitted ; their names were changed from the 
 Eider and Free Trade to the Pioneer and Intrepid. 
 
 The command of this expedition was intrusted to 
 Captain Horatio T. Austin, C. B., who was first lien- 
 tenant of the Fury, under Commander Iloppner, in 
 Captain Sir E. Parry's third voyage, in 1824-25. Tlio 
 vessels were provisioned for three years, and their at- 
 tention was also directed to the depots of stores lodged 
 by Sir James Ross at Leopold Island, and at Navy 
 Board- Inlet bv the North Star. The ships sailed in 
 May, 1850. The officers employed in them were as 
 follows : — 
 
 Beaolute. 
 
 Captain — Horatio T. Austin, C. B. 
 
 Lieutenants — R. D. Aid rich, and W. H. J. Browne. 
 
 Mates — R. B. Pearse, and W. M. Hay. 
 
 Purser — J. E. Brooman. 
 
 Surgeon — A. R. Bradford. 
 
 Assistant, ditto — Richard King. 
 
 Midshipmen — C. Bullock, J. P. CheyiM. 
 
 Second Master — G. F. M'Denjeall. 
 
 Total complement, 60 men. 
 
 Pioneer^ screw steamer. 
 
 Lient.-Commandinff — Sherard Osbom. 
 Second Master — J. H. AUard. 
 Assistant-Surgeon — F. R. Picthom. 
 
 Assistance. 
 Captain — E. Ommaney. 
 Lieutenants — J. E. EUiot, F. L. M'Olintock, and 
 
 G. F. Mecham. 
 Surgeon — J. J. L. Donnett 
 Assistant, ditto — J. Ward, (a.) 
 Mates — R. Y. Hamilton, and J. R. Keane. 
 Clerk in Charge — E. N. Harrison. 
 Second Master — W. B. SheUabear. 
 Midshipman — C. R. Markham. 
 
 Total complement, 60 men. 
 
VOYAGE OF THE RESOLUTE AND ASfllSTANCE, ETC. 315 
 
 Intrepidy screw stcamor. 
 Lieut.-Commander — B. Cator. 
 Eacli of the tenders had a crew of 30 men. 
 
 Two ol the officers amwintcd to this expedition, Lieu- 
 tenants lirowne and M Clintock, were in tlie Enterprise 
 under (Japtain Sir James 0. Iloss in 1848. 
 
 The Kmma Eugenia transport was dispatched in ad- 
 vance with provisions to tlie Whale-Fish Islands, to await 
 tlie arrival of the expedition. 
 
 It liaving been suggested by Bome parties that Sir 
 John Franklin might have effected his passage to Mel- 
 ville Island, and been detained there with nis ships, 
 or that tlie ships might have been damaged by the ice 
 in the neighboring sea, and tliat with his crews he had 
 abandoneu them and made his escape to that island, 
 (Japtain Austin was specially instructed to use every 
 exertion to reach this island, detaching a portion of his 
 fillips to search the shores of Wellington Channel and 
 tlie coast about Cape Walker, to which ix)int Sir John 
 Franklin was ordered to proceed. 
 
 Advices were first received from the Assistance, after 
 her departure, dated 5th of July ; she was then making 
 tier way to the northward. The season was less favor- 
 a])le for exploring operations than on many previous 
 years. But little ice had been met with in Davis' 
 Dtrait, where it is generally found in large quantities, 
 so that obstacles ot a serious nature may be expected 
 to the northward. Penny's shij)8 had been in company 
 with them. 
 
 Ice is an insunnountable barrier to rapid progress ; 
 fortifications may be breached, but huge masses of ice, 
 200 to 600 feet high, are not to be overcome. 
 
 On the 2d of July the Assistance was towed beneath 
 a perpendicular clifr to the northward of Cape Shackle- 
 ton, rising to the height of 1500 feet, which was ob- 
 served to oe crowded with the foolish guillemots, ( Uria 
 troile.) When the ship hooked on to an iceberg for the 
 night, a party sent on shore for the purpose brought off 
 260 birds and about twenty dozen of their eggs. These 
 birds only lay one egg each. ,^ 
 
 ')- 
 
 'I 
 
316 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 The following official dispatch has been since received 
 from Captain Oramaney : — 
 
 ^''Her Majesty^ 8 ship ''Assistance^ off Lancaster Sounds 
 latitude 75° 46' iV^., longitude 75° 49' TF., August 
 17, 1850. 
 
 "Sir, — I have the honor to acquaint you, for the in- 
 formation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- 
 ralty, that her Majesty's ship Assistance, and her tender, 
 her Majesty's steam-vessel Intrepid, have this day suc- 
 ceeded in effecting a passage across to the west water, 
 and are now proceeding to Lancaster Sound. Officers 
 and crews all well, with fine clear weather, and open 
 water as far as can be seen. 
 
 " Agreeably with instructions received from Captain 
 H. Austin, we parted company on the 15th instant, at 
 one A. M., off Cape Dudley Biggs, as the ice was then 
 sufficiently open to anticipate no farther obstruction in 
 effecting the north passage. He was anxious to proceed 
 to Pond's Bay, and thence take up the examination along 
 the south shores of Lancaster Sound, leaving me to 
 ascertain the truth of a report obtained from the Esqui- 
 maux at Cape York respecting some ship or ships hav- 
 ing been seen near Wolstenholme Island, after which to 
 proceed to the north shores of Lancaster Sound and 
 Wellington Channel. 
 
 " On passing Cape York, (the 14th inst.,) natives were 
 seen. By the directions of Captain Austin I landed, 
 and communicated with them, when we were informed 
 that they had seen a ship in that neighborhood in the 
 spring, and that she was housed in. Upon this intelli- 
 gence I shipped one of the natives, who volunteered to 
 join us as interpreter and guide. 
 
 "On parting with Captain Austin we proceeded 
 toward Wolstenholme Island, where I left the ship and 
 proceeded in her Majesty's steam- vessel Intrepid into 
 Wolstenholme Sound, and by the guidance of the Esqui- 
 maux, succeeded in finding a bay about thirteen miles 
 further in, and sheltered by a prominent headland. In 
 the cairns erected here we found a document stating 
 
 .,i^v»- 
 
- ^-vr-cv'-'Trv-JiP^"^'- ■- :^' 
 
 VOYAQR OF THE RESOLUTE AND ASSISTANCE, ETC. 317 
 
 that the KorUi Star had wintered in the bay, a copy 
 of which I have the honor to transmit to their Lord- 
 ships. 
 
 " Previous to searchinff the spot where the North Star 
 wintered, I examined the deserted Esquimaux settle- 
 ment. At this spot we found evident traces of some 
 ship having been in the neighborhood, from empty pre- 
 served meat canisters and some clothes left near a pool 
 C'f water, marked with the name of a coi'poral belonging 
 to the North Star. 
 
 " Having ascertained this satisfactory information, I 
 returned to Wolstenholme Island, where a document was 
 deposited recording our proceed inijs. At 6 a. m., of the 
 16th inst, I rejoined the ship, and proceeded at two to 
 the westward, and am happy to intbrm you that the 
 passage across has been made without obstruction, tow- 
 ing through loose and strangling ice. 
 
 "The expedition was beset in Melville Bay, sur- 
 rounded by heavy and extensive floes of ice, from the 
 11th of July to the 9th of August, 1850, when, after 
 threat exertion, a release was effected, and we succeeded 
 m reaching Cape York by continuing along the edge of 
 the land-ice, after which we have been fevored with 
 plenty of water. 
 
 " Captain Penny's expedition was in company during 
 the most part of the time while in Melville Bay, and up 
 to the 14th inst., when we left him off Cape Dudley 
 Diggs — all well. 
 
 "In crossing Melville Bay we fell in with Sir John 
 Ross and Captain Forsyth's expeditions. These Capt. 
 Austin has assisted by towing them toward their desti- 
 nations. The latter proceedea with him, and the former 
 has remained with us. 
 
 " Having placed Sir John Ross in a fair way of 
 reaching Lancaster Sound, with a fair wind and open 
 water, his vessel has been cast off in this position. 1 
 shall, therefore, proceed with all dispatch to the exami- 
 nation of the north shores of Lancaster Sound and 
 Wellington Channel, according to Captain Austin's 
 directions. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
318 
 
 rROGKESS OF AUCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient 
 humble servant. 
 
 "Erasmus Ommaney, Captain." 
 
 The Resolute got clear of the Orkneys on the 15th of 
 May, and arrived with her consort and the two tenders 
 at the Whale-Fish Islands on the 14th of June. 
 
 The Resolute was in Possession Bay on the 17th of 
 August. From thence her proposed course was along 
 the coast, northward and westward, to "Whaler Point, 
 situated at the southern extremity of Port Leopold, and 
 afterward to Melville Island. 
 
 In order to amuse themselves and their comrades, the 
 ofl&cers of the Assistance had started a MS. newspaper, 
 under the name of the " Aurora Borealis." Many of 
 my readers will have heard of the " Cockpit Herald," 
 and such other productions of former days, in his Majes- 
 ty's fleet. Parry, too, liad his journal to beguile the 
 long hours of the tedious arctic winter. 
 
 I have seen copies of this novel specimen of the 
 
 'fourth estate," dated Baffin's Bay, June, 1850, in which 
 
 there is a happy mixture of grave and gay, prose and 
 
 verse ; numerous very fair acrostics are published. I 
 
 append, by way of curiosity, a couple of extracts : — 
 
 " What insect that Noah had with him, were these 
 regions named after ? — ^The arc-tic." 
 
 " To the editor of the Aurora Borealis. 
 
 " Sra, — Having heard from an arctic voyager that he 
 has seen * crows'-nests' in those icy regions, I beg to 
 inquire through your columns, if they are built by the 
 crows, {Corvua tintinnahulus^ which Goodsir states to 
 utter a metallic bell-like croak ? My fast friend tegs 
 me to inquire when rook shooting commences in those 
 diggings ? 
 
 " A !N"aturat.i8t. 
 
 [" We would recommend to * A IS'aturalist ' a visit to 
 these ' crows'-nests,' which do exist in the arctic regions. 
 We would also advise his fast friend to investigate 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR JOHN ROSS IN THE FELIX, ETC. 319 
 
 these said nests more thoroughly ; he would find them 
 tenanted by very old birds (ice quarter-masters,) who 
 would not only inform him as to the species of crows 
 and the sporting season, but would give them a fair 
 chance of showing him how a pigeon may be plucked. 
 — Editor."] 
 
 YoYAGK OF Captain Sir John Boss in the "Felix" 
 PRIVATE Schooner, 1850-61. 
 
 In April, 1850, Captain Sir John Eoss having vol- 
 unteered his services to proceed in the search, was en- 
 abled, by the liberality of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 who contributed 500^., and public subscription, to leave 
 England in the Felix schooner, of 120 tons, with a 
 picked crew, and accompanied by Commander C. Ger- 
 vans Phillips, R. N. She also had the Mary, Sir John's 
 own yacht of twelve tons, as a tender. Mr. Abernethy 
 proceeded as ice-master, having accompanied Sir John 
 in his former voyage to Boothia; and Mr. Sivewright 
 was mate of the Felix. The vessels sailed from Scot- 
 land on the 23d of May, and reached Holsteinborg in 
 June, where Captain Ross succeeded in obtaining a 
 Danish interpreter who understood the Esquimaux 
 language ; he then proceeded on, calling at the Whale- 
 Fish Islands, and passing northway through the Way- 
 gatt Strait, overtook, on the 10th of August, H. M. 
 ships Assistance and Resolute, with their tenders the 
 Intrepid and Pioneer, under the command of Caplain 
 Austin. 
 
 On the 13th of August, Captain Ommaney in the 
 Assistance, and Sir John Ross in the Felix, being 
 somewhere off Cape York, observed three male Es- 
 (juimaux on the ice close by, and with these people 
 it was prudently resolved to communicate. Accord- 
 ingly, Lieutenant Cator in the Intrepid steamer, tender 
 to the Assistance, and Commander Phillips in the 
 whale-boat of the Felix, put off on this service. The 
 Intrepid's people arrived first, but apparently witliout 
 any means of expressing their desires, so that when the 
 
320 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 
 boat of the Felix, containing an Esquimaux interpreter, 
 joined the party, the natives immediately gave signs 
 of recognition and satisfaction, came into the boat with- 
 out the least hesitation, and engaged themselves pre- 
 sently in a long and animated conversation with theii 
 countryman the interpreter. Half an hour was de- 
 voted to this interchange of intelligence, but with no 
 immediate result, for the interpreter could only trans- 
 late his native language into Danish, and as no person 
 in the boat understood Danish, the informal on re- 
 mained as inaccessible as before. In this predicament 
 the boats returned with the intention of confronting the 
 interpreter — whose christianized name is Adam Beek 
 — with Sir John Ross himself. As iSir John, however, 
 was pushing ahead in the Felix toward Cape Dudley 
 Diggs, and as Adam appeared anxious to disburden 
 himself of his newly acquired information, the boats 
 dropped on board the rrince Albert, another of the 
 exploring vessels in the neighborhood, and there put 
 Adam in communication with the captain's steward, 
 John Smith, who " understood a little oi the language," 
 as Sir John Ross says, or "a good deal," as Com- 
 mander Phillips says, and who presently gave such aD 
 account of the intelligence as startled every body on 
 board. Its purport was as follows; — ^That in the win- 
 ter of 1846, when the snow was falling, two ships were 
 crushed bv the ice a good way off in the direction of 
 Cape Dudley Diggs, and afterward burned by a fierce 
 and numerous tribe of natives ; that the ships in ques- 
 tion were not whalers, and that epaulettes were worn 
 by some of the white men ; that a part of the crews 
 were drowned, that the remainder were some time in 
 huts or tents apart from the natives, that they had guns, 
 but no balls, and that being in a weak and exhausted 
 condition, they were subsequently killed by the natives 
 with darts or arrows. This was the form given to the 
 Esquimaux story by John Smith, captain's steward of 
 the Prince Albert. Impressed with the iniportance of 
 these tidings, Captain Ommaney and Commander 
 Phillips immediately made their report to Captain 
 
VOYAGE OF SIR JOHN R0B8 IN THE FELIX, ETC. 321 
 
 Austin in the Resolute, which was then in company 
 with the Felix near Cape Dudley Diggs. Captain Aus- 
 tin at once decided upon investigating the credibility 
 of the story, and with this view dispatched a message 
 to the Lady Franklin, another of the exploring ships, 
 which lay a few miles off, and which had on board a 
 regular Danish interpreter. This interpreter duly ar- 
 rived, but proceeded forthwith to translate the story by 
 a statement " totally at variance " with the interpreta- 
 tion of " the other," whom, as we are told, he called a 
 liar and intimidated into silence ; though no sooner was 
 the latter left to himself than he again repeated his 
 version of the tale, and stoutly maintained its accuracy. 
 Meantime an additional piece of information became 
 known, namely, that a certain ship had passed the win- 
 ter safely housed in Wolstenholme Sound — a state- 
 ment soon ascertained by actual investigation to be 
 perfectly true. The following is an extract of a letter 
 from — 
 
 Captain Sir John Hoss, R. iV., to Captain W. A.B, 
 Mamilton^ R. iT., Secreta/ry of the Admiralty. 
 
 " * Felix ' discovery yacht^ off Admiralty Inlet^ 
 " Lancaster Sounds August 22. 
 
 " Sm, — I have to acquaint you, for the information 
 of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that the 
 Felix discovery yacht, with her tender, the Mary, after 
 obtaining an Esquimaux interpreter at Holsteinborg, 
 and calling at "Whale-Fish Islands, proceeded north way 
 through the Waygatt Straits, and overtook her Ma- 
 jesty's discovery ships, under the command of Captain 
 Austin on the 11th of August ; and on the 12th the 
 senior oflScer and the second in command having cor- 
 dially communicated with me on the best mode of 
 performing the service on which we are mutually em- 
 barked, arrangements were made and concluded for a 
 simultaneous examination of every part of the eastern 
 side of a northwest passage in which it was probable 
 that the missing ships coiud be bound : documents t » 
 
 4 
 J'' 
 
822 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 '^, 
 
 that effect were exchanged, and subsequently assented 
 to by Captains Forsyth and Penny. 
 
 " On the 13th of August natives were discovered on 
 the ice near to Cape lork, with whom it was deemed 
 advisable to communicate. On this service, Lieutenant 
 Cator, in the In'repid, was detached on the part of 
 Captain Austin, and on my part Commander Phillips, 
 witn our Esquimaux interpreter, in the whale-boat of 
 the Felix. It was found by Lieutenant Cator that Cap- 
 tain Penny had left with the natives a note for Captain 
 Austin, but only relative to the state of the navigation ; 
 however, when Commander Phillips arrived, the Esqui- 
 maux, seeing one apparently of their own nation in the 
 whale-boat, came immediately to him, when a Ions 
 conversation took place, the purport of which could 
 not be made known, as the interpreter could not ex- 
 plain himself to any one, either in the Intrepid or the 
 whale-boat, (as he understands only the Danish besides 
 his own language,) until he was brought on board the 
 Prince Albert, where John Smith, the captain's stew- 
 ard of that vessel, who had been some years at the 
 Hudson's Bay settlement of Churchill, and understands 
 a little of the language, was able to give some expla- 
 nation of Adam Beck's information, which was deemed 
 of such importance that Captains Ommaney, Phillips, 
 and Forsyth, proceeded in the Intrepid to the Resolute, 
 when it was decided by Captain Austin to send for the 
 Danish Interpreter of the Lady Franklin, which, hav- 
 ing been unsuccessful in an attempt at getting through 
 the ice to the westward, was only a few miles distant. 
 In the mean time it was known that, in addition to the 
 first information, a ship, which could only be the North 
 Star, had wintered in W olstenholme Sound, called by 
 the natives Ourinak, and had only left it a month ago. 
 This proved to be true, but the interpretation of the 
 Dane was totally at variance with the information given 
 by the other, who, although for obvious reasons he did 
 not dare to contradict the Dane, subsequently main- 
 tained the truth of his statement, which induced Cap- 
 tain Austin to dispatch the Intrepid with Captains 
 
VOYAGE OF Sm JOHN ROSS IN TIIE FELIX, ETC. 323 
 
 Ommaney and Phillips, taking with them both onr in- 
 terpreters, Adam Beek and a young native who had 
 been persuaded to come as one of the crew of the As- 
 sistance, to examine Wolstenholme Sound. In the 
 mean time it had been unanimously decided that no 
 alteration should be made in our previous arrangement, 
 it being obvious that while there remained a chance of 
 saving the lives of those of the missing ships who may 
 be yet alive, a further search for those who had per- 
 ished should be postponed, and accordingly the Reso- 
 lute, Pioneer, and Prince Albert parted company on 
 the 15th. It is here unnecessary to give the ofhcial re- 
 ports made to me by Commanaer Phillips, which are 
 of course transmitted by me to the Secretary of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, which, with the information 
 written in the Esquimaux language by Adam Beek, 
 will no doubt be sent to you for their Lordships' infor- 
 mation ; and it will be manifest by these reports that 
 Commander Phillips has performed his duty with sa- 
 f^acity, circumspection, and address, which do him in- 
 finite credit, altnough it is only such as I must have 
 expected from so intelligent an officer; and I have 
 much satisfaction in adding that it has been mainly 
 owing to his zeal and activity that I was able, under 
 disadvanta<re' us circumstances, to overtake her Majes- 
 ty's ships, waile by his scientific acquirements and ac- 
 curacy in surveying, he has been able to make many 
 important corrections and valuable additions to the 
 charts of the much-frequented eastern side of Baffin's 
 Bay, .^hich has been more closely observed and navi- 
 gated by us than by any former expedition, and, much 
 to my satisfaction, confirming the latitude aud longi- 
 tude of every headland I had an opportunity of laying 
 down in the year 1818. 
 
 " I have only to add that I have much satisfaction 
 in co-operating with her Majesty's expedition. "With 
 such support and with such vessels so particularly 
 adapted for the service, no exertion shall be wanting 
 on my part. But I cannot conclude this letter without 
 acknowledging my obligations to Commodore Austin 
 
3i4 
 
 TROGUESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 and Captain Ommaney for tho assistance they have af- 
 forded me, and for tho cordiality and courtesy with 
 which I have been treated by these distinguished offi- 
 cers and others of the ships under their orders. Ani- 
 mated as we are with an ardent and sincere desire to 
 rescue our imperiled countrymen, I confidently trust 
 ;hat our unitea exertions and humble endeavors nia}^ 
 mder a merciful Providence, be completely successful, 
 "I am, with truth and regard, Sir, your faithful and 
 obedient servant, 
 
 "John Ross, Captain, E. N." 
 
 By the accounts brought home by Commander For- 
 syth from Lancaster Sound, to the 25th of August, it 
 is stated that Sir John Eoss, in the Felix, intended to 
 return to England. 
 
 The ice was at that period very heavy, extending all 
 around from Leopold Island, at the entrance of Regent 
 Inlet, to Cape Farewell, to the westward, so as to pre- 
 vent the possibility of any of the vessels pushing on to 
 Cape Walker. When the Prince Albert was between 
 Cape Spencer and Cape Innes, in "Wellington Channel, 
 Mr. Snow went at noon to the mast-head, and saw II. 
 M. Ship Assistance as near as possible within Cape 
 Hotham, under a press of sail. Her tender, the In- 
 trepid, was not seen, but was believed to be with her. 
 Captain Penny, with his two ships, the Lady Franklin 
 and Sophia, was endeavoring to make his way up the 
 same Channel, but it was feared the ice would ulti- 
 mately be too strong for him, and that he would have 
 to return home, leaving Captain Austin^s squadron only 
 to winter in the ice. 
 
 The American man-of-war brig Rescue was close be 
 set with the ice near Cape Bowen. 
 
 The Pioneer was with the Resolute on the 17th 
 August. 
 
LADY franklin's API'EAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 325 
 
 A fERICAN SeARCHINO EXPEDITION. UnITED StATES' 
 
 ^iiips, " Advance " and " Rescue," under the Com- 
 mand OF Lieutenant De Haven, 1860-51. 
 
 In the spring of 1849, Lady Franklin made a touch- 
 ing and pathetic appeal to the feelings of the American 
 nation, in the following letter to the President of the 
 Republic : — 
 
 The Lady of Sir John Franhlin to the President. 
 
 ^^ Bedford-place^ London^ ^th Aprils 1849. 
 
 "Sir, — I address myself to you as the head of a 
 great nation, whose power to help me I cannot doubt, 
 and in whose disposition to do so I have a confidence 
 which I trust you will not deem presumptuous. 
 
 "The name of my husband. Sir John Franklin, is 
 probably not unknown to you. It is intimately con- 
 nected with the northern part of that continent of 
 which the American republic forms so vast and con- 
 spicuous a portion. When I visited the United States 
 three years ago, among the many proofs I received of 
 respect and courtesy, there was none which touched 
 and even surprised me more than the appreciation 
 everywhere expressed to me of his former services in 
 geographical discovery, and the interest felt in the en- 
 terprise in which he was then known to be engaged." 
 
 * 
 
 « 
 
 •» 
 
 [Her ladyship here gives the details of the departure 
 
 of the expedition, and the measures already taken for 
 
 its relief.] 
 
 * « « « * 
 
 " I have entered into these details with the view of 
 proving that, though the British government has not 
 forgotten the duty it owes to the brave men whom it 
 has sent on a perilous service, and has spent a very 
 large sum in providing the means for their rescue, yet 
 that, owing to various causes, the means actually in 
 operation for this purpose are quite inadequate to meet 
 the extreme exigence of the case ; for, it mast bo 
 
 'it 
 
326 
 
 PROGRESS OF AEOTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 remembered, that the missing ships were victualed for 
 three years only, and that nearly four years have now 
 elapsed, so that the survivors of so many winters in the 
 ice must be at the last extremity. And also, it must 
 be borne in mind, that the channels by which the ships 
 may have attempted to force a passage to the westward, 
 or which they may have been compelled, by adverse 
 circumstances, to take, are very numerous and compli- 
 cated, and that one or two ships cannot possibly, in the 
 course of the next short summer, explore them all. 
 
 " The Board of Admiralty, under a conviction of this 
 fact, has been induced to offer a reward of 20,000/. 
 sterling to any ship or ships, of any country, or to any 
 explormg party wnatever, which shall render efficient 
 assistance to the missing ships, or their crews, or to any 
 portion of them. This announcement, which, even if 
 the sum had been doubled or trebled, would have met 
 with public approbation, comes, however, too late for 
 our whalers, which had unfortunately sailed before it 
 was issued, and which, even if the news should over- 
 take them at their fishing-grounds, are totally unfitted 
 for any prolonged adventure, having only a few months' 
 provision on board, and no additional clothing. To the 
 American whalers, both in the Atlantic and Pacific, I 
 look with more hope, as competitors for the prize, be- 
 ing well aware of their numoers and strength, their 
 thorough equipment, and the bold spirit of enterprise 
 which animates their crews. But 1 venture to look 
 even beyond these. I am not without hope that you 
 will deem it not unworthy of a great and kindred na- 
 tion to take up the cause of humanity which I plead, in 
 a national spirit, and thus generously make it your own. 
 
 " I must nere, in gratitude, adduce the example of 
 the imperial Russian government, which, as I am led 
 to hope by his Excellency, the Eussian embassador in 
 London, who forwarded a memorial on the subject, will 
 send out exploring parties this summer, from the Asiatic 
 side of Behrinff's Strait, northward, in search of the 
 lost vessels. It would be a* noble spectacle to the 
 World, if three great nations, possessed of the widest 
 
 
LADY franklin's APPEAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 327 
 
 empires on the face of the globe, were thus to unite 
 their efforts in the truly christian work of saving their 
 perishing fellow-men from destruction. 
 
 " It is not for me to suggest the mode in which such 
 benevolent efforts might best bo made. 1 will only say, 
 however, that if the conceptions of my own mind, to 
 which I do not venture to give utterance, were realized, 
 and that in the noble competition which followed, Amer- 
 ican seamen had the good fortune to wrest from us the 
 glory, as might be the case, of solving the problem of 
 the unfound passage, or the still greater glory of saving 
 our adventurous navigators from a lingering fate which 
 the mind sickens to dwell on, though i should in either 
 case regret that it was not my own brave countrymen 
 in those seas whose devotion was thus rewarded, yet 
 should I rejoice that it was to America we owed our 
 restored happiness, and should be forever bound to her 
 by ties of affectionate gratitude. 
 
 " I am not without some misgivings while I thus ad- 
 dress you. The intense anxieties of a wife and of a 
 daughter may have led me to press too earnestly on 
 your notice the trials under which we are suffering, 
 (yet not we only, but hundreds of others,) and to pre- 
 sume too much on the sympathy which we are assured 
 is felt beyond the limits of our own land. Yet, if 
 you deem this to be the case, you will still find, I am 
 sure, even in that personal intensity of feeling, an 
 excuse for the fearlessness wifh which I have throwit 
 myself on your generosity, and will pardon the hom 
 age I thus pay to your own high character, and to thr 
 of the people over whom you have the distinction t^ 
 preside. " I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) "Janz Fbanklin." 
 
 To which the following reply was received : — 
 
 Mr, Cla/yton to Lady Jcme Franklin. 
 
 '''' Depa/rtment of State^ Washington^ 
 " 25^A April, 1849. 
 
 "Madam, — ^Your letter to the President of the United 
 States, dated April 4th, 1849, has been received by 
 
 'I 
 
 
328 
 
 rROORKSa OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 liim, and ho has instructed me to make to you the fol- 
 low ini^ reply : — 
 
 " The api)eal made in the letter with which you have 
 honored him, is such as would strongly enlist the sym- 
 pathy of the rulers and the people of any portion of 
 the civilized world. 
 
 " To the citizens of the United States, who share so 
 largely in the emotions which agitate the public mind 
 in your own country, the name of Sir John Franklin 
 has been endeared by his heroic virtues, and the sufter- 
 ings and sacrifices which he has encountered for the 
 benefit of mankind. The appeal of his wife and daugh- 
 ter, in their distress, has been borne across the waters, 
 asking the assistance of a kindred people to save the 
 brave men who embarked in this unfortunate expedi- 
 tion ; and the people of the United States, who have 
 watched with the deepest interest that hazardous enter- 
 prise, will now respond to that appeal, by the expression 
 of their united wishes that every proper effort may bo 
 made by this government for the rescue of your hus- 
 band and his companions. 
 
 " To accomplish the objects you have in view, the 
 attention of American navigators, and especially of 
 our whalers, will be immediately invoked. All the in- 
 formation in the possession of this government, to 
 enable them to aid in discovering the missing ships, 
 relieving their crews and restoring them to their fami- 
 lies, shall be spread far and wide among our people ; 
 and all that the executive government of the United 
 States, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, can 
 effect, to meet this requisition on American enterprise, 
 skill and bravery, will be promptly undertaken. 
 
 " The hearts of the American people will bo deeply 
 touched by your eloquent address to their Chief Magis- 
 trate, and they will join with you in an earnest prayer 
 to Ilim whose spirit is on the waters, that your husband 
 and his companions may yet be restored to their coun- 
 try and their friends. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 (Signed) " John M. Clayton." 
 
LADY FUANKLIN 8 AITEAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 329 
 
 A second letter wfts also addressed by Lady Franklin 
 to the President in the close of that year, after the forced 
 return of Captain Sir James Koss, from whose activo 
 exertions so much had been expected — 
 
 The Lady of Sir John Franklin to the President. 
 " Spring Gardens^ London^ Wth Dec.^ 1849. 
 
 "Sir, — I had the honor of addressing myself to 
 you, in the month of April last, in behalf of my hus- 
 band, Sir John Franklin, his otiicers and crews, who 
 were sent by Her Majesty's government, in the spring 
 of 1845, on a maritime expedition for a discovery ot 
 the northwest passage, and who have never since been 
 heard of. 
 
 "Their mysterious fate has excited, I believe, tho 
 deepest interest throughout the civilized world, but no- 
 where more so, not even in England itself, than in tho 
 United States of America. It was under a deep con- 
 viction of this fact, and with the humble hope tnat an 
 a]ipeal to those general sentiments would never l»o 
 made altogether in vain, that I ventured to lay before 
 you the necessities of that critical period, and to ask 
 yon to take up the cause of humanity which I pleaded, 
 and £;enerousIv make it your own. 
 
 " How nobly you, sir, and the American people, 
 responded to that appeal, — how kindly and courteously 
 tliat response was conveyed to me, — is known wherever 
 our common language is spoken or understood ; and 
 though difRculties, which were mainly owing to the 
 advanced state of the season, presented themselves after 
 your official announcement had been made known to our 
 government, and prevented the immediate execution of 
 your intentions, yet tho generous pledge you had given 
 was not altogether withdrawn, and hope still remained 
 to me that, should the necessity for renewed measures 
 continue to exist, I might look again across the waters 
 for the needed succor. 
 
 " A period has now, alas, arrived, when our dearest 
 hopes as to the safe return of the discovery ships this 
 autumn are finally crushed by the unexpected, though 
 
 15 
 
 ^ 
 
330 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 forced return of Sir James Koss, without any tidings of 
 them, and also by the close of the arctic season. And 
 not only have no tidings been brought of their safety or 
 of their fate, but even the very traces of their course 
 have yet to be discovered ; for such was the concur- 
 rence of unfortunate and unusual circumstances attend- 
 ing the eflForts of the brave and able officer alluded to, 
 that he was not able to reach those points where indi- 
 cations of the course of discovery ships would most 
 probably be found. And thus, at the close of a second 
 season since the departure of the recent expedition of 
 search, we remain in nearly the same state of ignorance 
 respecting the missing expedition as at the moment of 
 its starting from our shores. And in the mean time our 
 brave countrymen, whether clinging still to their ships, 
 or dispersed in various directions, have entered upon a 
 fifth winter in those dark and dreary solitudes, with 
 exhausted means of sustenance, while yet their expected 
 succor comes not ! 
 
 " It is in the time, then, of their greatest peril, in the 
 day of their extremest need, that I venture, encouraged 
 by your former kindness, to look to you again for some 
 active efforts which may come in aid of those of my 
 own country, and add to the means of search. Her 
 Majesty's Ministers have alreadv resolved on sending 
 an expedition to Behring's Strait, and doubtless have 
 other necessary measures in contemplation, supported 
 as they are, in every means that can be devised for this 
 humane purpose, by the sympathies of the nation, and 
 by the ffenerous solicitude which our Queen is known 
 to feel in the fate of her brave people imperiled in their 
 c<»nntrv's service. But, whatever be the measures con- 
 templ^ced by the Admiralty, they cannot be such as 
 will leave no room or necessity for more, since it is 
 only by the multiplication of means, and those vigorous 
 and instant ones, that we can hope, at this last stage, 
 and in this last hour, perhaps, of the lost navigators' 
 existence, to snatch them from a dreary grave. And 
 surely, till the shores and seas of those frozen regions 
 have been swept in all directions, or until some memo- 
 
LIEUTENANT OSBOBN S SUOOESTIONS. 
 
 331 
 
 rial be found to attest their fate, neither England, who 
 sent them out, nor even America, on whose snores they 
 have been launched in a cause which has interested the 
 world for centuries, will deem the question at rest 
 
 ^' May it please God so to move the hearts and wills 
 of a great and kindred people, and of their chosen 
 Chief Magistrate, that they may join heart and hand 
 in the generous enterprise I The respect and admiration 
 of the world, which watches with growing interest every 
 movement of your great republic, will toUow the chiv- 
 alric and humane endeavor, and the blessing of them 
 who were ready to perish shall come to you I 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 (Signed) Jane Franklin. 
 
 '•^His Excellency the President of the United States^ 
 
 In a very admirable letter addressed to Lady Frank- 
 lin in February, 1850, by Lieut. Sherard Osbom, R. N., 
 occur the following remarks and suggestions, which 
 appear to me so explicit and valuable that I publish 
 them entire : — 
 
 ^^ Great Ealing^ Middlesex^ 6th Eeh'uary, 1850. 
 
 " My Dear Lady Fbanklin. — It is of course of vital 
 importance that the generous co-operation of the Ameri- 
 cans in the rescue of Sir John Franklin and his crews 
 be directed to points which call for search, and at the 
 same time give them a clear field for the exercise of 
 their energy and emulation. It would be a pity, for 
 instance, if they should be merely working on the same 
 ground with oureelvcs, while extensive portions of the 
 Arctic Sea, in which it is equally probable the lost ex- 
 pedition may be found, should be left unexamined ; and 
 none, in my opinion, offers a better prospect of success- 
 ful search than the coasts of Bepulse Bay, Hecla and 
 Fury Strait, Committee Bay, Felix Harbor, the estuary 
 of the Great Fish River, and Simpson's Strait, with the 
 sea to the northwest of it. My reasons for saying so 
 are as follows ; — 
 
 
3S2 
 
 PR0GKES8 OF AECTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 " Suppose Sir John Franklin to have so far carried 
 out the tenor of his orders as to have penetrated south- 
 west from Cape Walker, and to have been either ' cast 
 away,' or hopelessly impeded by ice, and that either in 
 the past or present year he found it necessary to quit 
 his ships, they being anywhere between 100° and 108° 
 west longitude, and 70° and 73° north latitude. Now, 
 to retrace his steps to Cape Walker, and thence to Re- 
 gent Inlet, would be no doubt the first suggestion that 
 would arise. Yet there are objections to it : firstly, he 
 Vi^ould have to contend against the prevailing set of tlio 
 ice, and currents, and northerly wind ; secondly, if no 
 whalers were found in Lancaster Sound, how was he 
 to support his large party in regions where the musk 
 ox or reindeer is never seen? thirdly, leaving hip 
 ships in the summer, he knew he could only reacli the 
 whaling ground in the fall of the year ; and, in such 
 case, would it not be advisable to make rather for 
 the southern than the northern limit of the seas vis- 
 ited by the whalers ? fourthly, by edging to the south 
 rather than the north. Sir John Franklin would be 
 falling back to, i ather than going from, relief, and in- 
 crease the probabilities of providmg food for his large 
 party. 
 
 " 1 do not believe he would have decided on going 
 due south, because the lofty land of Victoria Island 
 was in his road, and when he did reach the American 
 shore, he would only attain a desert, of whose horrors 
 he no doubt retained a vivid recollection ; and a 
 lengthy land journey of more than 1000 miles to the 
 Hudson's Bay settlements was more than his men were 
 capable of. 
 
 " There remains, therefore, but one route for Sir Jolm 
 under such circumstances to follow ; and it decidedly 
 has the following merits, that of being in a direct line 
 for the southern limit of the whale fishery ; that of 
 leading through a series of narrow seas adapted for tho 
 navigation of small open boats ; that of being the most 
 expeditious route by which to reach Fort Churchill, in 
 Hudson's Bay ; that of leading through a region visited 
 
LIECTENAKT OSBORN S SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 333 
 
 by Esquimaux and migratory animals ; and this route 
 is through the ' Strait of Sir James Boss,' across the 
 narrow isthmus of Boothia Felix, (which, as you re- 
 minded me to-day, was not supposed to exist when Sir 
 John Franklin left England, and has been since discov- 
 ered,) into the Gulf of Boothia, where he could either 
 pass by Hecla and Fury Strait into the fishing-ground 
 of Hudson's Strait, or else go southward down Commit- 
 tee Bay, across the Rae Isthmus into Repulse Bay, and 
 endeavor from there to reach some vessels in Hudson's 
 Bay, or otherwise Fort Churchill. 
 
 " It is not unlikely either, that when Franklin had 
 got to the eastern extremity of James Ross's Strait, 
 and found the land to be across his path where he had 
 expected to find a strait, that his party might have di- 
 vided, and the more active portion of them attempted 
 to ascend the Great Fish River, where we have Sir 
 George Back's authority for supposing they would find, 
 close to the arctic shores, abundance of food in fish, 
 and herds of reindeer, &c., while the others traveled 
 on the road I have already mentioned. 
 
 " To search for them, therefore, on this line of retreat, 
 I should think highly essential, and if neglected this 
 year, it must be done next ; and if not done by the 
 Americans, it ought to be^done by us. 
 
 " 1 therefore suggest the following plan : — Suppose 
 a well-equipped expedition to leave America in Ma}*, 
 and to enter Hudson's Strait, and then divide into two 
 divisions. The first division might go northward, 
 through Fox's Channel to Hecla and Fury Strait, exam 
 ine the shores of the latter carefully, deposit provisions 
 at the western extreme, erect conspicuous beacons, and 
 proceed to Melville or Felix Harbor, in Boothia, secure 
 their vessel or vessels, and dispatch, as soon as circum- 
 stances would allow, boat parties across the neck of 
 the isthmus into the western waters. Here let them 
 divide, and one party proceed through James Ross'a 
 Strait, carefully examining the coast, and push over sea, 
 ice, or land, to the northwest as far as possible. Tho 
 other boat party to examine the estuary oi* the Great 
 
 >J 
 
334 
 
 rnOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 Fish River, and thenoe proceed westward along the 
 coast of Simpson's Strait, and, if possible, examine the 
 broad bay formed between it and Dease's Strait. 
 
 "The second division, on parting company, raighi 
 pass south of Southampton Island, and coast along from 
 Chesterfield Inlet northward to Repulse Bay, a boat 
 party with two boats might cross Rae Isthmus into the 
 bottom of Committee Bay, with instructions to visit 
 both shores of the said bay, and to rendezvous at the 
 western entrance of Hecla and Fury Strait. The sec- 
 ond division ( be it one or more vessels) should then 
 pass into Fox's Channel, and turning through Hecla 
 and Fury Strait, pick up the boats at the rendezvous ; 
 and thence, if the first division have passed on all right, 
 and do not require reinforcement, the second division 
 should steer northward along the unknown coast, ex- 
 tending as far as Cape Kater ; from Cape Kater pro- 
 ceed to Leopold Island, and having secured their ships 
 there, dispatch boat or traveling parties in a direction 
 southwest from Cape Rennell, in North Somerset, be- 
 ing in a parallel line to the line of search we shall 
 adopt from Cape Walker, and at the same time it will 
 traverse the unknown sea beyond the Islands lately 
 observed by Captain Sir James Ross. 
 
 "Some such plan as this vould, I think, insuie youi 
 gallant husband being met or assisted, should he be to 
 the south or the west af Cape Walker, and attempt to 
 return by a southeast course, a direction which, I think, 
 others as well as myself would agree in thinking a very 
 rational and probable one. 
 
 " I will next apeak of an argument which has been 
 brought forward in consequence of no traces of the 
 missing expedition having been discovered in Lancas- 
 ter Sound ; that it is quite possible, if Franklin failed 
 in getting through the middle ice from Melville Bay to 
 Lancaster Sound, that, sooner than disappoint public 
 anxiet}' and expectation of a profitable result arising 
 from his expedition, he may have turned northward, 
 and gone up Smith'^ Sound ; every mite beyond its en- 
 trance was new ground, and therefore a reward to the 
 
DEBATE IN OONGRESS. 
 
 335 
 
 discoverer. It likewise brought them nearer the pole, 
 and may be they found that open sea of which Baron 
 "Wrangel speaks so constantly in his journeys over the 
 ice northward from Siberia. 
 
 "It is therefore desirable that some vessels should 
 carefully examine the entrance of this sound, and visit 
 all the conspicuous headlands for some considerable 
 distance within it; for it ought to be borne in mind, 
 that localities perfectly accessible for the purpose of 
 erecting beacons, &c., one season, may be quite im- 
 practicable the next, and Franklin, late in the season 
 and pressed for time, would not have wasted time, scal- 
 ing bergs to reach the shore and pile up cairns, of 
 which, in all the sanguine hope of success, he could not 
 have foreseen the necessity. 
 
 " Should any clue be found to the lost expedition in 
 this direction, to follow it up would, of course, be the 
 duty of the relieving party, and every thing would de- 
 pend necessarily upon the judgment of the commanders. 
 
 "In connection with this line of search, I think a 
 small division of vessels, starting from Spitzbergen, and 
 pushing from it in a northwest direction, might be of 
 great service ; for on reference to the chart, it will be 
 seen that Spitzbergen is as near the probable position 
 of Franklin (if he went north about,) on the east, as 
 Behring's Strait is upon the west ; and the probability 
 of reaching the meridian of 80° west from Spitzbergen 
 is equally as good as, if not better than, Behring's Strait, 
 and, moreover, a country capable of supporting life 
 always in the rear to fall back upon. 
 
 , " Sheraed Osrorn, 
 "Lieutenant Koyal Navy. 
 
 "To Lady Franklin." 
 
 Debate m the American Congress. 
 
 The following remarks of honorable members and 
 senators, in defense of the bill for carrying out Mr. 
 GrinnelPs expedition, will explain the grounds on which 
 the government countenance was invojked for the noble 
 ^undertaking : — 
 
 H 
 
 
 t' ft 
 
 § 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 je ^ 
 
 
836 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 
 
 "Mr. Miller: I prefer that the government should 
 have the entire control of this enterprise ; but, Sir, I 
 do not think that can be accomplished ; at all events, it 
 cannot within the time required to produce the good 
 results which are to be hoped from this expedition. It 
 is well known to all that the uncertain fate of Sir John 
 Franklin and his companions has attracted the attention 
 and called forth the sympathies of the civilized world. 
 This government, Sir, has been indiiFerent to the call. 
 An application, an appeal was made to this government 
 of no ordinary character ; one which was cheerfully' 
 entertained by the President, and which he was anxiou* 
 should be complied with. But it is known to the coun 
 try and to the Senate that, although the President had 
 every disposition to send out an expedition in search 
 of Sir John Franklin, it was found upon inquiry that 
 we had no ships fitted for the occasion, and that the 
 Executive had no authority to procure them for an ex- 
 pedition of this kind, and suitable for this sort of navi- 
 gation. The Executive was therefore obliged, for want 
 of authority to build the ships, to forego further action 
 on this noble enterprise, until Congress should meet, 
 and authorize the expedition. 
 
 "In the mean time, Mr. Grinnell, one of the most 
 respectable and worthy merchants of the city of New 
 York, understanding the difficulty that the government 
 had in fitting out the expedition, has gone to work, and 
 with his own means has built t\;«o small vessels espe- 
 cially prepared for the expedition ; and he now most 
 generously tenders them to the government, not to be 
 under his own control, but the control of the govern- 
 ment, and to be made part of the navy of the United 
 States. The honorable senator from Alabama (Mr. 
 King) is mistaken with regard to the terms and effect 
 of this resolution. This resolution places these two 
 ships under the control of the government, as much 
 so as if they were built expressly for the navy of the 
 United States. Their direction, their fitting out, their 
 officers and mon, are all to be under the control of 
 the Executive. Their officers are to be officwrs of our 
 
DEBATE IN CONGRESS. 
 
 837 
 
 navy — their seamen the seamen of our navy — so that 
 the expedition will be as thoroughly under the control of 
 this government as if the ships belonged to us. Now, 
 Sir, I should have no objections myself to amend this 
 resolution so as to authorize the purchase of these two 
 small vessels at once, and make them a part of our na- 
 val establishment ; but, whon I recollect the magnani- 
 mous feeling which urgea ^.is noble-hearted merchant 
 to prepare these ships, I know that that same feeling 
 would forbid him to make merchandise of that which 
 he lias devoted to humanity. He offers them for this 
 great cause ; they are his property, prepared for this 
 enterprise, and he offers them to us to be used by the 
 government in this great undertaking. "We must either 
 accept them for the purpose to which he has dedicated 
 them, or reject them altogether. If we refuse these 
 ships, we will defeat the whole enterprise, and lose all 
 opportunity of participation in a work of humanity 
 which now commands the attention of the world. 
 
 " If we refer this resolution back to the committee, 
 and they report a bill authorizing government to build 
 ships to carry on the expedition on its own account, it 
 would be attended with very great delay, and, in my 
 opinion defeat the object we have in view. In a case 
 of this kind time is every thing. It must be done speed- 
 ily, if done at all. Every hour's delay may be worth 
 the life of a man. Sir John Franklin and his compan- 
 ions may ere this have perished, but our hope is that 
 they are still living in some narrow sea, imprisoned by 
 walls of ice, where our succor may yet reach them. 
 But, Sir, whether our hopes are fallacious or not, the 
 public feeling — the feeling of humanity — is, that the 
 fate of Sir John Franklin should, if possible, be ascer- 
 tained, and as soon as possible. The public mind will 
 never be satisfied till an expedition from this country, 
 or from some other country, shall have ascertained their 
 fate. I therefore trust that this resolution, as it is, will 
 be acted upon at once, and that it will receive the 
 unanimous vote of the Senate. * * * * 
 
 " I am so impressed Mr. President, with the impor- 
 
 15* 
 
 '^ 
 
338 
 
 PEOQRESS OF ARCTIO DISCOVERY. 
 
 tance of time as regards the disposal of this question, 
 that I hesitate even to occupy the attention of the 
 Senate for a few moment" ; and I only do so for the 
 purpose of con ^^.ting some views which have been ex- 
 pressed by the senator from Mississippi. * * * The 
 question is, whether we shall adopt this resolution, and 
 immediately send forth this expedition for the purpose 
 of accomplishing this great object, or whether we shall 
 throw back this resolution to drag its slow course 
 through Congress, in the form of another bill, to make 
 an appropnation for the purpose of building vessels. 
 Por what object? To secure, as the senator says, to the 
 United States, the sole honor and glory of this expedi- 
 tion. Sir, if this expedition is got up merely for honor 
 and glory either to the United States or to an individual, 
 I will have nothing whatever to do with it. Sir, there 
 is a deeper and a higher sentiment that has induced the 
 action of Congress on this subject. It is to engage in 
 a great work of humanity, to do that which is not only 
 bemg done by the government of England, but by pri- 
 vate individuals, who are fitting out expeditions at their 
 own expense, and sending them to the northern seas, 
 for the purpose of discovering the tate of this great 
 man, who had periled his life in the cause of science 
 and of commerce. 
 
 " Mr President, I have been informed that a private 
 expedition is now being fitted out in England under the 
 direction of that great commander, or I may call him 
 the king of the Polar Seas, Sir John Koss, who ie going 
 again to devote himself and his life to this perilous ex- 
 pedition. Sir, altogether I have not had heretofore 
 much confidence in the success of this expedition, yet 
 when I consider the reputation of Sir John Ross, and 
 the fact that he is better acquainted with those seas 
 than any other man living, and understanding that he 
 entertains the belief that Sir John Franklin and his 
 companions are yet alive, and may be rescued, — I say, 
 finding such a man as Sir John Ross engaged in an ex- 
 pedition of this kind, I am not without nope that our 
 efforts may, under Providence, be crowned with success. 
 
DEBATE IN CONGKESS. 
 
 339 
 
 But the honorable senator says that nothing is likely to 
 be derived from this expedition but honor and glory, 
 and that that is to be divided between the government 
 of the United States and a private individual. Sir, is 
 there nothing to be derived from the performance of an 
 act of humanity but honor and glory ? Sir, it is said 
 that in this instance both the government and the indi- 
 vidual alluded to are engaged m the same work. Well, 
 Sir, what objection can there be to that connection? 
 Does the honorable senator from Mississippi envy the 
 individual his share of the honor and glory ? Does he 
 desire to monopolize it all to tlie United States ? I hope 
 he has no such feeling as that. 
 
 " But, Mr. President, the honorable senator made use 
 of an expression which 1 think he will withdraw. He 
 intimated, if I understood him rightly, some suspicion 
 that this was a matter of speculation on the part of Mr. 
 Grinnell. 
 
 " Mr. FooTE : I said I had heard such a thing sug- 
 gested ; but I do not make any such charge myself. 
 
 " Mr. Miller : I have heard this urged as an objec- 
 tion heretofore, but I am satisfied that if the senator 
 from Mississippi knew the character and the history of 
 this gentleman, he would not even repeat that he had 
 heard such an insinuation. Sir, although this is a 
 liberal donation from an individual, the sum need not 
 alarm gentlemen about after claims. These ships are 
 but small ships ; and it is necessjirv that they should be 
 small in order that they may be effective. One of them 
 is, I understand, 150 tons, and the other 90 tons. They 
 have cost, I believe, 30,000 dollars. Now, when we 
 find this merchant devoting his property, not for the 
 purpose of building ships to convey merchandise to the 
 markets of the world ; when we find him retiring from 
 the ordinary course of commercial pursuit in which all 
 the world is engaged, and devoting a portion of his 
 fortune to the building of ships that can be used for no 
 other purpose but in this voyage of humanity, can it be 
 imagined that any thought of speculation on his part 
 could have influenced his conduct ? No, Sir. On the 
 
840 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 contrary, it is a high and wortliy motive ; and I think 
 it ought to receive the ui^probation of this and all other 
 intelligent Christian nations, to see a merchant, who, 
 while the commercial world are encompassing the 
 globe by sea and land in quest of proiit and of gold, is 
 dedicating himself to his great object, and devoting a 
 part of his fortune to the cause of iiunumity, and olier- 
 ing to government, not as a bounty, but because the 
 government, with all its means, has not the power and 
 the time to prepare vessels to do this work. That, Sir. 
 is the object. 
 
 " Now, if we do not accept these ships, there will bo 
 an end of this expedition. Sir, shall it be said, that 
 this government has lost such an opportunitv as this of 
 exhibiting the deep interest which our people feel both 
 in the cause of science and humanity, and that, too, at 
 the very time when we are entering into treaties and com- 
 pacts with all the commercial nations of the world, for 
 the purpose of extending commerce and civilization, 
 and opening communications of trade from sea to sea^ 
 When the government is not only doing all by its own 
 power, but also acting in concert with our private citi- 
 zens in constructing rail-roads and canals, and by vari- 
 ous other modes extending commercial civilization 
 throughout the world, shall it be said that we, at this 
 moment, refused, through the fear of losing a little 
 honor and glory and national dignity, to accept two 
 ships — the only two ships in America that can do the 
 work — in the accomplishment of this great enterprise 'I 
 I hope not. Let us not, then, cavil and waste time 
 about these little matters. If the work is to be done 
 at all it must be done now, and done^ as I conceive, by 
 the adoption of this resolution. 
 
 Governor Seward spoke as follows in the Senate 
 on the same subject : — "I am happy to perceive, Mr. 
 President, indications all around the chamber that there 
 is no disagreement in regard to the importance, or in 
 relation to the propriety, of a search on the part of this 
 nation, by the government itself, or by individual citi- 
 zens, for the lost and heroic navigator. Since so much 
 
IJEBATE IN CONORFSS. 
 
 341 
 
 *8 conceded, and since I come from the State whenco 
 this proposition emanates, J desire to notice, in a very 
 few words, the objections raised a«j;ainst the mode of 
 carrying the proposed design into elfect. It is always 
 the case, I think, when great objects and great enter- 
 prises which are feasible are hindered or defeated, that 
 they are hindered or defeated, not so much by want of 
 agreement concerning the measures themselves, as by 
 diversity of opinion concerning the mode of carrying 
 them into execution. Since this is so generally the 
 case, the rule which I always adopt, and which seems 
 to be a safe one, is, that where I cannot have my own 
 way of obtaining a great public object, I will accept 
 the best other way which opens before me. Now, I 
 cordially agree with those honorable Scnat(.<r8 who 
 would have preferred that at some appropriate time, 
 and in some proper and unobjectionable manner, the 
 government should have moved for the attainment of 
 this object, as a government, and have made it exclu- 
 sively the act of the nation. And I would ha/e pre- 
 ferred this, not so much on account of the glory that it 
 is supposed would have followed it, as because of the 
 beneficence of the enterprise. Enterprises which 
 spring from a desire of glory are very apt to end in 
 disappointment. True national glory is always safely 
 attained by prosecuting beneficent designs, whatever 
 may be their success. I say. Sir, then, that I would 
 have preferred the alternative suggested ; but the fact 
 is, without stopping to inquire where the fault lies, or 
 whether there be fault at all, the government has not 
 moved, and the reason which has been assigned is, 1 
 have no doubt, the true one. I do not know that it 
 has ever been contradicted or called in question ; that 
 reason is, that the Navy of the United States containt 
 no vessels adapted to the enterprise, but consists of 
 ships constructed and fitted for very different objects 
 and purposes than an exploring expedition amid the 
 ice-bound seas of the arctic pole. Our naval marine 
 consists of vessels adapted to the purposes of convoys, 
 military armament, and the suppression of the slave- 
 
 '<i 
 
 
 m 
 
 v ■" 
 ■1 
 
 
312 
 
 I'UOGHKlia OK AUCTIC UISCOVKUY. 
 
 tradti oil tho coast of Africa. The executive portions 
 of tho government failed for want of vessels suitable 
 to be employed in this particular service. It tlierefore 
 devolved, upon the Legislature of the United States. 
 But, although we have been here now nearly five 
 months, no Committee of either House, no member of 
 either House of Congress has proposed to equip a na- 
 tional fleet for this purpose. While this fact exists on 
 one side, it is to be remarked on the other, that the 
 time has arrived in which the movement must be made 
 if it is to be made at all, and also that a careful inves- 
 tigation, made by scientific and practical men, has re- 
 vived the hope in Europe and America that the humane 
 object can be attained. There can, then, be no delay 
 allowed for considering whether the manner for carry- 
 ing the design into efltect could not be changed. Let 
 lis, then, practically survey the case as it comes before 
 us. The government of the United States has really 
 no vessels adapted to the purpose. To say nothing of 
 the expense, the government has not time to provide, 
 prepare, or equip vessels for the expedition. Under 
 such circumstances, a citizen of the United States 
 tenders to the government vessels of his own, precisely 
 adequate in number, and exactly fitted in construction 
 and equipment, for the performance of the duty to be 
 assumed. Since he offers them to the government, 
 what reason can we assign for refusing them? No 
 reason can be assigned, except that he is too generous, 
 and offers to give us the use of the vessels instead of 
 demanding compensation for it. Well, Sir, if we do 
 accept them it can be immediately carried into execu- 
 tion, with a cheering prospect of attaining the great 
 object which the United States and the civilized world 
 have such deep interest in securing. Then the ques- 
 tion resolves itself into this — the question raised by 
 the honorable Senator from Alabama (Mr. King)— r 
 whether, in seeking so beneficent an object, it is con- 
 sistent with the dignity of the nation to combine indi- 
 vidual action with a national enterprise. I do not 
 think, Mr. President, that that honorable Senator will 
 
DEUATK IN C()NOUE88. 
 
 343 
 
 find himself oMi^ed to insist upon this ohjectiou after 
 lie shall have carefully examined the bill before us. 
 He will find that it converts the undertaking^ into a 
 national enterprise. The vessels are to be accepted 
 not as individual property, but as national vessels. 
 They will absolutely cease to be under the direction, 
 management, or control of the owners, and will become 
 at once national ships, and for the thne, at least, and 
 for all the i)urpo8es of the expedition, a part of the 
 national marine. 
 
 "Now, Sir, have wo not posta/ arrangements with 
 various foreign countries carried ihto effect in the same 
 way, and is the dignity of the n:,tion C( riproaiised by 
 them? During the war with Mexico. •\. 3 government 
 continually hired ships and steamboat Irom citizens foi 
 military operations. Is the glc \ tf that war .-rnish'jd 
 oy the use of those means 'i Che government in this 
 case, as in those cases, is in no sense a partner. It 
 assumes the whole control of the vessels, and the enter- 
 prise becomes a national one. The only circumstance 
 remaining to be considered is, whether the government 
 can accept the loan of the service of the vessels without 
 making compensation. Now, Sir, I should not have had 
 the least objection, and, indeed, it would have been 
 more agreeable to me if the government could have 
 made an arrangement to have paid a compensation. 
 But I hold it to be vHe unnecessary in the prcf^ent 
 case because the char oter of the person who tenders 
 these vessels, and the circumstances and manner of the 
 whole transaction, show that it is not a speculation. 
 No compensatioTi is wanted. It would only be a cere- 
 mony on the part of the government to offer it, and a 
 ceremony on the part of the merchant to decline it. I 
 am, therefore, willing to march directlv to the object, 
 and to assume that these ceremonies have been duly 
 pertbrmed, that the government has offered to pay, and 
 the noble-spirited merchant declined to receive. 
 
 " Now, then, is there any thing derogatory from the 
 dignity and independence of this nation in employing 
 the vessels? Certainly not, since that employment is 
 
 i,U« 
 
344 
 
 PKOOUKSS OF AKCTIC DISCOVKUV. 
 
 indispensable. If it were not indispensable 1 do not 
 think that the dignity of the Republic would be ini- 
 
 E aired ; I think, on the contrary, that it would be en- 
 anced and elevated. It is a transaction worthy of the 
 nation, a spectacle deserving the contemplation and 
 respect of mankind, to see that not only does the nation 
 prosecute, but that it has citizens able and willing to 
 contribute, voluntarily and without compulsion, to an 
 enterprise so interesting to the cause of science and of 
 humanity. It is indeed a new and distinct cause for 
 national pride, that an individual citizen, not a merchant 
 prince, as he would be called in some other countries, 
 but a republican merchant, comes forward in this way 
 and moves the government and co-operates with it. It 
 illustrates the magnanimity of the nation and of the 
 citizen. Sir, there is nothing objectionable in this fea- 
 ture of the transaction. It results from the character 
 of the government, which is essentially popular, that 
 there are perpetual debates on the question how far 
 measures and enterprises, for the purposes of humanity 
 and science, are consistent with the constitutional or- 
 ganization of the government, although they are ad- 
 mitted to be eminently compatible with the dignity, 
 character, and intelligence of the nation. All our en- 
 terprises, more or less, are carried into execution, if 
 they are carried into execution at all, not by the direct 
 action of the government, but by the lending of its 
 favor, countenance, and aid to individuals, to corpora- 
 tions, and to States. Thus it is that we construct rail- 
 roads and canals, and found colleges and universities. 
 " Nor is this mode of prosecuting enterprises of great 
 pith and moment peculiar to this government. There 
 was a navigator who went forth from a port in Spain, 
 some three or four hundred years ago, on an enterprise 
 quite as doubtful and quite as perilous as tliis. After 
 trying unsuccessfully several States, he was forced to be 
 content with the sanction, and little more than the sanc- 
 tion and patronage of the Court of Madrid. The scanty 
 treasures devoted to that undertaking were the private 
 contributions of a Queen and her Bubjccts, and tlie vca- 
 
DEDATK IN CONGUKSS. 
 
 345 
 
 Bcls were fitted out and manned at the expense ot'nier- 
 clumts and citizens, which gave a new world to the 
 kingdom of Castile and Leon. 
 
 " Entertaining these views now, whatever my opinion 
 might have been imder other circumstances, I shall vote 
 against a recommittal, and in favor of tlie bill, as the 
 surest way of preventing its defeat, and of attaining the 
 sublime and beneficent object which it contemplates." 
 
 The committee of both llouses of Congress, to whom 
 Mr. GriunelPs petition for men and supplies was re- 
 ferred, made a unanimous report in favor ; and the 
 vessels letTk on their daring and generous errand. 
 
 The following are the joint resolutions which passed 
 both Houses of Congress and were approved by Gen- 
 eral Taylor, authorizing the President of the United 
 States to accept and attach to the U. S. Navy the two 
 vessels, oiiered by Mr. Grinncll, to be sent to the arctic 
 seas in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions: 
 
 " Resolved by the Senate and House of Represent- 
 atives of the united States of America in Congress 
 assembled, Tliat the President be, and he is hereby 
 authorized and directed, to receive from Henry Grinnell, 
 of the city of New York, the two vessels prepared by 
 him for an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin 
 and his companions, and to detail from the Navy such 
 commissioned and warrant ofKcers, and so many sea- 
 men as may be necessary for said expedition, and wlio 
 may be willing to engage therein. The said officers 
 and men shall be furnished with suitable rations, at the 
 discretion of the President, for a period not exceeding 
 tlu'ce years, and shall have the use of such necessary 
 instruments as are now on hand and can be spared from 
 the Navy, to be accounted for or returned by the offi- 
 cers who shall receive the same. 
 
 " Sec. 2. Be it further resolved, Tiiat the said vessels, 
 officere, and men shall be in all resi)ccts under the laws 
 and regulations of the Navy of tlie United States until 
 their return, when the said vessels shall be delivered 
 to the said Henry Grinnell : Provided, That the United 
 States shall not be liable to any claim for compensation 
 
 ill 
 
346 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DI8CCIVERY. 
 
 in case of the loss, damage or deterioration of tlic said 
 vessels, or either of them, from any cause or in any 
 manner whatever, nor be liable to any demand for the 
 use or risk of the said vessels or either of them." 
 
 Directly the fact became known that the American 
 government had nobly come forward to aid in the search 
 which was being so strenuously made, the different 
 learned societies of the metropolis vied with each other 
 in testifying the estimation in which this noble conduct 
 was held. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Royal Society, on the 
 Tth of June, upon the motion of Sir Charles Lennox, 
 seconded by the late Marquis of Northampton, a vote 
 of thanks was carried with the utmost enthusiasm, ex- 
 pressive of the gratitude of the Society to the American 
 government, and of their deep sense of the kind and 
 brotherly feeling which had prompted so liberal an act 
 of humanity. A similar vote was carried, on the 11th 
 of June, at a general meeting of the Royal Geograph- 
 ical Society, (of which Sir John Franklin was long one 
 of the vice-presidents.) 
 
 The American expedition consists of two brigantines 
 — now enrolled in the United States Navy — the Ad- 
 vance, of 144 tons, and the Rescue, 91 tons. These 
 vessels have been provided and fitted out by the gener- 
 ous munificence of Mr. Henry Grinnell, a merchant of 
 New York, at an expense to him of between 5000^. and 
 6000Z. The American government also did much to- 
 tvard fitting and equipping them. The Advance was 
 two years old, and the Rescue quite new. Both vessels 
 were strengthened in every part, and put in the most 
 complete order for the service in which they were to be 
 engaged. They are under the command of Lieutenant 
 Edward S. De Haven, who was employed in Com- 
 mander Wilkes' expedition in 1843 ; Mr. S. P. Griffin, 
 acting master, has charge of the Rescue. The other 
 oflicers of the expedition are Messrs. W. H. Murdaugb, 
 acting-master ; T. W. Broadhead, and R. R. Carter, 
 passed midshipmen ; Dr. E. K. Kane, passed assistant- 
 Burgeon ; Mr. Benjamin Finland, assistant-surgeon ; "W 
 
THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION. 
 
 347 
 
 o 
 
 was 
 jssels 
 I most 
 I to be 
 3nant 
 iCom- 
 -iffin, 
 I other 
 
 larter, 
 3tant- 
 
 Novell, midshipman ; H. Brooks, boatswain ; and a 
 complement of thirty-six seamen in the two vessels — 
 the crew of the Advance consisting of fifteen men, and 
 the Rescue thirteen men. The vessels left New York 
 on the 25th of May, 1850. Their proposed destination 
 is through Barrow's Strait, westward to Cape Walker, 
 and round Melville Island. They were provisioned for 
 three years. 
 
 Whatever may be the result of this expedition, as 
 connected with the fate of the gallant Sir John Frank- 
 lin, it is one which reflects the highest honor upon the 
 philanthropic individual who projected it, and upon the 
 oflicers ana men engaged therein. 
 
 A dispatch has been received from Lieutenant De 
 Haven, dated oft' Leopold Island, August 22d, which 
 reports the progress of the expedition thus far. The 
 Advance, in company with her consort, the liescue, 
 sailed from the Whale Fish Islands on the 29th of June; 
 after many delays and obstructions from calms, stream 
 ice, and the main pack, they forced a passage through 
 it for a considerable distance, but at last got wedged up 
 in the pack immovably until the 29th of July, when 
 by a sudden movement of the floes, an opening pre- 
 sented itself, and under a press of sail the vessels forced 
 their way into clear water. They encountered a heavy 
 gale, which, with a thick fog, made their situation very 
 dangerous, the huge masses of ice being driven along 
 by the strength of the wind and current with great 
 fury. By the aid of warping in calm weather, they 
 reached Cape Yorke on the 15th of August, and a little 
 to the eastward met with two Esquimaux, but could not 
 understand much from them. Between Cape Yorke 
 and Cape Dudley Diggs, while delayed by calms, being 
 in open water, they hauled the ships into the shore at 
 the Crimson Cliffs of Beverley, (so named from the red 
 snow on them,) and filled their water casks from a 
 mountain stream. 
 
 On the 18th, with a fair wind, they shaped their course 
 for the western side of BaflSn's Bay, and met the pack in 
 streams and very loose, which they cleared entirely by 
 
348 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY, 
 
 the following day — getting into the north waters, whore 
 they fell in with Captain Penny's two vessels, whicli 
 having been unsuccessful in their efforts to enter Jones' 
 Sound, were now taking the same course up Lancaster 
 Sound. On the 19th, in a violent gale, the Advance 
 parted company with the Rescue. On the morning of 
 the 21st of August, the fog cleared, and Lieutenant De 
 Haven found he was off Cape Crawford, on the south 
 ern shore of the Sound. Here he fell in with the Felix 
 schooner, under Captain Sir John Koss, from whom he 
 learned that Commodore Austin was at Pond's Bay with 
 two of his vessels, seeking for information, while the 
 other two had been dispatched to examine the north 
 shore of the Sound. Lieutenant De Haven proposed 
 proceeding on from Port Leopold to Wellington Chan- 
 nel, the appointed place of rendezvous with his consort. 
 
 Captain Forsyth's Remarkable Voyage in the 
 "Prince Albert." 
 
 In April, 1850, a branch expedition to aid those ves- 
 sels sent out by the government was determined on by 
 Lady Franklin, who contributed largely toward its out- 
 lit ; a considerable sum being also raised by public 
 subscription. The expenses of this expedition were 
 nearly 4000/., of which 2500/. were contributed by Lady 
 Franklin herself. The object of this expedition was 
 the providing for the search of a portion of the Arctic 
 Sea, which it was distinctly understood could not bt 
 executed by the vessels under Captain Austin ; but the 
 importance of which had been set forth, by arctic and 
 other authorities, in documents printed in the Parlia- 
 mentary Papers. 
 
 The unprovided portion alluded to, includes Regent 
 Inlet, and the passages connecting it with the western 
 sea, James Ross's Strait, and other localities, S. W. of 
 Cape Walker, to which quarter Sir John Franklin was 
 required by his instructions to proceed in the first in- 
 stance. This search is assumed to be necessary on the 
 following grounds : — 
 
VOYAGE OF TIIE PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 349 
 
 
 ^liere 
 
 7hich 
 
 ones' 
 
 jaster 
 
 eance 
 
 ngof 
 
 ntDe 
 
 south 
 
 Felix 
 om he 
 y with 
 le the 
 
 north 
 oposed 
 
 Chan- 
 onsort. 
 
 THE 
 
 public 
 
 1. The probability of Sir John Franklin having 
 Abandoned his vessels to the S. W. of Cape Walker. 
 
 2. The fact that, in his charts, an open passage is 
 laid down from the west into the south part of Regent 
 Inlet. 
 
 3. Sir John Franklin would be more likely to take 
 this conrne through a country known to possess the re- 
 sources of animal life, with the wreck of the Victory 
 in Felix Harbor for fuel, and the stores of Fury Beach 
 farther north in view, than to fall ujjon an utterly barren 
 region of the north coast of America. 
 
 4. He would be more likely to expect succor to be 
 sent to him by way of Lancaster Sound and Barrow's 
 Strait, into which Regent Inlet opens, than in any 
 other direction. 
 
 In corroboration of the necessity of this part of tho 
 search, I would refer generally to the Parliamentary 
 papers of 1848-9 and 50. As an individual opinion, i 
 may quote the words of Captain Beechey, p. 31 of the 
 first series. " If, in this condition," (that of being 
 hopelessly blocked up to the S. "W. of Cape Walker,) 
 " which I trust may not be the case. Sir Jolm Franklin 
 should resolve upon taking to his boats, he would prefer 
 attempting a boat navigation through Sir James Ross's 
 Strait, and up Regent Inlet, to a long land journey 
 across the continent to the Hudson Bay Settlements, 
 to which the greater part of his crew would be wholly 
 unequal." And again, in his letter to the Secretary 
 of the Admiralty, 7th of February, 1850, Captain 
 Beechey writes, " * * * * the bottom of Regent Inlet, 
 about the Pelly Islands, should not be left unexamined, 
 [n the memorandum submitted to their Lordships, 17th 
 of January, 1849, this quarter was considered of im- 
 portance, and I am still of opinion that had Sir John 
 Franklin abandoned his vessels near the coast of 
 America, and much short of the Mackenzie River, he 
 would have preferred the probability of retaining the 
 use of his boats until he fo nd relief in Barrow's Strait, 
 to risking an overland journey via the before-men- 
 tioned river ; and it must be remembered that at the 
 
 m 
 
 ;:i. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
350 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 time he sailed, Sir George Back's discovery had ren- 
 dered it very probable that Boothia was an island. 
 
 The memorandum alluded to by Captain Boechey 
 as having been submitted to the Lords of the Admi- 
 ralty on the 17th of January, 1849, was, the expression 
 of the unanimous opinion of the arctic officers assem- 
 bled by command of the Admiralty to deliberate upon 
 the best means to bo taken for the relief of the missing 
 expedition ; and in this report, clause 14 ^s expressly 
 devoted to the recommendation of the search of Regent 
 Inlet. 
 
 The necessity for the proposed search may bo thus 
 further developed. Sir John Franklin may have aban- 
 doned his ships, when his provisions were nearly ex- 
 hausted somewhere about the latitude of '73° N., long. 
 105° W". ; in short, at any point S. W. of Cape Walker, 
 not further "W". than long. 110°. And in such case, 
 rather than return north, (which might be indeed im- 
 practicable) or moving south upon the American Con- 
 tinent, of which (upon the coast,) the utter barrenness 
 was already well known to him, he might prefer a 
 southeastern course, with a view of passing in his boats, 
 either through James Ross's, or through Simpson's 
 Straits, into the Gulf of Boothia, and so up into Regent 
 Inlet to the house and stores left at Fury Beach, the 
 only depot of provisions known to him. The advantages 
 of such a course might appear to him very great. 
 
 1. Two open passages being laid down in his charts 
 into Regent Inlet, by James Ross's Strait, and by Simp- 
 son's Strait, a means of boat transport for his party 
 would be afforded, of which alone perhaps their ex- 
 hausted strength and resources might admit; such a 
 course would obviously recommend itself to a com- 
 mander who had experienced the frightful difficulties 
 of a land journey in those regions. 
 
 2. The proposed course would lead through a part, 
 the Isthmus of Boothia, in which animal lite is known 
 at some seasons to abound. 
 
 3. The Esquimaux who have been found on the 
 Isthmus of Boothia are extremely well disposed and 
 friendly. 
 
VOYAGE OF TIJE I'KIMCE ALBERT. 
 
 35J 
 
 4. It is the direct route toward the habitual yearly 
 resort of the whalers on the west coast of Baffin's Bay 
 and Davis' Strait ; indeed those ships occasionally de- 
 scend Regent Inlet to a considerable distance south. 
 
 5. There are two persons attached to the expedition 
 who are well acquainted with this region and its re- 
 sources — viz., Mr. Blanky, ice master, and Mr. Mac- 
 Donald, assistant surgeon, of the Terror. The former 
 was with Sir John Soss in the Victory. The latter 
 has made several voyages in whaling vessels and is 
 acquainted with the parts lying between Kegent Inlet 
 and Davis' Strait. Where so few among the crews of 
 the missing ships have had any local experience, the 
 concurrent knowledge of two persons would have 
 considerable weight. 
 
 6. Opinions are very greatly divided as to the part 
 in which Sir John Franklin's party may have been ar- 
 rested, and as to the course they may have taken in 
 consequence. It would be therefore manifestly unfair, 
 and most dangerous, to reason out and magnify any one 
 hypothesis at the expense of the others. The plan here 
 alluded to sought to provide for the probability of the 
 Expedition having been stopped shortly after passing to 
 the southwest of Cape Walker. The very open season 
 of 1845 was followed by years of unusual severity until 
 1849. It is therefore very possible that retreat as well 
 as onward progress has been impossible — that safety 
 alone has become their last object. The hope of rescu- 
 ing them in their last extremity depends, then, (as far 
 as human means can insure it,) on the multiplying of 
 simultaneous efforts in every direction. Captain Aus- 
 tin's vessels will, if moving in pairs, take two most im- 
 portant sections only, of the general search, and will 
 find they have enough to do to reach their several points 
 of operation this season. 
 
 The necessity for this search was greatly enhanced 
 ')y the intelligence received about this time in England 
 of the arrival of Mr. Eae and Commander PuUen at 
 the Mackenzie River, thus establishing the facf., that 
 Sir John Franklin's party had not reached any" part of 
 
352 
 
 PROORESfl OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 the coast between Behring's Strait and the Coppermine 
 River, while the check wb:ch Mr. Kae received in 
 his course to the north of tne Coppermine, tended to 
 give increased importance to the (quarter eastward of 
 that position. 
 
 Commander Charles Codrington Forsyth, K. N., an 
 enterprising yonng officer, who had not long previously 
 been promoted in consequence of his arduous services 
 in surveying on the Australian, African, and American 
 shores, and who had rendered good service to the gov- 
 ernment by landing supplies on the east coast of Africa, 
 under circumstances of great difficulty during the Kalir 
 war, had volunteered unsuccessfully for all the govern- 
 ment expeditions, but was permitted by the Admiralty 
 to command this private branch expedition, in which 
 he embarked without fee or reward — on the noble and 
 honorable mission of endeavoring to relieve his long- 
 imprisoned brother officers. 
 
 The Prince Albert, a small clipper vessel of about 
 ninety tons, originally built by Messrs. White, of Cowes, 
 in October, 1848, for the fruit trade, was accordingly 
 hastily fitted out and dispatched from Aberdeen, and 
 Captain Forsyth was instructed to winter, if possible, 
 in J3rentford Bay, in Eegent Inlet, and thence send 
 parties to explore the opposite side of the isthmus and 
 the various shores and bays of the Inlet She had a 
 crew of twenty, W. Kay and W. Wilson acting as first 
 and second mates, and Mr. W. P. Snow as clerk. She 
 sailed on the 5th of June, and was consequently the 
 last vessel that left, and yet is the first that has reached 
 home, having also brought some account of the track 
 of Franklin's expedition. 
 
 The Prince Albert arrived off Cape Farewell, July 
 2d, entered the ice on the 19th, and on the 21st, came 
 up with Sir John Ross in a labyrinth of ice. She pro- 
 ceeded up Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait, fell in 
 with most of the English ships in those seas, and also 
 with the American brig Advance, sailing some time in 
 company, and attempted to enter Regent Inlet and Wel- 
 lington Channel. Sne left the Advance aground near 
 
VOYAGE OF THE PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 35» 
 
 1, July 
 
 ;, came 
 .e pro- 
 
 Cape Riley, at the entrance of Wellington Channel, 
 though not in a situation supposed to l)o dangerous. 
 Commander Forsyth, in his ofticial letter to the Lorda 
 of the Admiralty, says that " traces of the missing ex- 
 pedition under Sir John Franklin had been found at 
 Cape Riley and Beechey Island, at the entrance to the 
 "Wellington Channel. We observed live places where 
 tents had been pitched, or stones placed as if they hud 
 been used for keeping the lower part of the tents down, 
 also great quantities of beef, pork, and birds' bones, a 
 piece of rope, with the Woolwich naval mark on it, 
 ^^yellow,) part of which I have inclosed." Having en- 
 tered Wellington Channel, and examined the coast as 
 far as Point Innis, and finding no furtlier traces of the 
 missing vessels, and it being impracticable to jienetrate 
 further to the west. Commander Forsyth returned to Ro 
 gent Inlet, but meeting no opening there, the season 
 being near at hand when the ice begins to form, and 
 his vessel not of a strength which would enable it to 
 resist a heavy pressure of ice, he determined on return- 
 ing without further delay to England, after examining 
 a number of points along the coast. 
 
 On the 25th of August, a signal staif being observed 
 on shore at Cape Riley, Mr. Snow was sent by Captain 
 Forsyth to examine it. He found that the Assistance, 
 Captain Ommaney, had been there two days before, and 
 had left the following notice : — 
 
 " This is to certify that Captain Ommaney, with the 
 officers of her Majesty's ships Assistance and Intrepid, 
 landed upon Cape Riley on the 23d August, 1850, wliero 
 he found traces of encampments, and collected the re- 
 mains of materials, which evidently proved that some 
 party belonging to her Majesty's ships had been de- 
 tained on that spot. Beechey Island was also examined, 
 where traces were found of the same party. This is 
 also to give notice that a supply of provisions and fuel 
 is at Cape Riley. Since 15th August, they have ex- 
 amined the north shore of Lancaster Sound and Bar- 
 row's Strait, without meeting with any other traces. 
 
 Captain Ommaney proceeds to Cape Hotham and Cape 
 16 
 
S54 
 
 TROORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 Walker in search of further traces of Sir John Frank- 
 lin's expedition. Dated on board her Majesty's Kliip 
 Assistance, oft' Cape Riley, the 23d August, 1850." 
 
 The seamen who were dispatched from the Assistance 
 to examine these remains, found a rope with the naval 
 mark, evidently belonging to a vessel which had been 
 fitted out at Woolwich, and which, in all probability, 
 was either the Erebus or tiio Terror. Other indications 
 were also noticed, which showed that some vessel had 
 visited the place besides the Assistance. Captain For- 
 syth left a notice that the Prince Albert had called off 
 Cape Riley on the 25tli of August, and then bore up 
 to the eastward. Captain Forsyth landed at Posses- 
 sion Pay on the 29th August, but nothing was found 
 there to repay the search instituted. 
 
 The Prince Albert arrived at Aberdeen, on the 22d 
 of October, after a quick passage, having been absent 
 something, less than fou" months. 
 
 Captain Forsvth proceeded to London by the mail 
 train, taking with him, for the information of the Ad- 
 miralty, the several bonss, (beef, pork, &c.,) which were 
 found on Cape Riley, together with a piece of rope < >t' 
 about a foot and a half in length, and a small piece of 
 canvas with the Queen's mark upon it, both in an ex 
 eel lent state of preservation ; placing it almost bey on d 
 a doubt that they were left on that spot by the expedi- 
 ««on under Sir John Franklin. 
 
 o'aptain Forsyth, during his short trip, explored re- 
 gions which Sir James Ross was unable to reach the 
 previous year. He was at "Wellington Cliannel, and 
 penetrated to Fury Beach, where Sir E. Parry aban- 
 doned his vessel, (the Fury,) in 1825, after she bad 
 taken the ground. It is situated in about 72° 40' N. 
 latitude, and 91° 50' W. longitude. This is a point 
 vhich has not been '•eached by any vessel for twenty 
 years past. It was found, however, utterly impossible 
 to land-there on account of the packed ice. The whole 
 of the coasts of Baffin's Bav have also now been visited 
 without result. 
 ' The intelligence which Capt. Forsyth brought homo 
 
VOYAGE OF THE PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 355 
 
 iiiico 
 laviil 
 been 
 )iUty, 
 itiuus 
 
 I hud 
 
 II Yov- 
 ed otV 
 
 re ui> 
 
 *088es- 
 found 
 
 has, as a matter of course, excited the most intense in- 
 terest in naval circles, and among the friends and rohi- 
 tives of the parties absent in the Erebus and Terror, 
 the more so masmuch as it has been ascertained at 
 Chatham Dockyard that the rope which Captain For- 
 syth found on the spot when he visited it, and copied 
 Capt. Ommaney's notice, is proved by its yellow imirk 
 to have been manufactured there, and certainly hIhcu 
 1824 ; and moreover, from inquiries instituted, very 
 strong evidence has been elicited in favor of the belief 
 that the rope was made between the years 1841 and 
 1849. That the trail of the Franklin expedition, or 
 some detachment of it, has been struck, there cannot 
 be the slightest doubt in the mind of any one who has 
 read the dispatches and reports. That Captain Om- 
 maney felt satisfied on this score is evident from the 
 terms of the piper he left behind him. The squadron, 
 it appears, were in full cry upon the scent on the 25th 
 of August, and we must wait patiently, but anxiously, 
 for the next accounts of the results of their indefatiga- 
 ble researches, which can hardly reach us from Bar- 
 row's Strait before the autumn of 1851. 
 
 There can be no doubt now in the mind of any one, 
 that the Arctic Searching Expeditions have at length 
 couie upon traces, if not the track of Sir John Frank- 
 lin. The accounts brought by Captain Forsyth must 
 have at least satisfied the most desponding that there 
 is still hope left — that the ships have not foundered in 
 Baffin's 6ay, at the outset of the voyage, nor been 
 crushed in the ice, and burned by a savage tribe of 
 Esquimaux, who had murdered the crew. That tho 
 former might have happened, all must admit ; but to 
 tlie latter, few, we imagine, will give their assent, not- 
 withstanding the numerous cruel rumors promulgated 
 from time to time. It would be idle to dwell upon so 
 impossible an event. Where could this savage tribe 
 spring from ? Mr. Saunders describes the natives of 
 Wolstenholrae Sound as the most miserable and help- 
 less of mortals. They bad no articles obtained from 
 Europeans ; and he was of opinion that ther» were no 
 
 ! 
 
 ill 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 'IP 
 
 
 mk 
 
 \ 
 
 9Bh 
 
 
 ^B 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 I 
 
856 
 
 I'UOOUKSS OF AKClIC DIriC'OVlOUY. 
 
 Bottlcmcr.ts further north ; and if thoro wore, doubtless 
 they would bo even more impotent than these wretched 
 beincs. That the sliip nnVht have foundered all must 
 admit. The President did so with many a gallant soul 
 on board. The Avenger ran on the Sorelli, and 300 
 brave fellows, in an instant, met with a watery grave ; 
 and till the sea sliall give up lier dead, who can count 
 the tliousands that liebeneath tlie billows of the mightv 
 ocean ? We have now certgin evidence that Franklin « 
 ships did not founder — not, at least, in Batiin's Bay ; 
 ana our own belief, (says a well-informed and compe- 
 tent writer in the Morning Herald,) is that the pennant 
 still floats in the northern breeze, amid eternal regions 
 of snow and ice. 
 
 The voyage performed by the Prince Albert has thus 
 been the means of keeping alive our hopes, and of in- 
 forming us, up to a certain point, of the progress of 
 the expeditions, and the situation of the difterent ships, 
 of which we might have been left in a state of utter 
 ignorance till the close of this year. Every thing con- 
 nected with the navigation of the arctic seas is a 
 chance, coupled, of course, with skill *, and in looking 
 at this voyage performed by Lady Franklin's little 
 vessel, it must be obvious to every one that Captain 
 Forsyth has had the chance of an open season, and the 
 skill to make use of it. 
 
 " Live a thousand years," and we may never see such 
 another voyage performed. We have only to look at 
 all that have preceded. Parry, it is true, in one year 
 ran to Melville Island, and passing a winter, got back 
 to England the following season — and this is at present 
 the ne plus ultra of arctic navigation. Sir John Ross, 
 we know, went out in the Victory to Regent Lilet, and 
 was frozen in for four years, and all the world gave 
 him up for lost — but "there's life in the old dog yet," 
 as the song has it. 
 
 Sir James Ross was frozen in at Leopold Harbor, 
 and only got out, at^c T>a88ing a winter, to be carried 
 away in a floe of ice into Baffin's Bay, which no human 
 skill could, prevent. . , 
 
VOTAOE OF TUK PRINOH ALBERT. 
 
 857 
 
 Aess 
 ;luid 
 nust 
 soul 
 300 
 ttvc ; 
 ;ount 
 
 kliirs 
 Bay ; 
 )mpe- 
 nnant 
 jgions 
 
 ,8 thus 
 of in- 
 ess of 
 ; ships, 
 f utter 
 ig coii- 
 3 is a 
 
 ooking 
 little 
 Captain 
 md the 
 
 ee such 
 ook at 
 le year 
 ot back 
 present 
 Ross, 
 et, and 
 d gave 
 
 og yet," 
 
 Harbor, 
 carried 
 human 
 
 Sir George Back was to make a summer's cniise to 
 Wapjer Inlet, and return to England. The result every 
 Dne knows or may make themselves acquainted with, 
 by reading the fearful voyage of the Terror, an ab- 
 stract of which I have already given. It would be 
 superlluous to enumerate many other of our series of 
 polar voyages, but it is ])retty evident tliat Captain 
 Forsyth's vovagi;, j)crfonned in the summer months 
 of 1850, will be lianded dflwn to ])osterity as one of the 
 most remarkable, if not the most remarkable, that has 
 ever been accomj)lished in the arctic seas — the expe- 
 dition consisting of one Kolitary small vessel. 
 
 The main object of the voyage, it is true, has not 
 been accomplished, but as all the harbors in Regent 
 Inlet were frozen up, and it was utterly impossible to 
 cut through a vast tract of ice, extending for perhaps 
 four or five miles, to got the ship to a secure anchor- 
 age, under these circumsiances. Captain Forsyth had 
 no alternative but to return, and in doing so, he has, 
 in the o])inion of all the best-informed officers, dis- 
 played great good sense and judgment rather than re- 
 main frozen in at the "Wellington Channel, where he 
 only went to reconnoiter, and where he had no business 
 whatever, 1 is instructions being confined to Regent 
 Inlet. 
 
 Lady Franklin purposes, if she can raise sufficient 
 funds, to send out another boat expedition this spring to 
 Regent Inlet, to prosecute the search in the regions to 
 which we have before alluded, and on which she places 
 so much reliance. The party, under the charge of Mr. 
 Kennedy, will probably winter in Brentford Bay or 
 some other convenient place, and carry on the search- 
 ing operations on the opposite shores of Boothia, as 
 the season permits. But her ladyship's income has 
 been so largely drawn upon by the various enormous 
 expenses she has been put to, that it is doubtful 
 whether she will be able to carry out her views without 
 assistance from the public. 
 
 I sincerely trust that the generosity and chivalry of 
 the people of England, which has displayed its sympa 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 M !' 
 '< ' , 
 
 m 4i 
 
358 
 
 PBOORESS OF ABGTIC DISCOVESY. 
 
 thies with the distressed soldier and the weather-bound 
 seamen on so many occasions, and in so many splendid 
 and richly-endowed institutions, will not allow this 
 noble-minded lady to exhaust her private resources 
 in the equipment of expeditions which are deemed so 
 important and necessary, but that they will come for- 
 ward and relieve her, recollecting that the expedition 
 is required in search of two of her Majesty^s ships, 
 sent out on their arduous service by the government 
 of the country, and under command ^f her honored, 
 amiable, and distinguished husband, the good and 
 brave Sir John FranMin. 
 
 I have thus gone through, as fully as my space would 
 permit, the voyages and journeys of our navigators and 
 travelers within the Arctic circle, and the record of 
 their arduous services cannot fail to prove interesting. 
 
 There is one land expedition, that of Dr. Sir John 
 Bichardson, on the Polar shore between the Copper- 
 mine and Mackenzie Rivers, in 1848, which I have not 
 touched on because it has already been published in 
 detail in several quarters, and the gallant Doctor is pre- 
 paring a very full account of it for immediate publica- 
 tion. Captain Kellett, also, has it in contemplation to 
 publish an account of the voyage of the Herald. 
 
 The following recapitulation will give the position 
 of the different vessels engaged in the search, when last 
 heard of. 
 
 The Investlffator having passed Behring's Strait, 
 reached Kotzebue Sound on the 27th of July, and 
 when last heard of, was pushing her way along between 
 the ice toward Melville Island. The Enterprise had 
 put back to Hong Kong to winter having been unable 
 to enter the ice. 
 
 The Advance, was aground off Cape Riley, August 
 26th. 
 
 The Assistance, in Wellington Channel, August 
 25th, standing toward Capo Hotham. 
 
 The Felix, off Cape Crawford, in Lancaster Sound, 
 August 22d. 
 
 "Hie Intrepid and Lady Franklm, on August 24th 
 
LATEST POSITION OF ALL TUE VESSELS. 
 
 359 
 
 and 25th, in Wellington Channel, standing toward 
 Cape Hotiiam. 
 The Keaolute and Pioneer, in Possession Bay, Aus:. 
 
 The Eescue and Sophia, in "Wellington Channel, Au- 
 gust 25th, apparently beset with ice. 
 
 The Plover, wintering in Grantley Harbor, Port 
 Clarence, 1850. 
 
 The North Star and Prince Albert have, as we have 
 seen, arrived in England, and the Herald is also on 
 her passage home. I have been favored with the sight 
 of a private letter of very recent date from an officer 
 of the Herald, dated Hong Kong, 23d of December, 
 1850, from which I make the following extracts : 
 
 " On our third and last cruise north in search of the 
 ill-fated expedition under Sir John Franklin, wo sailed 
 from Oahu on the 24th of May, 1850, arriving in Kot- 
 zebue Sound on the 14th of July. The Sound was a 
 perfect wall of ice, with no prospect of our being able 
 to communicate with the Plover for a week or ten days. 
 One of our cutters was sent in with letters, getting be- 
 tween the floes, and hauling over some, at last reached 
 her, and found them all well, but no news during the 
 winter of Sir John Franklin. On the 21st of July, 
 after watering and refitting, we sailed for Cape Lis- 
 burne to intercept the Enterprise and Investigator, 
 this being the appointed rendezvous. The Plover also 
 sailed for Point Barro»<r to look after PuUen's party. 
 On the 26th, in a dense fog, we made the ice-pact, 
 much to our surprise, 180 miles south of where we 
 found it last season, in latitude 70° 13' N. The ice was 
 fourteen feet high, a solid wall without an opening 
 through which we might with safety sail. Toward 
 midnight it blew a gale of wind, and we were compel- 
 led to naul off. On the 29th, we again made the pack 
 much higher than before, rising like a hill from the sea 
 face, in latitude 71° 12' N. On the night of the 30th, 
 we saw detached icebergs off Wainwnght Inlet, from 
 thirty to forty feet high. The wind again increasing to 
 a gale, with thick rainy weather, reduced us to close 
 veefs, and compelled us to bear up for Cape Lisburne. 
 
 i if; 
 
 1! 
 
 ! i^ 
 
 ■iti 
 
S60 
 
 PBOGBESS OF ABOnO DISOOVEBY. 
 
 " Arriving off that place on the last day of July, we 
 were fortunate enough to fall in with the Investigator in 
 a dense fog. Clearing for ah instant, we were along- 
 side each other! and we had the news of the last 
 twelve months. She had come from Oahu in the short 
 rpace of time, twenty-six days. The Enterprise sailed 
 five days before her. They had not seen each other 
 since rounding the Horn. The Investigator remained 
 but a few minutes in our company, and then departed 
 with three hearty cheers from us for the ice pack, deter- 
 mined to get to Melville Island. She had our good 
 wishes, but at the same time our doubts as to her suc- 
 cess ; we had the experience of three voyages. She 
 was as yet green, and all her troubles to go through. 
 
 " From this day, 31st of July, to 26th of August, we 
 were blockading Cape Lisburne, to intercept the En- 
 terprise and Plover, a most tedious and troublesome 
 twenty-six days as over we experienced ; we did not 
 see tLo former, but the Plover we spoke. She had been 
 to Point Barrow, had heard from the natives that a 
 party of white men had been murdered and buried near 
 the Colville Eiver, near the Mackenzie River, and that 
 whales' jaws and bones now marked the spot. If it 
 had not been so late in the season we should have sent 
 a boat expedition there, but we hardly knew what con- 
 clusion to come to. It may be PuUen's party, — it may 
 be only ' native report ' to get tobacco and beads. My 
 opinion was, and is, that the story was a most improb- 
 able one, as the natives refused to accept a cask of to- 
 bacco and two muskets to go there as pilots. But should 
 any thing have unfortunately happened to Pullen's 
 party, and no movement made by us to rescue them if 
 still alive, it would be a damper on the Herald, and the 
 affair never forgwen or forgotten by the public. . 
 
 " Finding it useless to wait any longer for the Enter- 
 prise, we sailed for Port Clarence, and put the Plover 
 into winter quarters as a depot for the two ships north." 
 
THE SEABOHING EXPEDITIONS. 361 
 
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 TO THE EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF SIR 
 JOHN FRANKLIN. 
 
 [From Fisher's Drawing- Boom Sciritp-Book.3 • 
 
 AoKOss tho Arctic foam, 
 
 To bring the wanderer home, 
 Speed on, ye fleets, whom Mercy's hand equips 1 
 
 And may the favoring gales 
 
 Make music in your saik, 
 And waft you safely, oh, ye gallant ships I 
 
 May sunshine light your path. 
 
 And tempests stiU their wrath. 
 And fortune guide you on your darkest track ; 
 
 Speed on with high endeavor, 
 
 And hopeful courage ever. 
 And bring to Britisn hearts their long lost hero baclc 
 
 Farewell — a short farewell I — 
 
 The hopes of nations swell. 
 And prayers of myi-iads rise to Heaven fbr you, 
 
 That perils of the cold, 
 
 And hardships manifold. 
 May bear their gentlest on each hardy crew I 
 
 A thankful world looks on, 
 
 And gives its benison ; 
 America and Europe join their hands ; 
 
 And o'er tiie Northern Sea, 
 
 Gaze forward hopefully. 
 And sound our Franklin'^ tlh'^q through, all the p.nrious landai 
 
 Return I oh, socn ivt re. 1 
 
 And let n ir be ri-i' xsa bura 
 On every roountaii; -top an. ■ ii/ zy &;ai f ; 
 
 And let !he p(.M> pie's vo'ca, 
 
 And c'apj.iig Lands rejoiod 
 For bis and your ret<r ?Jnfr from afar, 
 
 No conqutror anti'-iie, 
 
 Of Romun famo ^ /'Greek, 
 Such proud ovation gathered, laurel-crowned, 
 
 As we on him would pour, 
 
 From every kw or shore. 
 And hive of busy mer. oj all our English ground. 
 
 But if this may not be. 
 
 And o'er the frozen sea 
 They sleep in death, the victims of thoir Eeal ; 
 
 Be yours the task to sho'y 
 
 The greatness of our woe. 
 And end the doubting hopes that millions feel. 
 
 Then shall tho tears be shed 
 
 For them, the glorious dead ; 
 16* 
 
 i, ii'^'; 
 
 
362 
 
 PBOGKESS OP ARCTIC DI8C0VEKV. 
 
 And then shall History, on a spoUeas page. 
 Inscribe eadi honest name 
 With tribtttary feme — 
 
 ,The men of noble sool — true heroes of our 
 
 Speed on across the wave I — 
 
 For you the good and brave, 
 The good and brave of erorv land implore 
 
 All blessings and success, 
 
 Sunshine and happiness, 
 And safety on the far and frozen shore. 
 
 From stonn and hidden rock. 
 
 And from the iee-beig's shock, 
 May Heaven protect you, wheresoe'er ye strsgr \ 
 
 On Mercy's errand sped 
 
 On you be mercy shed, 
 <3tod gtwie you, mariners, and shield you on yonr waf 
 
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 Th( 
 
THE AMEBIOAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
 
 The safe return of the expedition sent out by Mr. 
 Henry Grinnell, an opulent merchant of New York city 
 in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions, is 
 an event of much interest ; and the voyage, though not 
 resulting in the discovery of the long-absent mariners, 
 presents many considerations satisfactory to the parties 
 immediately concerned, and the American public in 
 general. 
 
 Mr. Grinnell's expedition consisted of only two small 
 brigs, the Advance of 140 tons ; the Ecscue of only 90 
 tons. The former had been engaged in the Havana 
 trade ; the latter was a new vessel built for the mer- 
 chant service. Both were strengthened for the arctic 
 voyaffe at a heavy cost. They were then placed under 
 the directions of our Navy Board, and subject to naval 
 regulations, as if in permanent service. The command 
 was given to Lieut. E. De Haven, a young naval officer 
 who accompanied the United States exploring expedi- 
 tion. The result has proved that a better choice could 
 not have been made. His officere consisted of Mr. 
 Murdoch, sailing-master ; Dr. E. K. Kane, surgeon and 
 naturalist ; and Mr. Lovell, midshipman. The Advance 
 had a crew of twelve men when she sailed ; tT7o of them 
 complaining of sickness, and expressing a desire to 
 return home, were left at the Danisn settlement at Disco 
 Island, on the coast of Greenland. 
 
 The Expedition left New York on the 23d of May, 
 1850, and was absent a little more than sixteen months. 
 They passed the eastern extremity of Newfoundland 
 
 fi:ii-i 
 
36<5 
 
 PKOtiKFrtd or AJtCriC DIflOuVKJCV. 
 
 ten "days after leaving Sp li^ly Hook, and then HaiK'<l 
 east-northeast, directly for (.\ipe Comfort, on the coast 
 of Greenland. Tiio weather wa** generally line, and 
 only a single accident occurred on the voyage to that 
 country of frost and snow. Off the coast of Lahradoi 
 they met an iceberg making its way toward the tropics. 
 The night was very dark, and as the huge voyager had 
 no " liglit out," the Advance could not be censured for 
 running foul. Slie was punished, however, by the loss 
 of her jib-boom, as she ran against the iceberg at the 
 rate of seven or eiojht knots an hour. 
 
 The voyagers did not land at Cape Comfort, but 
 turning northward, sailed along the southwest coast of 
 Greenland, sometimes in the midst of broad acres of 
 broken ice, (particularly in Davis' Straits,) as far as 
 Whale Island. On the way the anniversary of our 
 national independence occurred ; it was observed by 
 the seamen by " splicing the main-brace " — in other 
 words, they were allowed an extra glass of grog on that 
 day. 
 
 From Whale Island, a boat, with two officers and 
 four seamen, was sent to Disco Island, a distance of 
 about 26 miles, to a Danish settlement there, to procure 
 skin clothing and other articles necessary for use during 
 the rigors of a polar winter. The officers were enter- 
 tained at the government house ; the seamen were com- 
 fortably lodged with the Esquimaux, sleeping in fur 
 bags at night. They returned to the ship the following 
 day, and the expedition proceeded on its voyage. When 
 passing the little Danish settlement of Upernavick, they 
 were boarded by natives for the first time. They were 
 out in go^Ci-nment whale-boats, hunting for ducks and 
 seals. These hardy children of the Arctic Circle were 
 not shy, for through the Danes, the Englislj^ whaler8,and 
 government expeditions, they had become acquainted 
 with men of other latitudes. 
 
 When the expedition reached Melville Bay, which, 
 on account of its fearful character, is also called the 
 DeviVs JSTip^ the voyagers began to witness more of 
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THE AMERICAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
 
 307 
 
 aU dimensions came bearing down from the Polar seas, 
 like vast squadrons, and the roar of their rending came 
 over the waters like the booming of heavy broadsides 
 of contending navies. They also encountered immense 
 floes, with only narrow channels between, and at times 
 their situation was exceedingly perilous. On one occa- 
 sion, alter heaving through helds of ice for five consecu- 
 tive weeks, two immense floes, between which thev 
 were making their way, gradually approached each 
 other, and for several hours they expected their tiny 
 vessels — tiny when compared with the mighty objects 
 around them — would be crushed. An immense calf 
 of ice, six or eight feet thick, slid under the Kescue, 
 lifting her almost " high and dry," and careening her 
 partiallv upon her beam ends. Bv means of ice-an- 
 chors, (large iron hooks,) they kept her from capsizing. 
 In this position they remained about sixty hours, when, 
 with saws and axes, they succeeded in relieving her. 
 The ice now opened a little, and they finally warped 
 through into clear water. While they were thus con- 
 fined, polar bears came around them in abundance, 
 greedy for prey, and the seamen indulged a little in the 
 perilous sports of the chase. 
 
 The open sea continued but a short time, when they 
 again became entangled among bergs, floes, and hum- 
 mocks, and encountered the most fearful perils. Some- 
 times they anchored their vessels to icebergs, and some- 
 times to noes or masses of hummock. On one of these 
 occasions, while the cook, an active Frenchman, was 
 upon a berg, making a place for an anchor, the mass of 
 ice split beneath him, and he was dropped through the 
 yawning fissure into the water, a distance of almost 
 thirty reet. Fortunately the masses, as is often the 
 case, did not close up again, but floated apart, and the 
 poor cook was hauled on board more dead than alive, 
 from excessive fright. It was in this fearful region that 
 they first encountered pack-ice, and there they were 
 locked in from the 7th to the 23d of July. During that 
 time they were joined by the yacht Prince Albert, com- 
 manded by Captain Forsyth, of the Royal Navy, and 
 
368 
 
 PBOOBEtlB OF ARCTIC DI8COVEUT. 
 
 together the three vessels were anchored, for a while, 
 to an immense field of ice, in si^ht of the Devil's 
 Thumb. That high, rocky peak, situated in latitude 
 74° 22', was about thirty miles distant, and with the 
 dark hUls adjacent, presented a strange aspect where 
 all was white and glittering. The padc and the hills 
 are masses of rock, with occasionally a lichen or a moss 
 growing upon their otherwise naked surfaces. In the 
 midst of the vast ice-field loomed up many loft^ bergs, 
 all of them in motion — slow and majestic motion. 
 
 From the Devil's Thumb the American vessels passed 
 onward through the pack toward Sabine's Islands, while 
 the Prince Albert essayed to make a more westerly 
 course. They reached Cape York at the beginning of 
 August. Far across the ice, landward , they discovered, 
 through their glasses, several men, apparently making 
 signals ; and for a while they rejoiced in the belief that 
 they saw a portion of Sir John Franklin's companions. 
 Four men, (among whom was our sailor-artist^) were 
 dispatched with a whale-boat to reconnoiter. They soon 
 discovered the men to be Esquimaux, who, by signs, 
 professed great friendship, ana endeavored to get the 
 voyagers to accompany them to their homes beyond 
 the hills. They declined ; and as soon as they returned 
 to the vessel, the expedition again pushed forward, and 
 made its way to Cape Dudley Digges, which they 
 reached on the 7th of August. 
 
 At Cape Dudley Digges they were charmed by the 
 sight of tne Crimson Cli&, spoken of by Captain rarry 
 and other arctic navigators. These are lony clifis of 
 dark brown stone, covered with snow of a rich crimson 
 color. It was a magnificent sight in that cold region, 
 to see such an apparently warm object standing out in 
 bold relief against the dark blue back-ground of a polar 
 sky. This was the most northern point to which the 
 expedition penetrated. The whole coast which they 
 had passed from Disco to this cape is high, rugged, and 
 barren, only some of the low points, stretching into the 
 sea, bearing a species of dwarf fir. Northeast from 
 the cape rise the Arctic Highlands, to an unknown alti- 
 
THK AMERICAN AKCllC EXPEDiriO:^. 
 
 369 
 
 tude ; and stretching away northward is the unexplored 
 Smith's Sound, filled with impenetrable ice. 
 
 From Cape Dudley Digges, the Advance and Kes- 
 cue, beating against wind and tide in the midst of the 
 ice-fields, made Wolstenholme Sound, and then chang- 
 ing their course to the southwest, emerged from tlie 
 fields into the open waters of Lancaster Sound. Here, 
 on the 18tli of August, they encountered a tremendous 
 gale, which lasted about twenty-four hours. The two 
 vessels parted company during the storm, and remained 
 separate several clays. Across Lancaster Sound, the 
 Advance made her way to Barrow's Straits, and on the 
 22d discovered the Prince Albert on the soiithem shore 
 of the straits, near Leopold Island, a mass of lofty, 
 precipitous rocks, dark and barren, and hooded and 
 draped with snow. The weather was fine, and soon 
 the officers and crews of the two vessels met in friendly 
 greetinff. Those of the Prince Albert were much as- 
 tonished, for they (being towed by a steamer,) left the 
 Americans in Melville Bay on the 6th, pressing north- 
 ward through the pack, and could not conceive how 
 they BO soon and safely penetrated it. Captain For- 
 syth had attempted to reach a particular point, where 
 he intended to remain through the winter, but finding 
 the passage thereto completely blocked up with ice, he 
 had resolved, on the very day when the Americans ap- 
 peared, to " 'bout ship," and return home. This fact, 
 and the disappointment felt by Mr. Snow, are mentioned 
 in our former article. 
 
 The two vessels remained together a day or two, 
 when they parted company, the Prince Albert to re- 
 turn home, and the Advance to make further explora- 
 tions. It was oS Leopold Island, on the 22d of Au- 
 gust, that the " mad Yankee " took the lead through the 
 vast masses of floating ice, so vividly described by Mr. 
 Snow, and so graphically portrayed by the sailor-artist. 
 " The way was betbre them," says Mr. Snow, who stood 
 upon the deck of the Advance ; " the stream of ice had 
 to bo either gone through boldly, or a long detour made* 
 and, despite the heaviness of the -stream, they pttahed 
 
 rfl 
 
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 If 
 
 I 
 
 "j 
 
370 
 
 PROORK88 OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 the vessel through in her prop&r course. Two or three 
 ehocks, as she came in contact with some large pieces, 
 were unheeded ; and the moment the last oIock was 
 past the bow, the officer sung out, ^ So : steady as she 
 ^oes on her course ;' and came aft as if nothing more 
 tnan ordinary sailing had been going on. I observed 
 our own little bark nobly following in the American's 
 wake ; and as I alterward learned, she got through it 
 pretty well, though not without much doubt of the pro- 
 priety of keeping on in such procedure after the * mad 
 I ankee,' as he was called by our mate." 
 
 From Leopold Island the Advance proceeded to the 
 northwest, and on the 25th reached Cape Riley, an 
 other amorphous mass, not so regular and precipitate 
 as Leopold Island, but more lofty. Here a strong tide^ 
 setting in to the shore, drifted the Advance toward the 
 beach, where she stranded. Around her were small 
 bergs and lar^e masses of floating ice, all under the 
 influence of tne strong current It was about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon when she struck. By diligent 
 labor in removing every thing from her deck to a small 
 floe, she was so lightened, that at four o'clock the next 
 momiuff she floated, and soon every thing was properly 
 replaced. 
 
 I^ear Gape Biley the Americans fell in with a por- 
 tion of an English Expedition, and there also the 
 Itescue, left benind in the gale in Lancaster Sound, 
 overtook the Advance. There was Captain Penny 
 with the Sophia and Lady Franklin ; the veteran Sir 
 John Koss, with the Felix, and Commodore Austin, 
 with the Resolute steamer. Together the navigators 
 of both nations explored the coast at and near Cape 
 Biley, and on the 27th they saw in a cove on the shore 
 of Beechey Island, or Beechey Cape, on the east side of 
 the entrance to Wellington Channel, unmistakable evi 
 dence that Sir John Franklin and his companions were 
 there in April, 1846. There they found many articles 
 known to belong to the British Kavy, and some that 
 were the property of the Erebus and Terror, the ships 
 under the command of Sir John. There lay, bleached 
 
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 I 
 
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 ktors 
 
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Tins AHERICAN ARCriC EXPEDITION. 
 
 371 
 
 to the whiteness of the surrounding snow, a piece of 
 canvas, with the name of the Terror, marked upon it 
 with iuaestnictible charcoal. It was very faint, yet 
 perfectly legible. Near it was a 
 ^uide board, lying flat upon its 
 lace, having been prostrated by 
 the wind. It had evidently been 
 used to direct exploring parties to 
 the vessels, or rather, to the en- 
 campment on shore. The board 
 was pine, thirteen inches in length 
 and six and a half in breadth, and 
 nailed to a boarding pike eight 
 feet in length. It is supposed 
 that the sudden opening of the 
 ice, caused Sir John to depart 
 hastily, and in so doing, this pike 
 and its board were left behind. 
 They also found a large number 
 of tin canisters, 
 such as are used 
 for packing meats 
 for a sea voyage; an 
 anvil block : rem- 
 nants of clothing, 
 which evinced, by 
 numerous patches 
 and their thread- 
 bare character,that 
 they had been worn 
 as long as the own- 
 ers could keep them anvil block. 
 on ; the remains of an India Kubber glove, lined with 
 wool ; some old sacks ; a cask, or tub, partly filled with 
 charcoal, and an unfinished rope-mat, which, like other 
 fibrous fabrics, was bleached white. 
 
 But the most interesting, and at the same time most 
 melancholy traces of the navigators, were three graves, 
 in a little sheltered cove, each with a board at the head, 
 bearing the name of the sleeper below. These inecrip- 
 
 GUIDE BOABD. 
 
 .. > 
 
 [1 
 
 ^ 
 
 If 
 
372 
 
 FBOGBE86 OF AlttTlU DlaCOVKUV. 
 
 tions testify positively when Sir John and his compan- 
 ions were there. The board at the head of the grave 
 on the left has the following inscription : 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of John Tobbinoton, who 
 departed this life, January Ist, a d., 1846, on board 
 her Majesty's ship Terror, aged 20 years." 
 
 On the center one — "Sacred to the memory of 
 John Habtnell, A. B., of her Majesty's ship Erebus ; 
 died, January 4th, 1846, aged 25 years. * Thus saith 
 the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways ;' Ilaggai, chap, 
 i. 5, 7." 
 
 On the right — " Sacred to the memory of W. Bbaike, 
 R. M., of her Majesty's ship Erebus, who died April 3d, 
 1846, aged 32 years. ' Choose you this day whom you 
 will serve :' Joshua, chap, xxiv., part of the 15th verse." 
 
 THBEE 0BAVE8 AT BEECHET. 
 
 1? How much later than April 3d (the date upon the 
 last-named head-board,) Sir John remained at Beechey, 
 can not be determined. They saw evidences of his 
 having gone northward, for sledge tracks in that di- 
 rection were visible. It is the opinion of Dr. Kane 
 that, on the breaking up of the ice, in the spring, Sir 
 John passed northward with his ships through Welling- 
 ton Channel, into the great Polar basin, and that ho 
 did not return. This, too, is the opinion of Captain 
 Penny, and he zealously urges the British government 
 to send a powerful screw steamer to pass through that 
 
the 
 ley, 
 
 bis 
 
 di- 
 lane 
 
 Sir 
 ing- 
 
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 lent 
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li 
 
 TUB AMERICAN ARCTIO EXPEDITION. 
 
 873 
 
 channel, and explore the theoretically more hospitable 
 coasts beyond. This will doubtless be undurtakeii 
 another season, it being the opinions of Captains Parry, 
 Beechoy, Sir John Koss, and others, expressed at a con- 
 ference with the board of Admiralty, in September, tLat 
 the season was too far advanced to attempt it the pres- 
 ent year. Dr. Kane, in a letter to Mr. Gfrinnell, since 
 the return of the expedition, thus expresses his opin- 
 ion concerninir the safety of Sir John and his com- 
 
 panions. After saying, ^'I should think that he is 
 now to be sought for north and west of Cornwallis 
 Island," he adds, ^^ as to the chance of the destruction 
 of his party by the casualties of ice, the return of our 
 own party after something more than the usual share 
 of them, is the only fact that I can add to what wo 
 knew when we set out. The hazards from cold and 
 privation of food may be almost looked upon as sub- 
 ordinate. The snow-hut, the fire and light from the 
 moss-lamp fed with blubber, the seal, the narwhal, the 
 white whale, and occasionally abundant stores of mi- 
 gratory birds, would sustain vigorous life. The scurvy, 
 the worst visitation of explorors deprived of perma- 
 nent quarters, is more rare iu the depths of a polar 
 winter, than in the milder weather of the moist sum- 
 mer; and our two little vessels encountered both 
 seasons without losing a man." 
 
 Leaving Beechey Cape, our expedition forced its way 
 through the ice to Barrow's Inlet, where they narrowly 
 escaped being frozen in for the winter. They endeav- 
 ored to enter the Inlet, for the purpose of making it 
 their winter quarters, but were prevented by the mass 
 of pack-ice at its entrance. It was on the 4th of Sep- 
 tember, 1850, when they arrived there, and after re- 
 maining seven or eight days, they abandoned the 
 attempt to enter. On- the right and left of the above 
 
 ficture, are seen the dark rocks at the entrance of the 
 niet, and in the center of the frozen waters and the 
 range of hills beyond. There was much smooth ice 
 within the Inlet, and while the vessels lay anchored 
 to the ^' field," officers and crew exercised and amused 
 
 # 
 
374 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 themselves by skating. On the left of the Inlet, (in 
 dicated by the dark conical object,) they discovered a 
 Cairn, (a heap of stones with a cavity,) eight or ten 
 feet in height, which was erected b^ Captain Ommaney 
 of the English Expedition then in the polar waters. 
 Within it he had placed two letters, for " Whom it 
 might concern." Uomrarnder De Haven also depos- 
 ited a letter there. It is believed to be the only post- 
 office in the world, free for the use of all nations. The 
 rocks, here, presented vast fissnres made by the frost; 
 and at the foot of the cliff on the right that powerful 
 agent had cast down vast heaps of debris. 
 
 From Barlow's Inlet, our expedition moved slowly 
 westward, battling with the ice every rood of the way, 
 until they reachea Griffin's Island, at about 96° west 
 longitude from Greenwich. This was attained on the 
 11th, and was the extreme westing made by the expe- 
 dition. All beyond seemed impenetrable ice; and, 
 despairing of making any further discoveries before the 
 winter should set in, they resolved to return home. 
 Turning eastward, they hoped to reach Davis' Strait 
 by the southern route, before the cold and darkness 
 came on ; but they were doomed to disappointment. 
 Near the entrance to Wellington Channel they became 
 completely locked in by huramock-ice, and soon found 
 themselves drifting with an irresistible tide up that 
 channel toward the pole. 
 
 Now began the most<perilou8 adventures of the navi- 
 
 fators. The summer day was drawing to a close ; the 
 iumal visits of the pale sun were rapidly shortening, 
 and soon the long polar night, with all its darkness and 
 horrors, would fj3l upon them. Slowly they drifted in 
 those vast fields of ice, whither, or to what result, they 
 knew not. Locked in the moving yet compact mass ; 
 liable at every moment to be crusned ; far away from 
 land ; the mercury sinking daily lower and lower from 
 the zero figure, toward the point where that metal 
 freezes, they felt small hope of ever reaching home again. 
 Yet they prepared for winter comforts and winter sports, 
 as cheerfully as if lying safe in Barlow's Inlet. As the 
 
le 
 
 In 
 
THS AMEBIOAIC ASOTIO BXFIDITIOir* 
 
 875 
 
 winter advanced, the crews of both the vessels went on 
 Doard the larger one. They unshipped the rudders of 
 each, to prevent their being injured by the ice, covered 
 the deck of the Advance with felt, prepared their stores, 
 and made arrangements for enduring the long winter, 
 now upon them. Physical and mental activity being 
 necessary for the preservation of health, they daily ex- 
 ercised in the open air for several hours. They built 
 ice huts, hunted the huge white bears and the little polar 
 foxes, and when the darkness of the winter night had 
 spread over them they arranged in-door amusements 
 and employments. 
 
 Before the end of October, the sun made its appear- 
 ance for the last time, and the awful polar night 
 closed in. Early in November they wholly abandoned 
 the Rescue, and both crews made the Advance their 
 permanent winter home. The cold soon became in- 
 tense ; the mercury congealed, and the spirit thermome- 
 ter indicated 46° below zero 1 Its averuge range was 
 30° to 35°. They had drifted helplessly up Wellington 
 Channel, almost to the latitude from whence Captain 
 Penny saw an open sea, and which all believe to bo 
 ihe great polar basin, where there is a more genial 
 clime than that which intervenes between the Arctic 
 Circle and the 75th degree. Here, when almost in 
 fiight of the open ocean, that mighty polar tide, with 
 its vast masses of ice, suddenly ebbed, and our little 
 vessels were carried back as resistlessly as before, 
 through Barrow's Straits into Lancaster Sound I All 
 this while the immense fields of hummock-ice were 
 moving, and the vessels were in hourlv danger of being 
 crushed and destroyed. At length, while drifting 
 through Barrow's Straits, the congealed mass, as it 
 crushed together by the opposite shores, became more 
 compact, and the Advance was elevated almo' ^ seven 
 feet oy the stem, and keeled two feet eight inc . star- 
 board. In this position she remained, with very little 
 alteration for five consecutive months ; for, soon after 
 entering Baffin's Bay in the midst of the winter, the 
 
 ice became frozen in one immense tract, ooveiw; uul- 
 
 17 --0 
 
 h 
 
870 
 
 WKiniMMI Of AlCriO OBCOVfiST. 
 
 lions eft acres. Thus frozen in, sometimes more tbtn a 
 hundred miles from land, they drifted slowly along the 
 Bonthwest coast of Battin's Bay, a distance of more than 
 a Uiousand miles from Wellington Channel. For eleven 
 weeks that dreary night continued, and daring that 
 time the disc of the sun was never seen above the hori- 
 zon. Yet nature was not wholly forbidding in aspect. 
 Sometimes the Aurora Borealis would fl^h up still 
 Airther northward ; and sometimes Aurora Parhelia — 
 mock suns and mock moons — would appear in varied 
 beauty in the starry sky. Brilliant, too, were the north- 
 em constellations ; and when the real moon was at its 
 ftill, it made its stately circuit in the heavens, without 
 descending below the horizon, and lighted up the vast 
 piles of ice with a pale luster, almost as great as the 
 morning twilights of more genial skies. 
 
 Around the vessels the crews built a wall of ice ; anci 
 in ice huts they stowed away their cordage and storei 
 to make room for exercise on the decks. They organ- 
 ized a theatrical company, and amused themselves and 
 the ofScers with comedy well performed. Behind the 
 pieces of hummock each actor learned his part, and 
 by means of calico they transformed themselves into 
 female characters, as occasion required. These dramas 
 were acted on the deck of the Advance, sometimes 
 while the thermometer indicated 80° below zero, and 
 actors and audiences highly enjoyed the fhn. Thev 
 also went in parties during that long night, fully armed, 
 to hunt the polar bear, the grim monarch of the frozen 
 North, on which occasions tney often encountered peril- 
 ous adventures. They played at foot-baU, and exercised 
 themselves in drawing sledges, heavily laden with pro- 
 visions. Five hours or .each twenty-four, they thus exer- 
 cised in the open air, and once a week each man washed 
 bis whole body in cold snow water. Serious sickness 
 was consequently avoided, and the soorvy wMeh at- 
 tacked them soon yielded to remedies. 
 
 Often during that feariul night, they expected the 
 disaster ^f having their vessels cmshea. All iJirougb 
 Novtmber and Deeember, before the ice became fiist 
 
TIIK AilKRICAN AKCTIC KXPF-DITION. 
 
 377 
 
 tlicy slept ill tlicir clothes, with knapsacks on their 
 bac-KS, and sledges upon the ice, laden with stores, not 
 knowing at what moment tlie vessels miglit be demol- 
 ished, and themselves forced to leave them, and make 
 their way toward land. On tlie 8tli of December, and 
 the 23d of January, they acti My lowered tiieir boats 
 and stood upon the ice, for the crushing masses were 
 making the timbers of the gallar> ^'^scrcreak and its 
 decks to rise in the center. The} \ :'o then m'nety 
 miles from land, and hope hardly wiiispered an encour- 
 aging idea of life bein^ sustained. On the latter occa- 
 sion, when officers and crew stood upon the ice, with 
 the ropes of their provision sledges m their hands, a 
 terrible snow-drift came from the northeast, and intense 
 darkness shrouded them. Had tlie vessel then been 
 crushed, all must have perished. But God, who ruled 
 the stonn, also put forth His protecting arm and saved 
 them. 
 
 Early in February the northern horizon began to bo 
 streaked with gorgeous twilight, the herald ot the ap- 
 proaching king of day ; and on the 18tli the disc of 
 the sun first appeared above the horizon. Ap its golden 
 rim rose above the glittering snow-drifts and piles of 
 ice, three hearty cheei*s went up from those haray mar- 
 iners, and they welcomed their deliverer from the 
 chains of frost as cordially as those of old who chanted, 
 
 " See ! the conquering hero comes, 
 Sound the tnimpet, beat the druma" 
 
 Day after day it rose higher and higher, and while the 
 pallid faces of the voyagers, bleached during that long 
 night, darkened by its beams, the vast masses of ice 
 began to yield to its fervid influences. The scurvy dis- 
 appeared, and from that time, until their arrival home, 
 not a man suftered from sickness. As they slowly 
 drifted through Davis' Straits, and the ice gave indica- 
 tions of breaking up, the voyagers made preparations 
 for sailing. The Kescue was re-occupied, (Mav 13th, 
 1851,) and her stone-post, which had been broken by 
 the ice in Barrow's Straits, was repaired. To accom* 
 plish this, they were obliged to dig away the ice which 
 
 il 
 
378 
 
 PKOOREBS OF AKCrTIG DISCOVERY. 
 
 was frohi 12 to 14 feet thick around her, as represented 
 in the engraving. They reshipped their rudders ; re- 
 moved the felt covering ; placed their stores on deck, 
 and then patiently awaited the disruption of the ice 
 This event was very sudden and appalling. It began 
 to give way on the 5th of June, and in tne space of 
 twenty minutes the whole mass, as far as the eye could 
 reach, became one vast field of moving floes. On the 
 10th of June, they emerged into open water, a little 
 south of the Arctic Circle, in latitude 65° 30'. They^ 
 immediately repaired to Godhaven, on the coast of 
 Greenland, where they refitted, and, unappalled by the 
 perils through which they had just passed, they once 
 more turned their prows northward to encounter anew 
 the ice squadrons of Bafiin's Bay. Again they trav- 
 ersed the coast of Greenland to about the 73d de- 
 gree, when they bore to the westward, and on the 7tb 
 and 8th of July, passed the English whaling fleet near 
 the Dutch Islands. Onward they pressed through 
 the accumulating ice to Baffin's Island, where, on 
 the 11th, they were joined by the Prince Albert, then 
 out upon another cruise. They continued in com- 
 pany until the 3d of August, when the Albert departed 
 for the westward, determined to try the more south 
 em passage. Here again our expedition encountered 
 vast fields of hummock-ice, and were subjected to the 
 most imminent perils. The floating ice, as if moved by 
 adverse currents, tumbled in huge masses, and reared 
 upon the sides of the sturdy little vessels like monsters 
 of the deep intent upon destruction. These masses 
 broke in the bulwarks, and sometimes fell over upon 
 the decks with terrible force, like rocks rolled over a 
 plain by mountain torrents. The noise was fearftd ; bo 
 deafening that the mariners could scarcely hear each 
 other's voices. The sounds of these rollinjg masses, to- 
 gether with the rending of the icebergs floating near, 
 and the vast floes, produced a din like the discharge of 
 a thousand pieces of ordnance upon a field of battle. 
 Finding the north and west closed against further 
 progress, oy impenetrable ice, the brave De Haven was 
 
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 beai 
 
THE AMERICAN ABGTIC EXPEDITION. 
 
 379 
 
 balked, and turning his vessels homeward, they camo 
 out into an open sea, somewhat crippled, but not a 
 plank seriously started. During a storm off the banks 
 of Newfoundland, a thousand miles from New York, 
 .the vessels parted company. The Advance arrived 
 safely at the Navy Yard at Brooklyn on the 30th of 
 September, and the Rescue joined her there a few days 
 afterward. Toward the close of October, the govern- 
 ment resigned the vessels into the hands of Mr. Grin- 
 nell, to be used in other service, but with the stipulation 
 that they are to be subject to the order of the Secretary 
 of the Navy in the spring, if required for another 
 expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. 
 
 We have thus given a very brief account of the prin- 
 cipal events of interest connected with the American 
 Arctic Expedition ; the officers of which will doubtless 
 publish a more detailed narrative. Aside from the suc- 
 cess which attended our little vessels in encountering the 
 perils of the polar seas, there are associations which must 
 forever hallow the effort as one of the noblest exhibitions 
 of the true glory of nations. The navies of America and 
 England have before met upon the ocean, but they met 
 for deadly strife. Now, too, they met for strife, equally 
 determined, but not with each other. They met m the 
 holy cause of benevolence and human sympathy, to 
 battle with the elements beneath the Arctic Circle ; and 
 the chivalric heroism which the few stout hearts of the 
 two nations displayed in that terrible conflict, redounds 
 a thousand-fold more to the glory of the actors, their 
 governments, and the race, than if four-score ships, 
 with ten thousand armed men had fought for the mas- 
 tery of each other upon the broad ocean, and battered 
 hulks and marred corpses had gone down to the coral 
 caves of the sea, a dreadful offering to the demon of 
 Distord. In the latter event, troops of widows and or- 
 phan children would have sent up a cry of wail ; now, 
 the heroes advanced manfully to rescue husbands and 
 fathers to restore them to their wives and children. 
 How glorious the thought I and how suggestive of the 
 beauty of that fast approaching day, when tho n*\tiw« 
 
380 
 
 PB00RKS8 09 AUGTIC DISOOV'KK'/. 
 
 eball Bit down iu pcaco as united children of one 
 household. 
 
 Winter in the ARcrno Ocean. 
 
 The following narrative, showing the wapr the wintei 
 of 1851-62 was passed by those engaged in the recent 
 arctic expedition, is from the official report made by 
 Lieut. De Haven, the Commander of the expedition : 
 
 " On the morning of the 13th Sept., 1850, the wind 
 having moderated sufficiently, we got under way, and 
 working our way through some streams of ice, arrived 
 in a few hours at * Griffith's ' Island, under the lee of 
 which we found our consort made fast to the shore, 
 where she had taken shelter in the gale, her crew hav- 
 ing suftered a good deal from the inclemency of the 
 weatlier. In bnnging to under the lee of the island, 
 she had the misfortune to spring her rudder, so that on 
 joining us, it was with mucli difficulty she could steer. 
 To insure her safety and more rapid progress, she was 
 taken in tow by the Advance, when siie oore up with 
 a fine breeze from the westward. Oft' Cape Martyr, 
 we left the English squadron under Capt. Austin. 
 About ten miles further to the east, the two vessels un- 
 der Capt. Penny, and that under Sir John Ross, were 
 seen secured near the land. At 8 p. m.. we had ad- 
 vanced as far as Cape Ilotham. Thence as far as the 
 increasing darkness of the night enabled us to see, there 
 was notlnng to obstruct our progress, except the bay 
 ice. This, with a good breeze, would not have im- 
 peded us much ; but unfortunately the wind, when it was 
 most requii^ed, failed us. The snow, with which tlie 
 surface of the water was covered, rajjidly cemented, 
 and fonned a tenacious coat, through which it was im- 
 possible with all our appliances to force the vessels. At 
 8 p. M., they came to a dead stand, some ten miles to 
 the east of Barlow's Inlet. 
 
 "The following da^ the wind hauled to the southward, 
 from which quarter it lasted till the 19th. During this 
 period the young ico was broken, its edges squeezed up 
 
WiM'KIt I»S TUK AIUTIC OCK.IN. 
 
 abi 
 
 liko hammocks, and ono fl'>o overrun by anotlicr until 
 it all assumed the iiiipcaranco of lieavy ico. Tlic ves- 
 sels received . "ine heuvy nips iVoni it, but they with- 
 stood them witiiuiit injury. Whenever a 1)(h»1 of water 
 made its a|)j)earance, every ellort was nuule to reaeh it, 
 in hopes tiuit it would lead us into iieeciiey IsJand, or 
 Bomo other place where the vessel mi<;lit be placed in 
 security ; for the winter set in unusiuilly early, aiul the 
 severity with which it connnenccd, forbade all hopes 
 of our being able to return this season. I now becaujo 
 anxious to attain a point in the neighborhood, from 
 whence by means of land parties, in the 8i)ring, a goodly 
 extent of Wellington Channel might be examined. 
 
 " In tfie mean time, under the mllutmce of the south 
 wind, we were being set up the channel. On the ISth 
 we were above Cape liowden, the most northern point 
 Been on this shore uy Parry. The land on both snores 
 was seen much further, and trended considerably to the 
 west of north. To account for this drift, the hxed ico 
 of Wellington Channel, which we had observed in ])as8- 
 ing to the westward, must have been broken up and 
 driven to the southward by the lieavy galeof the 12th. 
 On the 19th the wind veered to the north, which gave 
 •us a southerly set, fJ.ircing us at the same time with the 
 western shore. This did not last long; for the next day 
 the wind hauled again to the south, and blew fresh, 
 bringing the ice in upon us with much pressure. At 
 midnight it broke up all around us, so that we had work 
 to maintain the Aclvance in a safe j)osition, and keep 
 ber from being separated from her consort, M'hich was 
 immovably lixed in the center of a large floe. 
 
 "We contimied to drill slowly to the N. N. W., until 
 the 22d, when our progress appeared to be arrested by 
 a small low island, which was discovered in that direc- 
 tion, about seven miles distant. A channel of three or 
 four miles in width separated it from Cornwallis Island. 
 This latter island, trending N. W. from our ])Osition, 
 terminated abruptly in an elevated caj)e, to which I 
 have given the name 6f Manning, after a warm per- 
 fional friend and ardent 6U])])ortcr of the ox])cdition. 
 
382 
 
 PB00BES9 OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 Between Comwallis Island and some distant high land 
 visible in the north, appeared a wide channel leadinc 
 to the westward. A dark, misty-looking cloud whicli 
 hung over it, (technically termed frost-smoke,) was in- 
 dicative of much open wator in that direction. This 
 was the direction in which my instructions, referring to 
 the investigations of the National Observatory, concern- 
 ing the winds and currents of the ocean, directed me tc 
 look for open water. Nor was the open water the only 
 indication that presented itself in confirmation of thie 
 theoretical conjecture as to a milder climate in that 
 • direction. As we entered Wellington Channel, the 
 signs of animal life became more abundant, and Cap- 
 tain Penny, commander of one of the English expe- 
 ditions, who afterward penetrated on sledges much 
 toward the region of the ' frost-smoke,' much further 
 than it was possible for us to do in our vessels reported 
 that he actually arrived on the borders of this open sea. 
 "Thus, these admirably drawn instructions, deriving 
 arguments from the enlarged and comprehensive sys- 
 tem of physical research, not only pointed with em- 
 phasis to an unknown sea into which Franklin had 
 probably found his way, but directed me to search for 
 traces of his expedition in the very channel at the 
 entrance of which it is now ascertained he had passed 
 his first winter. The direction in which searcn with 
 most chances of success is now to be made for the 
 missing expedition, or for traces of it, is no doubt in 
 the direction which is so clearly pojnted out in my in- 
 structions. To the channel which appeared to lead 
 into the open sea over which the cloud of ' frost-smoke ' 
 hung as a sign, I have given the name of Maury, after 
 the distinguished gentleman at the head of our National 
 Observatory, whose theory with regard to an open sea 
 to the north is likely to be realized through this chan- 
 nel. To the large mass of land visible between N. W. 
 to N. N. E., I gave the name of Grinnell, in honor of 
 the head and heart of the man in whose philanthropic 
 mind originated the idea of this expedition, and ^ 
 whose munificence it owes its existence. 
 
WINTER IN THE AKCTIC OCEAN. 
 
 383 
 
 " To a remarkable peak bearing N. N. E. from us, 
 distant about forty miles, was given the name of 
 Mount Franklin. An inlet or harbor immediately to 
 the north of Cape Bowden was discovered by Mr. 
 Griffin in his land excursion from Point Innes, on the 
 27th of August, and has received the name of Griffin 
 Inlet. The small island mentioned before was called 
 Murdausb's Island, -atter the acting master of the Ad- 
 Tance. The eastern shore of Wellington Channel ap- 
 peared to run parallel with the western, but it became 
 quite low, and being covered with snow, could not be 
 distinguished with certainty, so that its continuity with 
 the high land to the north was not ascertained. Some 
 email pools of open water appearing near us, an attempt 
 was made about fifty yards, but all our combined 
 efforts were of no avail in extricating the Kescue from 
 her icy cradle. A change of wind not only closed the 
 ice up again, but threatened to give a severe nip. We 
 unshipped her rudder and placed it out of harm's way. 
 
 " September 22d, was an uncomfortable day. The 
 wind was from N. E. with snow. From an early hour 
 in the morning, the floes began to be pressed together 
 with so much force that their edge was thrown up in 
 immense ridges of rugged hummocks. The Advance 
 was heavily nipped between two floes, and the ice was 
 piled up so high above the rail on the starboard side 
 as to threaten to come on board and sink us with its 
 weight. All hands were occupied in keeping it out. 
 The pressure and commotion did not cease till near 
 midnight, when we were very glad to have a respite 
 from our labors and fears. The next day we were 
 threatened with a similar scene, but it fortunately 
 ceased in a short time. For the remainder of Septem- 
 ber, and until the 4th of October, the vessels drifted 
 but little. The winds were very light, the thermometer 
 fell to minus 12, and ice formed over th e p ools in sight, 
 sufficiently strong to travel upon. We were now 
 strongly impressed with the belief that the ice had be- 
 come fixed for the winter, and that we should be able 
 to send out traveling parties from the advanced position 
 
 17* 
 
 I 
 
384 
 
 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 for the examination of the lands to the northward 
 Stimulated by this fair prospect, another attempt wan 
 made to reach the shore in order to establish a depo^ 
 of prov isions at or near Cape Manning, which would 
 materially facilitate the progress of our parties in thf» 
 spring ; but the ice was still found to be detached froip 
 tne shore, and a narrow lane of water cut us from it. 
 
 " During the interval of comparative quiet, prelimi • 
 nary measures were taken for heating the Advance 
 and increasing her quarters, so as to accomodate the 
 officers and crew of both vessels. No stoves had &» 
 yet been used in either vessel ; indeed they could not 
 well be put up without placing a large quantity of stores 
 and fuel upon the ice. The attempt was made to do 
 this, but a sudden crack in the floe where it appeared 
 strongest, causing the loss of several tons of coal, con- 
 vinced us that it was not yet safe to do so. It was not 
 until the 20th of October, we got fires below. Ten 
 days later the housingcloth was put over, and the offi- 
 cers and crew of the Kescue ordered on board the Ad- 
 vance for the winter. Room was found on the deck of 
 the Rescue for many of the provisions removed from 
 the hold of this vessel. Still a large quantity had to 
 be placed on the ice. The absence of fire below had 
 caused much discomfort to all hands ever since the be- 
 ginning of September, not so much from the low tem- 
 perature, as from the accumulation of moisture by 
 condensation, which congealed- as the temperature de- 
 creased, and covered the wood work of our apartments 
 with ice. This state of things soon began to work its 
 effect upon the health of the crews. Several cases of 
 scurvy appeared among them, and notwithstanding the 
 indefatigable attention and active treatment resorted to 
 by the medical officers, it could not be eradicated — its 
 progress, however, was checked. 
 
 "All through October and ITovember, we were drifted 
 to and fro by the changing wind, but never passing out 
 of "Wellington Channel. On the 1st of November, the 
 new ice had attained the thickness of 37 inches. Still, 
 frequent breaks would occur in it, often in fearful prox- 
 
 f 
 
1*1 
 
 WUTTIB IN TH£ ABGTIO 00£AV. 
 
 885 
 
 unity to the vessels. Hummoclcs consisting of massive 
 granite-like blocks, would be thrown up to the hei<^ht 
 of twenty, and even thirty feet. This action in the ice 
 was accompanied with a variety of sounds impossible 
 to be described, but when heard never failed to carry a 
 feeling of awe into the stoutest hearts. In tlie stillness 
 of an arctic night, they could be heard several miles, 
 and often was the rest of all hands disturbed by them. 
 To guard against the worst that could happen to us — 
 the destruction of the vessels — the boats were prepared 
 and sledges built. Thirty days' provisions were placed 
 in for all hands, together with tents and blanket bags 
 for sleeping in. Besides this, each man- and officer had 
 his knapsack containing an extra suit of clothes. These 
 were all kept in readiness for use at a moment's notice. 
 "For the sake of wholesome exercise, as well as to in- 
 ure the people to ice traveling, frequent excursions were 
 made with our laden sledges. The officers usually took 
 the lead at the drag ropes, and tliey, as well as the men 
 underwent the labor of surmounting the rugged hum- 
 mocks, with great cheerfulness and zeal. Kotwith- 
 Btanding the low temperature, all hands usually returned 
 in a profuse perspiration. We had also other soured 
 of exercise and amusements, such as foot-ball, skating, 
 sliding, racing, with theatrical representations on holi- 
 days and national anniversaries. These amusements 
 were continued throughout the Winter, and contributed 
 very materially to the cheerfulness and general good 
 health of all hands. The drift had ^set us gradually to 
 the S. E., until we were about five miles to the S. W. 
 of Beechey Island. In this position we remained com- 
 paratively stationary about a week. We once more 
 began to entertain a hope that we had become fixed for 
 the winter, but it proved a vain one, for on the last day 
 of November a strong wind from the westward set in, 
 with thick snowy weather. The wind created an im- 
 mediate movement in the ice. Several fractures took 
 place near us, and many heavy hummocks were thrown 
 up. The floe in which our vessels were imbedded, was 
 being rapidly encroached upon, bo that we were in mo- 
 
 li 
 
 ! 
 
 I 
 
 : 
 
380 
 
 fROQRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. 
 
 mentary fear of the ice breaking from around them, 
 and that tlicy would be once more broken out and left 
 to the tender mercies of the crashing floes. 
 
 " On the following day (the Ist of December) the 
 weather cleared off, and the few hours of twilight 
 which we had about noon, enabled us to get a glimpse 
 of the land. As well as we could make it out, we ap- 
 peared to be off Gascoigno Inlet. "We were now clear 
 of Wellington Channel, and in the fair way of Lan- 
 caster Sound, to be set either up or down, at the mercy, 
 of the prevailing winds and currents. We were not 
 long left in doubt ^s to the direction we had to pursue. 
 The winds prevailed from the westward, and our drift 
 was steady and rapid toward the mouth of the Sound. 
 The prospect before us was now any thing but cheering. 
 We were deprived of our last fond hope, that of be- 
 coming fixed in some position whence operations could 
 be carried on by means of traveling parties in the 
 spring. The vessels were fast being set out of the 
 region of search. Nor was this our only source of un- 
 easiness. The line of our drift was from two to five 
 miles from the north shore, and whenever the moving 
 ice met with any of the capes or projecting points of 
 land, the obstruction would cause fractures in it, ex- 
 tending off to and far beyond us. Gape Hurd was the 
 first and most prominent point — we were but two 
 miles from it on the 3d of December. Nearly all day 
 the ice was both seen and heard to be in constant mo- 
 tion at no great distance from us. In the evening a 
 crack on our floe took place not more than twenty-five 
 yards ahead of the Advance. It opened in the course 
 of the evening to the width of 190 yards. 
 
 " No further disturbance took place until noon of the 
 6th, when we were somewhat startled by the familiar 
 and unmistakable sound of the ice grinding against 
 the side of the ship. Going on deck, 1 perceived that 
 another crack had taken place, passing along the length 
 of the vessel. It did not open more than a foot ; this, 
 however, was sufficient to liberate the vessel, and she 
 rose several inches bodily, having become more buoy- 
 
II 
 
 WINTER IN TUB ARCnO OCEAN. 
 
 887 
 
 ant since slie froze in. The following day, in tlie 
 evening the crack opened several yards, leaving the 
 sides 01 the Ad^ ance entirely free, and she was once 
 more supported by and rode in her own element. "We 
 were not, though, by any means, in a pleasant situation. 
 The floes were considerably broken in all directions 
 around us, and one crack had taken place between the 
 two vessels. The Rescue was not disturbed in her bed 
 of ice. 
 
 " December 7th, at 8 A. M., the crack in which we 
 were, had opened and formed a lane of water fifty-six 
 feet wide, communicating ahead at the distance of sixty 
 feet with ice of about one foot in thickness, which had 
 formed since the 3d. The vessel was secured to the 
 largest floe near us (that on which our spare stores were 
 deposited.) At noon, the ice was again in motion, 
 and began to close, affording us the pleasant prospect 
 of an inevitable nip between two floes of the heaviest 
 kind. In a short time the prominent points took our 
 side, on the starboard, just about the main-rigging, and 
 on the port under the counter, and at the fore-rigging ; 
 thus bringing three points of pressure in such a position 
 that it mustjhave proved fatal to a larger or less 
 strengthened vessel. The Advance, however, stood it 
 bravely. After trembling and groaning in every joint, 
 the ice passed under and raised her about two and 
 a half feet. She was let down again for a moment, 
 and then her stern was raised about five feet. Her 
 bows being unsupported, were depressed almost as 
 much. In this imcomfortable position we remained. 
 The wind blew a gale from the eastward, and the ico 
 all around was in dreadful commotion, excepting, for- 
 tunately, that in immediate contact with us. The com- 
 motion in the ice continued all through the night; and 
 we were in momentary expectation of the destruction 
 of both vessels. The easterly gale had set us some 
 two or three miles to the west. As soon as it was light 
 enough to see on the 9th, it was discovered that the 
 heavy ice on which the Rescue had been imbedded 
 for so long a time, was entirely broken up, and piled 
 
SSb 
 
 PR0GBE8S OF AtUJllG DISCOYEKT. 
 
 up around her in massive hummocks. On her pumps 
 being sounded, I was gratified to learn that she remained 
 tight, notwithstanding the immense straining and 
 pressure she must have endured. 
 
 " During this period of trial, as well as in all former 
 and subsequent ones, I could not avoid being struck 
 with the calmness and decision of the officers, as well 
 as the subordination and ^ood conduct of the men, 
 without an exception. Each one knew the imminence 
 of the peril that surrounded us, and was prepared to 
 abide it with a stout heart. There was no noise, no 
 confusion. I did not detect, even in the moment when 
 the destruction of the vessel seemed inevitable, a sin- 
 gle desponding look among the whole crew ; on the 
 contrary, each one seemed resolved to do his whole 
 duty, and every thing went on cheerily and bravely. 
 For my own part, I had become quite an invalid, so 
 much so as to prevent my taking an active part in the 
 duties of the vessel as I had always done, or even from 
 incurring the exposure necessary to proper exercise. 
 However, I felt no apprehensions that the vessel would 
 not be properly taken care of, for I had perfect confi- 
 dence in one and all by whom I was surrounded. I 
 knew them to be equal to any emergency, but I felt 
 under special obligations to the gallant commander 
 of the Rescue, for the efficient aid he rendered me. 
 With the kindest consideration, and the most cheerful 
 alacrity, he volunteered to perform the executive duties 
 during the winter, and relieve me from every thing 
 that might tend in the least to retard my recovery. 
 
 " During the remainder of December, the ice re- 
 mained quiet immediately around us, and breaks were 
 all strongly cemented by new ice. In our neighbor- 
 hood, however, cracks were daily visible. Our drift 
 to the eastward averaged nearly six miles ^ .er day ; so 
 that on the last of the month we were at the entrance 
 of the Sound, Cape Osborn bearing north from us. 
 
 "January, 1851. — On passing out of the Sound, and 
 opening Baffin's Bay, to the north was seen a dark hori- 
 zon, in£cating much open water in that direction. On 
 
WINTER IN THE AECTIC OCEAN. 
 
 389 
 
 the 11th, a crack took place between ns and the Kescue, 
 passing close under our stem, and forming a lane of 
 water eighty feet wide. In the afternoon the floes be- 
 gan to move, the lane was closed up, and the edges of 
 the ice coming in contact with so much pressure, threat- 
 ened the demolition of the narrow space which sepa- 
 rated us from the line of fracture. Fortunately, the 
 floes again separated, and assumed a motion by which 
 the Rescue passed from our stern to the port bow, and 
 increased her distance from us 709 yards, where she 
 came to a stand. Our stores that were on the ice were 
 on the same side of the cracks as the Rescue, and of 
 course were carried with her. The following day the 
 ice remained quiet, but soon after midnight, on the 
 13th, a gale having sprung up from the westward, it 
 once more got into violent motion. The yoimg ice in 
 the crack near our stern was soon broken up, the edges 
 of the thick ice came in contact, and fearful pressures 
 took place, forcing up a line of hummocks which ap- 
 proached within ten feet of our stem. The vessel 
 trembled and complained a great deal. 
 
 " At last the floe broke up around us into many 
 pieces, and became detached from the sides of the 
 vessel. The scene of frightful commotion lasted until 
 4 A. M. Every moment I expected the vessel would 
 be crushed or overwhelmed by the massive ice forced 
 up far above our bulwarks. The Rescue being further 
 removed on the other side of the crack from the lino 
 of crushing, and being firmly imbedded in heavy ice, 
 I was in hopes would remain undisturbed. This was 
 not the case; for, on sending to her as soon as it was 
 light enough to see, the floe was found to be broken 
 away entirely up to her bows, and there formed into 
 such high hummocks that her bowsprit was broken ofl*, 
 together with her head, and all the light wood work 
 about it. Had the action of the ice continued much 
 longer, she must have been destroyed. We had the 
 misfortune to find sad havoc had been made among 
 the stores and provisions left on the ice ; and few bar- 
 rels were recovered ; but a large portion were crushed 
 and had disappeared. 
 
390 
 
 PBOOBESe OF ABCTTIC DISCX)VEBY. 
 
 " On the morning of the 14th there was again Bomo 
 motion in the floes. That on the port side moved off 
 from the vessel two or three feet and there became 
 stationary. This left the vessel entirely detached 
 from the ice round the water line, and it was expected 
 she would once more resume an upright position. ^ In 
 this, however, we were disappointed, lor sne remained 
 with her stern elevated, and a considerable lift to star- 
 board, being held in this uncomfortable position by the 
 heavy masses which had been forced under her bottom 
 She retained this position until she finally broke out 
 in the spring. We were now fully launched into Baf- 
 fin's Bay, and our line of drift began to be more south- 
 erly, assuming a direction nearly parallel with the 
 western shore of the Bay at a distance of from 40 to 
 70 miles from it. 
 
 " After an absence of 87 days, the sun, on the 29th 
 of January, rose his whole diameter above the south- 
 ern horizon, and remained visible more than an hour. 
 All hands gave vent to delight on seeing an old friend 
 again, in three hearty cheers. The length of the days 
 now went on increasing rapidly, but no warmth was 
 yet experienced from the sun's rays ; on the contrary 
 the cold became more intense. Mercury became con- 
 gealed in February, also in March, which did not occur 
 at any other period during the winter. A very low 
 temperature was invariably accompanied with clear 
 and calm weather, so that our coldest days were per- 
 haps the most pleasant. In the absence of wind, we 
 could take exercise in the open air without any incon- 
 venience from the cold. But with a strong wind blow 
 ing, it was dangerous to be exposed to its chilling blasts 
 for any length of time, even when the thermometer 
 indicated a comparatively moderate degree of tem- 
 perature. 
 
 " The ice around the vessels soon became cemented 
 again and fixed, and no other rupture was experienced 
 until it finally broke up in the spring, and allowed us 
 to escape. Still we kept driving to the southward 
 along with the ai hole mass. Open lanes of water were 
 
WINTER IN THE AROTIO OOEA. 
 
 891 
 
 lotne 
 
 loff 
 
 ;ame 
 
 ched 
 
 Bcted 
 
 . In 
 
 ained 
 
 ► Btar- 
 
 ly the 
 
 )ttoin 
 
 j:e out 
 
 oBaf- 
 
 Bouth- 
 
 h the 
 
 L4:0tO 
 
 e 29th 
 south- 
 1 hour, 
 friend 
 e days 
 ;h was 
 >ntrary 
 e con- 
 It occur 
 iry low 
 clear 
 |re per- 
 d, we 
 incon- 
 blow 
 blasts 
 iineter 
 tem- 
 
 lented 
 Kenced 
 
 red us 
 Ihward 
 Ir were 
 
 visible at all times from aloft ; sometimes they would 
 be formed within a mile or two of ns. Narwhals, 
 seals, and dovekys were seen in them. Our sports- 
 men were not expert enough to procure any, except a 
 few of the latter ; although they were indefatigable in 
 their exertions to do so. Bears would frequently be 
 seen prowling about ; only two were killed during the 
 winter ; others were wounded, but made their escape. 
 A few of us thought their flesh very palatable and 
 wholesome ; but the majority utterly rejected it. The 
 flesh of the seal, when it could be obtained, was re- 
 ceived with more favor. 
 
 " As the season advanced, the cases of scurvy became 
 more numerous, yet they were all kept under control 
 by the unwearied attention and skillful treatment of 
 the medical officers. My thanks are due to them, es- 
 pecially to Passed Assistant Surgeon Kane, the senior 
 medical officer of the expedition. I often had occa- 
 sion to consult him concerning the hygiene of tiie 
 crew, and it is in a great measure owing to the advice 
 which he save and the expedients which he recom- 
 mended, that the expedition was enabled to return 
 without the loss of one man. By the latter end of 
 February the ice had become sufficiently thick to en- 
 able us to build a trench around the stem of the Res- 
 cue, sufficiently deep to ascertain the extent of the 
 injury she had received in the gale at Griffith's Isl- 
 and. It was not found to be material ; the upper gud- 
 geon alone had been wrenched from the stem post. It 
 was adjusted, and the mdder repaired in readiness for 
 shipping, when it should be required. A new bow- 
 sprit was also made for her out of the few spare spars 
 we had left, and every thing made seaworthy in both 
 vessels before the breaking up of the ice. 
 
 "In May, the noon-day began to take effect upon the 
 snow which covered the ice ; the surface of the floea 
 became watery, and difficult to walk over. Still the 
 dissolution was so slow in comparison with the mass 
 to be dissolved, that it must have taken it a long pe- 
 riod to become liberated from this cause alone. Mora 
 
392 
 
 I'UOGKKSa OF AUCTIC lUSCoVERY. 
 
 was expected from our sonthorly drift, which still con- 
 tinued, and must soon carry us into a milder climato 
 and open sea. On the 19th of IMay, the land about 
 Cape Soarle was made out, the first that we had scon 
 since passing Cape Walter Bathurst, about the 20th of 
 January. A few days later we were oft' Capo Walsing- 
 ham, and on the 27th, passed out of the Arctic Zone. 
 
 " On the 1st of April, a hole was cut in some ice that 
 had been forming since our first besctment in Septem- 
 ber; it was found to have attained the thickness of 7 
 feet 2 inches. In this month, (April,) the amelioration 
 ' of the temperature became quite sensible. All hands 
 were kept at work, cutting and sawing the i i3 around 
 the vessels, in order to allow them to float oiioe more. 
 With the Rescue, they succeeded, after mucl» labor, in 
 attaining this object ; but around the stern of the Ad- 
 vance, the ice was so thick that our 13 feet saw was too 
 short to pass through it ; her bows and sides, as far aft 
 as the gangway, were liberated. After making some 
 alteration in the Rescue for the better accommodation 
 of her crew, and fires being lighLfd on board of her 
 several days previous, to remove the ice and dampness, 
 which had accumulated during the winter, botli officers 
 and crew were transferred to her on the 24th of April. 
 The stores of this vessel, which had been taken out, 
 were restored, the housing cloth taken off, and the ves- 
 sel made in every respect ready for sea. There was 
 little prospect, however, of our being able to reach the 
 desired element very soon. The nearest water was a 
 narrow lane more than two miles distant. To cut 
 through the ice which intervened, would have been next 
 to impossible. Beyond this lane, from the mast-head, 
 nothing but intermediate floes could be seen. It was 
 thought best to wait with patience, and allow nature to 
 work for us. 
 
 "June 6th, a moderate breeze from S. E. with pleasant 
 ^vcather — thermometer up to 40 at noon, and altogether 
 quite warm and molting day. During the morning a 
 peculiar cracking sound was heard on the floe. I was 
 mclined to impute it to the settling of the snow dnf>.s an 
 
 *.«!:; 
 
WINTKK IN TIIK AU(TIC (XJKAN. 
 
 they were acted upon by the 8un, but in tho atlernoon, 
 about 6 o'clock, tho puzzle was solved very lucidly, and 
 to the exceeding satisfaction of all hands. A crack in 
 tho floo took place between us and tlic Rescue, and in 
 a few minutes thereafter, tho whole immense field in 
 which we had been imbedded for so many montlis, 
 was rent in all directions, leaving not a ^jiece of 100 
 yards in diameter. The rupture was not accompanied 
 with any noise. The Rescue M-as entirely li])erated, 
 the Advance only partially. Tiie ice in whicli her after 
 part was imbeddea, still adhered to her from the main 
 chains aft, kceijing her stern elevated in its nnsightly 
 position. The pack, (as it may now be called,) became 
 quite loose, and but for our pertinacious friend acting 
 as an immense drug upon ns, we might have made 
 some headway in any desired direction. All our efforts 
 were now turned to getting rid of it. Witli saws, axes, 
 and crowbars, tho people M'ont to wt)rk with a right 
 g()od will, and after hard labor tor 48 hours succeeded. 
 The vessel was again afloat, and slie righted. Tiio joy 
 of all hands vented itself spontaneously in tln-eo hearty 
 cheers. The after part of the false keel was gone, be- 
 ing carried away by the ice. The loss of it, however, 
 I was glad to perceive, did not materially afiect tho 
 sailing or working qualities of the vessel. The rudders 
 were shipjjed, and we were once more ready to move, 
 as efficient as on the day wo left New York. 
 
 "Steering to the S. E. and working slowly through tho 
 loose but heavy pack, on the 9th we parted from tho 
 Rescue in a dense fog, she taking a different lead from 
 the one the Advance was purauing." 
 
 i 
 
 jant 
 :her 
 
 '•* 
 
394 PBUQSSM OF ABOTIO DUOOVKBT. 
 
 IdLTttf AoootJim — Obovsd fOB Hon. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Penny, of Aberdeen, states in a letter to 
 the Times, that Oapt. Martin, who, when commanding 
 the whaler Enterprise, in 1845, was the last person to 
 communicate with Sir. J. Franklin, has just mformed 
 him that the Enterprise was alongside the Erebus, in 
 Melville Bay, and Sir John Franklin invited him, 
 (Oapt. Martm,) to dine with him, which the latter de- 
 clined doing, as the wind was fair to go south. Sir 
 John, while conversing with Oapt. Martin, told him 
 •that he had five years' provisions, which he could 
 make last seven, and his people were busily engaged 
 in salting down birds, of which they had several casks 
 ftill already, and twelve men were out shooting more. 
 **To see such determination and foresight," observes 
 Mr. Penny, ** at that early period, is really wonderful, 
 and must give us the greatest hopes.'' Mr. Penny 
 Bays that Oieipt. Martin is a man of fortune, and of the 
 ■triotest inte^ty. 
 
 The followmg is the deposition of Oapt. Martin, just 
 received in the London Times, of Jan. 1, 1852, con- 
 taining the facts above alluded to : 
 
 Bobert Martin, now master and commander of the 
 whaleship Intrepid, of Peterhead, solemnly and sin- 
 cerely declares that on the 22d day of July, 18452when 
 in command of the whale ship Enterprise, of Peter- 
 head, in lat. Y6** 10', long. 66° "W., calm weather, and 
 towing, the Erebus and Terror were in company. These 
 ships were alongside the Enterprise for about fifteen 
 minutes. The declarant conversed with Sir John 
 Franklin, and Mr. Keid, his ice-master. The conver- 
 sation lasted all the time the ships were close. That 
 Sir John, in answer to a question by the declarant if 
 he had a ffood supply of provisions, and how long he 
 expected uiem to last, stated that he had provisions 
 for five years, and if it were necessary he could ''make 
 them spm out seven years ;" and he said farther, that 
 he would lose no opportunity of killing birds, and 
 whatever else was useral that oame in the way, to keep 
 
LAT£irT AOUOUMiV. 
 
 396 
 
 up their Block, and that he had plenty of powder and 
 Bhot for the purpose. That Sir John also stated that 
 lie had already several casks of birds salted, and had 
 tlien two shooting parties out — one from each ship. 
 The birds wore very numerous ; many would fall at a 
 single shot, and the declarant has himself killed forty 
 at a shot with white pease. That the birds are very 
 agreeable food, are m taste and size somewhat like 
 young pigeons, and are called by the sailors " rotges." 
 
 That on tlie 26th or 28th of said month of July, two 
 parties of Sir John's officers, who had been out snoot- 
 ing, dined with the declarant on board the Enterprise. 
 There was a boat with six from each ship. Their con- 
 versation was to the same effect as Sir John's. They 
 spoke of expecting to be absent four or five, or per- 
 haps six years. Tuese officers also said that the snips 
 would winter where they could find a convenient place, 
 and in spring push on as far as possible, and so on 
 year ailer year, as the determination was to pusli on 
 as far as practicable. 
 
 That on the following day, an invitation was broueht 
 to the declarant, verbally, to dine with Sir John, But 
 the wind shifted, and the Enterprise having cut through 
 the ice about a mile and a naif, the declarant was 
 obliged to decline the invitation. That he saw the 
 Erebus and Terror for two days longer; they were 
 still lying at an iceberg, and the Enterprise was mov- 
 ing slowly down the country. That so numerous were 
 the birds mentioned, and so favorable was the weather 
 for shooting them, that a very large number must have 
 been secured during the time the declarant was in 
 eight of the two ships. The Prince of "Wales whaler 
 wjis also within sight during the most of the time. 
 Chat from the state of the wind and weather for a pe- 
 riod of 10 days, during part of which the declarant 
 •vas not in sight of the two ships, the best opportunity 
 was afforded for securing the birds. That the birds 
 described are not to be found at all places on the fish- 
 ing ground during the whaling season, but are met 
 with in vast numbers every season on certain feeding 
 
 m 
 
396 
 
 PitOGBKSa OF AIKTIK! DISCOVEKY. 
 
 V'"^' *, 
 
 banks and places for brooding, and it appeared at the 
 time by the declarant to be a most fortunate circum- 
 stance that the Erebus and Terror had fallen in with 
 so many birds, and that the state of the weather was 
 so favorable for securing large numbers of them. The 
 declarant has himself had a supply of the same de- 
 scription of birds, which kept fresh and good during 
 three months, at Davis' Strait, and the last were as 
 good as the first of them. 
 
 "Which declaration, above written, is now made 
 conscientiously, believing the same to be true. 
 
 EoBEBT Mabtin. 
 
 Declared, December, 29th, 1851, before 
 
 K. Gbath, Provost of Peterhead. 
 
 From this it would appear that it is not impossible, 
 perhaps not improbable, that Sir John Franklin may 
 vet make his appearance, coming down from those ice- 
 Dound regions bringing with him his noble ships and 
 their danng crews, and giving joy to thousands upon 
 thousands who are watching with intense interest the 
 unraveling of the mystery of his absence, and espe- 
 cially bringing joy inexpressible to the heart of that 
 noble lady, with which thousands of hearts throughout 
 the civilized world beat in sympathy. 
 
 .:* 
 
 •.#- 
 
BOOKS AKCBMTLT PUBLISHED BT DKllBY A MILLSB. 
 
 SEWARD'S LIFE OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 
 
 * • We are glad to see a pretty full account of Mr. Adams' Anti-Slavery 
 •flbrts in Congress have been given; for, great as his public services were during a 
 long life, his greatest fame with the present and future generations, will rest upon 
 his ctForts to break down the Slave power. The great men who eulogized Mr. 
 Adams in Congress and el.sewherc, generally passed silently over this part of hia 
 life, as if it was something not very creditable to him, and to be talked about as littlo 
 as possible. Mr. Seward has taken a better view of the subject. We can recom- 
 mend this biography as being a clear and concise history of Mr. Adams' life. * 
 
 * * Lowell Republican, {Free Soil.) 
 
 It is a work well written, prepared evidently with care, conveys an excellent idea 
 of the life and services of that distinguished patriot and statesman. It is well 
 adapted for popular reading, and comes within the means of every citizen. * * 
 
 And possessing, as it does, a fund of historical and biographical information, of iho 
 most interesting description, it will be a desirable book for the iibiary and a welcomo 
 companion to any man who cherishes a respect for the memory of Adams, * , 
 
 * * Boston Journal. 
 
 * * We have read it and are delighted with the good t!i«te and discrimina- 
 tion with which facts and cotemporary events are brought lu' to show forth the 
 noble and manly stand of John Quincy Adams. Next to our r. iiionnl pride, that we 
 have such great and good pien to adorn the pages of our histoi;-, we should glory in 
 having authors like Wm H. Seward, to chronicle their lives u... their doeda. ' 
 
 * • Massachusetts Eagle. 
 
 The association of such names as Adams and Seward, one as the subject of tne 
 biography, and the other as the biographer, must give to this work an interest whica 
 rarely attaches to anything emanating from an American pen. * • • , 
 
 Washington Advocate. 
 
 We would recommend this work to every class of mind — to the vicious, that they 
 may be benefited by the contrast — to the virtuous, that they uny bo incited to aiill 
 higher attainments — to the patriot, that the love of country n:;iy be reuowed in hia 
 bosom — to the Christian, that he may see how to honor God ia exalted positions — 
 to the young, that they may drink from the pure rill of patviotiin, and loaru to 
 cherish and protect their privileges — and lastly to the old, that tlay may yet onco 
 more read the lessons of wisdom, as they distilled from the li;)s of him who was a 
 Nestor among statesmen. — Wisco7isin Chronicle. 
 
 This volume has been now but a few months before the public, during which vm. 
 understand that some 20,000 copies have been circulated. The fact is siiflir.ient to 
 •ihow that the deceased statesman has found a worthy biographer. Dt iijned for 
 popular use, and prepared from the materials existing in public documents and 
 journals, it is a book, nevertheless, that c^innot fail to be read with interest by the 
 scholar as well as the masses. The writer seems imbued with a sincere reverenc« 
 for the great man whose career he. chronicles, and depicts its various eventful 
 incidents with spirit and fidelity. There is no book thai wo now remember, whicfc 
 presents in the same compass so much that is interesting in our history, during tha 
 period of which It treats.— Washington Repubiic 
 
 «^ 
 
BooiM' latciJMfLt p&BwtttH^ vt ttmoii * Mistaft 
 
 SEWARD'S UPE OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 
 
 •■ • We are glad to see a pretty full account of Mr. Adams' Anti-Slavery 
 
 •flbrts In Congress have been given ; for, great as his public s«rvicos were during a 
 long life, his greatest fame with the present and future generations, will rest upon 
 his efforts to break down the Slave power. The great men who eulogized Mr. 
 Adams in Congress and elsewhere, generally passed silently over this part of his 
 life, as if it was something tiot very creditable to him, and to be talked about as little 
 as possible. Mr. Seward has taken a better view of the subject. We can recom- 
 mend this biography as being a clear and concise history of Mr. Adams' life. * 
 
 * * Lowell Republican, {Free Soil.) 
 
 It is a work well written, prepared evidently with care, conveys an excellent idea 
 of the life and services of that distinguished patriot and statesman. It is well 
 adapted for popular reading, and comes within the means of every citizen. * * 
 
 And possessing, as it dues, a fund of historical and biographical information, of tb« 
 most interesting description, it will be a desirable book for the library and a welcome 
 companion to any man who cherishes a respect for th« memory uf Adams. * 
 
 * * Boston Journal. 
 
 * * We have read it and are delighted with the good taste and dlscrimina* 
 tion with which facts and cotemporary events are brought in to show forth tha 
 noble and manly stand of John Quincy Adains. Next to our national pride, that we 
 have such great and good men to adorn the pages of our history, we should glory in 
 having authors like Wm, H. Seward, to chronicle their lives and thoir deeds. * 
 
 . * Massachusetts Eagle. 
 
 The association of such names as Adams and Soward, one as the subject of the 
 biography, and the other as the biographer, must give to this work an interest which 
 rarely attaches to anything emanating from an American pen. * ' • ^^ 
 
 Wc^hington Advocate. 
 
 We would recommend this work to every class of mind — to the vicious, that they 
 may be benefited by the contrast — to the virtuous, that they may be incited to still 
 higher attainments — to the patriot, that the love of country may be renewed in his 
 bosom — to the Christian, that he may see how to honor God in exalted poeitions — 
 to the young, that they may drink from the pure riU of patriotism, and learn to 
 cherish and protect their privileges — and lastly to the old, that they may yet once 
 more read the lessons of wisdom, as they distilled fh>m the lips of him who was a 
 Nester among statesmen.— Wisconsin Chronicle. 
 
 This volume has been now but a few months before the public, during whioh we 
 understand that some 20,000 copies have been circulated. The fact is sufficient to 
 Aow that the deceased statesman has found a worthy biographer. Designed for 
 popular use, and prepared from ihe materials existing in public documents and 
 journals, it is a book, nevertheless, that cannot fail to be read with interest by the 
 scholar as well as the masses. The writer seems imbued with a sincere reverence 
 for the great man whose career he chronicles, and depicts its various eventful 
 incidents with spirit and fidelity. There is no book that we now remember, which 
 (jipesents in the same compass so much that is interesting in our history, during Uw 
 period of whioh it treats.— Waahin^fton B^fubtie. 
 
Mr snnr * muju. 
 
 The American Lady't Sjritem of Cookery, com- 
 pxiaing every yariely of information for ordinary and Holidqr 
 occadons. By Mrs. T. J. Cbowek. 
 
 The *' Amtrtcan System of Cookery " ii a eapiul book of its class, and for whiek 
 wa bespeak the good word of all thnftj housekeepen. It introduces us into a wit* 
 dt;mess of sweets, where no rude surfeit reigns! Tlw almost innumerable variety of 
 good tliingB, clearly and orderly set forth, Is moat apetixinc for the hungry reader, 
 just before dinner. 
 
 Hbre is an American housewife, sensible and thrifty, wlio has laid down directioo* 
 for making all sorts of dishes, baking all kinds of cakea and pies, manufacturing erery 
 TarietT orconfectionery, preaerring, pickling, &c., so plainly that a housekeeper or 
 M week's standing can easily act upon her directions, and yet taken so comprehenaiTa 
 a scope, that the very best and moat skilful will ilnd something new. We taka for 
 granted, that as the latest, it is the best book of iu class. 
 
 The writer of this roluma has preTiousIy published a similar work, on a bbmI 
 Mala—** ETenr Ladjr'a Book"— ofwhieh mora than two hondrorl thousand eopiea ara 
 Mid to hare Mea sold. If this ia not popularity, wa know not what iM,—LUtrary 
 World, 
 
 The **Amatlcan Syatem of Cookery," ia tha titla of a goodly sixed duodecimo, pab* 
 llahed in New York. The authoress of this work haa obuined considerable celebrity, 
 by a work which she entitled *' Eirery Lady's Book," and wa belieTe she will add ta 
 kar dMs r rad sradit bT tha present roluma, which cornea home lo the stanack «f 
 •Taty mao. Tlw recelpta are abundant and practieaL— AbttA Americmt. 
 
 Of all tha tafonna, none ia more loudly called for thaa ooa in Ameriean Cooka^-> 
 that being one in wliich oTorybody is Imerested. That the national health woula ba 
 battar, if^tha national Utclwn were more philosophically and phyorologically man** 
 nd, taara aaema to be no doubt anywhere. Even morala aufier, beyond question, 
 ttroui^ the infloeaca of cruda, ill-selected aliment. Who Imows but the Mexican 
 war mayba traced to an ill-cooied, ill-assorted, contradictory, and irriuting eabinat 
 
 Mnnmr t 
 
 A Lady of Naw York tails ua how lo make a great many nice, wholesome thingn^ 
 and wa beg our ^'eaders not to imagine we speak rashly, or eren theoretically, vrai 
 Uda all-important subject— wa hare tasted, and wa testify without a aisgiTing. •*«• 
 proof of the pudding," etc— Uhton Migaxine. 
 
 lliua our wife Mttles the question. The mme author's " Brery Lady'e Book," elM 
 aaid. might be UMful for some folks, but the real aimon pure, Yankee, Amerieaa 
 Cook Book, waa the thing exactly, Just such a book as she should liaTe made, if aha 
 had cookedf it up herMlf. She nys it ia made on common eense principled ; the mlea 
 are exactly aneh as sensible folks follow in this democratic land, who regard tasta, 
 kaaltli, ana aeonomy. Our wi A «avs ^bat. witii soma Cook Books, one haa to deduat 
 half tlia spice, shortning and au^ar. Oui- book, howerer. m our wife declares, la 
 praetiMbla, and is to ba followed to tha lauar.-~Olm<ml Wa$hirtgtonian Ansa. 
 
 Thia book is compiled by a perMa af praetlMl knowledge of the subject, who, aa 
 ftatad bi the preface, han been for the last eight yean emplofed in collecting infer* 
 nation on the snbjeet of the work, and in reducing to praetiea the receipts obtained. 
 '-Evtning Pott. 
 
 By tha spidBSH of tiw pralhea, and by tha Tary ftnmy apiatle with wAich tiia an* 
 thoresa of this book sanda ua a copy, we cannot doubt tier to be a woman of talait ; 
 and M Mrs. Child has appUad her genina to the maUnf of anch a book, wa can tM* 
 liara OTen a Cooking Book nay ba better for genioa ia tha writer.— ITorm Journal. 
 
 Thisappaara to be tha moat complete aad ntisfaetory eoOMtion of receipta ia wa 
 calinary art. which tha skill and enterpriw of American ladieii ^voted to tha aabjeai^ 
 kaTepradaSfld. fteoalainaalaigaamoBBtof aatteriaaTolaMaef Tarygoodain, 
 aaamanqaLaodwekayMafldaBM,frem tha deeidad taatimonyof thoM who haya 
 iMiad ftaiMrita, 1b iiwniiMniling tt to boaaa-kaapan.— /yvfwMMf OtersAswi. 
 
BOOKS AECENTLT PUBLISHED BT DERBY A MILLEH. 
 
 The Missionary Offering, a memorial of Christ's 
 lig^ Messengers in Heathen Lands, dedicated to Dr. Judson, 
 8 engravings, 12mo., muslin. $1,25. 
 
 We have seen nu book of late which, upon a hasty examination, we could more 
 cheerfully and confidently recommend. The history of the labors of Missionaries 
 In foreign lands has always been one of unsurpassed interest to a great class of every 
 community, by whom such enterprizes are conducted, and in no similar work hava 
 we seen this history more ably and truthfully set forth than in the oie before us.— 
 Bt^lfulo Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 Here ia a volume of about four hundred pages, neatly printed and illustrated, 
 .made up of the most interesting matter, from the pens of the firpt writers. Such a 
 work cannot fail to interest. What a glorious band have cast aside the heart-cling- 
 ing ties of home, country, and friends, and borne the peaceful emblem of Chris- 
 tianity to the darkest climes. Bloody rites have ceased, the funeral flame ia 
 extinguished, the crushing car has ceaoed to roll, and mental and moral darkness 
 has given away before the silent labors of the missionary. The records of such a 
 history cannot but interest, revealing as they do, some of the sublimest features in 
 the character of man — sacrifices and toils and triumphs, before which the brightest 
 achievements of earth dwindle into folly. — Cayuga Chief. 
 
 Tub Missionart Opperino is composed of poetical and prose writings of rare 
 excellence, reminiscences and incidents connected with foreign and home missions, 
 &,c. We consider it a valuable and interesting book, especially to the Christian and 
 philanthropist, and all who look upon the missionary enterprise as an institution, 
 *jnder the guidance of Providence, for the moral regeneration of the world.— CeTtera 
 Gazette. 
 
 Rational Psychology, or the subjective idea and the 
 objective law of aU intelligence: by Laurens P. Hickok, 
 D. D., Professor of Christian Theology in the Theological 
 Seminary, Auburn. 
 
 The few, not the many, will find pleasure end improvement in the study of a 
 treatise like this, discussing with much ability and research, indicative of close and 
 I atient thought, the abstruse science of mind, and reaching principles by a carefu] 
 induction of well arranged and considered facts. The author has favorably intro- 
 duced himself, in this work, to the thinking portion of the religious public, and will 
 calmly await the verdict of the learned world upon this elaborate performanca. II 
 is a bandsomelj printed ootavo of 700 pages.— .Y. Y. Obmntr. 
 
BOOKS REOKim.r PUBLISHED BT DERBY /k MILLER. 
 
 The Odd Fellows' Amulet : or the principles of Odd 
 Fellowship defined ; the objections to the order answered ; 
 and its advantages maintained ; with an address to the pub- 
 lic, the ladies, and the order. By Rev. D. W. Bristol, Pas- 
 tor of the M. E. Church, and P. G. of Osco Lodge, No. 304, 
 at Auburn, N. Y. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Bristol, the author of the above work, is n popular clergyman of tljo 
 Methodist church. He appears to have wiiiien the work not merely for Odd Fellown, 
 but to disabuse the i>ublic mind, if possible, of prejudices I'ornicd against the Order. 
 A spirit and design of apparent sincerity apjiears to pervade the entire work, and tho 
 writer discusses his themes and meets the objections urged against Odd Fellows, with 
 a great deal of candor and respect. No person, we think, can road it, whatever may 
 have been his prejudices hitherto, without having those [irejudices at least, conside. 
 rably softened, if not wholly taken away. The style of the writer is captivating, 
 while the arrangement and clas.^ification of his subjects adds interest to the volume. 
 We have no hesitancy m recommending the Amulet as a book that may be read by 
 tho public — Genesee Etangeliat. 
 
 We have wiled away several hours pleasantly and profitably in its perusal, ar.d can 
 recommend ic as a work deserving of a large circulation. The principle.s of the Or- 
 der are set forth by its author, the Rev. D. W. Bristol, a distinguished Methodist 
 clergyman, in a masterly manner, objections instituted by many to the Order, aro 
 fairly tested, and answered in a mild and eatislactory way. It is a c'lenp and useful 
 work, and we cheerfully recommend it to public favor.— Af/rror of the Times, 
 
 Able and exceedingly interesting articles, that vrn would most cordially commend 
 to the attention of every reader, while we are gratified at being able to bring them 
 under the notice of members of the great Order. The work contains also Addresses 
 by Rev. D. W. Bristol, and is etnbeljished with several fine Steel Engravings. Fully 
 and correctly defining the principles of O. F., it should fill a niche in the library of 
 every Odd Fellow, where it will furnish a mine of valuable nuuier whence he can 
 draw at all limes for the facts illustrative of the great princi|>!e3 of the noble institu- 
 tion of Odd Fellowship.— GoWen Rule. 
 
 It is an excellent work, and worthy of the patronage of the Order. The objections 
 often urged against our insiitution, are most ihormizhly examined, and ably answer- 
 ed. The book is got up in good style, and is o/Iered at a low price.— yAe Ark. 
 
 W« should think that every lover of the Order which this book upholds would 
 adorn his library with it ; an1 every person that is opposed to it should also have 
 one BO that they could see their objections answered. We would say to every lover 
 of the poor and afflicted, buy one and peruse it for yourselves and see what the Odd 
 "ellowfl do for them. Its motto is " Do unto others as ye would have others do unto 
 you."— 7'Ae Bte. 
 
 This is a clear, fbrcible, and well written exposition of the subjects above named ; 
 and a book that every Odd Fellow in the country should bo in possession of. Th« 
 work is well got up, and embellished with several fine engravings appropriate to th» 
 subject of which it treats. It is sold at tlie low price of one dollar, and can be .mailed 
 to any part of the United States.— JJanner o/"r4c t/hion. 
 
 *t 
 
 % 
 
trORKS PUBLISHSD BT DBRBr * MILLER. 
 
 THE LIFE OF LOUIS KOSSUTH, 
 
 , dOTERNOK OP HdNOART; INCLUDINO N0TICE8 OP THE MrN ANB 
 
 Scenes op the Hunqarun Rkvolution : to which is aoobo an 
 Appendix, containing his principal Speechrs, &c. With an 
 Introduction by Horace Grkklet. Br P. C. Headley. Anbnrn 
 Derby &> Mii.lkr. 
 
 "We have read pretty nearly everyililng accessible which has beoi 
 
 pi^lished either ui England or this country, in reference to Kossuth 
 
 •ad'Hungarian affairs, and we are satistled that thie> is the clearest, 
 
 .^^^IJiMil luranged, and most reliable single volunao yet before the public 
 
 ^ "^fAWMe absorbing »nhj^cts."—hoxlon Paper. 
 
 * 
 
 ■^ " This is a work that every lover of freedom should be posMtased 
 .* o£" — Waverley LunUnary. 
 
 (.***• Mr. Headley has glowingly depicted the canses which brought 
 about the Hungarian war of independence, painted in his own gor- 
 geous style tiiebattle-fieldH of that sanguinary strife, and portrayed in 
 the most vivid colors the events which brought about its disastrouB 
 result" — Hampshire Express.' 
 
 "As a historical work this volume in valuable. The Hungarian 
 Revolution — its causes — its progress — its termination — all are explain- 
 ed in detail, and with a vividness of description which brings the iu- 
 cidents in almost life-view before the reader." — Troy Post. 
 
 .%'( ".It is from tlie pen of P. C. Headley, well known by his popular 
 historical and biographical writings, and is given in a style of glowmg 
 earnestness, eloquence and truthfulness, which must commend it to 
 (he taste and judgment of the public." — Boston Transcript. 
 
 " Its worth and popularity are suflSciently indicated by the fact Uiat 
 about fifteen thousand copies have already been disposed of. It k 
 embellished by a most spirited likeness of the great M^ar." — Chmirth 
 Ambassador, 
 
 " This American biography of the Hungarian is succinct, spirited, 
 graphic, and so far as our information extends, correct It is admi* 
 rably prefaced by Horace Qreeley— a preface worth the price of tb« 
 book — and has an appendix containing Kossuth's principal speeohei 
 iM^.in England and America."— .8««t0» CommonwuUtk, 
 
 
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