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xiKS BY D"? KING, M.D.

PUBLISHED.

Price 21.S.
NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY

DOWN

GREAT FISH RIVER

, • IN SEAP' II OF

SIR JOHN ROSS.

'. . 2 Vols. Hvo.

^futlcir, Hcfo IJurliugtou ^ttat.

" The render of the Spectator for 28th May, '80, may recollect
that the popular characteristic of Sir George Back's Narrative
was endurance,

" The pursuits of Dr. King, however, gave him a field of
ohservation more extensive, various, and less easily exhausted,
than the prospects of the country, or the hardships of adventure ;
and of these he has judiciously availed himself, interspersing his
Narrative with popular notices of the characters and habits of the
animals met with during their expedition.

" The inqenuas artes have exerted their influence upon him,
and they have produced a more speculative and philosophical cast
of mind than pertained to his chief, which shews itself in his
descriptions of the customs and condition of the Indian races.
The close of the Journey, too, was made under his direction.
Sir George Back having started for England by a quicker way,
whilst during a part of the Expedition his superior went in
advance, leaving Dr. King to follow with the personnel and
materiel, so that he had opportunities of seeing more of the
manners and characters of the adventurers, and their life while at
labour, than his chief." Spectator.

*' We trust we have said sufRcient to induce onr readers to
consult the work itself, which will richly reward their curiosity.
It is written in a very unaflected style,— clear, varied, and
tasteful. The numerous adventures that befel the isolated
group ; the incidents, ludicrous and depressing, that arrested
their progress ; the strange tribes whose homesteads and hunting-
grounds tliey crossed ; and the various particulars of their daily
toils, privations, and difficulties, are related in a manner that
happily combines the elements of the simple and the picturesque.
We have seldom met with two volumes of a similar nature which
have so strongly impressed us in favour of the talents of the
Author. Both in manner and execution. Dr. King's work is
worthy to take rank amongst the most valuable records of its
kind in our language."— -J//fls.

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" The m'mA is often recalled to Mr. Irving's " Astoria," in
reiuliiiK the two volumes before U8. We must refer onr renders
to his pages for their full satisfaction, and we promise them
before hand much entertainment from his account of the
manners and habits of the various inhabitants of these wild
regions, whom our Author describes with all the zest of a
thoronph-bred naturalist. He has none of Mr. Cooper's effects
of groni)ing and colouring, or Mr. Washington Irving's magic of

style. The merits of his delineations is their simple reality."

Gluhe.

" During apart of the outward-bound Journey, Sir George Bark
was in advance, while Dr. King, with the heavy baggage, brought
up the rear. On the return, rcinfecta, the Captain took the lead,
and returned to England by the shortest route, and in therapidest
manner. The command and the responsibility consequently
devolved on Dr. King. The augmented responsibility of his
situation appears to have been advantageous to him in more
ways tliau one ; it prolonged and facilitafed his oi>portunities of
acquiring information, and to. judge from the result it would
seem to have generated a conviction of his own competence to
undertake and conduct a distinct and separate expedition on his
own excJusive respousibility. The book is a clever and pleasant
work, and notwithstanding the publications of Parry and
Frarklin, it v.ill be read with interest and advantage, and amply

repay the trouble (and even the expense), of perusal."

Murniuij Post.

" Interesting notices of the manners and customs of the
Indians will be found in Dr. King's Narrative, and a superb
<ouch of satire may occur occasionally. The student of Natural
History will find many valuable and curious details, and the
Narrative throughout contains much that is both instnictive and
interesting, evidently tlie work of an intelligent and clear-headed
man." Examiner.

'.U

IITSTOltY OF THE ESQUIMAUX.

|ourn»l ox (i^tlntologitul ^otittg.

MARCH OF DEATH IN SI GILES.

UTtbkal STimts.

" A very ingenious and elaborate Work, by Dr. Kino, in
support of his theory that Cholera and Diarrhoea are distinct
diseases, caused by a gas generated at the homes of the sufterers.
To illustrate these views, the author, acting in concert with the
Board of Guardians of St. Giles" and the Registrar-General, has
made a series of tables by which the gaseous theory of Cholera
^•ould seem to be fully established,"— -Swiu/r/y Tmes.

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CO

THE FKANKLIN EXPEDITION

. FROM

FIRST TO UST.

D? KING, MD.

LONDON.
JOHN CHUEOHILL, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1855.

I 1

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LONDOK :
PBIXTED BY T. BRETTELL, IIUPERT STREET, BAYMARKBT.

W .•

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P R E F A C E.

A LETTER of thanks for a past search by
the Great Fish River for Sir John Eoss,
and an earnest appeal for a future search
by the Great Fish River for Sir John
Franklin, is an introduction due to myself
and to the press. Had the past, as an
earnest of the future, been accepted — had
the appeal in behalf of a tried servant on
the one hand, and of suffering humanity on
the other, been heard. The Franklin Expe-
dition, humanly speaking, would now be
alive, occupied in the great effort against a
powerful enemy.

The Times, 13th October, '35.

" (Advertisement.)

" To the Subscribers to the Land Journey

in search of Sir John Ross.

" It is most gratifying to the committee

PREFACE.

((

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to be enabled to state, that almost without
exception, the most unqualified meed of
approbation seems due to the exertions
of every one concerned. In an especial
manner, however, is this testimony due
to Sir George Back himself, to Dr. King,
his physician, and only accompanying
officer, and to eight brave men — James
McKay, George Sinclair, Peter Taylor*,
John Ross^ Charles Mackenzie, James
Spence, William Malley, and Hugh
Carron — who proceeded with their gallant
officers in a single boat to the Polar Sea.
The dangers, difficulties, and hardships
to which they were thus exposed were
greatly beyond what had been anticipated;
but not, as it proved, beyond their power
to surmount.

" To all concerned, then, the committee
takes the liberty of now tendering its
warmest thanks. These, perhaps, ought
to be first addressed to the subscribers,
without whose prompt and generous

* These three gallant fellows accompanied Mr. T.
Simpson in his memorable journey.
^ Now one of Her Majesty's Yeomen of the Guard.

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PREFACE. y

liberality the scheme must have fallen to
the ground when first proposed. They
are afterwards, however, especially due to
Sir George Back, Dr. King, and those
actually employed in the expedition ; and
they are also respectfully tendered to all
co-operators with it ; in particular to the
governor, deputy-governor, and directors
of the Hudson Bay Company; to the
generous citizens of the United States ;
to his Excellency Lord Aylmer, Governoiy
General of the two Canadas ; and others
who promoted its objects in Montreal

" WILLIAM BOWLES,

•* Chairman.
"21, Regent Street, Oct. 9."

((

The Athenaum, 13th November, '47.

" The silence which has enveloped the
proceedings of Sir John Franklin and his
gallant party of Northern explorers having
extended now beyond all limits consistent
with a confidence in their security, the
anxiety of the Admirdty is awakened in
the^*" behalf; and if a few days more shall
pass without tidings of their whereabout,

*^<i

PREFACE.

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a party will be dispatched to seek them
out, or come upon the traces of their fate.
Coincidently with this renewal of the
fears which have followed these sea ex-
peditions for the solution of the polar
problem comes the intelligence of the
complete success of a land journey, which
has increased the peril of the Franklin
attempt, and heightened the uneasiness
as to its result. As Dr. King has for
years been urging, through our columns
and elsewhere, geographical views which
the progress of discovery has now con-
firmed, — as well as practical opinions on
the best means by which Arctic discovery
was to be pursued, that have been singu-
larly justified by the series of events, —
and as he entertains certain views as to
the direction and methods in wh.jh a
party seeking Sir John Franklin should
now proceed, that have also been promul-
gated in this paper, we feel it only due to
him to point out that his opinions are
entitled at the least to serious attention,
in view of the test which they have already
successfully stood. We have suffered Dr.

PREFACE.

Vll

((

" King from time to time to argue his case
" in our columns without taking any part
" of our own in his argument r against it;
" but it is incumbent on us now to direct
" attention to the confirmation which his
views have already received from events
— and the right which that circumstance
unquestionably gives him to a hearing
wherever the measures best adapted for
the recovery of Sir John Franklin and his
" band of adventurers have to be discussed.
" In the narrative of his journey, pub-
" lished in 1836^ Dr. King states:—' The
' success of the Polar land journeys has
' very satisfactorily shewn that to such a
' service only England will in all proba-
' bility be indebted for the survey of the
' coast now unexplored, and for the know-
' ledge of any passage about Regent Inlet.'
The surveys of Mr. Thomas Simpson and
" Dr. Rae are monuments to the truth of
" this remark. Dr. King did not content
" himself with mere vague or authoritative
" assertion. The last thirty-nine pages of

' King's " Journey to the Arctic Ocean by the Great
Fish River," Vol. ii. p. 303.

a 3

((

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Vlll

PREFACE.

" the second volume of his narrative are
" full of facts in support of his views. In a
" communication on the subject, addressed
" to the Geographical Society in 1836*, he
" remarks: —

'* Having maturely considered the best means to be
adopted for a further survey of the Northern coast of
America, I have come to the following conclusions : —
A party, consisting of an officer and six men, should
proceed in a North-canoe — the smallest vessel in use in
the countr}^ — passing from Montreal in Lower Canada,
by the rivers Hudson and Uttawa, Lakes H iron,
Superior, and Winnipic, to the Athabasca; and then
due North, by a route well known to the Chipewyans,
to a river to the Eastward of Fort Eeliance called the
Fish River. On its banks the party should winter; as,
upon Indian authority, not far from its source a tribu-
tary to the Great Fish River takes its rise, which is said
to disembogue somewhere below the Musk-Ox Rapid,
and is probably Baillie River. Early in the spring the
party should proceed by that stream down the Great
Fish River to its mouth ; and having ascended the inlet
to Cape Hay, coast along until the Isthmus of Boothia
be either met with or proved not to exist. If the land
of North Somerset is found to be continuous ^vith the
land forming Repulse Bay, it may then be advisable to
fit out a sea expedition, to try for a passage about the

* King's " Journey to the Arctic Ocean by the Great
Fish River," vol ii. p. 301.

PREFACE.

•* !

broken land around Melville Island. While, however,
the passage b}" Regent Inlet remains in doubt, I consider
it would be highly impolitic to send out an expedition
on a large and expensive scale."

" Dr. King then proceeds to argue in
" favour of a small rather than a large
" number of persons to compose the ex-
" ploring party. —

" The precedents in favour of a small party will be
found to be many. Sir Alexander M'Kenzie made all
his discoveries in a North-canoe, and Hearne discovered
the mouth of the Coppermine River without even a
single white atte)idant. Park and Lander, who suc-
ceeded when alone, failed and lost their lives when
accompanied by a party ; and Captain Bumes is
acknowledged to have made his journey in the most
judicious manner, by so conducting himself that he in
general made friends of those races who have invariably
been hostile to all strangers. The plan which I have
sketched," continues Dr. King, " was conceived and
matured whilst I was in the Indian country ; and the
most able of my companions are anxious to aid me in
carrying it into execution. The question has been
asked, how I can anticipate success in an undertaking
which has baffled a Franklin and a Back ? I will state
in reply, that if I were to pursue the plan adopted by
these officers — of fixing upon a wintering ground so
situated as to oblige me to drag boat and baggage over
some two hundred miles of ice, to reach that stream
which is to carry me to the scene of discovery, and,

t \

PREFACE.

when there, to embark in a vessel that I knew my
whole force to be incapable of managing — very far from
expecting to achieve more than those ofl&cers have done,
I very much question if I could effect so much.

*' In selecting my wintering ground, I have not only
borne in mind the appalling calamities which befel the
natives at Fort Reliance, occasioned by the presence of
Sir George Back's party, but the long and laborious
duty of conveying boat and baggage to Musk-Ox Rapid.
Neither was it likely I should forget the transport of
the baggage across the Great Slave Lake, and of the
boat over Portage la Loche ; not merely because those
midertakings were conceived and accomplished after
Sir George Back had cou signed the expedition to my
chaise, but because I believe them to have been hitherto
unequalled.

" In the selection of my vessel I have taken care to
provide myself with one that two men are sufficient to
convey over any obstacle that the previous Expeditious
have hitherto had to contend with, — one that is in use
among the natives, and one in which the fur-traders,
from long experience, have found to be most adequate
in traversing unknown ground. It was not only the
vessel in use with Sir Alexander M'Kenzie and
Hearne, but it was in such a vessel Sir John Franklin
surveyed the Copper Mine River, and traced the coast-
line to Point Tumagain; which spot, since more
unwieldy vessels have been used, has not been again
reached, although two expeditions have sailed from
England for that purpose, the one at an expense of
about forty thousand pounds, and the other at seven
thousand."

PREFACE.

" Point Tumagain, our readers know, has
" since been reached, and the land between
" it and the Great Fish River Estuary
" surveyed by a small land party'*

" By the plan I propose, time as well as manual
labour will be saved ; and those obstacles which have
arrested the progress of former expeditions, such as
falls, fissures, mountains and masses of ice, no longer
present insurmountable barriers against aictic research.
It is by avoiding those errors into which former com-
manders have fallen, and by taking advantage of
suggestions dictated by experience, that I hope to eflfect
more than my predecessors, and it is seldom that by
any other course great objects can be achieved."

" The communicator of-Br. King's paper
to the Geographical Society, put the
views of the former, as to the practical
part of the questions in issue, in a few
clear paragraphs."
" The researches of our countrymen have already
greatly reduced the extent of the northern coast of
America respecting which doubt or ignorance exists.
The investigation of this remaining portion may be
undertaken either by sea or by land. When I call to
mind how large a portion of the sea expeditions have been
either unsuccessful, or attended with prodigious loss or
risk — how great an expense they unavoidably incur
compared with the amount of real advantage to be
expected, it does seem well worthy the consideration of

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PREFACE.

the Geographical Society, whether it be right to recom-
mend to the Government the equipment of a fresh
expedition of this kind, until one or more points have
been settled by the more economical as well as the
more promising agency of a land journey.

•* Although a land journey towards the northern
coast of North America may be regarded as less expen-
sive and less dangerous than a sea expedition, and at
the present moment more likely to obtain accessions to
science and commerce, they may greatly vary amongst
themselves in all these respects, according to the mode
in which they may be undertaken. They may, how-
ever, be all comprised in two classes.

" To the first class belong small companies, travel-
ling with the least possible encumbrance, and strictly
adopting the mode of proceeding and the means of
subsistence in use amongst the natives of the country
and the traders who visit them. Individuals uniting
physical ability, both for doing and suffering, necessary
to meet the dangers and fatigues of this mode of
travelling, vdth talents and acquirements necessary to
render their journey availing for the purposes of
science, have already effected much at a very trifling
outlay. Heame and Mackenzie prove the truth of this
assertion.

" The second class consists of those expeditions
which possess a more organised and systematic form,
being composed of a company of men and officers ac-
customed to military or naval service, seldom or never
amounting to a smaller number than two or three
officers and eighteen or twenty men, and consequently

^^'

PREFACE.

Xlll

requiring a considerable amount of baggage For the
conveyance of these men and their stores the small
canoes of the country, which are readily made, repaired,
and transported, are quite inadequate. Boats of larger
dimensions are therefore had recourse to, which are
easily damaged, are with difficulty repaired, and are too
cumbrous to be conveyed across the portages when the
distance is great or the ground uneven. These evils
are not theoretical ; they have been proved by fearful
experience, and have beon the cause of immense
difficulty or failure. Companies of the size now under
consideration, though they form but a small military
troop, are too large to travel with advantage through a
country in which the means of subsistence are very
scanty and still more precarious. The difficulties
which they have to encounter are infinitely increased
when the individuals comprising the company are not
practically acquainted with the mode of travelling
through the district to be crossed, and consequently
cannot be separated from each other without the greatest
danger of fatally losing their way ; on which account
they cannot seek game and other sources of subsistence.
From want of experience they are unable either to bear
the burdens or travel the distance which a Canadian or
an Indian would disregard Time, the most important
element in northern expeditions, is inevitably lost, and
neither the energy nor the genius of the commanding
officer can retrieve the error when the season is
advanced upon them.

'• The expedition of which Dr. King has sketched
the accompanying outline — for which he has already

^ii

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4 ■ »"h

XIV

PREFACE.

made many necessary preparations, and in which an
adequate number of his former companions are anxious
to accompany him — falls under the first or smHll class
of land joumies to which I have alluded. The expense
which it would probably incur is small, compared with
that of any expedition of the second class ; — so small
indeed, that its adequacy has been called in question.
It must, however, be recollected that the expedition
has to pass through a country in which money is of no
avail ; that, with the exception of articles to be used in
barter with the Indians, the skill and experience of the
leader, and the strength and prowess of his companions,
are the only availing resources. In such a journey the
experience and ability of the leader is the desideratum
of the first importance ; and it is scarcely to be
measured or represented by money. This desideratum.
Dr. King, the companion of Sir George Back — the
joint, and, for a considerable time, the sole conductor
of his company — is not only ready to offer, but he is
also generously willing to bear a considerable part of
the pecuniary expense."

" Dr. King's paper, we are told, was not
acknowledged either to himself or to its
communicator ; nor was it read before
the Geographical Society, nor published
in its journal — though communications
on the same subject, and at the same
time, were both read and published from
Sir J. Ross, Sir J. Franklin, Sir J.

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Barrow, Sir J. Richardson, and Sir F.
Beaufort*. Why the Geographical Society
should have thus treated Dr. King, we
know not ; but we believe it is a fact
that on the return of the expedition in
search of Sir J. Ross, Dr. King differed
materially from Sir George Back in
regard to the survey \\ lich that gallant
officer had made. He maintained that
Cape Hay was not, as Sir George Back
had drawn it, the Northern extreme of
the Western boundary of the Great Fish
River Estuary® — that the Polar Sea to
the North of Lake Garry formed a great
bay' — and that North Somerset was a
Peninsula. All these opinions have now
been established as truths. The existence
of the Great Bay North of Lake Garry,
and the continuity of the land North of
Cape Hay, were proved by Mr. Thomas

• " Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,"
vol. vi.

• King's " Journey to the Arctic Ocean by the Great
" Fish River," vol. ii. p. 26.

' Idem, p. 77.

'• it*''' Vi

XVI

PREFACE.

(6
ii

((
((

Simpson in 1830* — and the Peninsularity
of North Somersr' is now at length
determined by Dr. Iv .
" The verification of these important
features entitles Dr. King, as we have
said, to a high position as a scientific
geographer. For instance ; — the ex-
istence of such a coast as encloses the
Great Bay much facilitated the progress
of Mr. Thomas Simpson ; and it was
' the probability of its existence,' to use
Dr. King's own words, ' which induced
' him to be so sanguine of success as to
' volunteer to the Secretary of State for
' the Colonies for the time being, year
' after year, to conduct such an expedition
' as Mr. Thomas Simpson undertook and
' successfully carried out ; for if several
' jutting points of land had occupied the
* space of that bay, not one season, but
' several seasons, would have been re-
' quired for its survey.' The discovery
of land North of Cape Hay was even

liiiii

® Despatch of Mr. Simpson in the Athenauniy
No. 652.

.<;

PREFACE.

XVU

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more important; for it was strong evi-
dence, in support of the Esquimaux
Chart, of North Somerset being a Pen-
insula. Dr. King remarks in 1836" —
' From Cape Hay, the land, blue in the
' distance, trended North - North - East,
' where it dipped the horizon ; but a
' little space, however, intervened to a
' land gradually rising into boldness,
' following a North- Westerly course, the
' extremes of which were named Points

* Ross and Booth. My impression was
' that the sea formed a deep bay in that

* direction.' By Dr. Kae's despatch, this is
proved to be true to the very letter. It
was his own observations, coupled with
the fact that no current passed through
the Fury and Hecla Strait, that led Dr.
King to put the utmost confidence in
the Esquimaux Chart as published by
Sir John Ross. The Hydrographer to
the Admiralty, Sir Francis Beaufort,
flung aside the Esquimaux Chart and
Dr. King's observations — and erased the
dotted lines which made North Somerset

• King's " Arctic Ocean," vol. ii. p. 26.

^;^

.*:

XVlll

PREFACE.

l!"l

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a Peninsula*®. Dr. King, in a paper read
before the British Association at York,
and published in the ' London, Edin-
' burgh, and Dublin Philosophical Journal
' of Science,' for December 1844, says :—
' Considerable importance has been at-
' tached to the land of North Somerset,
' from a belief that it is an island ; which,

* if proved, would at once solve the grand
' problem of three centuries — the dis-
' covery of the North-West passage. This
' is evidently an error ; for if insular, its
' separation can be but of trilling extent
' — otherwise there would be a strong

* current setting through the Fury and
' Hecla Strait ; whereas, according to Sir
' Edward Parry, there is no current —
' while the absence of a current through
' that Strait is a powerful argument in
' favour of its being a Peninsula.*

" Further, in a letter addressed to Sir
John Barrow, as Secretary to the Ad-
miralty, dated Jan. 8, 1845", Dr. King
says : —

^° See Admiralty Chart of Baffin Bay.
" See Athenceum, No. 898.

FBEFACE.

XIX

•* You implicitly believe North Somerset to be au
island, and the Fury and Heclu Strait to be the Atlantic
outlet of the Polar Sea". Where are the facts? Sir
Edward Parry, who discovered the Fury and llecla Strait,
and it has not been visited since his time, has distinctly
Htated that there is no current in the Fury and Hecia
Strait. Sir John Ross has published an FiS(iuimaux
Chart of North Somerset, wherein it is shown to be u
Peninsula. That, you will say, rests upon Indian
information. It does, and so did the existence of tho
Polar Sea, the Fury and Hecla Strait, the Isthmus of
Boothia, and Melville Peninsula. And who doubts tho
accuracy of these Pclar fishermen in these respects '.'
On the contrary, their geographical knowledge is the
admiration of the world. Are you then justified in
doubting them in this solitary instance ? The same
woman — women are the geographers at the Pole —
who figured that extraordinary Isthmus, the Isthmus
of Boothia, figured that land over which you are
attempting to throw a doubt. When I contended for
this poi'it in 1836, you referred to Sir George Backs
decided opinion^' of the termination of the Eastern
boundary of the Great Fish River Estuary at Cape Hay
— in which belief the gallant commander, to do honour
to the Earl of Ripon, the chief promoter of the ex-
pedition, named an island, lying off the Cape, Ripon
Island. But Cape Hay has now lost its importance,
and Ripon Island is not in existence ; Cape Britannia

Geographical Society's Journal, vol. vi. p. 35.
^* Back's Narrative, p. 408.

b 3

* *..

PREFACE.

occupies the place of Ripon Island, and you are thus
informed by that great traveller, Simpson, whose death
all deplore, that I was right, and that Sir George Back
was wrong."

" Ijastly, in a letter to Earl Grey, as
lately as the 10th of June last^*, Dr. King
states, — ' North Somerset is a Peninsula
' forming the North-Eastem comer of
' America, the Western shore of Regent
' Inlet, and the Eastern shore of the Great
'Fish River.'

" We have thought it right, we repeat,
in justice to Dr. King, that these facts
should be known. They cannot but give
weight to the opinions which he has
explained to Earl Grey as to the probable
position of Sir John Franklin's Expe-
dition and the best means of rescuing it."

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The Times, 14th June, '47.
" We understand that Dr. King, the

" medical officer, and, for a considerable
period, the commanding officer of the
land journey in search of Sir John Ross,

" has addressed a letter to Earl Grey,

" See Athanaum, ante, p. 621.

il'lilii

i^^li

PREFACE.

SXl

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" volunteering his services in search of Sir
*' John Franklin. Dr. King maintains
" that, to save The Franklin Expedition, it
" would be futile to attempt to convey
" provisions overland to him. He proposes,
" therefore, to the Government to send out
one or more ships laden with provisions,
next Spring, to the Western Land of
" North Somerset, where he maintains, for
" several reasons. Sir John Franklin will
" be found, and, at the same time, to call
upon the Hudson Bay Company to
store up provisions in their trading houses
" on the Mackenzie Kiver and the Great
" Slave Lake. He then proposes, in
company with any officer the Govern-
ment may appoint, to be the messenger
" of such news to Sir John Franklin, and,
" at the same time, to take with him Indian
" guides for the conveyance of the veteran
" officer and his party, either to the pro-
" vision stores on the Mackenzie River or
" the Great Slave Lake, or to the provision
" vessels at the Western Land of North
Somerset as may be most desirable. He
maintains that he is the only person who

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PREFACE.

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has all the requisites for such a journey,
— ^youth, health, great physical strength,
and an intimate acquaintance with the
country and the Indians. He has placed
a heavy responsibility on Earl Grey, for
he does not hesitate to state it is the
only plan which can afford that relief to
Sir John Franklin which he has a right
to expect from the Government. Sir
John Franklin, he asserts, should not
have sailed in face of the facts he laid
before the late Government ; for, to
use his own words, ' it was altogether
' impracticable, as the expedition would

* have to take the ice, as the pushing
' through an ice-blocked sea is termed,
' in utter ignorance of the extent of its
' dangers, and certainly with no better
' prospect before it than that which befel
' Sir John Boss, whose escape from a
' perilous position of four years' duration
' was admitted by all to have been almost
' miraculous. As it now stands, there-
' fore, it is imperative on the Government
' to use every means to save the lost party

* from the death of starvation.' "

PREFACE.

XXIU

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The Sunday Times copied the preceding
article.

The Pictorial Times , 4th December, '47.

" We take considerable interest in the
search for Sir John Franklin, but, like
many others, turn with disgust from its
discussion, from the gross unfairness with
which the claims of Dr. King to be re-
cognised as the most correct authority
upon the geography of the Arctic Regions,
and the best qualified to conduct any
expedition in search of the mi? ^ing ad-
venturers, are met with by the authorities
in whose hands are placed the arrange-
ments for pursuing the contemplated
search."

The Nautical Standard , 12th June, '47.

" The whole of Dr. King's letter to Earl
Grey so abounds in tersely stated facts,

" and these facts are of a nature so im-
portant to the recovery of Sir John
Franklin, while the principles laid down
are so essential to the prosecution of all

" further Arctic discovery, that we feel

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XXIV '

PREFACE.

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ourselves called upon to state our con-
viction that Dr. King's plans deserve the
immediate attention of Government. They
are put forth by a gentleman well known
in the annals of arctic discovery, highly
respected in his profession, and most
deservedly esteemed by scientific societies,
to whose interest he is devoted.
" Sir John Franklin and his party will
have entered upon their third year before
succour can penetrate amid the wastes of
ice in which, in all probability, they are
embedded, to guide them along the
pampas of a frozen ocean, and restore
them to earth. Sir John Richardson has
proposed a plan which has been accepted
by the Admiralty. We ask, is England
to be content that our countrymen should
only be sought by a heavy arctic caravan-
sary under the conduct of an officer
already in the wintry region of life?
whose vigour of frame has departed,
though not the vigour of that mind which
won for him a justly high reputation ?
" No ! let her Majesty's ministers, with-
out disturbing the expedition of which

PREFACE.

XXV

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Sir John Richardson, strong in noble
devotion, is to have the command, by the
mere expenditure of some half-score
hundreds of pounds, every month v isted
on some fruitless experiment in our dock-
yards, send forth an auxiliary party under
charge of Dr. King, acting upon the plan
he now proposes. Let them send forth
this little band of venturous voyageurs^
with Dr. King at their head, to shout
the glad halloo of coming help along
the desert plains, and amid the mountain
bergs of the ice-bound world of waters.
Thus let us prove that the lives of our
enterprising countrymen are more dear
to us than even clique and party-preju-
dice and jobbing, dear as these are
to the hearts of Englishmen, — a fact
demonstrated in every act of public life,
wherever we have influence, ' from pole
' to pole.' "

The Medical Times, 22nd December, '49.

" On the 10th of June, *47, a member of
" the medical profession. Dr. King, thus
" addresses Earl Grey: — 'My Lord, one

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XXVI

PREFACE.

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' hundred and thirty-eight men are at
' this moment in imminent danger of
' perishing by famine. * Who is Dr.
King ? from whence proceeded the voice
of warning which thus foreshadowed the '
two years and a half of most painful
suspense which have passed ? — Dr. King,
in 1833, volunteered his services to ac-
company Sir George Back, in a land
journey, in search of the two Rosses — the
uncle and nephew — who had made a
voyage in search of the North-west
Passage, and for the safety of whom ap-
prehensions were entertained. Of the
energy of character, boldness and pru-
dence displayed by Dr. King, there never
has been but one, and that a most fa-
vourable opinion ; further, there are many
like ourselves who believe that quite as
much of the guidance, safety, and general
welfare of that expedition was due to the
Physician as to the Commander. Dr.
King is thus spoken of by Sir John
Barrow, when alluding to the researches
in natural history as some of the fruits of
the expedition : — * It is impossible not ta

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XXVll

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' bestow the highest degree of praise on
' Dr. King, who with great exertion and
' diligence in collecting, and careful at-

* tention in preserving them, must have
' undergone much labour and constant
' anxiety.' Sir John Richardson passes
the following encomium : — ' These speci-
' mens were all prepared by Dr. King,
' who deserves the thanks of zoologists

* for devoting so much time and labour
' to the promotion of science.' Sir John
Ross thus honourably alludes to Dr. King :
— ' I must do justice to the humane and
' praiseworthy intentions of Dr. King,
' and in the grateful remembrance of his
' noble conduct in volunteering to effect
' my rescue, the proposition which he
' has now made to Earl Grey is only what
' I might have expected. There is cer-
' tainly no person in every respect so
' eminently qualified to conduct that ser-
' vice as this enterprising individual.' A
contemporary (The Athenceum) thus
writes : — ' It is incumbent on us to direct
' attention to the confirmation which

' Dr. King's views have already received,
' and the right which that circumstance

€

'V.

III

* 'ft. 4

'.- #"

xxviii

((

PREFACE.

(( 4

' unquestionably gives him to a hearing,

wherever the measures best adapted for

' the recovery of Sir John Franklin and

" ' his band of adventurers have to be dis-

" * cussedl'

" Two years and a half have now passed
since Dr. King's warning, ami no one
knows whether The Franklin Expedition
has been starved, or wrecked, or what

*' has. become of them. To the truth of
their danger, Dr. King was a witness, as
he was to the fact of the> geographical
mistakes and useless purposes of pre-
ceding Polar Sea Expeditions.
" It was stated " (Athenaeum^ 24th Nov.

%9,) "- that the Council of the Koyal
Society had memorialised the Admiralty
as to the expediency of summoning all

" the Arctic officers tO' its Councils, with

« the view of learning from them the best

" course to be pursued m resuming the
interrupted search for Sir John Franklin.
May wi^ urge not now the justice, but
the expediency of its not having forgotten
Dr. King amongst the number of those
consulted."

((

«(

(■(

PREFACE.

XXIX

I proposed to the Government in 1836 to
descend the Great Fish River to complete
the survey of the unexplored coast of North
America, to do by a land journey that which
Sir John Franklin was dispatched to do by
a sea expedition, a plan subsequently earned
out by a private expedition, in command of
that distinguished traveller, Mr. Thomas
Simpson. The following testimony is, there-
fore, apropos for the search for Sir John
Franklin : —

Spectator, 19th November, '3G.

" That Dr. King's plan is bold will be
readily admitted ; but it does not follow
that it is rash. With care and prudence,
dangers from man are not to be ap-
prehended ; numbers have no power over
the rigour of the climate; and if the
gross quantity of food and other neces-
saries that can be carried is less, so is
the number amongst which they are to
be divided. Hearne made his discoveries
by plunging unattended amongst the
Indians; Mackenzie placed himself and
his few followers in a canoe, such as
Dr. King propose 3 to use ; and the early

V. it

'111

'■ i^'

i- '.at'l

XXX

PREFACE.

! I III

m%in

navigators, whose exploration later ex-
peditions have sailed to confirm, or fall
short of, were badly victualled, in com-
parative cockle shells. For in these, as
in other affairs, the material means and
appliances are of trivial consequence
compared with the qualifications of the
men who are to apply them."

Examiner, 20th November, '36.
*' Dr. King is likely to realise an in-
tention he has formed of resuming the
research along the Northern coast of
North America. We think him more
than justified in some of his most hopeful
and sanguine expectations, — and we wish
him every possible success."

Morning Post, 23rd December, '36,
" We sincerely hope that Dr. King may
be enabled to prosecute his hyperborean
researches after his own economical and
adventurous fashion. There can be no
doubt of the zeal and capability of
Dr. King, — the past is a guarantee for
the future."

Globe, 20th November, '36.
" We wish the author every success in

PREFACE.

XXXI

i«^

((

" effecting his object of extending the coast
" line of North America; for which it is
" evident he possesses the requisite spirit
" of enterprise and resource."

Atlas, 20th November, ';^6.
" Dr. King's plan present? evident ad-
" vantages over all those that have been
previously attempted, not only in the
small amount of expenditure it will
entail, but in the superior practicability
of its operations. We hope he will be
able to carry out a plan which seems so
likely to eventuate in success."

Naval and Military Gazette, 19th February, '30.

" We have minutely inspected Dr. King's
proposal, and find that he accompanied
Sir George Back down the Great Fish
" River, and, moreover, being of the medi-
cal profession, and well acquainted with
the manners of the Canadian VoyagerSj
and the means of propitiating the native
" Indians, he appears well qualified to
make the attempt with every prospect of
" success. We have the more confidence
*' that he will succeed from the knowledge
** that five of his companions in the last

((

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xxxu

PREFACE.

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expedition have volunteered to accompany

him."

Sun, 15th Febraary, '36.
" We have very minutely examined and
cross-examined all the circumstances con-
nected with Dr. King, and we have
conscientiously come to the conclusion
that he has established the very best
claims to success, so far as success is
attainable by manly daring, determined
enterprise, and absolute disregard of per-
sonal consequences. Dr. King is a gen-
tleman who unites in his own person
some of the best essentials for an under-
taking of this adventurous nature; he
possesses youth, health, medical and
scientific knowledge, experience of the
country and its inhabitants, a conciliatory
disposition, and, above all, a burning zeal
to have his name enrolled among those
who have already signalised themselves in
exploring the stormy regions of the North."

After all, the best testimony that can be
adduced is that which comus from my com-
panions in adventure down the Great Fish
River in search of Sir J. Ross. It is

PBEFACE.

XXXIU

true that Roderick McLeod, Charles Ross,
and Peter Taylor are now numbered with
the dead, but one of the most talented and
public spirited proprietors and editors of the
Press can vouch for the testimony ; and I
have that gentleman's permission to publish
it.

York Factory, November 1th, 1836.

My dear Kino, — Here I am once again
in the solitudes of the " Far West," cheer-
fully taking up the pen to write to you
according to promise. London life is over !
Where now are the snug parties — the
theatres — your reflection — and the rest ?
All gone — sunk into endless night. Such are
the strange vicissitudes of this fitful world.

When I parted with you at London
Bridge I little anticipated the heavy forfeit
I was about to pay for a winter in London.
The place of my destination is Cumberland
House, an appointment with which I have
every reason to be pleased. My family have
already preceded me hither, and to join them
I'll have to travel the whole distance on
snow shoes, which I may add to the other
evils resulting from my journey to London.

Great changes have happened here since

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XXXIV

PREFACE.

you left. That incomprehensible disease",
of which you heard so much while here,
bids fair to make the place untenable. It
returned last spring with redoubled violence.
All your friends in the interior are just as
you left them.

Now, my dear King, I long to learn how
" affairs in general" have prospered with
you — whether you still fondly cherish your
Arctic journey — whether subscriptions^® are
fast filling up — and whether everything is
cut and dry for a start. There are many
here who would rejoice to see you among
them again and again. There is a report
that the Hudson Bay Company intend to
prosecute it next year^^ Peter Taylor is at
Lar la Pluie, and fully expects you. Both
he. as well as your other companions in
adventure, are high in your praise, while
Sir George Back is the theme of their aversion
and contempt.

As no ships return from the country this
•season, this letter will reach you via New

^^ Influenza.

^° I was endeavouring to raise, "by public subscriptioii,

£.1000. R. K.

^ Mr. T, Siiupson's Jauruey to tiw Polar Sea.

PREFACE.

XXXV

York, and, I fear, will cost a heavy postage,

without affording any adequate return.

But I have fulfilled your wish. Have you

heard anything of Heron, or Stuart*®, and

what is doing in the political world]

Write me all this, and in return you shall

have from me all you want, from a scull

down to a periwinkle ! I have hardly room

to say that I always am, my dear King,

yours most truly,

CHAS. ROSS.

To Dr. King, M.D.

Cheat Slave Lake, July 2, 1836.

My dear King, — Both your letters of
last September came duly to hand, and I
was extremely happy to learn of your
welfare. May you long enjoy that blessing
is my sincere wish.

Your determination to accomplish the
discovery of the North-AVest Passage in-
spires me with the hope of seeing you the
current season, and if your plans admit of
your coming this length to pass the ensning
winter, it will be to me most agreeable.
Even if the upper establishment" should be

" The discoverer of Fraser's River.
" Athabasca Lake.

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XXXVl

PREFACE.

your residence, some very calamitous event
must intervene to prevent me from going
to see you.

It may, perhaps, be in favour of your
enterprise, the late intimacy that has taken
place between the Chipewyan and Esqui-
maux tribes, in the course of the last
summer, on the Thlew-ee^. Amongst the
latter there were many inhabitants of the
Thlew-ee-cho**; but the majority were those
that frequent Churchill annually, to prove
which they produced the articles they
obtained from th« Hudson Bay Company
in the way of trade, and readily ex-
changed the same with their guests, by
way of cementing their friendship. There
can be no doubt of a successful issue to
your undertaking, of which I feel so con-
fident that I hail with pleasure the moment
that will bring you once more among us,
as I am equally certain that every attention
will be directed to promote your views, and
be assured none shall more willingly con-
tribute thereto than your humble servant.

I have not succeeded in obtaining the
skeleton of a moose-deer, but I have bright
* Fish River. " Great Fish River.

PREFACE.

XXXVll

hopes of getting it, as well as a skeleton of
a musk ox, by the next spring; and if
you do not make yo-ur appearance, I shall
endeavour to forward them to England to
your address.

I am much obliged to you for your kind
wishes to myself and family ; they are, thank
God, in the enjoyment of health, and unite
their wishes to mine for your welfare and
prosperity.

Believe me, my dear King,

Your sincere friend,

ALEX. R. M'LEOD.

To Dr. King, M.D.

Norway House, ]2<7t Angust, 1836.

Dear Sir, — I was very happy to receive
your letter last spring, when I arrived at
Norway House, always expecting to see
you here again. I was here for about a
month and a half, looking earnestly for
your arrival. I was at last obliged to join
with the expedition again*^, and I am now
going to Red River, where I shall remain
until the first ice, and then travel to
Athabasca to join with the rest. M*Kay
and Sinclair have joined it. Of the birds

^ Mr. T. Simpson's "* Journey to the Polar Sea."

• if

.v<

M-A

XXXVlll

PREFACE.

I li ]';li;'!jj 'i

and insects you requested me to preserve
for you, I have got as many as I could.

Dear Sir, I should have been very happy
to hav<^ seen you here, and joined with you
with all my heart, but since it cannot be, I
therefore must leave you, with my best
wishes for your temporal and eternal welfare.

I remain.
Your sincere friend and humble Servant,

PETER TAYLOR.

To Dr King, M.D.

Athabasca Fort, 'Z^ih May, 1837.

Dear Sir, — I was very sorry to hear that
you could not get into the country last
spring, for I was at Norway House waiting
till you should be there; and when I saw
you were not coming, I was obliged to enter
into the service of the expedition. But I
was most sorry when I received your last
letter^ that you sent by the last ship —
though I hope I shall have the pleasure of
seeing you in the North if you do come.

Your ever true friend,

PETER TAYLOR.

To Dr. King, M.D.

^ Informing him of Sir George Back's ill-starred voyage
in the " Terror," in lieu of my Polar Land journey.

► k '■

THE FEANKLIN EXPEDITION.

12th Dec. '44, the Board of Admiralty,
resolved upon another expedition by sea
in search of the North-West Passage, and
appointed to the command Sir John Franklin,
then fifty-eight years of age.

The Erebus and Terror, ships of 378 and
326 tons, were selected by the Admiralty
for this service, having eamea a reputation
in the Antarctic as well as Arctic Regions
by no means creditable to them, in com-
mand of Sir James Ross and Sir George
Back.

The instructions to Sir John Franklin,
signed on behalf of the Admiralty, Had-
dington ; G. Cockbum ; W. H. Gage ;
5th May, '45, comprise 316 lines divided
into 23 paragraphs; but all we have to
deal with runs thus : —

" Lancaster Sound and its continuation

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

through Barrow Strait, having been
four times navigated by Sir Edward
Parry, and since by whaling ships, wiU
probably be found without any obstacles
from ice or islands, and Sir Edward Parry
having also proceeded from the latter in
a straight course to Melville Island, it
is hoped that the remaining portion of
the passage, about 900 miles, to Behring
Strait, may also be found equally free
from obstruction; and in proceeding to
the Westward, therefore, you will not
stop to examine any openings either to
the Northward or Southward in that
Strait, but continue to push to the West-
ward without loss of time in the latitude
of about 74J°, till you have reached the
longitude of that portion of land on
which Cape Walker is situated. From
that point we desire that every effort
be used to endeavour to penetrate to the
Southward and Westward in a course
as direct towards Behring Strait, as the
position and extent of the ice, or the
existence of land, may admit. But
should your progress be arrested by ice

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FROM FIRST TO LAST. a

" of a permanent appearance, and that
when passing the mouth of the Strait,
" between Devon and Comwallis Islands,
you had observed that it was open and
clear of ice, we desire that you will duly
consider whether that channel might not
offer a more practicable outlet from the
Archipelago and a more ready access to
the open sea."
Fully satisfied that Sir John Franklin was
destined to lead a " forlorn hope," I ad-
dressed Lord Stanley, now Lord Derby,
then Secretary of State for the Colonies, in
these terms : —

" 17, Savile Row, ^Oth February, 1845.

" My Lord, — As it is determined to
prosecute the discovery of the North-west
Passage by sea from East to West, I can
fairly approach your Lordship to propose
^or adoption the following plan for a land
journey : —

" I propose that a party of two officers,
one of the medical profession, a boat
carpenter, and thirteen men fully equip-
ped for the service, should leave Montreal

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6 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

in Canada, sufficiently early to reach the
Athabasca Lake in July. Here half the
baggage should be left, and the boat
carpenter and two men should remain, in
order to build a boat 28 feet long — an
occupation of three weeks. The ex-
plorers should then proceed to the head
waters of the Fish River to fix upon an
eligible position to winter. The route to
the Fish River from the Athabasca Lake
is well known to the Indians and fur
traders, and is minutely described in
' King's Journey to the Arctic Ocean
*by the Great Fish River.' The
winter establishment fixed, one officer
and five men, with an Indian guide,
should return to the Athabasca Lake ;
and having despatched the boat carpenter
with the Indian guide and the two men
to the Fish River party, there to build a
second boat, proceed in the newly-built
boat via the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers
to the Great Bear Lake, the wintering
post of two of the overland journeys.
The parties — which, for convenience, it
will be as well to call the eastern and

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western party — having securely housed
themselves, should at once adapt their
means to their ends in getting through
the winter and providing for the future.
To collect and hoard provisions, and to
pave the way to the Polar Sea, so as to
be on its shores as early as the navigation
will permit, and to observe all and every-
thing in the vast field before them, are
the main features of an Arctic winter
with a land party. The western party
will be further occupied in transporting
— as the traveller Simpson — their boat
to the Coppermine River, and the eastern
party their boat to the Great Fish River.
As soon as these rivers are open the
Expedition must be in progress ; the one
detachment for Cape Britannia or Ripon
Island, as it was once called, and the
other for Victoria Land, — the one to
ascertain the connection of the mainland
with that of North Somerset or of
Melville Peninsula, and if the fonder,
the character of its western land ; and
the other to trace Victoria Land westerly,
with the view of testing its value re-

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latively to the North-west Passage. To
enter further into detail is unneceigsary
until the service is determined upon ; but
in order that my ability to supply the
minutest detail may not be questioned, I
take leave to state that I led the mission
in search of Sir J ohn Ross not only into
but out of the Polar Regions.
" It cannot be questioned that the
knowledge of such a journey as I propose
being in progress from East to West,
under a determined leader, would mainly
assist in raising that moral courage
which is requisite in pushing an adven-
turous way through an unknown sea. In
two instances, journeys by land have been
set in motion to aid expeditions by sea.
As it now stands, Sir John Franklin
will have to ' take the ice ' — as the push-
ing through an ice-blocked sea is termed
in utter ignorance of the extent of his
labours; and, in case of difficulty, with
certainly no better prospect before him
than that which befel Sir John Ross,
whose escape from a perilous position of
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have been almost miraculous. I have
contended against the present attempt by
sea from an honest conviction of its
impracticability in the present state of
our knowledge of Arctic lands; and,
except the journey which I propose is
undertaken, it is no difficult matter to
foresee that the grand problem will
actually be in abeyance. My position
now is very different to that of 1836.
I was then unknown ; and from the sim-
plicity and economy of my views con-
sidered a visionary. Nine years have
altered the state of things. The views
put forward by me in 1836 in favour of a
land journey have been verified ; the
Sea Expedition in the Terror has failed ;
and the little band of adventurers,
led by the most successful of the Polar
travellers, the intrepid Simpson, — after
my own economical fashion, — have aston-
ished the most sanguine geographers of
the day. Well pleased should 1 have
been if that intelligent traveller had
lived to complete his task, so ably
begun; and then he who is now ad-

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dressing your Lordship would not have
intruded himself upon your notice. It
cannot be denied that I was mainly
instrumental in directing the spirit of
enterprise again to the North, at a
period when Sir John Koss and Sir
George Back were fresh before the
Government — and in face of their
testimony ' that there were fewer temp-
' tations than ever for making any fresh

* attempts at solving the great geo-
' graphical problem of three centuries : '
and my restless activity on this subject
continued un'il the ' ill-starred voyage in
' the Terror/ in command of Sir George
Back, and the successful land journey
in command of Mr. Simpson, were deter-
mined upon. My last effort in regard to
the Expedition in the Terror closed with
the words: — * That those who were
' sanguine as to the success of that enter-
' prise would be grievously mistaken ;
' and should that insane portion of the
' instructions, the crossing the isthmus
' dividing the waters of Wager Bay from

* Regent Inlet, be attempted, the most

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

* disastrous results might be expected.'
How far I was correct the Government
has sad proof. Although I do not cherish
the most distant idea of again having an
opportunity of pleading in favour of a
Land Journey, under my own charge, —
seeing that I have pleaded nine years in
vain, — I am as alive as ever to the pro-
gress of arctic discovery ; and I do hope
that your Lordship will entertain the
plan here submitted. Your Lordship
will have no difficulty in finding volunteers
for such a service ; but ' i order to meet
any difficulty of this nature, I am ready
to volunteer the whole command, or part
of the command with any officer your
Lordship may appoint, provided that he
is of my own age and in possession of the
same amount of physical capability. I
have the honour to be, &c.

" KICHARD KING.

" To The Right Honourable Lord Stanley."

Sir John Franklin was last heard of on
the 26th of July of the year of his depar-

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tare in latitude 74* and longitude 66° of
Baffin Bay. On the 10th June, '47, there-
fore, I thus addressed Earl Grey, who filled
the post of Secretary of State for the
Colonies in ^he place of Lord Stanley : —

17, Savile Bow, lOth June, 1847.

My Lord, — One hundred and thirty-eight
men are at this moment in imminent danger
of perishir g from famine. S^t John Frank-
lin's Expedition to the North Pole in 1845,
as far as we know, has never been heard of
from the moment it sailed. An attempt to
save our countrymen, if not by the all-
powerful efforts of Government, by the ever-
watchful British public will be made. The
exploring party were well aware of this
when they started ; fo; they knew that Sir
John Eoss was not allowed to die the death
of famine, nor Colonel Conolly and Captain
Stoddart that of the sword, without an effort
being made for their relief. I trust, my
Lord, the British Government are now frilly
aware of the wishes of the public in regard
to the lives of their men of travel and of
war. If the course adopted since Queen

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Elizabeth's time, in regard to Polar Dis-
covery Expeditions, has hitherto been one
of profound secrecy scarcely worthy the
honourable service in which they have been
engaged — and no one knows whither the
one hundred and thirty-eight lost men were
intended to wander, for all is at this
moment conjecture beyond the walls of the
Admiralty, — in future let the service be one
of public competition ; and let the attempt
that is to be made to save Sir John Franklin
from his hard fate, in Christian charity, be
made fully public, that the proposed plans,
— foi there will doubtless be several, — may
be discussed, and therein be raised a praise-
worthy competition, which will, at all
events, have the semblance of an endeavour
to follow the right course. It is greatly to
be regretted that Lord Stanley did not
entertain the plan which I proposed for
acting by land in concert with Sir John
Franklin's expedition by sea. It is scarcely
possible that the two services could have
missed each other; therefore there would
not have been that anxiety for the fate of
Sir John Franklin which now exists, nor

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the necessity which is now paramount for
the most active and energetic exertions for
his rescue.

I take leave to address your J^ordship under
three heads. The probable position of the
Polar Expedition; the condition of the
Polar lands about it ; and the best means
of saving it.

In the outset I have a difficulty, owing to
the route of Sir John Franklin not having
been officially announced. Sir John Barrow,
in his private capacity, has, however, stated
in his History of Arctic Voyages, " that it
" is by Barrow Strait and the Sea washing
" North Somerset on the one side, and Banks
" and Wollaston Land on the other ; " —
which may be presumed to be correct, as he
was the official who drew up the orders given
to Sir John Franklin on his departure.

The position, then, that I should assign
to the lost Expedition is the Western land
of North Somerset — the midway between
the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany on the Mackenzie and the fishing
grounds of the whalers in Barrow Strait.
If Sir John Franklin has attempted to make

IIH

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

a short cut westward, instead of sailing
southward along the western land of North
Somerset, and wrecked himself on Banks
andWollaston Land, — he has run headlong
into that danger of which I expressly warned
him in the following words : — " If we direct
" our attention to the movements of the
" various Polar Sea Expeditions, which
" have been set afloat since 1818, we find
that in every instance the difiiculties
arose from the same cause, — the clinging
to lands having an eastern aspect. Sir
Edward Parry, in his Second Expedition,
made attempts for two successive summers
to penetrate the eastern entrance of the
Fury and Hecla Strait, — and failed ; and
in his Third Expedition, he lost the Fury
while pushing his way along the eastern
land of North Somerset. Sir John Eoss,
in his Second Expedition, was four years
advancing four miles along the same
eastern land ; and was at last obliged to
abandon his vessel. Captain Lyon and
Sir G. Back made, separately, unsuccessful
attempts to reach Repulse Bay, — which
has an eastern aspect. How, it may be

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inquired, is this general difficulty to be
avoided ] By taking the road which is
fairly open to us, — the lands that have a
" western aspect"

If, however, Banks and WoUaston Land
should form the resting-place of the Erebus
and Terror, it will not be that of tie Ex-
pedition. If the party have kept together
(and v'oe be to them if they have not !) they
will 'ike to their boats and make for the
western land of North Somerset, for the
double purpose of reaching Barrow Strait
in search of the northern whalers, as Sir
John Ross did successfully, and the Great
Fish River in search of Esquimaux for
provision, — or for letter conveyance to the
Copper Indians, with whom the Esquimaux
are now in friendly relate* on. It is to the
western land of North Somerset that we
must direct our attention — to that spot we
must bend our course.

North Somerset is a peninsula, forming
the north-eastern corner of North America,
the western shore of Regent Inlet, and the
eastern shore of the Great Fish River estuary.
At least, such it is represented to us by Sir

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

John Ross, — and such I believe it to be;
for the evidence in favour of it is very
convincing, while that which has been
adduced against it is mere conjecture.
In a practical point of view, however,
it is of very little moment whether the
character of North Somerset is insular or
peninsular ; and I can therefore spare your
Lordship's time by avoiding to give you proof
of this, — which would fill a volume, in con-
sequence of the importance that has been put
upon it, in support of the theory of a North-
West Passage at the bottom of Regent Inlet.
The western land of North Somerset can
easily be reached by a party travelling over-
land from Canada ; and it cannot be denied
that a land journey affords the only sure
mode of extending our geographical know-
ledge, and therefore the only sure ladder by
which to reach Sir John Franklin. In prac-
tice, however, it is necessary to know whe-
ther the question mooted has science or
humanity in view ; for, in the former case,
it is argued that expeditions by sea are the
best, and in the latter journeys by land ;
although there is always tacked on to these

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even larger promises of advancement to geo-
graphical science than is made in the other.
I confess I could never understand the logic
of the argument ; but it is not less a matter
of truth — for the scientific expedition which
Sir Jchn Franklin now commands was set
afloat in the face of the following facts ;
that seven of the ten Polar Sea expeditions
could be thus briefly described. Capt. Lyon's
expedition was modestly called by him " An
unsuccessful attempt to reach Repulse Bay;"
in the body of the narrative of Sir G. Back's
expedition will be found the same tale which
Capt. Lyon gave on his title-page ; Capt.
Ross returned after four years wintering,
without advancing a step towards the object
in view ; Capt. Parry failed in his attempt
to reach the Polar Sea by Regent Inlet;
Capt. Beechey saw the Polar Sea, and that
is all; and Capt. Buchan was not so fortu-
nate as Capt. Beechey ; — while a short survey
of the polar land journeys affords a standard
of comparison and develops the true position.
The journey of Hearne proved the existence
of a Polar Sea, and demonstrated that it
could be reached overland by way of Canada;

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FROM FIRST TO LAST.

and the success which attended Sir John
Franklin's first polar land journey proved
that the opinion which had been formed was
in every way correct. The distance between
the Coppermine River and Point Tumagain
was thus made known to us. A second polar
land journey added to our knowledge of the
coast line the distance between the Macken-
zie and the Coppermine Eivers, and as far
westward of the Mackenzie as Foggy Island;
which far surpassed in extent the prosperous
voyage of Sir Edward Parry in 1819 and
1820. A third polar land journey eclipsed
all, and left to be surveyed but a small por-
tion of the North American boundary of the
Polar Sea. The fruits of the ten Polar Sea
Expeditions will not balance with those of
one of the Polar Land Journeys ; and the
harvest of the first and the least successful
of these interesting missions is greater than
that which remains to be gathered. Even
the little that has been done by the Polar
Sea Expeditions is of doubtful character. —
Banks liand, the North Georgian Group of
islands and the boundaries of Barrow Strait
are still problems ; in fact, so many lesser

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

puzzles as additions to the great geographical
puzzle of three centuries. It is not so with
the labours of the commanders of the Polar
Land Journeys. The footing which they
made is permanent ; while Croker Moun-
tains have dissolved, and islands threaten
to be continents, and continents islands —
the natural consequence of discovery in ships.

It is altogether illogical to suppose that a
party isolated from the known world, as
Sir John Franklin is at this moment, can
reach civilization with as great facility as a
party from the known world can reach him.
Sir John Franklin, if he can keep his party
together, will rest where he is, and daily look
for assistance from his home. This was a
subject which the promoters of the Expedi-
tion in search of Sir John Ross had to prove
in 1833; and nothing has since occurred to
create a different opinion.

There are manifestly two modes of attempt-
ing to afford Sir John Franklin relief — to
convey provision to him and convey him to
the provision ; but I shall have no difficulty
in proving to your Lordship that there is
hut one mode practicable, — that of convey-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

ing him to the provision. The conveyance
of provision to Sir John Ross was a failure —
and in that case it was only contemplated to
relieve a small party of twenty-three men —
for this evident reason, that the country is
too poor to support a large party — and a
large party it is necessary to have, when
every kind of provision has to be carried on
men's backs over the innumerable obstruc-
tions which are to be met with in an overland
journey.

The party in search of Sir John Ross
saved themselves from starvation by con-
suming the food intended for that gallant
officer long before they had reached the
half-way house to him. These are not mere
assertions to suit the moment ; for the facts
which support these opinions were recorded
in 1836, in " King's Journey to the Arctic
" Ocean by the Great Fish River," in these
words ; — " Although overland expeditions
" towards the northern coast of North
" America may be regarded as less expen-
sive and less dangerous than an arctic
voyage, and more likely to obtain acces-
sions to science and commerce, they may

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greatly vary amongst themselves in all
these respects, according to 'Ud mode in
which they may be undertuivcn. They
may, however, be all comprised in two
classes. To the first class belong small
companies, travelling with the least pos-
sible incumbrance, and strictly adopting
the mode of proceeding and the means of
subsistence in use amongst the natives of
the country and the traders who visit
them. Individuals uniting physical
ability, both for doing and suffering,
necessary to meet the dangers and
fatigues of this mode of travelling, with
talents and acquirements necessary to
render their journey availing for the
purposes of science, hc^^e already effected
much at a very trifling outlay. Hearne
and Mackenzie prove the truth of this
assertion. The second class consists of
those expeditions which possess a more
organised and systematic form ; being
composed of a company of men and
officers accustomed to military or naval
service, — seldom or never amounting to a
smaller number than three officers and

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

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twenty men ; and consequently requiring
a co'^'siderable amount of baggage. For
the conveyance of these men and their
stores the small canoes of the country,
which are readily made, repaired, and
transported, are quite inadequate. Boats
of larger dimensions are therefore had
recourse to ; which are easily damaged,
are with difficulty repaired, and are too
cumbrous to be conveyed across the
portages when the distance is great or
the ground uneven. These evils are not
theoretical ; they have been proved by
fearful experience, and have been the
cause of immense difficulty or failure: —
for though they form but a small military
troop, they are too large to travel with
advantage through a country in which
the means of subsistence are very scanty
and still more precarious. The diffi-
culties which they have to encounter
are infinitely increased when the indivi-
duals comprising the company are not
practically acquainted with the mode of
travelling through the district to be
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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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separated from each other without the
greatest danger of fatally losing their
way ; on which account they cannot seek
game and other sources of subsistence.
From want of experience they are unable
" either to bear the burdens or travel the
" distance which a Canadian or an Indian
would disregard. Time, the most impor-
tant element in northern expeditions, is
inevitably lost, and n ither the energy
nor the genius of the commanding officer
" can retrieve the error when the season is
" advanced upon them\"

The evidence which I have brought for-
ward I most conscientiously believe to be
conclusive, that the means to be adopted for
relieving Sir John Franklin will be for the
Government to despatch one or more vessels
with provision to the western land of North
Somerset by Barrow Strait in the summer
of 1848, and to call upon the Hudson Bay
Company to use their best exertions to fill
their northern depots with pemican, dried
meat and fish bv the same date. Informa-

1 " Journey to the Arctic Ocean by the Great Fish
•* River, by Dr. King, M.D ," pp. 293-298.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

tion of such provision having been made
should be conveyed, in the course of the
summer of 1848, by a small party provided
with Indian guides — in case it should be
desirable to convey the lost party to the
Hudson Bay dep6ts on the Mackenzie or
the Great Slave Lake, instead of to the
southern boundary of Barrow Strait in
search of the provision vessels. Such a
party, my Lord, I will undertake to lead,
in company with any officer the Govern-
ment may appoint, provided he be of my
own age and in possession of the same
amount of physical capability. I am in-
duced to volunteer my services because I
believe that I am the only person in whom
the requisites for such a journey are to be
found. Sir John Richardson counts twice
the number of years that I do, and he is
not acquainted with either the country or
the American Indians to the extent that I
am ; — and I should disgrace myself as an
Englishman if I did not step forward to
save a veteran in the service like him from
the necessity of fulfilling his promise to the
Admiralty of going in search of Sir John

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Franklin in March next in case of our
receiving no tidings of him in the autumn
of this vear. The Government surely can-
not consent that Sir John Kichardson,
arrived at an age much better suited to
recei^^e honour than to endure hardship,
should expose himself to fresh dangers and
privations, when there are the young and
the competent anxious to take their turn.

If Sir John Franklin is to be relieved, it
must be in the summer of 1848. He must
be spared the winter of that year ; — and the
Government will incur a heavy respon-
sibility if every effort that experience can
suggest is not made to save him from such
an ordeal — which can scarcely be contem-
plated without the most painful feelings.
Sir John Franklin's expedition should not
have set sail, in face of the facts I laid
before the late Government ; and the least
that the present Government can do is
to lessen the evils that their predecessors
have allowed the veteran to heap upon
himself. And it will certainly not be
taking the best means to send one veteran
in search of another.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

In conclusion, my Lord, I would call your
attention to the opinions of the medical
officers of the second expedition of Sir Edward
Parry in answer to the query of that gallant
commander — " As to the probable effect
" that a third winter passed in the Arctic
" regions would produce on the health of
" the officers, seamen, and marines under his
" charge." Mr. Edwards and Mr. Skeoch
report, " that during the last winter and
subsequently, the aspect of the crew of the
Fury in general, together with the increased
" number and character of the complaints,
" strongly indicated that the peculiarity of
" the climate and service was slowly effect-
" ing a serious decay of their constitutional
" powers*;" and Captain Lyon remarks,
that " He has for some time been of opinion
" that the Fury's passing a third winter in
the country would be extremely hazardous.
He is induced thus to express himself
from the great change he has observed in
" tlie constitution of the officers and men
of the Hecla, and by the appearance of
some very severe cases of scurvy since the
summer has commenced. Long continu-

^ Parry's Second Voyage, p. 471.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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ance on one particular diet, almost total
deprivation of fresh animal and vegetable
" food for above two years, and the neces-
" sary and close confinement for several
" months of each severe winter, are un-
" doubtedly the causes of the general altera-
" tion of constitution which has for some time
" pastbeen so evident. He therefore conceives
" that a continued exposure to the same
deprivations and confinement, and the
painful monotony of a third winter to
men whose health is precarious, would
in all probability be attended with very
serious consequences'." Notwithstanding
these opinions so strongly expressed, Sir
John Franklin must pass a third winter in
the polar regions if there are no tidings of
him in the autumn ; but I trust, my Lord,
that you will not allow him to contend with
a fourth, without giving me an opportunity
of rendering him the only succour whif'i
has the probability of success, — that of
being the messenger of the information
where provisions are stored for him.
I have the honour to be, my Lord, &c.

RICHARD KING.

• Parry's Second Voyage, p. 473.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Again.

To the Right Hon. Earl Grey.

17, Savile Row^ 25ifA November, 1847.

The last ray of hope has passed when
Sir John Franklin by his own exertions can
save himself and his one hundred and
thirty-seven followers from the death of
starvation. I trust, therefore, your Lord-
ship will excuse my calling your attention
to my letter of the 10th of June last,
which is acknowledged, but remains unan-
swered. I should not have intruded myself
again on your Lordship's notice were I able
to believe that your Lordship is fully sen-
sible of the heavy responsibility which the
calamity has placed upon you. The
Admiralty Board may send assistance by
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans — they may
set in motion every mariner who has assisted
in ploughing the northern seas, — yet it will
not relieve you from responsibility as the
principal Secretary of State for the Colo-
nies. The service which I have proposed,
as a matter of precedent, should emanate
from the Colonial Board. It was from that

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Board that assistance was despatched in
search of Sir John Ross ; and fror^ that
Board the Polar Land Journeys, so fruitful
in result, were one and all set on foot.

I have already called your Lordship's
attention to the evidence which Sir Edward
Parry, on his retirement horn, active service,
has laid before the Admiralty, in confirma-
tion of his opinion that the most serious
consequences to his crew would bc^ the
result of passing a third winter in the Polar
regions, — and a third winter, it is now too
evident, the lost expedition must pass in
the inclement North. In order, however,
to save our fellow creatures from all the
horrors of starvation and its awful con-
sequences, I have offered to your Lordship
to undertake the boldest journey which has
ever been proposed, — and one which is
justifiable only from the circumstances. I
have offered to attempt to reach the western
land of North Somerset before the close of
the summer of 1848, — to accomplish, in
fact, in one summer that which has never
been accomplished under two summers ; —
by which means I incur the risk of having

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

to winter with the Esquimaux, — ^or of
having to make the journey along the
barren ground to winter quarters on snow
shoes. How, your Lordship may inquire^
is this Herculean task to be performed ?
Upon what grounds do I rest my hope of
success? I would state, in answer, that
it is necessary the leader of such a journey
should have an intimate knowledge of the
country and the people through >vhich he
has to pass, — the health to stand the rigour
of the climate, and the strength to undergo
the fatigue of mind and body to which he
will be subjected. It is because I have
these requisites, which I conscientiously
believe are not to be found in another, that
I hope to effect my purpose. The uncivilised
man, — and upon the service under con-
sideration we must have large dealings with
him, — in choosing his subject looks for
physical, not mental, qualifications ; and if
these are not apparent, he is cautious and
undecided, — and the more you hurry him
the less certain you are of making him
answer your purpose. Time, the most im-
portant element in Polar travelling, will in

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

this way be lost to the stranger in the land,
and the journey rendered unavailing ; while
my great activity, power of endurance, and
success as a physician, during my journey
in search of Sir John Ross, must be fresh in
the recollection of nine-tentixs of the Indian
population through which such a mission
as I have proposed will have to pass, — and
cannot fail to secure to me every co-opera-
tion. It is a well ascertained fact that the
medical traveller succeeds where all others
fail.

If your Lordship will take a glance at
the map of North America, and direct your
attention to but three places ; Behring
Strait on the Pacific, Barrow Strait on the
Atlantic, and the land of North Somerset
between them, you will perceive that to
render assistance to a party situated on that
land there are two ways by sea and one by
land. Of the two sea ways, the route by
the Pacific is altogether out of the question.
It is an idea of by-gone days ; while that
by the Atlantic is so doubtful of success
that it is merely necessary, in order to put
this assistance aside as far from certain, to

mOM FIBST TO LAST.

mention that Sir John Ross found Barrow
Strait closed in the summer of 1832 ; and,
as the Strait has been visited only six times,
it may be far from an unusual circumstance.
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 failure of a sea expedition would
be the rule itself. To the western land of
North Somerset, where, I maintain, Sir
John Franklin will be found, the Great
Fish Eiver is the direct and only route;
and although the approach to it is through
a country too poor and too difficult of
access to admit of the transport of provision,
it may be made the medium of communica-
tion between the lost expedition and the
civilised world ; and Indian guides be thus
placed at their disposal to convey them to
the hunting grounds of the Red Men.
Without such guides it is impossible that
they can reach these hunting grounds. It
was by that intricate and dangerous river
that I reached the Polar Sea while a;jting
as second officer in search Oi" Sir John Ross;
and as th^^^e were but two officers on that

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

honourable service, your Lordship can but
look to those officers for the elements of
success, if a mission bv that river is resolved
upon. All that I can do, as one of those
officers so peculiarly circumstanced, is to
place my views on record as an earnest of
my sincerity. E^^en if the Admiralty should
determine trv to force provision-vessels
through Beniing :iid Barrow Straits, and
scour the vicinity in boats for the lost ex-
pedition, — and try they must, — and succeed,
it will be satisfactory to know that such a
mission as I have proposed was adopted;
while if they should fail in their attempts —
and I am sorry to say that I fully believe
they will fail — and the service under con-
sideration is put aside, it will be a source of
regret that not only the nation at large will
feel, but the whole civilised world. When
this regret is felt, and every soul has
perished, such a mission as 1 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 by a person
in whom the country has confidence. No

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

inexperienced person can go upon such an
errand. The efforts of the Danish Govern-
ment for the lost colonies of Greenland, the
efforts of the Portuguese Government for
the brothers Cotereal, and the efforts of the
French Government for the unfortunate
La Perouse, cannot fail to raise our national
pride when placed in similar circum-
stances.

It has been stated in the periodical litera-
ture of the day that a party of sappers and
miners sailed last June in charge of pro-
visions destined for the Mackenzie River, as
supplies for the lost expedition; and that
Sir John Richardson is to leave England in
February next to head this party. I hope
this may be mere report. Such an expe-
dition would be one of relief from a difficulty
which, to be successful, anticipates the
difficulty to be overcome ; for if the lost
expedition can reach the Mackenzie River,
or even the Great Bear Lake by the Cop-
permine River, to benefit by these supplies,
they have solved the problem of more than
three centuries, — they have discovered the
North-west Passage, a dream we can
scarcely expect to be realised.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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The recent survey of Dr. Rae is satisfac-
tory only so far as it confirms the Esquimaux
chart furnished to Sir John Ross ; and as it
supports my views, that the western shore
of the Great Fish River estuary is con-
tinuous with the western land of North
Somerset, — or, to use my own words of
1836, " that from Cape Hay the land trends
N.N.E., when it dips the horizon, where
a small space intervenes — in all proba-
bility a deep bay — to a land gradually
rising into boldness, following a north-
westerly course, the extremes of which
" are named Points Ross and Booth*." If
the survey of Dr. Rae could be depended
upon, the view I have taken is the correct
one, but at present it is valueless in a
geographical point of view. The peninsu-
larity of North Somerset is still a problem ;
for it is far from evident that Dr. Rae
reached Lord Mayor Bay of Sir John Ross.
He not only neglected to search for the
wreck of the Victory steam-ship or some
token of Sir John Ross's footing, but he com-
menced his journey without providing him-

* " Journey tc the Arctic Ocean, by the Great Fish
River, by Dr. King, M.D.," vol. ii. p. 26.

FROM FIKST TO LAST.

self with the means to correct his longitude,
— which he calculated entirely by dead
reckoning. Further, he not only made his
survey when all nature was clothed in ice
and snow — which placed it out of his power
at all times to recognise land from water,
much more to distinguish that water which
was salt from that which was fresh — but he
made short cuts to save a journey round
capes and bays, and thus lost sight of the
continuity of land, which an experienced
traveller would not have done.

Even under the most favourable circum-
stances, it is impossible to put any other
than a low value upon a winter survey in
the Polar regions. This is exemplified in
the journey which Sir James Ross made
across the isthmus of Boothia, when he
not only traced a large portion of land
under an impression that he was travelling
along the continent of America, which, after
several years was found by a summer survey
to have been an island, but he actually
passed by the estuary of the Great Fish
River, altogether unaware of the existence
of that magnificent stream. Poctes' Bay

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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was the name given by Sir James Ross
to the estuary into which the Great
Fish River has since been found to empty
itself.

Dr. Rae has, however, furnished us with
some interesting matter for discussion. For
instance, there is the evidence of the outlet
of the Fish River into Regent Inlet — for
which I have so long contended ; and the
fact that the failure of his enterprise is
wholly attributable to an accumulation of
ice upon an eastern land gives additional
weight to the law which I have established,
that all arctic lands that have an eastern
aspect are ice-clogged. The journey which
I proposed to Lord Glenelg in 1835, after-
wards to Lord Stanley, and which I now, at
the expiration of twelve years, propose to
your Lordship — is along a land which has a
western aspect, and which I have shewn is
almost invariably ice-free. My progress,
therefore, to the spot where I suppose the
lost expedition will be found will be unim-
peded ; and not only will the question as to
the peninsularity of North Somerset be set
at rest, but that which remains undone of

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

the northern configuration of America will
be completed, — for it is by hugging the
western land of North Somerset only that
we can expect to fall upon the traces of the
lost expedition, if we are to look for it in
that direction.

I would state, in conclusion, that the
various surveys which have been set afloat
since I came forward in 1836 as a volunteer
have but cleared the way to render the
soundness of my views the more apparent.
The several expeditions which have since
been undertaken, whether they have re-
sulted in success or failure, have afforded so
many successive links in the chain of
evidence which demonstrates the scientific
character of the views advanced by me in
1836, — and for adherence to which I have
been refused all character as a scientific
traveller and all honorary acknowledgment
of faithful service to my country. I am not,
however, asking your Lordship to recom-
mend to Her ]\/ajesty the bestowing upon
me a mark of approbation, as a reward for
the soundness of these views, which has
been bestowed upon those who contradicted
them. I am asking your Lordship to

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TEE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

appoint me to a seiTice for which I am
peculiarly qualified, -a service of extreme
hazard and labour, but which, to be suc-
cessful, must be undertaken by some one of
great experience. I am willing to labf ar
still for that recognition which will give me
equality with those who are now my
superiors ; — and when I state to your
Lordship that I stand alone as a single
individual, isolated from the heroes of the
Pole in regard to reward for services, I
trust your Lordship will consider that I
have strong claims for such a service. The
time has arrived, I say, when I am able to
refer your Lordship to my past services and
ray present character as a guarantee that I
am sincere in my offer, and as an earnest
that I will faithfully discharge the duties
which .will devolve upon me if I should be
lionoured with the service I am seeking at
your Lordship's hands. Surely, my Lord, I
should now have a peace offering. A
considerable portion of the main continent
of North America bears the outline which I
gave to it, — in which I differed with Sir
George Back. The Great Bay of Simpson
and the trenditf: of the land north-east of

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Cape Hay are so many truths, and although
the trending of the land named Points Ross
and Booth — which I maintain runs N.W.
and S.E., and not East and West as Sir
George Back has mapped it — and the
peninsularity of North Somerset, for which
I have for twelve years contended, have to
be proved, they are rendered highly probable
by the journey of Dr. Rae.

That I have laboured through this dif-
ficult subject for so many years, and at last
successfully— that I have been the first to
shew how the great puzzle of three centuries
could be unravelled — and that I have con-
stantly offered for a period of twelve oi
those years, whenever an opportunity
occurred, to be the means of unravelling it
— inspire me with the hope that I L>hall at
last find justice at the hands of your Lord-
ship, and that I may be allowed to have my
place in the great efibrt which must be
made for the rescue of the one hundred
and thirty-eight men who compose the lost
Expedition. — I have the honour, &c.

RICHAED KING.

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42 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Again,

To the Right Hon, Earl Grey.

17, Savile Row, Dec. 8, 1847.

My Lord, — Since my letter to your Lord-
ship of the 25th of November, the Athenaum
has published, on high authority, the effort
which the Board of Admiralty has resolved to
make in search of the Polar Sea Expedition
under the command of Sir John Franklin.
By that effort the field which I have proposed
to your Lordship, is by no means rendered
unnecessary ; while it is shewn to be im-
portant from the fact, that if Sir John
Richardson fails in finding the lost Expedi-
tion along the coast of North America com-
prised between the Mackenzie and the Cop-
permine Rivers, or Wollaston Land, which
is opposite to that coast, he is to search Vic-
toria Land in the summer of 1849.

Victoria Land can as easily be reached
from the Great Fish River as the western
land of North Somerset. I can search, there-
fore, that locality in the first instance, if it
be considered necessary ; — especially as it is
known that our lost countrymen will have

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

((

ceased to exist before Sir John Richardson
can make the proposed search. I see no
reason, however, to alter my opinion, ex-
pressed to your Lordship in my letter of the
10th of June last, in these words: — " If
" that land should prove the resting-place of
" the Erebus and Terror, it will not be that
of the Expedition. If the party have kept
together, they will take to their boats
" and make for the western land of North
" Somerset, — for the double purpose of
reaching Barrow Strait in search of
whalers, as Sir John Ross did successfully,
and the Great Fish River Estuary for
provisions or letter conveyance to the
Copper Indians, with whom the Esquimaux
are now in friendly relation."
The fact, that all lands which have a
western aspect are generally ice-free — which
I dwelt largely upon when the Expedition
sailed — must have had weight with Sir
John Franklin ; he will, therefore, on
finding himself in a serious difficulty while
pushing along the eastern side of Victoria
Land, at once fall upon the western land of
North Somerset as a refuge.

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The "fJbrt" by Behring Strait anri
Banks Land is praiseworthy in attempt, bui
" forlorn in hope," — and may be dealt with
briefly. In the former effort it is assumed
that Sir John Franklin has made the
" Passage," and that his " arrest is between
" the Mackenzie River and Icy Cape ; " in
the latter, that Sir James Ross will reach
Banks Land, and trace its continuity to
Victoria or WoUaston Land — and thus make
the " Passage.*'

In the first place, we have no reason to
believe that Sir John Franklin and Sir
James Ross will be more fortunate than
their predecessors; and if we can indulge
such fond hopes, we cannot trust to
them. In the second place, we are
unable to assame tha Sir James Ross
will reach Banks Land. Sir Edward
Parry was unable to reach it, and merely
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.

The main point, then, for consideration
is, the effort of Sir James Ross along

FBOM FIRST TO LAST.

the western land of North Somerset from
his station in Barrow Strait ; for it is that
alone which can supersede the necessity for
the plan I have proposed. It is not in
Sir John Richardson's power, it must be
borne in mind, to search the western land
of North Somerset. Mr. Thomas Simpson,
who surveyed the arctic coast comprised
between the Coppermine and Castor and
Pollux Rivers, has set that question at rest,
— and he is the only authority upon the
subject. " A further exploration," remarks
Mr. Simpson from the most eastern limit of
his journey, " would necessarily demand the
" whole time and energies of another Ex-
" pedition, having some point of retreat
much nearer to the scene of operations
thau the Great Bear Lake^;" — and Great
Bear Lake is to be the retreat of Sir John
Richardson.

What retreat, my Lord, could Mr. Simp-
son have meant but Great Slave Lake — the
retreat of the land party in search of Sir
John Ross ? — and what other road to the

■^ " Narrative of Discovery on the North Coast of
" America," by Mr. T. Simpson, 8vo. p. 377.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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unexplored ground, the western land of
North Somerset, could that traveller have
had in his mind but the Great Fish River —
that stream which I have pointed out to
your I/Ordship as the ice-free and the high
road to the land where the lost Expedition is
likely to be found — to the boundary of that
" Passage," which, for three and a half
centuries, we have in vain been endeavouring
to reach in ships 1

It is generally admitted that Mr. Thomas
Simpson was " no common man." Besides,
he was assisted in his memorable journey by
McKay, Sinclair, and Taylor — the bowsman,
the steersman, and the chief middleman and
desprich-oarrier to the land journey in search
of Sir John Ross ; — men who, I can assure
your Lordship after three years* experience
of their service, were of no common stamp.
Sir John Richardson cannot have such
assistaiKC— death has done its work !

Il Mr. Simpson^ in the youth of his life,
with sue a assistance, could not make a
greater dis target; from his winter-quarters on
the Great Bear Lake than Castor and
Pollux Riv^er, — and if that great man, at

FROM FIRST TO LA.ST,

that distance from his winter retreat, con-
sidered that "any further fool-hardy per-
" severance could only lead to the loss of
" the whole party®," — can more be expected
of Sir John Richardson at his period of life 1
It is physically impossible, therefore, that
Sir John Richardson can occupy the field
which I have proposed for myself. This is
evidently, then, the question of importance
in relation to my proposal ; — Do the
attempts of Sir James Ross to search the
western land of North Somerset in boats,
from his station on the southern shores of
Barrow Strait, render that proposal un-
necessary 1

Here, my Lord, the facts will speak for
themselves. 1st. Barrow Strait was ice-
bound in 1832; — it may be ice-bound in
1848. 2nd. Sir James Ross is using the
same means to relieve Sir John Franklin
which has led the gallant officer into dif-
ficulty ; the relief party themselves may,
therefore, become a party in distress. 3rd.
The land that is made on the south shore of

" Despatch of Mr. T. Simpson to the Hudson's Bay
Company, published in 2'he Times of April 18, 1840.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Barrow Strait will be of doubtful character,
— the natural consequence of discovery in
ships ; the searching parties at the end of
the summer, — with the close of which every
soul of the lost Expedition will have perished,
may find they have been coasting an island
many miles distant from the western land of
North Somerset, or navigating a deep bay,
as Kotzebue navigated the sound named
after him.

These difficulties have so repeatedly oc-
curred, that your Lordship will find ample
facts in the narratives of the several Polar
Sea Expeditions to testify to the truthfulness
of these remarks. The plan which I have
proposed to your Lordship is to reach the
Polar Sea across the continent of America,
— and thus to proceod from land known to
be continent, where every footstep is sure.
If that plan be laid aside, the lives of our
lost countrymen will depend upon a single
throw in the face of almost certain failure —
if the difficulty in which the lost Expedition
is involved is the same which (not to go
farther back than 1818) has driven away
every officer, including even Parry himself,

.jj. mI;!-??;

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

who has made the attempt. Further, if
that plan should ultimately prove to have
been the right one, it will be a source of
regret that your Lordship will feel most
intensely. It is impossible Lord Stanley
can help regretting he did net set in
motion the service I proposed lO him
in conjunction with that of Sir John
Franklin, — although in that case it was
simply a question of science, and the awful
calamity, which has in all probability be-
fallen the lost Expedition, was merely a
supposition on my part. How much greater,
then, will be the regret of your Lordship if,
at the expiration of two years, it shall be
proved that my supposition, regarding the
relief to Sir John Franklin, — which is a
question, not of science, but of life and death
on a great scale, — was equally well founded 1
To sum up in a few words. — The Board
of Admiralty, by their " effort," virtually
declare that the lost Expedition cannot be
relieved unless the " Passage" be discovered;
we must first discover the " Passage," and
*vhen seek out the lost Expedition. To this
declaration, my Lord, I cannot assent ; for

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

by following out my plan, I can search all
that is known of the western land of North
Somerset, — and be sure that every inch of
discovery beyond it is so much good work
for the safety of the lost Expedition and for
the furtherance of geographical and natural
historical knowledge. In addition, I can
trace Victoria Land north with the same
results, — and yet not discover the North-
west Passage, nor incur the risk of any
extraordinary difficulty; while Sir James
Ross, before he gets a single footing
on either of these lands, must have solved
the problem which has baffled all our in-
genuity in ships for a period of three and a
half centuries.

I trust, therefore, your Lordship will give
full consideration to my offer of service in
search of the lost Expedition. It is a service
in which I can act independently of Sir
James Ross, and independently of Sir John
Richardson; and Sir James Ross and Sir
John Richardson, it is already arranged,
are to act independently of each other.
Sir James Ross's knowledge of Barrow
Strait — Sir John Richardson's knowledge of

FUOM FIRST TO LAST.

the Mackenzie and the Coppermine Rivers
— and my knowledge of the Great Fish
River and its estuary, will be so many
guarantees that the work to be done will be
done well ; and this state of independence
yM\ insure a large amount of effort, even
though it were merely in a spirit of emu-
lation.

Your Lordship, as Lord Ilowick, gave
the Expedition in search of Sir John Ross
your valuable assistance, and if you will but
give the same encouraging assistance to the
effort in search of Sir John Franklin, and fill
up the blank which the Board of Admiralty
have left, the country will have reason to
be satisfied that all that could be done was
done for the safety of the one hundred and
thirty-eight gallant men, who nobly volun-
teered their services in spite of the danger
and difliculties they were certain to meet
with, merely because they were asked to
do so.

I have, Sec.

RICHARD KING.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Again.

To The Right Hon. Earl Grey,

17, Savile Bow, Dec. 16, 1847.

My Lord, — I have the honour to ac-
knowledge the receipt of Mr. Hawes's
letter of the 8th instant. Mr. Hawes states,
I am desired by Earl Grey to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 25th
ultimo, in which you solicit employment
in connection with the Expedition which
you state is about to be sent out in search
of Sir John Franklin; and I am to acquaint
you in answer that it does not fall within
his Lordship's province, as Secretary of
State for the Colonies, to confer appoint-
" ments of this nature, but that you should
address any application you may desire to
make upon the subject to the Lords Com-
" missioners of the Admiralty."

I can scarcely express to your Lordship
the deep sorrow which I felt at receiving
such an answer — especially at the eleventh
hour ; for your Lordship has been in pos-
session of my views of the position of Sir
John Franklin's Arctic Expedition, and the

((

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

means of affording it relief, since last June ;
and, in February, the service that I have
proposed, if it be adopted, must be in
progress.

Your Lordship is labouring altogether
under a misconception of the views expressed
in that letter. I am not "soliciting em-
" ployment in connection with the Expe-
" dition which is about to be sent out in
" search of Sir John Franklin. " I am
endeavouring to induce your Lordship to
take measures which I believe to be necessary
for saving the lives of one hundred and
thirty-eight of our fellow-creatures. So ir.r
from soliciting employment — so far from de-
siring to continue a Polar traveller, — I have
long since ceased to be a candidate for such
an office, my services in search of Sir John
Ross not having been even acknowledged by
the Colonial and Admiralty Boards ; and it is
only for the sake of humanity that I am
induced to come forward again in such a
character. It would not be in your Lord-
ship's power to make good the loss which I
should sustain in going in search of Sir
John Franklin — a loss which cannot be

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

measured by a money standard ; and, as for
employment, I should have to resign five
appointments of honour and emolument
which I hold, together with my professional
practice.

It is not for me to question your Lord-
ship's province as Secretary of State for the
Colonies, but it is for me to consider whether
I " should address any application I may
" desire to make upon the subject " to the
Admiralty Board. The manner in which
that Board met my oflfer to administer
medical relief to the suffering crew of the
steamer Eclair, and the suppression of my
name in the return made to the House of
Commons, on the motion of Admiral Dundas,
and ordered to be printed 13th March 1846,
of ofiicers and men who volunteered to
serve on that occasion, and the hostile
feeling which has prevailed at the Admiralty
against my views on Arctic discoveries —
all of which have now been proved to be
correct, — are sufficient reasons for my
not offering my services to that Board.
Some changes must have taken place if it
does not fall within your Lordship's pro-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

vince to originate expeditions of the nature
which I have suggested, for Earl Bathurst
despatched the overland journeys in com-
mand of Sir John Franklin, and Viscount
Goderich the Expedition in search of Sir
John Ross, — so that all the Polar land
journeys have emanated from the Colonial
Board.

For the sake of our suffering fellow-
countrymen, whose miseries and hardships
I car perhaps above most men conceive and
appreciate, I deeply regret your Lordship's
determination.

I have, &c.

RICHARD KING.

I did not long consider over the course I
should pursue, but addressed the Board of
Admiralty in these words : —

17, Savile Row, February 1848.

My Lords, — " The old route of Parry,
" through Lancaster Sound and Barrow
" Strait, as far as to the last land on its
" southern shore, and thence in a direct

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

" line to Behring Straits, is the route
" ordered to be pursued by Franklin''."

The gallant officer has thus been des-
patched to push his adventurous way
between Melville Island and Banks Land,
which Sir Edward Parry attempted for two
years unsuccessfully. After much toil and
hardship, and the best consideration that
great man could give to the subject, he
recorded, at the moment of retreat, in in-
delible 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 openings between the ice and
the shore, and that, therefore, a con-
tinuity of land is essential for this
' Barrow's Arctic Voyages, p. 11.

((

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

((

tr-

" purpose; such a continuity of land, which
" was here ahout to fail us, must necessarily
be furnished by the northern coast of
America, in whatsoever latitude it may
be found." Assuming, therefore. Sir
John Franklin has been arrested between
Melville Island and Banks Land, where Sir
Edward Parry was arrested by difficulties
which he considered insurmountable, and
he has followed the advice of that gallant
officer, and made for the continent of
America, he will have turned the prows of
his vessels South and West, according as
Banks Land trends for Victoria or Wollas-
ton Lands. It is here, therefore, we may
expect to find the expedition wrecked,
whence they will make in their boats for
the western land of North Somerset, if that
land should not be too far distant.

In order to save the party from the ordeal
of a fourth winter, when starvation must be
their lot, I propose to undertake the boldest
journey that has ever been attempted in the
northern regions of America, one which is
justifiable only from the circumstances. I
propose to attempt to reach the western land

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THE rflANKLIN EXPEDITION

of North Somerset, or the eastern portion
of Victoria Land, as may be deemed ad-
visable, by the close of the approaching
summer; to accomplish, in fact, in one
summer that which has not been done
under two.

I rest my hope of success in the perform-
ance of this Herculean task upon the fact
that I possess an intimate knowledge of the
country and the people through which I
shall have to pass, the health to stand the
rigour of the climate, and the strength to
undergo the fatigue of mind and body to
which I must be subjected. It is because
I have these requisites, which I con-
scientiously believe are not to be found in
another, that I hope to effect my purpose.
A glance at the map of North America,
directed to Behring Strait in the Pacific,
Barrow Strait in the Atlantic, and the
land of North Somerset between them, will
make it apparent that, to render assistance
to a party situated on that coast, there are
two ways by sea and one by land. Of the
two sea-ways, the route by the Pacific is
altogether out of the question ; it is an idea

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

of by-gone days ; while that by the Atlantic
is so doubtful of success, that it is merely
necessary, to put this assistance aside as far
from certain, to mention that Sir John Koss
found Barrow Strait closed in the summer
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 failure of a sea expedi-
tion would be the rule itself. To the
western land of North Somerset, where Sir
John Franklin is likely to be found, the
Great Fish Eiver is the direct and only
route ; and although the approach to it is
through a country too poor and too difficult
of access to admit of the transport of pro-
visions, it may be made the medium of
communication between the lost expedition
and the civilised world, and guides be thus
placed at their disposal to convey them to
the hunting grounds of the Indians. With-
out such guides it is impossible they can
reach these hunting grounds. It was by
the Great Fish River I reached the Polar
Sea while acting as second officer in search
of Sir John Ross, I feel it my duty there-

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

fore, as one of two officers so peculiarly
circumstanced, to place my views on record
as an earnest of my sincerity. Even if it
should be determined to try and force pro-
vision vessels through Barrow Strait, and
scour the vicinity in boats for the lost ex-
pedition, and should it succeed, it will be
satisfactory to know such a mission as I
have proposed was adopted ; while, if these
attempts should fail, and the service under
consideration be put aside, it will be a source
of regret that not only the nation at large
will feel, but the whole civilised world.
When this regret is felt, and every soul 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 by a person
in whom the country has confidence.

The fact that all lands which have a
western 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,
on finding himself in a serious difficulty,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

while pushing along the eastern side of
Victoria Land, at once fall upon the Western
Land of North Somerset, as a refuge ground,
if he have the opportunity. The effort by
Behring Strait and Banks Land is praise-
worthy in attempt, but forlorn in hope. In
the former effort, it is assumed that Sir
John Franklin has made the " Passage,*
and that his arrest is between the Mackenzie
River and Icy Cape ; in the latter, that
Sir James Ross will reach Banks Land,
and trace its continuity to Victoria and
Wollaston Land, and thus make the
" Passage." First, we have no reason to
believe 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 Ross will reach Banks
Land; Sir Edward 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.
The main point, then, for consideration,

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Will

is the effort of Sir James Ross along the
Western Land of North Somerset, from his
station in Barrow Strait; for it is that
alone which can supersede the plan I have
proposed. It is not in Sir John Richardson's
power, it must be borne in mind, tu
search the Western Land of North Somerset.
Mr. T. Simpson, who surveyed the Arctic
coast comprised between the Coppermine
and Castor and Pollux Rivers, has set that
question at rest, and he is the only
authority upon the subject. " A further
" exploration," 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 the
" scene of operations than Great Bear
" Lake®," and Great Bear Lake is 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, to which party I was second officer,

^ Simpson's Narrative of a Journey to the Arctic
Ocean, p. 377.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

but acting first officer for two-thirds of the
period of its activity ? and what other road
to the unexplored ground, the Western Land
of North Somerset, could that traveller have
meant than the Great Fish River, that
magnificent 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 the boundary of that " Passage"
which for three-and-a-half centuries we
have in vain been endeavouring to reach in
ships ]

If Mr. Simpson, in the youth of his life,
with three of my best and most faithful
crew down the Great Fish River in his
service, could not make a greater distance
from his winter quarters on the Great Bear
Lake than Castor and Pollux River, and if
that great man at that distance from his
winter retreat " considered that any ftirther
" fool-hardy perseverance could only lead to
" the loss of the whole party," can more
be expected of Sir John Richardson at his
period of life? It is physically impossible
Sir Johy» Richardson can occupy the field I
am proposing for myself.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

This, then, is evidently the question of
importance. Does the attempt of Sir James
Ross to search the Western Land of North
Somerset in boats from his station in
Barrow Strait render that proposal un-
necessary ] Here facts speak for them-
selves. 1st, Barrow Strait was ice-bound
in 1832; it may be ice-bound in 1848.
2nd, Sir James Koss is using the same
means to relieve Sir John Franklin
which led that gallant officer into dif-
ficulty, — the relief party may, therefore,
become a party in distress. 3rd, The land
that is made on the South shore of Barrow
Strait will be of doubtiul character, the
natural consequence of discovery in ships ;
the searching parties at the end of the sum-
mer may, therefore, find they have been
coasting an island many miles dist nt from
the Western Land of North Somerset, or
navigating a deep bay, as Kotzebue navi-
gated the sound named after him, and as
Sir John Franklin navigated the sea called
Melville Sound; these difficulties have so
repeatedly occurred, that ample facts will
be found in the narratives of the several

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Polar Sea Expeditions to testify to the
truthfulness of the remarks. The plan I
have proposed is to reach th Polar Sea
across the Continent of America, and thus
to proceed from land known to be continent,
where each footstep is sure. If that plan
be laid aside, the lives of our lost country-
men will depend upon a single throw, in
the face of almost certain failure, if the
difficulty in which the lost expedition is
involved is the same which (not to go
farther back than 1818,) has driven away
every officer, including even Parry himself,
who has made the attempt.
It is because Earl Grey informs me " it
does not fall within his Lordship's
province, as Secretary of State for the
" Colonies, to confer appointments of this
nature, but that I should address any
application I may desire to make upon
the subject to the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty," that I am induced to
offer to your Lordships to go in search of
Sir John Franklin by the Great Fish River,

I am, &C.

RICHARD KING.
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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Again.

17, Savile Row, 3rd March^ '48.

Sir, — I beg to remind you that, on tlie
16th ultimo, I volunteered my services to
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
to proceed to the Western Land of North
Somerset, by the Great Fish Kiver, in search
of Sir John Franklin.

The 15 th instant is the latest period I
should feel justified in starting upon this
expedition; and as I am not aware of
having written anything to cause their
Lordships to withhold a reply, and as I
have to make arrangements to vacate my
appointments as Physician to the London
and Continental Fire and Life Of&ce, Phy-
sician to the Blenheim Street Dispensary,
Honorary Secretary of the Ethnological
Society, and Assistant Secretary of the
Statistical Society, I need scarcely state
that it is important I should have very
early information of their Lordships* de-
cision.

I shall only be too happy to explain my
plan to you by chart, as I did to Mr. Hawes,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

when in official communication with Earl
Grey ; and, in conclusion, I beg to say that
I am induced thus to urge it upon the con-
sideration of the Board, from the fact that
I have given it the most mature and
deliberate consideration, and that I am
convinced it will eventually prove to be
the only eflfectual one for discovering the
lost expedition.

I have, &c.

KICHARD KING.

Hesry George Ward, Esq.

Admiralty, 3rd March, 1848.

Sir, — In reply to your letters of this
day's date, and of the 16th ultimo, offering
your services to proceed to the Western Land
of North Somerset by the Great Fish River,
in search of the Expedition under Captain
Sir John Franklin, I am commanded by my
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to
acquaint you that they have no intention of
altering their present arrangements, or of
making any others, that will require your

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

assistance, or force you to make the sacrifices
which you appear to contemplate.

I am, Sir,

Your most obedient, humble Servant,

H. G. WARD.

To Dr. King, 17, Savile Row.

With the view of inducing any of the
whaling ships, which resort to Davis Strait
and Baffin Bay, to make effort in search of
the expedition under the command of Sir
John Franklin, Lady Fr&nklin, on the 20th
March, 1848, offered £.1000 to any of the
whaling ships finding the above expedition
in distress, and an additional sum of £.1000
to any ship which should, at an early
period of the season, make extraordinary
exertions for the above object, and, if
required, bring Sir John Franklin and his
party to England.

I thought proper in consequence to
address Lady Franklin as follows ; —

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

17, Savile Bow, 29fA March, 1848.

Madam, — I have just read your offer to
the Northern Whalers for the relief of Sir
John Franklin, and as you may perhaps be
aware I have taken a great interest in the
subject, I hope you will excuse my saying
that your offer is altogether out of the
question. It will not be accepted either
for its value or for its soundness of judg-
ment. You have been very ill-advised.

If you had offered £.1000 for an expedi-
tion down the Great Fish River, and
another £.1000 for an expedition down the
Coppermine Eiver, a large portion of the
coast line might have been searched in the
summer of 1 849®, a year in advance of Sir
John Richardson's Land Journey ; and if
not altogether in advance of Sir James
Ross' Sea Expedition, at all events about
the same time the gallant officer will be en
route ; for as a searching party he leads a
" forlorn hope." And if such an offer had
been made a month only ago, the whole
coast line from the Coppermine River to the

^ The Franklin Expedition was alive in 1850.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

ppii.

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Western Land of North Somerset might have
been searched by the close of this summer
(1848).

I have the honour to be, &c.,

KICHAED KING.

Lady Franklin.

Although I labou.jd in favour of a land
journey by the Greal Fish River altogether
in vain, an amount of effort, in search of
The Franklin Expedition, was made by the
Admiralty, highly creditable to them but
for the manifest incompleteness of that
effort, — the search which I proposed
between the Coppermine and Great Fish
Rivers not forming a part. The search
comprised three distinct expeditions. At
the same time that Sir James Ross was
dispatched by the Atlantic to penetrate
through Lancaster Sound, into the Polar
Sea from East to West, Captain Moore
was sent by the Pacific, through Behring
Strait, to pL^ugh that sea of ice in the
opposite direction ; — and Sir John Richard-
son was charged with a land journey

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

to search the polar coast between the
Mackenzie and the Coppermine Rivers.

As to results, it would not be necessary to
allude to the effort through Behring Strait,
were it not to bring into notice the exer-
tions of an officer who has earned for himself
in polar research, a n^^me for talent and
enterprise that calls fo.th our highest ad-
miration. I allude to Lieut. Bedford Pim,
R.N.^^ who learnt in this barren field his
first lesson in polar discovery.

The effort of Sir John Richardson, though
ably conducted as far as it went, was only
in part carried out, and thus yielded no
fruit. Nor could, in fact. Sir John Richard-
son be expected to gather fruit when he
had a bias, " with respect to the Great Fish
" River. He did not think, under any
" circumstances, Sir John Franklin Would
" attempt that route."

I wish I could say one kind word for
Sir James Ross, for it was to his search,
following as it did in the wake of The
Franklin Expedition, that the nation, nay,
the whole world, was looking for success.

^^ This gallant officer is now in the Baltic, in com-
mand of the Magpie gun-boat.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

((

I cannot. If ever one man sacrificed
another, Sir James Ross sacrificed Sir John
Franklin, and not only Sir John Franklin,
but one hundred and thirty-seven noble
hearts with him. Sir James Ross, like
Sir John Richardson, started with a bias
against The Franklin Expedition being at
the Great Fish River. " I cannot conceive,"
he says, " any position in which they could
be placed from which they would make
for the Great Fish River; — they would
assuredly endeavour to reach Lancaster
" Sound"." This is stated in a letter
addressed to the Admiralty against my
views of the position of The Franklin
Expedition, and of the mode of affording it
relief; denying in vulgar language the whole
of my premises, and, thus iU-conditioned,
Sit James Ross rushed headlong upon a
shoal and wrecked himself at once and for
ever.

Addressing Lord Auckland as First Lord
of the Admiralty, Sir John Ross, the uncle,
says, on the eve of the departure of Sir
James Ross, the nephew, " he can have no

" Return to an address of the House of Commons,
ordered to be printed 13th April, 1848.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

" intention of searching for Sir John
«' Franklin, his object is the ' Passage,' by
" surveying the western coast of North
" Somerset." His Lordship replied, " I
" shall take care of that and order him to
" the north shore of Barrow Strait, and his
" second in command to the western shore
" of North Somerset. Lo' i Auckland in
" his orders was as good as his word.
" Nevertheless Sir James Ross, as I had
" anticipated, found an excuse to occupy
" the ground laid out for his second in
" command (from whom he kept the
" orders secret), in direct violation of the
" Admiralty instructions^*.

" By an extraordinary amount of delay,
" hitherto unaccounted for, he lost the
chances offered by his first season, and
in his second season his puny efforts,
compared with the necessities of the case,
are too contemptible to invite criticism,
and but for the stern and tragic asso-
ciations of the expedition, miglit provoke
ridicule. It is melancholy to contemplate

((

^^ " NaiTative, &c., of Sir John Ross," Longman,
London, 1855, p. 3?J.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

((

" this most deplorable beginning of a series
" of unsuccessful e" editions which have
cost the country t. . expenditure of a
vast treasure, and uniformly led to
failure and disappointment. If we had
nothing more to complain of than the
mere sacrifice of treasure, it would
be a matter of little consequence, but
when it is recollected, as subsequent
discoveries have shewn, that at least a
portion, and an important one, of the
party of Sir John Franklin was wandering
" within 150 miles of Sir James Koss'
" Expedition, on the brink of famine, and
" probably worn out by disease, calamity,
" and fatigue, it is impossible not to regard
" this parsimonious exercise of effort and
" fatal loss of time as one of the greatest
" calamities that has ever befallen our
" happy country*''.

On the return of Sir James Eoss the
sympathies of the whole world were
aroused to the fate of The Franklin Expedi-
tion. A weak Government was no longer
to be trusted " with the lives of men who

" " Narrative, &c., of Sir John Ross," Longman,
London, 1855, p. 32.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

" nobly perilled everything in the cause of
" national — nay, of universal progress and
" knowledge ;— of men who evinced in this
" and other expeditions the most dauntless
" bravery that any men can evince^*." Thus
three private expeditions were dispatched
in command of Sir John Koss and Com-
mander Forsyth, on behalf of the British
public; and Lieutenant De Haven, on
behalf of the citizens of the United States.
And because of this voluntary effort tlie
Admiralty, parsimonious at first to a fault,
ran riot, and dispatched a whole fleet ; not,
however, upon a basis of action, but all in
one direction, in the very opposite direction
to that clearly pointed out by the recent
search ; — in the direction. Sir John Franklin,
if he had obeyed orders, was not to be found.
The Investigator, Captain M'Clure, and the
Enterprise, Captain CoUinson, were dis-
patched by Behring Strait. The Resolute,
Captain Austin; the Assistance, Captain Om-
manney; the Intrepid, Lieutenant Cator;
the Pioneer, Lieutenant Osborne ; the Lady
Franklin, Captain Penny ; and the Sophia^

" Athenaeum.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Captain Stewart; were dispatched by
Barrow Strait. Again the Polar coast line
between the Coppermine and the Great
Fish Rivers was left out of the search;
for the second time, therefore, I addressed
the Secretary of the Admiralty, —

17, Savile Bow, 18«/» February, \^^(S.

Sir, — The period having arrived when a
search may be made for The Franklin Expe-
dition by an overland journey across the
continent of America, I am anxious to refer
my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty,
for reconsideration, to my plan, dated
February 1848, and published in a return
to an address of the honourable the House
of Commons of the 2 1st of March fol-
lowing.

The opinion of Captain Sir Edward
Parry, published in that return, was highly
favourable to the position I assigned to the
lost expedition, — the Western Land of North
Somerset, and to the moH*^ in which I pro-
posed to reach it (by the Great Fish River);
but the gallant and intrepid officer, " agree-
" ing thus far, was compelled to differ with

mm;-'

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

'* me as to the readiest mode of reaching
'* that coast, because he felt satisfied that
" with the resources of the expedition then
" equipping under Sir James Ross, the
" energy, skill, and intelligence of that
** officer would render it a matter of no
" very diflicult enterprise to examine the
" coast in question with his ships, boats, or
" travelling parties."

In the plan to which I am now asking
their Lordships* reconsideration, this ques-
tion, which I premised might be raised, is
thus argued by me : — " Does the attempt of
" Sir James Ross to reach the Western Land
" of North Somerset in boats from his
" station in Barrow Strait, render that pro-
" posal unnecessary 1 (to reach the Western
" Lane, of North Somerset by the Great
" Fish River.) Here facts will speak for
" themselves : 1st, Barrow Strait was
" ice-bound in 1832 ; it may therefore be
" ice-bound in 1848. 2nd, Sir James Ross is
" using the same means to relieve Sir John
Franklin which led the gallant officer
into difficulty; the relief party may,
therefore, become a party in distress.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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" 3rd, The land that is made on the south
" shore of Barrowj Strait will be of doubtful
character, the natural consequence of
discovery in ships; the searching party,
at the end of the summer, may therefore
find they have been coasting an island
many miles distant from the Western Land
of North Somerset, or navigating a deep
bay, as Kotzebue navigated the sound
" named after him, and as Sir John Franklin
" navigated the sea called Melville Sound.
" The plan which I have proposed is, to
" reach the Polar Sea across the Continent
" of America, and thus to proceed from
" land known to be continent, where each
footstep is sure. If that plan be laid
aside, the lives of our lost countrymen
will depend upon a single throw, in the
*' face of almost certain failure."

This only difference between Sir Edward
Parry and myself, in 1848, is now, in 1850,
at an end. Barrow Strait was ice-bound.
The single throw fell far short of its mark.
Captain Sir James Ross failed in afford-
ing the least succour to the lost Expedition
and I am thus spared the painful necessity

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

of replying to the gallant officer's remarks
expressed to their Lordships, in no mea-
sured terms, upon that plan which, in fact,
Sir Edward Parry has done for me, — the plan
of one who learnt his lesson in active dis-
covery in an overland journey in search of
the gallant officer when the whole civilised
world was as anxious for his fate as it is
now for the gallant Sir John Franklin.

All that has been done by way of search
since February 1848, tends to draw attention
closer and closer to the West Land of North
Somerset as the position of Sir John
Franklin, and to the Great Fish River as
the high road to reach it. Such a plan as I
proposed to their Lordships in 1848 is con-
sequently of the utmost importance. It
would be the happiest moment of my life —
(and my delight at being selected from a
long list of volunteers for the relief of Sir
John Ross was very great) — if their Lord-
ships would allow me to go by my old
route, the Great Fish River, to attempt to
save human life a second time on the shores
of the Polar Sea. What I did in search of

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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life.?.

Sir John Ross is the best earnest of what I
could do in search of Sir John Franklin.

That the route by the Great Fish River
will sooner or later be undertaken, in search
of Sir John Franklin, I have no doubt.
That high road to the land where I have
all along maintained Sir John Franklin
would be found, and in which opinion I am
now associated with many others, including
Sir Edward Parry himself, cannot much
longer be neglected. For some time
past it has been the cry, even in the
highest official quarters, that the Govern-
ment will not again attempt the discovery
of the North-west Passage, and the fate
of Sir John Franklin is invariably referred
to as an example of the fruitlessness of
such an attempt.

The fruitlessness of Sir John Franklin's
attempt ought not to discredit the service
in which he is engaged, but rather to
awaken us to the grievous error com-
mitted in the instructions which he received,
and upon which it is impossible to look
back without the most painful feelings.

FBOM FIRST TO LAST.

The gallant officer is, in fact, instructed
to lead a " forlorn hope." The discovery of
the North-west Passage is the certain result
of 80 overwhelming a catastrophe.

In the absence of authentic information
of the fate of the gallant band of adventurers,
the terra incognita of the North Coast of
North America will not only be traced, but
minutely surveyed, and the solution of the
problem of centuries will engage the marked
attention of the House of Commons and the
Legislative Assemblies in other parts of the
world. The problem is very safe in their
hands, so safe, indeed, that I venture to
assert five years will not elapse before it is
solved**.

I may be allowed to state, in urging my
claims to conduct an expedition down the
Great Fish River, whenever such a service
is determined by their Lordships, that, in
addition to my intimate knowledge of that
stream, I persisted, single-handed, for
several years prior to the discovery, in
maintaining the existence of three most

^' The North- West Passage problem was solved by
Captain M'Clure in 1853

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THE FBAKKL1N EXPEDITION

important features of the Northern Coast of
North America, — the Peninsula of North
Somerset, — the Great Bay of Simpson, — and
Cape Britannia, all of which are now
established geographical facts.

I have the honour to be, &c.,

KICHARD KING.

Admiralty, 26th February, 1850,

Sir, — Having laid before my Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty your letter oi
the 18th instant, stating your plan for
affording relief to the Expedition under Sir
John Franklin, I am commanded by their
Lordships to thank you for the same, but I
am to acquaint you that they must decline
the offer of your services.

I am. Sir,

Your very humble Servant,

W. B. HAMILTON.

Dr. Kino, 17, Savile Row.

And here I had to take my stand*

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

The Athenaum, ever ready to lend a
helping hand to The Franklin Expedition,
sent forth to the fleet of explorers in the
Arctic sea this touching appeal : —

" There is something intensely in-
" teresting in the picture of those dreary
" seas, amid whose strange and unspeak-
" able solitudes our lost countrymen have
" been somewhere imprisoned for so many
" years, swarming with the human life that
" is risked to set them free. No hunt was
" ever so exciting — so full of a wild
" grandeur and a profound pathos — as that
" which has just aroused the Arctic echoes ;
" that wherein their brothers and com-
panions have been beating for the track
by which they may rescue the lost
mariners from the icy grasp of the genius
of the North. Fancy these men in their
adamantine prison, wherever it may be —
chained up by the Polar spirit, whom
they had dared — lingering through years
of cold and darkness on the stunted ration
that scarcely feeds the blood, and the
feeble hope that scarcely sustains the
heart, — and then imagine the rush of
emotions to greet the first cry from that

((

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I; I

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

" wild hunting ground which shall reach
" their ears ! Through many summers has
*' that cry been listened for, no doubt.
" Something like an expectation of the
" rescue, which it should announce, has
" revived with each returning season of
" comparative light, to die of its own
*' baffled intensity as long as the dark

months once more settled down upon

their dreary prison house."

The results of the fleet of vessels sent
forth in 1850 are briefly told. Commander
Forsyth and Lieutenant De Haven were
altogether unsuccessful ; thej' failed in
establishmg even a wintering, and merely
made the voyage to the Polar Sea and back.
Sir John Ross secured his wintering, and
that is all. Captain Austen, however, on
on his arrival at winter quarters in Barrow
Strait, set vigorously to work, and planned a
winter search for The Franklin Expedition
upon a scale equal to the emergency, upon
a system of organization which reflects the
highest credit upon this distinguished
officer, now actively engaged as Captain-
Superintendent of Deptford Dockyard.
Both in conception and execution the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Austen Winter Search for The Franklin
Expedition will ever Torm an epoch in Polar
History. Travelling parties in sledges over
the ice, searched far and wide along the
shores of Barrow Strait and Wellington
Channel, and as far West as Melville
Island ; but not a trace of the lost adven-
turers was discovered. The Parry Sand-
stone, the Post Office of the North Pole,
was examined but no record found. The
Franklin Expedition had not been there.

This is not the place to give the natural
historical knowledge brought to light by
the gallant officers charged with carrying
out Captain Austen's noble errand of mercy.
The future historian of the North Pole
will have that pleasure. He will not fail
to recognise in Mr. Bradford, and Lieu-
tenants Osborne and M'Clintock, men of
unbounded energy and resource. That The
Franklin Expedition " died of official pig-
headedness and Admiralty neglect^** " was
not their fault.

Captain Penny has the merit of having
discovered Sir John Franklin's first win-
tering in 1846-7, at Beechy Island. He

15 Atlas, 28th October, 1854.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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first found the trail, but " what of the
weary feet that made it? 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 heavi 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 — its wan-
" derers would have been restored.
Another year makes a frightful difference
in the odds; and we do not think the
public will ever feel satisfied with what
has been done 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^«.' "

It is difficult, at this stage of the proceed-
ings to understand how the Admiralty could
have possibly gone wrong. Captain Austen's
thorough but fruitless exploration from
Barrow Strait to Melville Island, in the

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FROM FIRST TO LAST.

wake of The Franklin Expedition, had closed
the search in that direction, and Sir James
Ross's perversion of his errand of mercy had
left open the search in the direction of the
Great Fish River. But the Admiralty,
manifestly the most inefficient of all the
Government Boards, were determined to go
wrong ; and, goaded by an outward pressure,
for the English House of Commons and the
United States Congress had now taken up
the subject, called into existence an Arctic
Council to give a colouring to their own
acts and deeds ; the men appointed, with one
exception, having already pledged themselves
to particular views.
The Arctic Council comprised —

Sir Francis Beaufort.
Sir Edward Parry.
Sir John Richardson.
Sir James Ross.
Sir George Back.

Colonel Sabine.
Captain Hamilton.
Captain Bird.
Captain Beechy.
Mr. Barrow.

Of the Council of ten, to whom the
Admiralty, in their extremity, had com-
mitted the fate of the Franklin Expedition,
Captain Hamilton, Captain Bird, and Mr.
Barrow have not recorded their opinions.

Sir Francis Beavfort, — " If they had

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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" reached much to the South of Banks Land
" they would surely have communicated
" with the tribes on the Mackenzie. The
general conclusion is, that they are locked
up in the Archipelago, to the West of
" Melville Island."

Sir Edward Parry, — " We know Franklin
" did intend, if he could not get westward,
to go up Wellington Channel. We have
it from his own lips. My belief is still,
that, after the first winter, he did go up."
Sir John Richardson, — " With respect to
" the Great Fish River, he did not think,
" under any circumstances, Sir John
Franklin would attempt that route."
Sir James Boss, — " I cannot conceive any
position in which The Franklin Expedition
" could be placed, from which they would
" make for the Great Fish River; — they
" would assuredly endeavour to reach
" Lancaster Sound."

Sir George Back, addressing the Secretary
of the Admiralty, — " You will be pleased,
Sir, to impress on 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

((

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

" over the ice to any point of the mainland
" in the vicinity of the Great Fish River."

Colonel Sabine " conceived that the crewg
" may have been at length obliged to quit
" their ships and attempt a retreat, not
" towards the continent, because too distant,
" but to Melville Island."

Why were not Sir John Ross, Captain
Austen, Captain Penny, Mr. McCormick,
and myself, summoned to the Arctic Council,
and why was a seat in Council permitted to
Sir James Ross, and Sir George Back,
seeing that they were both committed ov( r
and over again to very grave errors ?

It is highly creditable to the intelligence
of Captain Beechy, that he alone took a
comprehensive view of the subject. The
gallant officer stated in 1847, "It would
" render the plan complete, if a boat could
" be sent down the Great Fish River to range
" the coast, to the eastward of its mouth.'*
Again, in 1849, " I am of opinion, that
" nothing should be neglected in the direc-
tion of the northern coast of America,
for it seems to me almost certain, that
" Sir John Franklin has abandoned his
'' ships and made for the continent."

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Sir Edward Parry gave a very different
opinion in 1847, to that which he gave as
member of the Arctic Council.

1847.
" The only plan which
appears to me to hold
out a reasonable prospect
of success is, by making
an effort to push supplies
to the northern coast of
Amerira, and by the
modes of travelling adopt-
ed by the Hudson Bay

1852.
'♦ We know Franklin
did intend, if he could
not get westward, to go
up Wellington Channel,
we have it from his own
lips. My belief is still
that, after the first win-
ter he did go up that
cbanneP."

Company"."

Dr. Rae took an opportunity to record
his opinion, and stepped out of his way to
do so. Giving a description of a journey
he was about to make in the direction of
the Great Fish River, he says, " I do not
" mention the lost navigators, as there is
" not the slightest hope of finding any
" traces of them in the quarter to which I

am going^^"

Sir John Barrow, in July 1847, says,

on the coast of North America, I should
" consider any inquiry unnecessary. The

" Narrative of Sir John Boss, Longman, p. 47.
" Blue Book. " Times, Oct. 11th, 1852.

((

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

" Hudson Bay Company have their stations
" 80 little removed from the sea-coast,
" and have so much intercourse with the
*' Indians and Esquimaux, and besides Sir
" John Franklin must have such a painful
" recollection of that coast, as to avoid it in
" the first instance, and if forced on it, to
" lose no time in quitting it."

If the Arctic Council ever made a Report,
the Admiralty never published it ; and that
good man, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, was
not in health to enforce it. As if to put an
end to a troublesome service — troublesome
only to the Admiralty Incapables — to a ser-
vice which has given birth to hordes of the
best sailors the world ever beheld, the Ad-
miralty now despatched, in search of The
Franklin Expedition, a fleet of four ships to
follow the exact course of Captain Austen
from Barrow Strait to Melville Island,
with the exception of the search by Welling-
ton Strait, left to a boat Expedition entrusted
to Dr. MfCormick; and placed in command
Sir Edward Belcher, an officer advanced
in years, who had spent a whole life in
proving himself to be the very last man fitted
for so honourable a service.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Sir Edward Belcher's Expedition was to
form itself into two divisions ; while the one
proceeded to Melville Island, the other was to
pass up Wellington Strait. Out of ^^^7 some-
times comes good ; so it was in this instance.
The Melville Island division, from a memo-
randum deposited in the cache at Melville
Island, called the Parry Sandstone^ learnt
that Captain McClure was hard fixed in the
ice, at a place called Mercy Bay, some dis-
tance to the westward ; and that he intended
to desert his ships and to divide his party —
one half to proceed to the Mackenzie River
and the other half to Lancaster Sound.

Fortunately there existed an officer of
sufficient energy of character and power of
CD'lurance to undertake one of the boldest
journeys that has ever been attempted at the
season of the year it was necessary to make
it, in order to spare Captain McClure the
awful tragedy that awaited so desperate an
attempt. Captain McClure says of this
journey of Lieutenant Bedford Pim —

*' All description mu'ii, fall below the reality. Only
imagine, if you can, a whole crew, which had to this
moment no idea of any ship but their own being within
the limit of these dreary regions, cut off from the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

world, their isolated situation (and in defiance of all
exertion), a little despondent, when accidentally a strange,
remarkable, and solitary figure is seen rapidly advancing,
shewing gesticulations of friendship similar to those used
by the Esquimaux, black as Erebus from the smoke
created by cooking in his tent. My surprise — I may
almost add, dismay — was great in the extreme. I paused
in my advance, who or what could it be, whether a deni-
zen of this or the other world ? However, the surprise
was momentary. • 1 am Lieutenant Bedford. Pim, late
of Herald'*.' And as the apparition was thus indubitably
discovered to be solid, real English flesh and blood, to
rush at and seize him by the hand was the first im-
pulsive gush of feeling. The heart was too full for the
tongue to articulate, as this dark stranger communicated
his errand of mercy."

The part which Sir Edward Belcher
played, was just what everybody clearly
anticipated; and, as getting rid of a ser-
vice which they were wholly incapable of
appreciating or managing, just what the
Admiralty evidently wanted. Not satisfied
with the destruction of all and everything

^ The gallant oflicer had served in the ' Herald ' in a
previous expedition in search of Franklin by way of
the Pacific, and, as ofiicer of the * Herald,' was almost
the last man seen by McClure when he entered the
Polar Sea. It was somewhat singular that he should
be also the first man seen by him upon his being about
to leave it.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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he had himself in charge, he insisted, as
superior officer, upon the entire destruction
of a)l and everything the gallant officer of
the second division had in charge. The
Resolute and Intrepid were abandoned 27
miles South-west of Cape Cockburn; the
Assistance and Pioneer 40 miles up Wel-
lington Channel ; the Investigator at Mercy
Bay — in all five ships, and at a time they
were most wanted.

Although Sir Edward Belcher had proved
himself a worthy associate of the Admiralty,
and had thus drugged 'John Bull* with his
favourite hobby of three centuries to the
very dregs — this unparalleled desertion of
five ships^^ in thorough condition, was far
too good a thing even for them. They
tried him by Court Martial, and returned
his sword in solemn silence, a lesson too
refined for the organisation of the man, yet
one that he will not soon forget.

Dr. M^.Cormlck had the special service to
trace the Wellington Channel of Barrow
Strait in relation to Smith and Jones Sounds
of the Atlantic, having long held the opinion

^^ Tliis was written before the discovery of the
' Resolute,' in Davis Straits, was known.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

these seas opened into the Polar Ocean.
The experience he had gained in former
voyages, not only to the North but to the
South Pole, led this hardy and gallant officer
to select for his vessel a whale boat, and for
his crew six men. Clothed by day in the
most simple attire, and covered by night
with a felt bag, into which each crept,
chrysalis-like, and a buffalo robe, and pro-
visioned for a month with the mere neceS'
saries of life, this little band embarked on
the 19th of August, 1852, on their adven-
turous errand. Commencing at Beechy
Island, of Barrow Strait, the coast line of
the eastern shore of the Wellington Channel
was minutely examined, and several bays
and headlands named as far as the northern
extremity of Baring Bay, called Point
Owen, without finding a tracing of The
Franklin Expedition. The journey through-
out v/as one of great difficulty ; the launch-
ing of the ' Forlorn Hope,' the name he
gave to his little frail boat, over the drift
ice off Lovell Point, at the very commence-
ment of the journey, and subsequently the
running it under the lee of two icebergs
a-ground, to save it from foundering under

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

a heavy sea, touchingly illustrated by wood-
cuts from his own pencil on the spot, clearly
demonstrate his practised hand in Arctic
travelling. He had the satisfaction of
determining that no communication existed
between Baring Bay and Jones Sound.
" In the history of physical science it is
generally admitted that, though our
highest praises may be awarded to suc-
" cessful endeavour, we shall not fail to
give honour due to courageous and well-
meant exertion, which may fail in reaching
the wished-for goal. To dare peril and
death in the attempt to find a North-East
or a North-West Passage, or to penetrate
into the interior of Africa, is to establish
a claim to public respect and gratitude.
It is something even to shew that in this
or that direction no pathway is to be
" found'^"

He proposed, while still at Beechy Island,
to explore Smith Sound, if Sir Edward
Belcher would place at his disposal the
yacht Mary, and a gutta percha boat lying
useless on the spot, the crew of the Forlorn
Hope having again volunteered to be his

^ Quarterly Review for October 1845, page 108.

((

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((

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

travelling party; a proposal, however,
which the gallant Commander declined.
Considering the importance of Smith Sound
and that on the spot existed the means
of exploring it — a vessel lying useless,
a volunteer crew, an intrepid Commander,
possessing indomitable perseverance, and
combining the special qualifications of sea-
manship and medical knowledge, larely
found united — it is deeply to be regretted
that Dr. M^Cormick was not permitted to
make the survey*®.

Sir Edward Belcher passed rapidly up
the Wellington Channel to an expanse of
islet-covered sea, named by Lim Northum-
larland Sound, where he wintered. A
sledging party in the winter visited the
western division of the expedition at Mel-
ville Island, and thus Sir Edward Belcher
became acquainted with the discovery of
the North- West Passage.

The discovery that Jones Sound forr^.ed
an outlet of the Polar Sea into the Atlantic

^ Dr. Kane, when this was written, had not dis-
covered Smith Sound to be the inlet into a vast Polar
Sea of 3000 square miles. He had not even contem-
plated making the survey.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

was the main feature of Sir Edward Belcher's
labours.

A mere accident brought McClure to the
North- West Passage; a mere accident
brought the Admiralty face to face with The
Franklin Expedition. Murder will out,
though hidden for a time at the bottom of a
well, and thus the Admiralty, to whose safe
keeping all that was mortal of the gallant
Franklin and his devoted followers was
entrusted by this great nation, stood aghast
before 138 souls, and gave up the ghost.
Thus annihilated, they had not even the
decency to dispatch an officer of known
ability to bury the remains, bleaching under
the canopy of heaven, on the bank of the
Great Fish River, but left the Hudson
Bay Company to perform this sad office;
and almost the last act of Sir James Graham's
political existence was, to play Great Ghost
on the melancholy occasion. What a
blessing has Admiral Sir Charles Napier
conferred upon the nation if he has really
" smashed " this ex-minister, as he says he
has, — " no officer of honour and character
" is safe in his hands^*."

" Sir Charles Napier in " Times " of IStli March, 1865.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Vr. Baes Report to the
Admiralty.

"Repulse Bat, July
19, 1854. — During my
journey over the ice and
snows this spring, with
the view of completuig
the survey of the west
coast of Boothia, I met
>vith Esquimaux in Pelly
Bay, from on^ of whom
I learnt that a party of
* white men' (Kabloonans)
had perished from want
of food, some distance to
the westward, and not far
beyond a large river con-
taining many falls and
rapids. Subsequently,
further particulars were
received and a number
of articles purchased,
which places the fate of
a portion, if not of all, of
the then survivors of Sir
John Franklin's long-lost
party beyond a doubt — a
fate as terrible as the
imagination can con-
ceive." The substance
of the information ob-

Dr. Rae's Report to the
Hudson Bay Company.

'* York Factoky, Aug.
4, 1854. — I arrived here
on the 31st ult., with
my small party, in excel-
lent health, but I am
sorry to say without
having effected our object.
At the same time, infor-
mation has been obtained
and articles purchased
from the natives, which
places the fate of a por-
tion, if not all, the then
survivors of Sir John
Franklin's miserable par-
ty beyond a doubt — a fate
the most deplorable —
death from starvation,
after having had recourse
to cannibalism as a means
of prolonging life. I
reached my old quarters
at Eepulse Bay, on the
15thof August, 1853, and
by the end of September,
109 deer, 1 musk ox, 54
brace of ptarmigan, and
one seal had been shot,
and the nets produced

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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tained at various times
and from various sources,
■was as follows : —

" In the spring, four
winters past (spring
1860), a party of 'white
men,' amounting to about
40, wore seen travelling
southward over the ice
and dragging a boat with
them by some Esqui-
maux, who were killing
seals near the north shore
of King William Land,
which is a large island.
None of the party could
speak the Esquimaux
language intelligibly, but
by signs the natives were
made to understand that
their ship, or ships, had
been crushed by the ice,
and that they were now
going to where they ex-
pected to find deer to
shoot. From the ap-
pearance of the men, all
of whom except one offi-
cer looked thin, they were
then supposed to be
getting short of provi-
sions, and they pur-

190 salmon. OntheSlst
of March 1854, my spring
journey commenced, but
in consequence of gales
of wind, deep and soft
snow, and foggy weather,
we made but very little
progress. We did not
enter Pelly Bay until the
17th. At this place we
met with Esquimaux, one
of whom, on being asked
if he ever saw white
people, replied in the
negative, but said that a
large party (at least 40
persons) had perished
from want of food some
10 or 12 days' journey to
the westward. The sub-
stance of the information
obtained at various times
and from various sources
was as follows r —

" In the spring four
winters past (spring
1850), a party of white
men, amounting to about
40, were seen travelling
southward over the ice,
and dragging a boat with
them, by some Esqui-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

101

le 31st ■

chased a small seal from

spring H

the natives. At a later

-A, but H

date the same season,

f gales ^1

but previously to the

id soft ■■

breaking up of tlie ice,

reather, ^m

the bodies of bome 30

y little H

persons were discovered

lid not ^H

on the continent, and five

ntil the ^H

on an island near it,

lace we ^M

about a long day's jour-

lux, one ^M

ney to the N. W. of a

g asked ^M

large stream, which can

r white ^H

be no other than Great

in the ^m

Fish River (named by

d that a ^1

the Esquimaux Oot-ko-

east 40 ^1

hi-ca-lik), as its de-

)erished ^H

scription and that of the

)d some ^m

low shore in the neigh-

imey to ^H

bourhood of Point Ogle

'he sub- ^1

and Montreal Island agree

rmation ^H

exactly with that of Sir

us times ^m

George Back. Some of

sources ^1

the bodies had been

buried (probably those of

iDg four ^m

the first victims of fa-

(spring ■

mine); some were in a

of white H

tent or tents; others

to about H

under the boat, which

rayelliug H

had been turned over to

the ice, H

form a shelter, and several

)oat with H

lay scattered about in

Esqui- H

difi'erent directions. Of

maux, who were killing
seals on the north shore
of King William Land,
which is a large island,
named Kei-ik-tak by the
Esquimaux. None of
the party could speak the
native language intelli-
gibly, but, by signs, the
natives were made to
understand that their
ships or ship had been
crushed in the ice, and
that the ' whites' were
now going to where they
expected to find deer to
shoot. From the appear-
ance of the men, all of
whom, except one officer
(chief) looked thin, they
were supposed to be get-
ting short of provisions,
and they purchased a
small seal from the na-
tives. At a later date of
the season, but previous
to the disruption of the
ice, the bodies ^2 about
30 white persons were
discovered on the conti-
nent, and five on an
island near it, about a

i„

|li 1

I 3

102

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

those found on the island
one was supposed to have
been an officer, as he had
a telescope strapped over
his shoulders and his
double-barrel gun lay
underneath him. From
the mutilated state of
many of the corpses and
the contents of the ket-
tles, it is evident that
our wretched countrymen
had been driven to the
last resource — canniba-
lism — as a means of pro-
longing existence. There
appeared to have been an
abundant stock of ammu-
nition, as the powder was
emptied in a heap on the
ground by the natives out
of the kegs or cases con-
taining it ; and a quan-
tity of ball and shot was
found below high-water
mark, having probably
been left on the ice close
to the beach. There
must have been a number
of watches, compasses,
telescopes, guns (several
double-barrellod), &c., all

long day's journey (say
36 or 40 miles) to the
north-west of a large
stream, which can be
no other than Great
Fish Eiver, (named by
the Esquimaux Out-
koo-hi-ca-lik) as its de-
scription and that of the
low shore in the neigh-
bourhood of Point Ogle
and Montreal Island
agree exactly with that of
Sir George Back. Some
of the bodies had been
buried (probably those of
the first victims of fa-
mine), some were in a
tent or tents, others
under a boat that had
been turned over to form
a shelter, and several lay
scattered about in differ-
ent directions. Of those
found on the island, one
was supposed to have
been an officer, as he
had a telescope strapped
over his shoulder and his
double barrelled gun lay
underneath him. From
the mutilated state of

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

103

of which appear to have
been broken up, as I
saw pieces of these differ-
ent articles with the Es-
quimaux, and, together
with some silver spoons
and forks, purchased as
many as I could get. A
list of the most important
of these I enclose, with
a rough sketch of the
crests and initials on the
forks and spoons. The
articles themselves shall
be handed over to the
Secretary of the Hon.
Hudson Bay Company
on my arrival in London.
None of the Esquimaux
with whom I conversed
had seen the 'whites,'
nor had they ever been
at the place where the
bodies were found, but
had their information
from those who had been
there and who had seen
the party when travel-
ling.

"One sUver table fork-
crest, an animal's head with
wings, extended above ; three

many of the corpses and
the contents of the ket-
tles, it is evident that
our miserable countrymen
had been driven to the
last resource — canniba-
lism — as a means of
prolonging life. There
appears to have been an
abundant stock of ammu-
nition, as the powder was
emptied in a heap on
the ground by the na-
tives out of the kegs or
cases containing it, and a
quantity of ball and shot
were found below high
water mark, having been
left on the ice close to
the beach. There must
have been a number of
watches, telescopes, com-
passes, guns (several dou-
ble barrelled), &c. all of
which appear to have
been broken up, as I saw
pieces of tiiese different
articles with the Esqui-
maux, and together with
some silver spoons and
forks, purchased as many
as I could obtain. A

:H.

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104

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

silver tabk forks — crest, a bird
with wings extended; one
silver table Hpodn — crest, with
initials 'F. R. M. C (Captain
Crozier, Terror).

" One silver table spoon
and one fork — crest, bird with
laurel branch in mouth,
inutto, * Spero meliora.'

" One silver table spoon,
one tea-spoon, and one dessert
fork — crest, a fish's head
looking upwards, with laurel
branches on each side.

*' One silver table fork —
initials, 'H. D. S. 0.' (Harry
D. S. Goodsir, assistant-sur-
geon, Erebus).

'* One silver table fork —
initials, • A. M'D.' (Alexan-
der M'Donald, assistant-sur-
geon, Terror).

" One silver table fork —
initials, ' G. A. M.' (Gillies
A. Macbean, second master.
Terror).

" One silver table fork —
initials, 'J. T.'

" One silver dessert spoon
—initials, • J. S. P.' (John S.
Peddie, surgeon, Erebus.

" One round silver plate,
engraved, * Sir John Franidin,

list of the most impor-
tant of these I enclose,
with a rough pen-and-ink
sketch of the crests and
initials on the forks and
spoons. The articles
themselves shall be
handed over to the se-
cretary of the H. B.
Company, on ray arri-
val in London. None
of the Esquimaux with
whom I conversed had
seen the * whites,' nor
had they ever heen at
the place where the dead
were found, but had their
information from those
who had been there, and
those who had seen the
party when alive. From
the head of Pelly Bay—
which is a bay, spite of
Sir F. Beaufort's opinion
to the contrary, I crossed
60 miles of land in a
westerly direction, traced
the west shore from Cas-
tor and Pollux River to
Cape Porter of Sir James
Ross, and I could have
got within 30 or 40 miles

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

105

K.C.B.' ; a star or order, with
motto, ^ Nee aapera terrent,
G. R. Ill , MDCCCV.'

" Also a number of other

articles witli no marks by

which they could be recog-

nisedi

••John Rae."

of Bellot Strait, but I
thought it useless pro-
ceeding further, as I
could not complete the
whole. We arrived at
Repulse Bay on the 26th
May. •'JoH« Rae."

That The Franklin Expedition had died
to a man was not for a moment doubted,
but that "our wretched countrymen had
" been driven to the last resource — canni-
" balism — as a means of prolonging
" existence," was wholly rejected. The,
" Times " and the " Exuininer " not only
expressed their own doubt upon this part of
Dr. Rae's narrative, but admitted into their
columns the following letters, which I
reprint because it drew forth from Dr. Rae
a reply, to which I felt bound to give a
rejoinder.

To the Editor of the " Times"

" Sir, — Although the opinions which I
" hold on the subject of Dr. Eae's report
" go something beyond what you yourself
" have expressed, I trust that you will allow
" this letter to appear in your paper, if it is

' *

H-

106

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

(n,

a
a

((
((

((
((
((

((

((
((
((
((
({

c;
a

only for the purpose of eliciting the senti-
ments of others on a matter in which I
am peculiarly interested — having had a
brother on board Her Majesty's ship
Terror.

" It appears to me that Dr. Eae has been
deeply reprehensible either in not veri-
fying the report which he received from
the Esquimaux, or, if that was absolutely
out of the question, in publishing the
details of that report, resting, as they do,
on grounds most weak and unsatisfactory.
He had far better have kept silence alto-
gether than have given us a story which,
while it pains the feelings of many, must
be very insufficient for all.
" To say nothing of the difficulties which,
in your article of Thursday, you have
touched upon, there are others which
seem to nie so patent that I can only
wonder they did not occur to Dr. Kae
himself.

" 1. Where the Esquimaux can live-
where Dr. Rae's party could find abundant
means — what should have prevented Sir
John Franklin and his party from sub-
sisting too ?

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

107

" 2. When they were forced — as, no
doubt, they have been — to abandon their
ships, can any one believe that they would
have encumbered themselves with forks
and spoons and silver plates, instead of
reserving every inch of available space
for stores and articles absolutely necessary
for subsistence 1

" 3. Supposing that they died by starva-
tion, is it likely that a large body of men
would have died all together"? Would
they not have yielded one by one, each
struggling on as far as he could, in the
hope of either finding some store of pro-
visions or meeting some party sent out for
their rescue 1

" I, Sir, for one, have long given up all
expectation of seeing my brother again in
this world. But there are many who
still cling to the hope of regaining their
relations. My own belief is, that the ships
have been abandoned and plundered by
Esquimaux. I would only persuade my-
self that I am not compelled to believe
the painful details which Dr. Kae has
most unwarrantably published. But others
believe that the crews may yet be sub-

I. 11

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I ^,

M**

i< ■■ ri

. ■»

tM*-i

■ ' ' 'h

I Iris

108

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

((

sisting somewhere, and, until Dr. Rae's
report be verified, they will not part with
their belief for anything which he has
" said. I enclose my card, and am,

" Sir, your obedient servant,

" E. J. H.

♦* October iiQ."

To the Editor of the " Examiner^

Sir, — In your remarks upon Dr. Rae's
report, you say that you limit your belief
to the proofs of identity and death.
Anxious for a gleam of consolation, I am
strongly impelled to a more favourable
conclusion. Accepting the whole story
of the Esquimaux who were in possession
of the property of the exploring party
(but who, it will be observed, never saw
them, alive or dead), we find that Franklin
abandoned his ships, both at the same
time., so leisurely as to carry out plate
and a large quantity of books; that he
travelled with a boat, but was short of
provisions, and bought one seal — (' a small
' seal' amongst forty men) — yet suffered the
natives to leave him ; that his party were

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

109

. Kae's ■

rt with H

((

tie has I

((

* ^' 1

((

■

((

r. Eae's H

((

ir belief H

death. B

1, I am ■

ourable H

((

[e story H

ssession H

((

g party H

iver saw H

I'ranklin H

16 same H

it plate H

that he H

short of H

((

'a small 1

feredthe H

rty were H

((

afterwards found by the Esquimaux (same
tribe) lying dead on the ground for want
of food (although the Esquimaux had
kept body and soul together). That they
had been eating dead bodies (it does not
appear they killed anyone for the purpose),
but only to a limited extent, and not
seriatim and methodically down to the
last man ; that they had fuel and fire, and
were still carrying about with them their
plate, a large quantity of books, and am-
munition. I make no comment on a story
so inconsistent.

" The only fact we have proof of is the
identity of the property, which happily
dismisses from our minds the fearful catas-
trophe so wonderfully escaped by other
Arctic navigators— their instantaneous
destruction in the ice — ships and crew
without a vestige. Dr. Rae's report
therefore affords, I think, some ground
for hope. Franklin may be considered
to have had ample stock of food when he
abandoned the ship, the stock brought
out being actually husbanded in those
regions where fresh provisions are met
with, and that great man's knowledge of

ii-t^

'=«.

.1.

'p^ i

THF. FRANKLIN iSXPEDITION

his business is a security for the rest. His
former perilous position, referred to in
your remarks, is not a case in point. Is
it not the more rational conclusion that
the Esquimaux plundered the ships, and
that the round silver dish of Sir John
Franklin's was found there ratl.3r than
on his person, when wandering. Heaven
krows whither, without food, or any
si« ierfluous strength to carry such gear?
Should you think these suggestions worth
insertion, perhaps they may lead to others
from better-informed quarters, calculated
to confirm the hope which I fondly

cherish.

" Lichfield, October 31." " S."

(,6

((

6fc

n the Editor of the " Times:'

" Sir, — On looking over your paper this
morning I was deeply pained and not a
little surprised at some remarks in a letter
purporting to come from a brother of one
of the officers of the unfortunate expedition
under Sir John Franklin. The writer, in
the first place, says * that Dr. Rae has been
' deeply reprehensible for not verifying the
' report of the Esquimaux, and for pub-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Ill

His ■

((

to in H

t. Is I

1 that H

9, and H

((

John H

r than H

[eayen H

((

r any H

((

gear \ H

worth H

others K

3ulated H

fondly H

((

er this H

not a H

a letter H

((

of one H

edition H

iter, in H

((

as been H

ing the H

)r pub' ■

' lishing his report without verification ;

* that he should have kept silence altogether

* and not have excited such painful feelings
' in many persons on such insufficient

♦ grounds.' To have verified the reports
which I brought home would, I believe,
have been no difficult matter, but it could
not possibly be done by my party in any
other way than by passing another winter
at Repulse Bry, and making another
journey over the ice and snow in the spring
of 1855. My reason for returning from
Repulse Bay without having effected the
survey I had contemplated was, to prevent
the risk of more valuable lives being
sacrificed in a useless search in portions of
the Arctic Seas, hundreds of miles distant
from the sad scene where so many of the
long-lost party terminated. It is stated
by your correspondent, ' where Esquimaux
' can live — where Dr. Rae's party could

• find abundant means — what should
' prevent Sir John Franklin and his party
' from subsisting too 1 * No man but one
perfectly unacquainted with the subject
could ask such a question. That portion
of country near to, and on which a portion

»- '»

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112

THE FBANKLIN EXPEDITION

((
((

(

((
((

((

of Sir John Franklin's party was seen, is,
in the spring, notoriously the most barren
of animal life of any of the Arctic shores,
and the few deer that may be seen are
generally very shy from having been
hunted during the winter by Indians on
the borders of the woodlands. Again,
your correspondent says, ' the ships have
' been abandoned and pillaged by the
' Esquimaux.' In this opinion I perfectly
agree, as far as the abandonment of the
ships, but not that these ships were pil-
laged by the natives. Had this been the
case, wood would have been abundant
among these poor people. It was not so,
and they were reduced to the necessity of
making their sledges of musk-ox skins,
folded up and frozen together — an alter-
native to which the want of wood could
alone have reduced them. It may be as
well here to state, for the information of
your correspondent and others, that the
Hudson Bay Company have, in the most
kind manner, permitted me to devote my
whole time, as long as requisite, to satisfy
the questions, as far as in my power, and
to reply to communications from the rela-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

113

u
((

((
u
u
((
u
u
((
u
u

tives and friends of the long-missing party,
instead of to complete my chart and write
up the report of my expedition for their
information. I trust that any of the rela-
tives of the lost navigators who may, in
future, wish to make severe remarks on
the mode in which I have acted, in the
very perplexing position in which I was
placed, will first do me the favour of
communicating with me, and, if I cannot
satisfy their doubts, it will then be quite
time enough to make their opinions public.
" October 30." " JOHN RAE.

To the Editor of the Examiner.

Sir, — The letter signed " S," and the
letter of Dr. Rae, quoted by you in answer,
deserve from me a few comments.

Dr. Rae deservedly takes rank with the
Arctic heroes, and he is a traveller after my
own fashion — simple and inexpensive, bold
and enduring in his 'personnel and matiriel.
I should be sorry, therefore, to say anything
to give him pain.

Had Dr. Rae " limited his belief," as you,
Sir, " to the proofs of identity and death,"
much pain and anxiety would have been

K 3

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al^^'- -^?|fc' t

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114

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

spared to us. The intrepid traveller has
formed an opinion solely upon his panto-
mimic conversation with the Esquimaux—
solely upon "the few words which pass
" between two men who speak no common
" language ; " and is still striving to main-
tain that opinion, solely, and irrespective of
all others, of his own knowledge of the
country he is dealing with. I believe he
cannot — I hope he cannot — establish that
opinion.

The conclusion, as I understand it, at
which Dr. Eae has arrived, is that the
white men at Great Fish River had died the
death of starvation and cannibalism. His
premises are these. The Esquimaux had
no abundance of wood, and they would have
had abundance of wood if they had plundered
Franklin's ships. Great Fish River is de-
ficient of game in the spring, and it was
in the spring they were said to have died.

Dr. Rae has stated in the Times, he has
not read the " Blue Books ; " and a relative
of Sir John Franklin states for him, in the
Times, that he knew not of the £.10,000
prize offered by the Government, in 1850,
for the traces of The Franklin Expedition.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

115

I can scarcely presume, therefore, to think
he has ever read the humble narrative of
a journey by me to the Polar Sea by
Great Fish River, or a History of the
Esquimaux, by me, in the Journal of the
Ethnological Society of London. *

Further, that he is not acquainted with
my ^^ cache" at Montreal Island, notwith-
sianding constant reference has been made
to that cache, not only in the daily press,
but within the walls of the Geographical
Society ; and notwithstanding Mr. Thomas
Simpson visited it to correct his longitude
and raise a memorial of his visit.

These are Mr. Thomas Simpson's words : —
" On the 16th we directed our course, with
" flags flying, to Montreal Island. Directed
" by M®Kay**, our people soon found a
" deposit among the rocks, containing two
" bags of pemican, several pounds of choco-
" late, two canisters of gunpowder, a box
" of percussion caps, and a japanned tin
" vasculum, inclosing three large fish-hooks.
" The pemican, or taureau, as the voyagers

call it, was literally alive; and it was

wittily remarked, ' Vlsle de Montreal sera
" My Steersman.

^"^ti,

* • * i"

■'%

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116

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

- ' (

((

' bientot^ peupUe dejeunes ^aureaux,' The
minor articles, Mr. Dease a id I took pos-
session of as memorials of having break-
iksted on the identical spot where the
" tent of our less successful precursor (Sir
George,, Back) stood that very day five
years before. Finding it impossible to
reconcile Sir George Back's longitude, I
have adhered to my own observations,
and thus the extent of our discoveries is
diminished by twenty-five miles^."
I can assure Dr. Rae that he is wrong in
all his premises. First, the Esquimaux
have no use for wood, for they do not use
wood for fuel, the sea-oil is their fuel ; for
they do not use wood for boat-building, the
walrus-skin is their boat ; and, as the little
wood they use, together with walrus ivory,
in the manufacture of implements of the
chase, is so contrived as to return to the
owner, we may almost say they do not use
wood even for the manufacture of implements
of the chase. Moreover, Dr. Eae seems to
forget that the Esquimaux describe the
forty white men as dragging a boat, and, of

" Narrative of Discoveries on the North Coast of
America, by Thomas Simpson, 8th Jan., 1843, p. 370.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

117

course, its complement of oars and masts ;
and, as forty men could not get into one
boat, at least, such a boat as Franklin would
select to pass up rapids and cascades, there
were most likely two boats, aye, and even
three boats, enough wood for several gene-
rations of the Esquimaux of that locality.
There is also the Victory steam ship, left
by Sir John Ross, close by.

Then, Dr. Eae states : — " That portion of
" country near to, and on which a portion
" of Sir John Franklin's party was seen, is,
" in the spring, notoriously the most barren
" of animal life of any of the Arctic shores,
" and the few deer that may be seen are
" generally very shy, from having been
" hunted during the winter by Indians on
" the borders of the Woodlands." Dr. Rae
must excuse my saying this is mere assump-
tion, and altogether gratuitous on his part.
He is not justified in saying any such thing.
Dr. Rae, it has to be borne in mind, has
never put his foot on a single inch of the
ground under consideration. He knows
only of Great Fish River by hearsay The
only three travellers who have visited
the Polar coast-line between Coppermine

. ii

,.mit

■■' -It

118

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

River and Great Fish River are, Sir George
Back, Mr. Thomas Simpson, and mysolf.
The three narratives of these travellers
are published, and all shew the country
to be teeming with animal life, even up
to the great human fixmily.

The Esquimaux are very numerous in
the vicinity of Great Fish River, and as we
know nothing of their moral and intellectual
character, they may lui u out in the end to
be as treacherous as the Esquimaux of
Mackenzie River. There is not a doubt in
my mind that the small seal the 40 white
men traded from the Esquimaux, was for
the known beauty of its young skin, and
that thirty-five of the forty white men were
subsequently murdered by treachery ; that
of the five white men on Montreal Island,
one of them was Sir John Franklin himself,
and that he had separated, with his four
companions, from the other thirty-five, for
the purpose of depositing in the Kin^ cache
a memorial of his visit, which had been his
practice year after year, as Captain M.^'Clure
visited the Parry Sandstone. The Esqui-
maux, taking advantage of the separation,
fell upon the thirty-five white men at Point

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

119

Ogle, who were most assuredly without fire-
irms, and massacred them — five only
escaping — and then blockading Montreal
Island, starved out Franklin and his four

companions.

17, Savile Fwiv, Nov. Sth, 1854. RICHAKD KING.

The Sun thus replied to Dr. Eae in a
leading article : —

We publish to-day a letter from Dr. Rae,
in answer to the letter of the brother of one
of The Franklin Expedition.

We confess that we do not like the tone
of Dr. Rae's defence. We read him on Oc-
tober 30th thus : —

" I trust that any of the relatives of
" the lost navigators, who may in future
" wish to make severe remarks on the
mode in which I have acted, in the very
perplexing position in which I was
placed, will first do me the favour of
communicating with me, and if I cannot
satisfy their doubts, it will then be quite
time enough to make their opinions
public. Such would be the more fair
and satisfactory course."
And on the 26th, four days previously,

((

3' .

*.■«(( .

■^n.

' 11

1'20

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

'•"—'in

in the plan which he had suhmitted to
the Board of Admiralty, down Great Fish
River to the spot where he says the tragedy
of The Franklin Expedition was enacted, we
read him thus : —

" Permit me to impress upon you the
" necessity of haste in setting these expe-
" ditions in train."

Now, let us ask Dr. Rae whether the
devoted brother of one of the crew of The
Franklin Expedition is not as much entitled
to " haste " as Dr. Rae is entitled to
"haste?" If Dr. Rae places so high a value
upon his own judgment that he has a right
to stand paramount, we do not. Dr. Rae
may be in " haste " to go, or ^et some
friend to go, for it is all the same thing,
by Great Fish River, to bury the remains
of The Franklin Expedition. Yet he is
pained beyond measure because a devoted
brother is in " haste " to clear, not one of
his own flesh and blood only, but 137 other
noble souls, from the horrid crime of man-
eating. Dr. Rae goes on to say: — " It may
" be as well here to state, for the inforn:a-
" tion of your correspondent," addressing
The Times, " and others, that the authorities

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

121

" of the Hon. Hudson Bay Company have,
" in the most kind manner, permitted me
" to devote my whole time, as long as
" requisite, to satisfy the questions, as far
" as in my power, and to reply to com-
" munications from the relatives and
" friends of the long-missing party, instead
" of to complete my chart, and write up
" the report of my expedition for their
" information."

Let Dr. Rae set to work at once and
complete his report, and leave it to others
to answer questions as to whether he was
justified in saying that — " from the muti-
" lated state of many of the corpses, and
" the contents of the kettles, it is evident
" that our wretched countrymen had been
" driven to the last resource — cannibalism
" — as a means of prolonging existence."

Apart from the statement, which is har-
rowing enough, there is something about
the language " wretched countrymen,"
to which we strongly object. We are fully
aware of all and everything Dr. Rae has
done — we award to him all credit for
boldness of character and unwearied in-
dustry, but we have some doubt of his

■yi

'<Us

iillSili

122

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

((

judgment. We wait for his report to read
his proceedings by. " To have verified,"
he says, " the report which I brought
" home would, I believe, have beeu no
" difficult matter ; but it could not be done
by my party in any other way than by
passing another winter in Repulse Bay,
and making another journey over the ice
and snow in the spring of 1855."
This may or may not be. It is precisely
what we want to know. All he has placed
on record in The Times is thus expressed :—
During my journey from Repulse Bay
this spring over the ice, with the view of
completing the survey, &c."
There is no mention of date — no light
by which we can judge whether he could
or could not have verified the verdict he
has unhesitatingly passed upon The Franklin
Expedition.

Dr. Rae's knowledge of the country iver
which he has travelled is evidently very
limited. He must bear in mind that there
are other doctors besides himself, who have
gone over the country of his travels — highly
educated, highly accomplished, and highly
enterprising men — Dr. Sir John Richardson

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

123

and Dr. King. These distinguished
travellers may possibly have their eye upon
Dr. Rae. Dr. Sir John Richardson will
hardly let his old companion in adventure,
Sir John Franklin, die a cannibal without
more distinct proof. We will answer for
Dr. King. As to Dr. Eae's " reason for
" returning from Pelly Bay without having
" effected the survey he had contemplated,
" to prevent the risk of more valuable lives
" being sacrificed in a useless search," we
must express our doubts. Pelly Bay is a
" Gordian Knot " which we mean to have
a hand in unravelling at a more convenient
opportunity.

I J

'vT

My letter in the Examiner would not have
been written if Dr. Rae's statement to the
Hudson Bay Company had been in existence
at the time. The man who could write on so
sacred a subject as the fate of The Franklin
Expedition, one statement to the Govern-
ment and another to the commercial Com-
pany who employed him, the one utterly at
variance with the other, was totally unworthy
of the time I then wasted upon him. I had

♦I;

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< .-•'I

124

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

all along associated Dr. Rae with the mem-
bers of the medical profession '^/ho have
distinguished themselves as travellers, such
as Park, Oudenay, Richardson, MfCormick,
Daniel, Leichardt, and Kane ; but I now
find, and I rejoice in the discovery, that
he is what he signs himself — a " C.F.," that
is to say a Chief Fa^itor, a trader in the
service of the Hudson Bay Company.

So far as Dr. Rae's letter to the Admi-
ralty is concerned, there can be no question
that the general construction put upon that
letter was, that in his homevmrd, not out-
wnrd journey, he had learned the particulars
he has given us. He not only accepts this
construction, but uses it to his advantage.
In sending his statement to The Times,
he introduces the subject to that paper by a
letter in which he states — "During my
" journey from Repulse Bay, &c.'^" Again,
" I have no doubt from the careful habits
of these people (Esquimaux) that almost
every article which these unhappy suf-
ferers had preserved could be recovered,

((

«»•* The Times," 23 Oct. '54.

PROM FIRST TO LAST.

125

" but I thought it better to come home direct
" with the intelligence I had obtained^ than
" to run the risk of having to spend another
" winter in the snow^"^"

Again, in answer to the le tter of "E. J. H.^"
in The Times, and that of " &'»" in the Ea-
aminer, he states: "To have verified the
" reports which I brought home would, I
" beUeve, have been no difficult matter, but
" it could not possibly be done by my party
" in any other way than by passing another
"winter at Repulse Bay, and making
" another journey over the ice and snow in
" the spring of 1855 My reason for re-
" turning from Repulse Bay without having
" effected the survey I had contemplated
'• was to prevent the risk of more valuable
" lives being sacrificed in a useless search
" in portions of the Arctic Seas, hundreds
" of miles distant from the sad scene where
" so many of the long-lost party terminated."

My reason for placing Dr. Rae's letters,
the one to the Admiralty, and the other to
the Hudson Bay Company, side by side, is

'^ "The Times," 23 Oct. '64. ^ Idem, 26 Oct. '54.

3» "Examiner,, 4 Nov. '64.
L 3

4^}

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,. I

|»i#«

ill

■IH

I . I

126

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

now apparent. It was in his outward and
not homeward journey he learnt the melan-
choly particulars of the fate of The Franklin
Expedition. Read him in his statement to
the Hudson Bay Company : — " From the
head of Pelly Bay — which is a bay, spite
of Sir F. Beaufort's opinion to the con-
trary, I crossed 60 miles of land in a
westerly direction, traced the west shore
from Castor and Pollux River to Cape
Porter, and I could have got within 30
or 40 miles of Bellott Strait, but I thought
it useless proceeding further, as I could
not complete the whole."
It was then, after he became acquainted
with the whereabouts of the remnant of the
gallant Franklin and his noble band of ad-
venturers, /orfy in number^ that he travelled
from Repulse Bay to Castor and Pollux
River, a distance of 60 out of 100 miles,
in a direct line, for the dead bodies of his
countrymen, bleaching under the canopy oi
heaven. While at Castor and Pollux River,
he could have harnessed his dog sledge, and
in siiV or at least eight hours have verified
the statement he has given us, which has

((

{(

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FROM FIRST TO LAST.

127

demanded an express expedition for its
verification. He would thus have spared
Sir James Graham one of the many blots
with which he is bedaubed as a minister of
England, and he would have spared himself
the disgrace which his letter in The Times,
dated Tavistock Hotel, Covent Garden, Oct.
30, '54, reflects upon him. What ! " deeply
" pained and not a little surprised " at some
remarks in a letter purporting to come from
a brother of one of the officers of H.M.S.
'Terror^' Sir George Simpson, when he
pubUshed Dr. Rae's statement in the Mori'
ireal Herald of the 21st September, 1854,
little knew the mischief he was bringing
upon the head of his protege. But for Sir
George Simpson, Dr. Rae's answer to
" E. J. H." would have passed current as it
has passed current up to the time of the
publication of this Narrative. Counterfeits
pass current for a time, until a little fingering
is brought to bear upon them. Let us,
then, bring a little fingering to bear upon
the following quotations : —

tiii

:\\

4 .' '• ■

Hi''--

,'Ht

128

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

il*

]l\i-'

rilti

Dr. Raes Statement in
" The Times. "

To have verified the
reports which I brought
home would have been
no difficult matter, but it
could not possibly be
done by ir ^ .rtv in any
other way ti ' by p ssing
another winter at Re^. vse
Bay, and making another
journey over the ice and
snow in the spring of
1865.

Dr.. Rae'a Statement in
the " Montreal Herald. "

From the head of Pelly
Bay 1 crossed sixty miles
of land in a westerly
direction, traced the West
shore from Castor and
Pollux River to Cape
Porter, and I could have
got within thirty or forty
miles of Bellott Strait,
but I thought it useless
proceeding further, as I
could not complete the
whole.

" Murder will out," though hidden for a
time at the bottom of a well, as the Ad-
miralty have learned to their horror, if the
word " horror " is in their dictionary, in
relation to The Franklin Expedition ; so
with Dr. Rae. Until his statement to the
Hudson Bay Company turned up, he went
on very well. He reined himself up and
rode the high horse.

The letter of " E. J. H." " deepli/ pained
'* and not a little surprised him. He could
" have easily passed another winter at Repulse
" jBoy, and made another journey over the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

129

" ice and snow in the spring of 1 855, without
" exposure to more privations than persons
" accustomed to the Hudson Bay Company
" service are in the habit of enduring ; hut

he had a deeper motive in. returning from

Repulse Bay without having effected the
" survey he had contemplated. It was to
" prevent the risk of valuable lives being
" sacrificed in a useless search hundreds of
" miles distant from where the lives of the
" long4ost party terminated."

Although I had always my misgivings of
Dr. Kae's ability as a traveller, I always gave
him credit foi enterprise and manly bearing ;
1 am therefore astonished beyond measure
that he could have written such language
to " E. J. H." in the face of his statements
to Sir George Simpson that he had m^de
the journey to " Castor and Pollux River ^ and
" hence to Cape Porter, and he could have
" got within 30 or 40 miles of Bellott Strait,
" but that he thought it useless proceeding
" further, as he could not complete the whole.''

Then his ^^ reason for returning from Re^
" pulse Bay without having effected the survey
" he had contemplated, to prevent the risk of
*' valuable lives " is not the fact. His object
was to reach Bellott Strait, but that the

I< Jl

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iiHii

. i\

W^tfrn't

»^^;

130

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

((

approach of winter drove him back. Can
anything be more clear on this point than
the following extract from his letter to Sir
George Simpson 1 : — " Never in my former
Arctic journeys had I met with such an
accumulation of obstacles, Fogs^ storms,
rough ice, and deep snow we had to fight
against^.''

R. K. (Richard King) has not the shghtest
hesitation, therefore, in telling Dr. Rae that
" E. J. H."(Rev. E. J. Hodgson) is perfectly
right in stating that " he has been deeply
reprehensible in not verifying the report
which he received from the Esquimaux ;"
with the addition that the tale as a whole,
seeing that it was pantomime the Esquimaux
who gave the information was playing, is
indeed a wonderful tale. For instance, 40
white men travelling over the ice ; 30 dead
at Point Ogle ; 5 dead at Montreal Island ;
and so on in detail of the minutest kind.
I have played pantomime with the North
American Indians over and over again when
I had a hungry belly and other hungry bellies
dependent upon me to satisfy, therefore

*» " Montreal Herald," 21 Sept., 1844.— And allthis
after he had been within 40 miles of the Death-spot of
The Franklin Expedition.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

131

desirous of being particularly intelligent ;
but I found it a hard matter to turn pari'
tomime to sufficient account even to satisfy
these cravings.

That he should have stood on the shore of
Castor and Pollux River, his right eye directed
to Point Ogle and his left eye to Montreal
Island, knowing that the fate of The Frank-
lin Expedition was to be read there, and in-
stead of directing his steps to the tragedy
before him, that he should have turned his
back upon these painfully interesting lands,
and have proceeded upon his paltry discovery,
which if he could have made it a discovery,
was utterly worthless, is a problem I will not
pretend to solve. I was able to solve the
problem of three centuries, the North- West
Passage, in 1845, although it was not proved
until 1854. I was able to point out the
Death-spot of The Franklin Expedition in
1845, although it was not discovered until
1854 ; but Dr. Rae is a problem I cannot
solve. He is a conundrum I ^ive tip, I only
hope he made the journey to Castor and
Pollux Kiver, and hence to Cape Porter*\

" Refer back to page 30 for an account of a previous
joumev.

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FROM FIRST TO LAST.

183

The means by which Dr. Rae became
possessed of the relics of The Franklin Expe-
dition will ever be matter of doubt in my
mind ; but I have no doubt a great cala-
mity, little, if at all, short of death overtook
a remnant of the gallant party at the mouth
of Great Fish River.

And there can be no doubt, had the
Board of Admiralty conscientiously dis-
charged the duty imposed upon them by
the Nation, that the gallant band, who
reached Great Fish River, would have been
restored to their families and friends, and
the historian spared the necessity of record-
ing the awful tragedy, of which the Board
of Admiralty most assuredly are the cruel
authors.

I have arranged the several Boards of Ad-
miralty, who have dealt with the fate of The
Franklin Expedition, in a statistical form,
in order to mark the exact amount of guilt
which lies at each man's door; — a very
large share ^alls to Sir M. F. F. Berkeley,
W. A. B. Hamilton, Alexander Milne, and
W. F. Cowper.

't:

■4.

'%^'

'^r

■ill

134

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Lords of the Admiralltf,
1847— 1854.

Years in

Office.

Alexander Milne . .

7 Sir M.F.F. Berkeley, M.P.

W. F. Cowper . .

5 /. Lord John Hay.

J. W. Deans Dundas

3 Sir F. T. Baring.

Hyde Parker ....

3 Houston Stewart.

Sir James Graham . .

2 c. Earl Auckland.

R. Saunders Dundas

2 e. Henry Prescott.

Peter Richards . .

1 Duke of Northumberland.

A. Duncomhe . .

1 Sir Thomas Herbert.

J ■■ 1 ■ ,■ , , 1 ^ , ,.■

Phipps Hornby.

1. ->-'^

Secretaries

( of the Admiralty.

W. A. B. Hamilton .

. *

5 H. G. Ward.

Ralph Osborne . . ,

• •

1 Augustus Stafford.

a. President of the Board of Health.

&. Command in the Black Sea. . .4 /

c. Dead.

d. Command in the Baltic Sea.

e. Superintendent Portsmouth Dockyard.
/. Superintendent Plymouth Dockyard.

The present Board of Admiralty is com-
posed of: —

Sir C. Wood, Bart, M.P.
Sir M. F. F. Berkeley, M.P.
Henry Eden.

Peter Richards.

Alexander Milne.

Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P.

Young Admiralty, that is to. say, Sir
Robert Peel and Henry Eden, had better
look well to Sir M. F. F. Berkeley and

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

135

Alexander Milne, if they desire to be of
service to their country.

Captain Grover brought the deaths of
Colonel Stoddurt and Captain Conolly home
to Lord Aberdeen, and entitled his narra-
tive " The Bokhara Victims," and, as I have
brought the death of The Franklin Expe-
dition home to the Board of Admiralty,
I might very properly, entitle mine
" The Polar Victims."

We are indebted to the London Press for
the light which brought the horrors of the
Crimea face to face with those who enacted
them, — which led the House of Commons
to hurl them from the posts which they held
with so much discredit to themselves and to
the Nation. We are also indebted to the
London Press for their powerful advocacy
of the search by Great Fish River, and for
their no less powerful condemnation of the
neglect of that search. I have recorded
the terms of the advocacy, here follow the
terms of the condemnation : —

T\\Q Examiner, 28th October, '54.

There is no longer any doubt of the
melancholy death of Sir John Franklin and

■%m

jiSlLgii^.

136

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

ill \i

*■

1^^

his companions. To the roll-call of perished
heroes, to the lists now daily swelling with
noble names, of brave men battling against
fearful odds, and dying in the performance
of their duty, are to be added the names of
the Arctic voyagers. The sad assurance
might have reached us at a moment less
distracted by other anxieties and sorrows,
but it comes not unfitly while the public
sympathy is keenly awakened to the claims
of all who imperil life for high and unselfish
aims. Almost simultaneously with the fate
of so many who left us six months since to
perish in the tents at Varna, on the heights
of the Alma, or before the walls of Sebas-
topol, we learn the fate of the devoted band
who departed ten years ago to face a far
more terrible foe, and, after more than three
years of unspeakable suffering, have left
behind them but the memory of that un-
flinching enterprise and endurance, that
resolute perseverance, that moral and phy-
sical courage, that hardihood unappallcd
and discipline undisturbed by the most
frightful dangers which we take to be
peculiar to English seamen.

Of the correctness of the testimony, oral

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

137

and circumstantial, which Dr. Rae has
brought home, we limit our belief to the
proofs of identity lind death. The evidence
is quite imperfect as to the manner of the
death, or as to the sliocking incidents
assumed to have preceded it ; but for the
rest, the pieces of silver plate, the crests
and initials, the watches, telescopes, and
guns, tell sufficiently the terrible story.
It is also borne out by the Esquiinaux
accounts, which neither is there any reason
to doubt, of the exhausted state of the little
band. At once marvellous and mortifying
is it, that, in a vicinity so attainable, so
known, so likely to be visited as the
position of the magnetic pole, the lost
wanderers could neither have been met
with, or directed towards reaching sup-
pHes. But unfortunately every effort at
discovery or help, up to the p.^riod when
all such coased to be useful, was directed
to the sea and its shores, although the
abandonment of the ships and betaking
of the crews to land passage was a cir-
cumstance so naturally to be looked for.
The Admiralty people were too romantic
in their conjectures. Ships and men, it

M 3

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138

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

»>f

srf;

was the light, mast have disappeared up
of those mysterious and perilous avenue
that strike northwards towards the pole;
and that the starving band should have
been prosaically sought for on the bank of
Great Fish Hiver was in the contemplation
of none.

Of none m authority. But let us do
justice to Dr. King, who, with a humane
perseverance worthy of better success, has
vainly urged upon successive Governments,
ever since 1847, that the expeditions in
search of our lost countrymen should take
that exact course which we now see too
late would have led upon their track. In
1847 he wrote to Lord Grey to point out
Great Fish River as the high and ict-
free road to the land vvbsre the missing
expedition was likely to ue found. In the
same year he implored to have his services
joined to those of Sir James Ross and Sir
John Richardson, using these remarkable
words : —

" It is a service in which I can act independently of
Sir J»mes Clarke Ross, and independently of Sir John
llichardsou ; and Sir James Clarke Ross and Sir John
iUchardson, it if already arranged, are to act inde-

pendently
knowledge
knowledge
—and m;
estuary, wi
done will I
will insure
merely in i

Two }

before t
calamity
wrote lei
she was
vehemen
successiv
but Mr.
rest, rei
unsympj
opportur
return,
fated bu
appeals :■

"AU th
February 1
west land o
Franklin,
to reach it.
ships in 18

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

139

penaeutly of each other. Sir Jamea Clarke Ror^ii's
knowledge of Barrow Strait — Sii" John Kichardson's
knowledge of the Mackenzie and tho Coppermine Rivers
—and my knowledge of Great Fish River and its
estuary, will be so many guarantees that the work to be
done will be done well ; and this state of independence
will insure a large amount of effort, even though it were
merely in a spirit of emulation." . • '

Two years later (some six or eight months
before the date of the now ascertained
calamity) he renewed his applications. He
wrote letters to Lady Franklin to tell her
she was ill advised, and, with all the
vehemence of personal entreaty, besieged
successive Secretaries to the Admiralty ;
but INIr. Ward, Mr. Hamilton, and all the
rest, returned him answers as cold and
unsympathising as their chiefs, and the
opportunity was lost which never was to
return. Hear the Cassandra of this ill-
fated business! We quote one of his last
appeals: —

" All that has been done by way of search since
February 1848, tends to draw closer and closer to the
west land of North Somerset as the position of Sir John
Frankhn, and to Greot Fish River as the high road
to reach it. Such a plan as I proposed to their Lord-
ships in 1848 is consequently of the utmost importance.

iifk^^^^

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ti'

* « "-. .

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■■•■

' ^wl^^l^BiiJGi

140

THE FRaNSLIN expedition

It would be the happiest moment of my life if their
Lordships would allow me to go bv my old route,
Great Fish River, to attempt to save huuiaa life a
second time on the shores of the Polar Sea."

It is deplorable to think that in every
instance the Admiralty attempts to find our
countrymen have been by far the least suc-
cessful. Kennedy and poor Bellott were
near upon the track, but theirs was a
private expedition, and not undertaken till
a year too late. When we discussed the
subject in this journal at the close of 1849,
we urged the necessity of then making a
final effort, and, considering that the chances
would not warrant the risk of another ex-
pedition, we held that it should have been
planned on such a scale as completely to
scour the track, both by land and sea, in
which tliP clearest judgments might see the
probabilities of success. More than two
years h^d then passed beyond the time to
which the ships were victualled, and we
believed k to be our last gleam of rational
hope. It i 1 now proved to have been so.

On the details of what our lamented
countrvTnen have suffered we forbear to
dwell. It was into no unknown perils Sir

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

141

John Franklin ventured. Net rly thirty years
earlier, and again after an interval of six or
seven years, his indomitable spirit had been
tried in the same disastrous scenes. The
language contains no records of enterprise
and endurance surpassing those of his two
journeys to the shores of the Polar Sea, and
to them we have but to turn to obtain no
dim or imperfect image of the terror of his
final journey, or of what we may hope to
have been the merciful assuagements vouch-
safed to it. "At this period we avoided
as much as possible conversing upon
the hopelessness of our situation, and
generally endeavoured to lead the con-
versation tov/ards our future prospects
in life. With the decay of our strength,
in fact, our minds decayed, and we were
no longer able to bear the contemplation
" of the horrors that surrounded us. Each
" of us excused himself from so doing by a
" desire of not shocking the feelings of the
" others. We were sensible of one another's
weakness of intellect, though blind to our
own. Yet we were calm and resigned
to our fate, not a murmur escaped us,
and we were punctual and fervent in our

((

142

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

i '

" addresses to the Supreme Being." When
these affecting words were written, the
writer and his companions were so nearly
face to face with death, that the delay of
but another day in their relief might then
have anticipated the national sorrow which
now makes sacred the memory of Sir John
Franklin.

Spectator, 28th October, '54.
The fate of the Franklin Expedition has
this week received a new and gloomy light.
Thirty-five dead bodies have been discovered
by Esquimaux at the mouth of Great
Fish River. As early as 1847 Dr. King
pointed out this very spot as the path by
wiiich to seek them. The spring of 1849
was the natural termination of Franklin's
supplies on the longest safe calculation;
and in a note by the Lords of the Admiralty
published in 1847, they declared that if no
accounts were received of Franklin by the
end of that year, active steps must be taken
in the search. No serious apprehensions,
however, were then felt. Sir George Back
declared in January 1848 that " he could
" not bring himself to entertain more than

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

143

" ordinary anxiety for the safety and return
" of Sir John Franklin." Suggestions
were made for sending the search directly
after Franklin by Davis Strait, or by Great
Fish River, or by Mackenzie River; but
we remember how these steps were delayed
or partially carried out, and how a con-
troversy was carried o^ at a subsequent
date, as to whether the expedition must not
have perished entirely. We now learn that
a considerable number of the party at least
survived until the spring, probably until
May 1860. We have yet no certain proof
that the whole party had expired.

It is evident that if the quest had been
prosecuted by those who had been sent out
to assist them early and widely enough their
path had been crossed. Dr. King pointed
out, in 1847, the exact path taken by
Franklin as the one in which he might be
met or crossed.

Franklin had made some way towards
that same part of the globe in which he
had previously braved death. There was
a period in 1821 when some of his com-
panions actually succumbed to that death
by starvation and hardships which the

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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others escaped when they believed them-
selves beyond hope; and now a band of
Englishmen, headed by the same officer,
returned almost to the same spot. They
were near the mouth of that river near
whose source was their rendezvous of Fort
Enterprise in 1821. How many changes
had taken place in the interval ! Franklin
was a generation older; he had grown
deaf; but he had not lost any resolution.
He had different companions, but they
appear to have been not less faithful. He
had come by the sea and not by land, yet
he was doomed to the same hardships.
Nothing is more affecting, or at the same
time more elevating, than the narrative of
men travelling sometimes knee-deep in
snow for miles on miles, for days and
months, feeding on the most precarious, the
basest kind of food ; sometimes depending
upon the gun, picking from the rocks the
noxious weed tripe de roche, gathering
carrion of the past season, or going back
to the old haunts to feast on the marrow
of bones thrown away in the year before,
on pieces of hide and their own shoes;
deliberately measuring out these horrible

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

145

supplies, calculating their strength for days
upon such sustenance; and all the while
sustaining each other throughout with com-
fort, with religious thoughts, with example.
They found themselves — and the confession
comes with an unspeakahle dignity of can-
dour — growing at times under the pressure
of infirmity hasty and irritable. The man
who felt firm in his own courage was
daunted at the gaunt face and deep sepul-
chral voice of his companions. We have
yet no certain proof that the whole party
had expired. The original number was
one hundred and thirty-eight ; three were
buried at Beechy Island ; forty were seen
ahve by the Esquimaux, thirty-five bodies
are found at Great Fish Eiver — a state-
ment which still leaves five of the forty
unaccounted for ; and some eighty or ninety
more of the entire party are un mentioned.

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If the public had not made '>p its mind
that Sir John Franklin and his com-
panions have been beyond human help,
the account recently communicated of the
alleged fate of part of his expedition would

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have been received with greater doubt and
reservation than has yet been evinced. It
is stated that the Government mean to send
out another expedition to make further
inquiries ; but why did they not long ago
search the spot where the bodies are alleged
to have been discovered] They were re-
peatedly urged to do so by Dr. King, the
well known Arctic voyager, who gave
good reasons for believing that Sir John
Franklin might be found in this very
place, and offered to take charge of an
inexpensive expedition to proceed over-
land to North Somerset and Great Fish
River, with which localities he was well
acquainted. The offers to the Colonial
Office to seek for the missing party were
constantly repeated, and at the close of
the year met with a formal official refusal,
against which decision Dr. King earnestly
remonstrated, and again in February 1850
renewed his proposition, this time directing
it to the Admiralty. The reply to this was
that the " Admiralty had no intention of
" altering their arrangements," and thus
Sir John Franklin and his party were
practicidly left to their fate ; and when the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

147

country holds an inquest upon their remains,
it can only find the verdict that they died
of ofiicial pigheadedness and Admiralty

neglect v> , . c,

Daily News, 26tli October, '54.

The proposal of Dr. King to explore the
shores and seas to the south of the line of
research pursued by the naval expeditions
was systematically pooh-poohed. The cir-
cumstance that Franklin and his crews
having lost their ships, might be struggling
over the ice to the South, was wilfully
and systematically ignored ; yet the state-
ments w^hich have been collected from the
Esquimaux, and the articles picked up
among them, make it certain that an over-
land boat -expedition descending Great
Fish River, had it been sent out in time,
would in all probability have saved at least
a remnant of the crews. To what has the
error been owing 1 In the first place, to
the tardiness of the permanent Admiralty
officials in instituting the search. In the
second place, to their obstinate and ex-
clusive preference of large and costly naval
expeditions, which placed the distribution

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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of patronage in their hands, and their dis-
couragement of less pretentious expeditions,
which would not thus have gratified their
jobbing propensities or vanity. In the
third place, to that pedantry which would
not even listen with courtesy to any but
professional advice ; meaning by pro-
fessional, not even nautical opinion in the
widest acceptation of the term, but the
opinion of mere fighting nauticals. What is
now known shews that in the controversies
of the last seven years the landsmen have
been nearer the mark than the soldiers—
the sailors of the merchant service than
the officers of the Royal Navy. But the
favouritism of the Admiralty — its permanent
officials — entrusted the research almost ex-
clusively to the officers of the Royal Navy,
listened only to their proposals, reserved for
them all honours and emoluments. Thus
have the permanent officials of the Admiralty
prevented Franklin from being saved. His
blood and the blood of his brave companions
is on their heads ! '*

Observer, 29th October, '54.
"All the hopes and fears that for the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

149

last seven years have existed on account
of Sir John Franklin and his crews are
now almost, if not altogether, set at rest.
It appears that the very spot insisted upon
by Dr. King, is the same spot where the
bodies have been found. He considered,
that Sir John Franklin failing in his efforts,
and not being able to extricate his ships,
would implicitly follow the instructions of
the Admiralty, and proceed South; whilst
the majority of the expeditions which have
been sent out in search of the missing party,
have had their routes directed, on the as-
sumption that Sir John Franklin had dis-
regarded his instructions. It would therefore
appear, that had Dr. King's proposal been
adopted in 1847, in all human probability.
Sir John Franklin might have been saved.
Dr. King has shewn thf.t he knows more
about Polar Discovery than any one else,
for as early as 1847, in a letter to Earl
Grey, he says : — ^ To a land journey alone
can we look for success ; for the failure of
a land journey would be the exception of
the rule, while the failure of a sea expe-
dition would be the rule itself. To the
Western Land of North Somerset, where

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

I maintain Sir John Franklin will be found,
Great Fish River is the direct and only
route; and although the approach to it is
through a country too poor and difficult
of access, to admit of the transport of pro-
visions, it may be made the medium of
communication between the lost Expe-
dition and the civilized world.' " ,

-■- ■-. . - : . . .. -ik-' ■ > , '.(;

The Sun, 23rd October, '54.

" Poor Sir John Franklin ! the melancholy
fate of the intrepid navigator and his gallant
companions have at length been manifested.
It has been more horrible than had ever
been anticipated. The most glaring ap-
prehensions have been verified; and what
renders the fearful result even more deplor-
able is, that we now know that a large
proportion of the party might have been
rescued had the authorities at home dis-
played any degree of energy or activity.
Our unfortunate countrymen struggled hard
for their lives, — during five dreary winters
they sustained all the accumulated horrors
of the ice-bound prison. On each succeed-
ing spring the throb of hopeful anticipation
must have thrilled through their hearts, in

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

151

the expectation of the succour and comfort
they were never destined to receive. What
stores of important and interesting infor-
mation might we not have received, if even
a few of these adventurous men had been
restored to their expectant friends. But
alas ! a more awful heart-rending catastrophe
than any that ever occurred under similar
circumstances was about to happen. One by
one they perished by the most fearful of all
deaths. The strength which they had en-
deavoured to sustain, gradually wasted away,
and the last survivor drooped and died,
probably in the summer of 1850.

" The evidence by which this heart-rend-
ing narrative has been established is so clear
and distinct as to leave no possible doubt
as to its accuracy. The information casually
obtained and the articles purchased from
the Esquimax, have placed the vexata
questio respecting the fate of Sir John
Franklin and his followers bevond the
possibility of doubt. These heart-rending
relics will be endowed with a melancholy
interest."

ct --\-

A ■ ,::

152

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

i^'

The Sun, 25th October, '64.

" We revert to the awful tragedy of the
Franklin Expedition, consisting of 138
souls ; a small portion only of the dreadful
scene is before us; a mere moiety of the
gallant band of adventurers is accounted
for. Point Ogle is the resting-place of some,
and Montreal Island of others. We refrain
from harrowing the feelings of our readers
by repeating the condition in which their
honoured remains were found; we would
spare them and their friends such a recital.
There is, however, a blood-stain somewhere.
Has every effort been made for the rescue
of this noble band, we ask ? — for let it be
distinctly understood that there were many
noble souls involved in the fate of Franklin
— Crozier, Fitzjames, Stanley, Goodsir, are
the names of officers well known for their
talents and acquirements. Many a tear for
years to come will be shed over the memory
of those brave men.

" Even our own pen, stem as ' time ' has
made us — for we were acquainted with some
of the gallant crew — loses somewhat of its
steadiness as we write. Peace, everlasting

i^ -P'S

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

153

poace, to them ! Has every effort, we repeat,
been made for the rescue of this noble
band 1 Too happy should we be to answer
1/es ; but no. The authorities at home —
and by the authorities we mean not only
the Board of Admiralty, but the Colonial
Board — have sacrificed The Franklin Expe-
dition to a perverse attachment to their own
special views, imbibed from one of the
most prejudiced of men, the late Sir John
Barrow. We have several times warned
the authorities against large sea expeditions,
and urged small land journeys in the prose-
cution of Polar research. Dr. King, the
accomplished Polar traveller, who went
down Great Fish E-iver in search of Sir
John Ross, in 1833-4-5, published, at the
time the search for Franklin was under
consideration, a pamphlet, entitled ' Polar
Sea Expeditions, and Polar Land Journeys.'
Every newspaper in England supported
us in urging Dr. King's Polar Land
Journey down Great Fish River, in lieu
of Franklin's Polar Sea Expedition. And
when he found the Board of Admiralty
were determined to send out Franklin by
sea, he submitted to Lord Stanley (now

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154

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Lord Derby), the then Colonial Secretary,
a plan for descending Great Fish River
overland, so as to act in concert with
Franklin by sea.

" And when the fate of Franklin became
serious. Dr. King implored ! first the Colo-
nial Board, and then the Board of Admiralty,
in the most forcible language that man could
pen, to allow him to go by Great Fish
River to the rescue of the Franklin party.
He maintained from the moment Franklin
started that he would be wrecked, where in
all probability he has been wrecked, on the
Western land of North Somerset, and that
he would make for Great Fish River,
in expectation of help from home ! Poor
creatures ! help from home ! Only one
Polar Friend held out a helping hand. Earl
Grey's answer to Dr. King's powerful appeal,
as well as the appeal itself, is on record.
Admiration for the one and Condemnation
for the other document, was the bye-word
at the time of every well-thinking man ; but
now a blot is stamped upon the answer of Earl
Grey which he will never be able to efface.

" The Board of Admiralty sheltered them-
selves under the cloak of a council, called

;i«*'

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

155

the * Arctic Council,' who were made, not
only once, but twice, to report the utter
impossibility of Franklin being anywhere in
the neighbourhood of Great Fish Eiver.
The refusal of Dr. King's first offer bears
date 3rd of March, 1848, and the second
offer 28th February, 1850. What part
did Franklin's old companion. Sir George
Back, take in this decision of the Arctic
Council, for he was one of its members?
We are acquainted with a print entitled
the ' Arctic Council,' portraits of the mem-
bers of the council called together under
that name — let each man now tell his own
tale. We cannot put a permanent value on
that council until we know this. What
monster evil haunts the imagination of Sir
George Back, that he should ever and anon
lead us from that magnificent river, teeming
with every kind of animal life, even up to
the great human family ?

" We think we see the poor fellows at Point
Ogle and Montreal Island, daily looking up
Great Fish River in expectation of assist-
ance. The spring of 1850 was not the first
spring journey they had made to Great
Fish River. The spring of 1848, surely

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156

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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the spring of 1849 also, found them on the
banks of that stream. They were evidently
on the look out for assistance. Franklin
certainly followed out his instructions to the
letter, and as certainly looked for help in
the direction it should have been made.
How strange, then — how utterly unaccount-
able — how perfectly inexplicable it is that
the ' Effort in Search' should have been
everywhere but in the right direction.
In fact, the ' effort' has been made upon
the assumption he had gone contrary^
and not according, to orders. We con-
clude, not only with the words of a
contemporary — ' Thus have the permanent
officials of the Admiralty prevented Frank-
lin from being saved — his blood, and the
blood of his brave companions is on their
heads,' — but with the addition that just so
much must be borne by Earl Grey as Colonial
Secretary."

The SuHy 31st October, '54.

" The more we reflect upon the ' fate of
The Franklin Expedition,' the less we are
inclined to believe that this noble band of
adventurers resorted to cannibalism. No—

FHOM FIRST TO LAST.

157

they never resorted to such horrors. We
must have stronger proof, clearer evidence
of such a state of things, before we can
bring our minds to tliis beHef.

" That The FrankHn Expedition is dead,
almost to a man, we have little doubt.
Survivors, however, there may be still ; and,
some day or otlier, some relics, such as have
been found upon the Esquimaux, may bear
upon them some mark, some token of a
prolonged existence.

" To our minds the ' relics' bear evidence,
the most indisputable, that ' The Franklin
Expedition' — at least the remnant at the
mouth of Great Fish River — has died a
death of violence ; and it is deeply to be
regretted that Dr. Rae, upon sucli slender
evidence, should have so summarily decided
their fate, and turned from Castor and Pollux
River, when the distance between him and
all that was mortal of our gallant immortal
countrymen was scarcely forty miles.

" Cannibalism ! — the gallant Sir John
Franklin a cannibal — such men as Crozier,
Fitzjames, Stanley, Goodsir, cannibals ! man
eating man- -civilised man daring to meet
his Maker in a country in which cannibalism

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158

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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has no place — in a condition in which the
' savages,' so called, of the Great American
Continent, thank God, never dare to meet
their Maker — in a part of the world where
the severest punishment is sure to be his
doom, an ignominious death and no grave.
Such is the law of the Red man.

" In this state of feeling we turned to the
narratives of the Expedition in search of Sir
John Ross down Great Fish River. We
began with Dr. King's narrative, which we
pronounced at the time of its publication
to be ' full of bold adventure and stirring
incident.' We quote to-day what he has
said of his dealings, or rather the dealings
of his chief, Sir George Back, with the
Esquimaux — with those interesting, but, as
it has often been found, treacherous mem-
bers of the great human family. And e
say, with the devoted brother of one of the
crew of the Terror, in his letter, published
in our impression of yesterday, from The
Times of the same day, that ' Dr. Rae has
been deeply reprehensible, either in not
verifying the reports which he received from
the Esquimaux, or if that was absolutely out
of the question, in publishing the details of

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

159

that report, resting as they do on grounds
most weak and unsatisfactory. He had far
better have kept silent altogether than have
given us a story which, while it pains the
feelings of many, must be very insufficient
for all.'" ■ ■

July 28th; 1834, — •' Descried a party of Esquimaux,
tented on the eastern boundary of a fall, who, as soon
as they perceived us, commenced running to and fro in
the greatest confusion. Perceiving it was our intention
to land, they approached the boat, nine in number, and
having formed themselves into a semicircle, commenced
an address in a loud tone of voice, elevating and de-
pressing both their arms at the same time, a sign of
peace. They motioned us to put off from the shore,
and at the same time uttered some unintelligible words,
with a wildness of gesticulation that clearly shewed they
were under the highest state of excitement. At the
sound of tima, peace ; kahloons, white people — they
ceased yelling, and one and all laid down their spears,
and commenced alternately patting their breasts and
pointing to heaven. After this manifestation of their
peaceful intentions, we landed and shook them heartily
bythehand*^"

A graphic account of this race follows,
but our present purpose compels us to pass
on to more important notices of this " race
of fishermen."

*' Narrative of a journey down Great Fish River, in seftrch
of Sir John Ross, in 1833-4-5. By Dr. King. Vol. ii., p. CH.

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160

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

August 22nd, 1834.— " Reached the 'Fall' where
the Esquimaux were first discovered. To our great
astonishment, they had disappeared. This was the more
singular, as we parted with them on the most friendly
terms*^"

August 26th, 1834. — " Reached oiir cache of two bags
of puLiiicau. It had evidently been opened, and the
contents examined, though carefully covered up again,
which was attributed to the Esquimaux**."

August 22. — " Opening the view of Lake Franklin,
the Esquimaux were perceived flying in the utmost
consternation to the far-distant hills, where they could
be juso made out with our telescopes as living objects.
Their tents were deserted and their canoes secreted;
conduct so different from that of our first interview that
we were convinced something extraordinary must have
taken place. Nor could this be in any way accounted
for until our arrival in England, whon it was ascertained
the three men despatched to Mount Barrow, whose
evasive manner at the time gave indications that some-
thing unusual had occurred, fell in, during their march,
with a party of Esquimaux and for an instant retreated.
The natives, in following them, fired a few arrows, upon
which the men turned and discharged their guns, killed
three of the party, and probably wounded others, it being
the practice with the voyagers to load their fowling-pieces
with two balls, so as to give them a double chance of
securing their game. The natives thoroughly dismayed
at seeing their countrymen fall arounu them, fled in the
greatest disorder, and the men, equally alarmed, betook
themselves to flight also.

<a Idera, pp. 4-6. ** Idem, p. 67.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

161

"It is a lamentable fact that this ill-fated people
have hitherto met with nothing but merciless warfare
from those whites who have visited their lands. It is to
be hoped this sad example will operate as a warning to
future travellers never to send a party of men for any
distance in a newly-discovered country, without one or
other of the officers composing the party accompanying
them. A practice exists with the Esquimaux to fire
blunt arrows in token of their peaceful intentions ;
which, in all probability, was the case in this instance,
and their friendly conduct at our first interview justifies
the correctness of the assumption* " A depression
of spirits (remarks Sir George Back,) in the men
who visited Mount Barrow was observed for some days
previously to our leaving the coast ; and it increased
as they approached the site of the Esquimaux en-
campment to so great an extent that a gloom spread
itself, OS if by infection, over the rest of the party, nor
could it be dispelled without a glass of rum^^."

" The Esquimaux, had they been inclined, might have
murdered us in our beds with the greatest ease for we
were so little apprehensive of danger, that the night-
watch had for some time been discontinued. That some
of the party were in a far less happy state of mind was
evinced by the gloom Sir George Back perceived amongst
them. Ignorant of this circumstance, and considering
iO good could arise from any further interview, we neither
crossed over to that side of the river where the natives
were encamped, nor made the least signs to attract their
notice, which must have very much increased their

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Back's Journey to the Polar Sea.

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162

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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suspicions of our amicable intentions. On leaviua the
rapids a number of iron hoops were placed on a pile of
stones, together with ribands of various colours, awls,
fish-hooks, brass rings, and beads, which, of course,
would be construed into treachery on our part, for the
purpose of alluring them across the river that they might
ftill an easier prey. During the whole of the '^3rd
August the Esquimaux were distinctly seen, by the aid of
our telescopes, watching our motions and hiding their
kleyacks (canoes) the sign of war."

" August 29th. — "At Lake Macdougall several fresh
marks, tipped with newly-gathered moss, were percep-
tible on shore ; we landed and found several tracks of
men and dogs imprinted on tht sand. We had scarcely
embarked, when the Esquimaux slowly raised themselves
from behind the rocks. A little furtlier on we came in
sight of ten tents, surrounded by men, women, and
children, altogether amounting to about seventy or eighty
souls. The women and children instantly fled to the
rocks for protection, but the men awaited us along the
shore, uttering some unintelligible words, and making
the same friendly motions as the former party. Sir
George Back declined the interview as was his practice
— tactics, now that we are aware of the unfortunate
attack upon the fii'st party, the very worst that could
have been adopted. This was the last time these people
were seen, and it is much to be feared we left them with
a very unfavourable impression*"."

To the Editor of the Sun, 28th October, ISol.
" Sir, — Can any practical mind read the

*° Narrative of a journey down Great Fish Eiver, in search of
Sir John Ross, in 1833-4-5. By Dr. Kinj. Vol. ii., pp. 66-07.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

163

clear views taken by Dr. King, and on calm
reflection deny the guilt that lies at the
Admiralty door, under the reign of the
Admiral of the Black Sea'^H — for it was
under his regime that the cold, apathetic
neglect took place ; and many that heard
Dr King's lectures will remember the many
predictions that since 1849 have come true
respecting the fate of Franklin ; and that
by the jobbing selfishness, the fighting for
honours — poor Franklin would be left in
the long run to his fate to die of starvation.
In the ' annals of the Admiralty culpability'
this is the blackest picture. Dr. King pointed
out the ease with which communication
could be made by Great Fish lUver, to
those going out in search by sea ; — and all
these were so simple in the using, so inex-
pensive, that no barrier could have been
made, but the dire jealousy of a self-con-
ceited body of men, who must have their
own ways and ignorant theories against the
energetic and practical views of men cf
expanded mind, such as Dr. King. His
writings now will be valued by every good,
unprejudiced mind who reads; but, alas!

*' Adm'ral De.ins Dundas.

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164

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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like the ' rotten food' under the same rule, it
will be quashed, and ' dead men tell no
tales,' or woe betide those who were in power
when The Franklin Expedition left on their
ill-fated trip. ' The tin cases of carrion,'
like the knife of the slayer, lying in hun-
dreds, and the thousands sunk since in the
ocean, to thinking minds is quite enough.
But, sir, allow me to p'^int out that those
men appear tc be but a portion of
Franklin's crews ; for there cannot be
a doubt in my mind but they had diyided
the body, some going one way and
some another, so that, if one party was
successful, it would send relief to the others ;
and that should stimulate us. Whatever
he may do now, cost what it may, though
millions, it will never, never wash off the
cruel stain that now blackens the Admiralty
of Lord John Russell. I do not wish to
speak harshly of men in office ; but I can-
not hide the truth now, or be afraid to speak
out against those who have so recklessly
disregarded a sol'^mn duty to the public, as
they have done, and allowed parties to inter-
fere for private jobbing, which I know was
done (and the Blue Books can shew several

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

165

matters in corroboration of Dr. King's
assertions, as well as other cases of gross
and culpable negligence in not sending out
proper men earlier than was done), and the
rejection of means and plans offered to the
Admiralty ; but with cold, insulting, official
buffoonery, these practiciJ philanthropic
men were coolly insulted anr . derided. How
long conduct such as this the British nation
will submit to remains to be seen. Our
country is falling to pieces by party jobbing
—filling places and appointing officers from
' incapables' and ' old worn-out men,' kept
on the staff when they ought to have retired
even on a pension — for, truly, the pension
is but the first and last expense. -

" Yours truly,

" ONE BEHIND THE CURTAIN."

CasseU's Illustrated Family Paper, 2nd Dec. '51.

" Had Dr. King's services been accepted
by the Board of Admiralty, he would have
gone straight to where the remains of The
Franklin Expedition have since been found
—that he did not, lies at the door of Sir
George Back."

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

The Medical Times, 4th November, '54.

The report of Dr. Rae upon the traces of
Franklin's Expedition furnishes another
instance of the sad results of the neglect of
the advice of members of our profession by
men in power. Ever since 1847, Dr. King
has urged upon successive Governments,
with a pertinacity only to be excused by
the humane desire to save the devoted band
of Arctic heroes, that the Expeditions sent
by the Admiralty were sent in a wrong
direction, and that they should take the
very course which would have led them
upon the exact spot where Dr. Eae's intel-
ligence would lead us to believe the bones
of our missing countrymen remain. In
1847 he wrote to Lord Grey that Great
Fish River might be the road to the spot
where Franklin was to be found. Two
years after, several months before the
spring of 1850 — the spring when the
Esquimaux are said to have seen the forty
English — he besieged the Admiralty with
applications which proved fruitless. Here
is a sentence from one of his appeals : — " It
" would be the happiest moment of my life

li ■;NifH|;-,.N:

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

167

" if their Lordships would allow me to go
" by my old route Great Fish Eiver to at-
" tempt to save human life a second time
" on the shores of the Polar Sea."

Though rather out of the scope of a
Medical Journal, the Editor of the Medical
Times devoted a leading article in 1849 to
an advocacy of Dr. King's plan of siloing
down Great Fish River in search of Franklin.
The time will come when such facts as
these will convince even the most obstinate
of Government officials that the advice of
medical men cannot be disregarded with-
out public loss. There is a great deal of
truth in the following remarks in the
Examine!' : —

" The French say," observes the able writer, " that
tlie medical profession has achieved for itself no
adequate honour or reputation in England. In France,
during the last half-century, there is no Council Board,
no AdrnJuistration, no Society, in which the medical
profession has not found itself represented ; whether at
the Court of the Sovereign, or among the Peerage, or in
the Legislature. Physicians of the Institute take their
place naturally among the first of the land. Their
views, their discoveries, their cures, their professional
ideas and suggestions, must be listened to, cannot be
neglected, and mav never be treated as intrusive : nor

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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had Napoleon fewer physicians and surgeons for friends,
councillors, and dignitaries of •"* rto, than he had of any
other profession. But in Kn^ \, all such interests
find themselves cither unrepres^jnted, or not represented
worthily, and the best of her physicians is good only tu
amass money, or at the highest get a haronetcy. AVhat
important or salutary medical influence has made itself
felt in the puhlic administration since the wounds of
Waterloo were healed ? and where, in all those years,
except to born lords or baronets, have we had the
means of looking for sanitary wisdom or suggestion'?
For answer, we are referred to the whole history of our
sanitary and medical administration. Provided only ii
man be born baronet or lord, we are ready to accept
him for a born scavenger and born physician as well ;
nor can any amount of science or learning bo esteemed
paramount in our regard, except the science of address-
ing and managing constituencies, or the knack of
palavering either House."

The absolute necessity of sending an
expedition to the mouth of Great Fish
River was now evident, and, as it appeared
to me to be not possible that the Board of
Admiralty could by any pretext whatever
pass me over as the person best fitted to
search Point Ogle and Montreal Island for
the remains of The Franklin Party, seeing
that I had always marked out that spot as
the last resting place of the party, I for-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

169

warded to the First Lord of the Admiralty,
Sir James Graham, with as little delay as
possille, a copy of the whole of my corre-
spondence with the Government on the fate
of the gallant adventurers, together with
the following note.

To the Secretary/ to the Admiralty.

Sir, — I beg to enclose a copy of my
correspondence with the Government
" on the Fate of The Franklin Expedition*^"

It is my intention immediately to offer
my services to the Colonial Board, to descend
Great Fish River in search of the remains
of The Franklin Expedition; and, if that
Board declines the offer, then to the
Admiralty Board.

I have the honour to be,

Your faithful servant,

17, Savile Row, 26 October, '54. RICHARD KING.

And in order still further to impress my
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty with
the position in which I stood in relation to
the Great Polar Question, I also transmitted

" See back for Correspondence, p. 5 to 82.

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170

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

to them a copy of my correspondence with
them when The Franklin Expedition was
fitting out for its ill-fated trip, — written with
the view of persuading them to allow me
to act by land in concert with Sir John
Franklin hy sea.

To the Secretary to the Admiralty,

Sir, — I transmit for the information of
my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
a copy of my correspondence with their
Lordships bearing date respectively 21 Dec.
•44;-_8 Jan. '45;— 31 Jan. '45. There was
no Sir Robert Harry Inglis in those days
so this correspondence has no place in the
Blue Books.

The Lithographed Conjectural Chart,
illustrative of the correspondence, bears, in
indelible characters, not only the position of
the "Great Polar Passage," discovered by
Sir R. M*Clure; but the Atlantic outlet
of that " Great Polar Passage " through
Jones Sound discovered by Sii E. Belcher.

The Actual Chart of 27 Oct. '54, now
about to issue from the Hydrographer to
the Admiralty, is doubtless more ornamental^

I',: •

" Turn to Dr. Kin^''s Conjecturftl Map of '45, by which he
-usUinod his views of tlio position of The Frunklin Expedition,
ind to the Bubscqucmt Admiralty Chart of '59, and mark how
wonderfully his geographical arguments were proved true by
tlio vouchers of the Admiralty itself." — S\in, 3 Oct. '5').

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171

but not more truthful than the Conjectural
Chart of 31 Jan. '45.

I have the honour to be,

Your faithful servant,

17, Savile Row, 27 October, '54. RICHARD KING.

POLAR SEA EXPEDITIONS AND POLAR LAND

JOURNEYS.

To the Secretary to the Admiralty,

Sir, — The problem of a North Polar
Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans having occupied your attention*® for
some years, I beg to submit to you a careful
digest of the services which have taken place
since you entered upon this field of research
in 1818.

They are divisible into Polar Sea Expe-
ditions and Polar Land Journeys. The
Polar Sea Expeditions amount to ten, the
Polar Land Journeys to three; seven out
of the ten Polar Sea Expeditions may be
briefly described ; — Captain Lyon's Expe-
dition was modestly called by him an
" unsuccessful attempt to reach Repulse Bay;"

" Sir John Barrow was at this time Secretary to the
Admiralty.

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172

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

in the body of the narrative of Sir George
Back's Expedition will be found the same
tale which Captain Lyon told on his title-
pa<^e; Sir John Ross returned after four
years' wintering, without advancing a step
towards the object in view; Sir Edward
Parry failed in his attempt to reach the
Polar Sea by Regent Inlet; Captain Beechy
saw the Polar Sea, and that is all; and
Captain Buchan was not so fortunate as
Captain Beechy.

To the remaining three I call your par-
ticular attention. Firsts — To that of the
Isabella of 385 tons and the Alexander of
252 tons, in command of Sir John Ross.
Sir John Ross rounded Baffin Bay from
East to West without discovering an
opening to the West. Second, — To that of
the Hecla of 375 tons and the Griper
of 180 tons, in command of Sir Edward
Parry with the same object in view as
Sir John Ross. Instead of rounding
Baffin Bay, Sir Edward Parry made an
attempt to cross the Atlantic in the
parallel of 58 deg., and afterwards in
73 deg. He succeeded, but the passage
was one of great risk. The result of this

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

173

Expedition everybody knows and appre-
ciates. We became acquainted with a Sea
of 31 deg. of longitude, bounded on the
North by broken land called the North
Georgian Group, and on the South by Banks
Land to .the West, Land without a name
to the East, and North Somerset between
the two. The Sea between the Land without
a name and North Somerset is called Regent
Inlet, while that between North Somerset
and Banks Land is without a name*^.
Third, — To that of the Fury and Hecla
in command of Sir Edward Parry, and
fitted out with the view of reaching
Regent Inlet by some unknown southern
communication from Fox Channel. A
communication was found, through the
agency of the Esquimaux, in the Fury and
Hecla Strait, but it was ice-clogged.
From these premises, what is the state of

^ I shall shortly call the attention of the Govern-
ment to the state of our geographical nomenclature, as
a test how far the Admiralty can any longer be trusted
with so important a function. If the Hydrographic
Department were a second Sebastopol it must fall. I have
" got shot enough in the locker " ''to smash " (to use
Sir C. Napier's admirable expression) that department.

174

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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things? "When you applied, in 1818, to
this question, the power of your vigorous
mind and penetrating judgment," a re-
flection was cast upon those who had
hitherto laboured in this field of research,
and no doubt was entertained that the
problem would be speedily solved. But
another expedition, and another, until they
numbered ten, have sailed and returned, and
the North-West Passage remains equally a
problem ; but with this difference, that it is
no longer of a simple but of a compound
character. The lands that have been
brought to light are so many lesser puzzles,
as additions to the Great Puzzle of three
centuries.

The great difficulty in the way of these
various attempts, all know, was ice, but no
one, not even the author of the " Chrono-
" logical History of Arctic Voyages^^" has
inquired, where was it found, where
was it not found, and where was it for
the future to be avoided. That which
forced itself, especially upon Sir Edward
Parry's mind, in his last expedition, was the
fact of the adherence of ice to those shores

" Sir John Barrow.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

175

which had an eastern aspect, while those of
an opposite character were free. I have
tested this fact in connection with the
movements of all the Polar Sea Expeditions
which have been set afloat since 1818, and
I find that in every instance the difficulties
arose from the same cause, the clinging to
lands having an eastern aspect. It may be
as well to mention them, for facts are always
worth recording. Sir Edward Parry, in his
second expedition, made attempts, for two
successive summers, to penetrate the eastern
entrance of Fury and Hecla Strait, and
failed ; and, in his third expedition, he lost
the " Fury" while pushing his way along the
eastern land of North Somerset. Sir John
Ross, in his second expedition, was four
years advancing four miles along the same
eastern land, and was at last obliged to
abandon his vessel. Captain Lyon and
Sir George Back made, separately, unsuc-
cessful attempts to reach Repulse Bay,
which has an eastern aspect.

How, it may be inquired, is this general
difficulty to be avoided ] By doing, from
experience, that which Baffin and Ross did
from instinct, by taking the road, which is

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176

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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fairly open to us — the lands that have a
western aspect. The difficulty then is
clearly one of our own seeking, and no
longer presents an insurmountable barrier
to arctic research.

In 1818, you particularly called attention
to the easterly current setting through I^eh-
ring Strait in the Pacific, and the southerly
current setting down Baffin Bay in the
Atlantic, and you, in consequence, inferred
that there must be a northern connecting
sea to the two great oceans. It was, in fact,
your most powerful if not your only lever
to set in motion a Polar Sea Expedition.
Yet the absence of a current in Lancaster
Sound and the Fury and Hecla Strait
never seems for a moment to have surprised
you. By some unaccountable means you
have been most effectually drawn from yoar
original stronghold. It is quite clear that
the master mind has not yet been at work
on the subject of Polar Sea Expeditions,
and while the polar travellers are divided
among themselves and while you are intent
upon Regent Inlet, which may, with as
much justice be called Barrow His Hole
as James Bay was called Gibbons His

FROM riRST TO LAST,

177

Hole, and as the lower part of Regent Inlet
would most assuredly have been called
had Sir John Ross done as Sir John Barrow
thinks he ought, Ross His Hole, the master
mind is not likely to be brought to light.

And now let me call your attention to
the other service which has been at work
upon this interesting question. I mean the
Polar Land Journeys, those fruitful missions
but for which you would have been deprived
of one or other of your favourite Polar Sea
Expeditions. A short survey of the Polar
Land Journeys will afford a standard of com-
parison with the Polar Sea Expeditions, and
develope the true position. The publication
of the travels of Hearne, the Fur Trader, for
which we are indebted to a Frenchman**,
demonstrated that the Polar Sea could be
reached overland by way of Canada, and
the success which attended the first Govern-
ment Journey proved that the opinion which
had been formed was in every way correct.
The distance between Coppermine River
and Point Turnagain, as Sir John Franklin
named the point of his retrograde move-
ment, was thus made known to us. A

"^ La Perouse.

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178

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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second journey added the distance between
the Mackenzie and the Coppermine, and as
far westward of the Mackenzie as Foggy
Island, which far sui-passed in extent the
prosperous voyage of Sir Edward Parry
in 1819 and 18'20. A third expedition
eclipsed all, and left to be surveyed but a
small portion of the North American boun-
dary of the Polar Sea; in that portion,
small as it is, rests the problem of three
centuries.

Is not this sufficient encouragement to
send a fourth ] The fruits of the ten Polar
Sea Expeditions will not balance with those
of the last of the three Polar Land Jour-
neys ; and the harvest of the first and the
least successful of these interesting missions
is greater than that which remains to be
gathered, while in expenditure the three
Land Journeys have certainly not cost more
than two, if one, of the ten Polar Sea
Expeditions. Even the little that has been
done by the Polar Sea Expeditions is of a
doubtful character. Banks Land, North
Somerset, the North Georgian Group of
Islands, and the boundaries of Barrow
Strait are still problems ; they are the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

179

lesser puzzles which I have mentioned. It
is not so with the labours of Franklin,
Richardson, and Simpson ; the footing they
made is permanent, while Croker Moun-
tains'^ have dissolved, and islands threaten
to be continents, and continents islands, the
natural consequence of discovery in ships.

Had you advocated in favour of the
Polar Land Journeys with a tithe of the
zeal you have the Polar Sea Expeditions
the North- West Passage would have long
since ceased to be a problem, and, instead of
a Baronetcy, you would deserve a Peerage,
for the country would have been saved at
least two hundred thousand pounds. But
what use have you made of the Polar Land
Journeys 1 You have invariably made use
of them to stir up a Polar Sea Expedition,
which, if it ceased not to exist in embryo,

After Mr. Croker, Secretary to the Admiralty,
afterwards named Barrow Strait, after Sir John Barrow,
The original dispatch to the Admiralty had these words ;
" sailed over Croker Mountains, and called the place
" Barrow Strait." This was a great hit of Sir Edward
Parry to those who knew the antagonism existing
between Sir John Barrow and Mi. Croker on the one
hand, and Sir John Ross and Sir Edward Parry on the
other.

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180

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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as was the case with the expeditions under
the command respectively of Captain Lyon,
Captain Beechy, and Sir George Back, it
had but a short uninteresting life. If you
are really in earnest upon this subject, you
have but one course to pursue ; search for
the truth, and value it when you find it.
Another fruitless Polar Sea Expedition, and
fruitless it will assuredly be, if not well
digested, will be a lasting blot in the annals
of our voyag'es of discovery**.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your faithful servant,

17, Savile Row, 21 December, '44. RICHARD KING.

To the Secretary to the Admiralty,

Sir, — I revert to my letter of the 21st of
December. The Polar Travellers are pretty
well agreed as to the northern boundary of
America from Behring Strait to Great
Fish River Estuary. From this spot to
Melville Peninsula, and to the north of this
hiatus^ all is conjecture. Such being the
case, I venture an opinion that North

" And a fruitless Expedition it turned out. — It
was commanded by Sir George Back, and designated
" The ill-starred Voyage ir. the Terror."

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

181

Somerset is a part of tlie main continent of
America", and that Victoria Tiiind, l^anks
Land, and Wollaston Land, ar(> ])ortions of
an extensive island, or an archipelago of
islands*^, which, with the North Georgian
Group, occupy a central position in the
Polar Sea.

The Atlantic outlet of the Polar basin
is thus divided. In other words, there are
two North-West Passages. That between
the oceanic group and the continent of
America, which, at its eastern limit, is called
Barrow Strait has alone been explored and
is still incomplete". A small sea-way re-
mains to be discovered in the direction of
Great Fish River Estuary. It will be
found, I believe, washing the western shore
of North Somerset. The Northern Strait,
as I have named it for present convenience,
has an outlet, in all probability, in Jones

■" Subsequently established, and for which Sir John
Ross obtained a " good service pension" of ^.300 a-year.

^ It has lately been determined that these bits of
land, as they were when I wrote, are portions of an
archipelago of islands occupying a central position in
the Polar Sea.

■''' This also has proved correct, see Jones Sound, and
BaiTow Strait in chart.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Sound or hard by. Here we may look
for the current which we lose at Behrins
Strait, and find in Baffin Bay. Here we
may expect to discover a country teeming
with life and its necessaries — man as well
as beast, food as well as fuel. Thus much
in conjecture. Now for the argument.

You implicitly believe North Somerset to
be an island, and Fury and Hecla Strait
to be the Atlantic outlet of the Polar Sea^l
Where are the facts ? A general assertion
is very acceptable to mankind in general
for life is too short for all to be equally at-
tentive to one subject. But seven out of
tlie ten Polar Sea Expeditions have failed
since you entered upon this field of research
in 1818, and the Admiialty, the newspapers
inform as, after having solicited the Royal
(not the Royal Geographical) Society for
their opinion (sad mockery), are now urging
Government to send the eleventh ; a few
facts then will be apropos^^. They are, how-
ever, decidedly against you.

■■^^ " Royal Geographical Society's Journal," vol. vi,
p. 35.

^^ I had it from high authority, after this letter was
published, that Sir John Barrow solicited the Geogra-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

183

Sir Edward Parry, who discovered Fury
and Hecla Strait, and it has not been
visited since his time, has distinctly stated
there is no current in that Strait. Sir
John Ross has published an Esquimaux
chart of North Somerset wherein it is
shewn to be a Peninsula. That you will
say rests upon Indian information ; it
does, and so did the existence of the Polar
Sea, Fury and Hecla Strait, Boothia
Isthmus, and Melville Peninsula. And
who doubts the accuracy of these Polar
fishermen in these respects 1. On the con-
trary, their geographical knowledge is the
admiration of the world. Are you, then,
justified in doubting them in this solitary
instance? The same woman — women are
the geographers at the Pole — who figured
that extraordinary isthmus, the Isthmus of
Boothia, figured that land over which you
are attempting to throw a doubt. When I
contended this point in 1836, you referred
to Sir George Back's decided opinion^^ of

phical Society in the first instance, and found them
adverse.
^ Back's Narrative, p. 408.

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184

THE FR AM KLIN EXPEDITION

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the termination of the eastern boundary of
Great Fish River Estuary at Cape Hay,
in which belief the gallant commander, to
do honour to the Earl of Ripon the chief
promoter of the Journey, named an island
lying off the Cape, Ripon Island. Alas ! Cape
Hay has now lost its importance, and Ripon
Island is not in existence. His lordship
has no resting place at the Pole. Cape Bri-
tannia occupies the place of Ripon Island''^
and you are thus informed by that great tra-
veller, Simpson, whose death all deplore, that
I was right®^, and that Sir George Back was
wrong. Sir John Ross was more careful of
his patron, ex-sheriff Sir Felix Booth. He
gave him six chances; 1, Boothia Felix ;
2, Gulf of Boothia ; 3, Isthmus of Boothia ;

"^ Ripon Island, expunged from the chart in 1R39,
jumps up " Jim Crow " in 1854. The Admiralty may,
from their inefficiency, lower England in the scale
of nations, and they are fast doing it, and will succeed
if that enduring animal, John Bull, lies much longer in
a state of toqDor, but they shall not, out of mere
bravado, give existence to an island that does not
exist.

^ King's Narrative, vol. ii, p. 26.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

185

4, Boothians ; 5, Felix Harbour ; 6, Sheriff's
Harbour®^.

There is yet another important point
which Simpson decided in my favour, which
I mention as serving to put a value upon
the conjectures I have ventured. The Great
Bay discovered by Simpson in 1839 was
supposed by me to exist in 1836""^, and which
induced me to be so sanguine of success as
to volunteer to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies for the time being, year after
year, to conduct a journey such as Simpson
undertook and successfully carried out^^ ; for,
if several jutting points of land had occupied
the space of that bay, not one season but
several seasons would have been required
for its survey.

^ Sir Felix Booth was slierill' of London at tlie
period of the discovery.

^ King's Narrative, vol. ii, p. 77.

*^ The Hudson Bay Company received from the
British Government, as a reward for adopting my
plan of a Polar Land Journey — which was pre-eminently
successful — and as a sop hi the pan for eclipsing their
Polar Sea Expedition — which was pre-eminently un-
successful — and enticed the " 111 starred voyage in
the Terror," — a baronetcy for their chairman. Sir John
Henry Pelly, and a knighthood for their manager.
Sir George Simpson.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

A few words in conclusion regarding the
Northern Strait. It is well known that the
current setting down Baffin Bay brings
drift wood with it, and it is equally well
known that no drift wood passes through
Fury and Hecla, Hudson, and Barrow
Straits. The presumptive evidence is very
convincing to my mind that a large
portion of the wood which is drifted down
Mackenzie River is carried out to sea, and,
catching the western termination of the
oceanic group I have mentioned, is rolled
onwards by the Polar current until it finds
its exit, losing in quantity as it travels, iu
Baffin Bay by Jones Sound*^*'. Additionally,
the Esquimaux of Hudson Strait and of
the Mackenzie River are, in manners and
customs, alike®^ ; the intermediate tribes
altogether different. The Ethnologist would
infer, if the natives of Hudson Strait had
found their way from Mackenzie River along
the coast of North America, that they would
have lost, in the years that must have been
spent in this migration and in the intermar-

^' This Polar Passage is now a matter of fact.
"'' A paper in the Journal of the Ethnological Society
of London, by Dr. King, M.D.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

187

riages that must have taken place, somewhat in
manners and customs, and that consequently
they had followed another route, and the
most likely route is that of the drift wood.
I cannot but believe that many members of
the Esquimaux family remain to be dis-
covered, and that they will be found lining
the shores of the supposed Northern Strait.
Now, let me not be misunderstood.
Although I am contending for a Polar Land
Journey, I am by no means desirous of put-
ting a stop to the Polar Sea Expedition,
which it appears Government has under its
consideration. Let them sail and prosper if
they can; I only wish to point ut what
seems to me, after mature study, to be the
right path. I am no economist, but if
thousands of pounds are to be spent let us
have a good investment ; and the only safe
investment in my opinion is in a Polar Land
Jo'irney. In a third letter 1 shall submit a
plan for the discovery of the North-west
Passage, or rather the North-west Passages,
by a Polar Land Journey. It is a source of
deep regret that I am obliged thus publicly
to address you, but it is my only hope of
obtaining a hearing, seeing that since 1836

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188

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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I have incessantly been labouring in vain
to that end. I am the better able to
do this now than formerlj^ because the
reflection can no longer be cast upon me
" that it is from interested motives and not
" from a love of science."

I have the honour to be Sir,

Your faithful servant,
17, Savile Row, 8 Jan., '45. IIICHAIID KING.

To the Secretary to the Admiralty.

Sir, — In submitting a plan for the ex-
ploration of the northern coast of North
America, and the islands adjacent, I scarcely
know where to begin, for if I consider the
explorers at once at their starting point in the
heart of the country I shall have Sir John
Franklin, as in 1836, calling it "meagre"'*;"
and if I minutely describe the inward route
I shall merit the charge of making a long
story. Conciseness in conducting a Polar
Journey, and in reporting it, is so essential
to the traveller that I prefer to come under
Sir John Franklin's lash; and, by anticipa-
tion, refer him to his own narrative or to
that of Sir Alexander Mackenzie for a

See Aiinals of Philosophy.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

189

minute description of the well-known route
from Montreal to Athabasca.

I propose that a party of two officers —
one being of tlie medical profession — a boat
carpenter, and 13 men fully equipped for
the service, should leave Montreal in Ca-
nada sufficiently early to reach the Atha-
basca Lake in July. Here half the baggage
should be left, and the boat carpenter and
two men should remain, in order to build
a boat 28 feet long, an occupation of three
weeks. The explorers should then proceed
to the head waters of the Fish Jliver to fix
upon an eligible position to winter, and the
inner man as well as the outer man should
be taken into consideration. The route to
the Fish River from the Athabasca Lake is
well known to the Indians and Fur Traders,
and is minutely described in " King's
" Journey to the Polar Sea by Great
" Fish River." One officer and five men,
with ail Indian guide, should then return
to the Athabasca Lake, and, having des-
patched the boat carpenter with the Indian
guide and the two men to the Fish River
party, there to build a second boat, proceed
in tlie newly-built boat, via the Slave and

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Mackenzie Rivers, to Great Bear Lake to
winter.

The parties, which, for convenience, it
will be as well to call the eastern and
western party, having securely housed them-
selves, should at once adapt their means to
their ends, in getting through the winter
and providing for the future, for which pur-
pose I refer them to the narratives of Sir
Alexander Mackenzie and Sir John Frank-
lin ; but as the authors saw things differently,
and met, in consequence, with feasting or
famine, success or failure, the exercise of
some judgment will be required in the re-
ference. To collect and hoard provision,
and to pave the way to the Polar Sea, so as
to be on its shores as early as the navigation
will permit, and to observe all and every-
thing in the vast field before them, are the
main features of an Arctic winter with a
land party. With a sea party, such as the
Admiralty have proposed, the time will be
spent in acting plays and other merry-
andrew tricks that the officers may make a
book out of the sterility around them.

The western party will be further occu-
pied in transporting, as the traveller Simp-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

191

son, their boat to Coppennine Eiver,
and the eastern party their boat to Great
Fish River. Asi soon as these rivers are
open the parties must be in progress, the
one for Cape Britannia, or llipon Island as
it was once called, and the other for Victoria
Land ; the one to ascertain the connection
of the mainland with that of North Somerset,
or with Melville Peninsula, and, if the former,
the character of its westevn shore ; and the
other to trace Victoria Land westerly with
the view of testing its value relatively to
the North-West-Passage.

If I am rightly informed, the Hudson Bay
Company have already despatched one of
their clerks, Mr. Rae, on an overland journey,
for the purpose of making the survey which
I propose for the eastern party. This is an
interesting fact, if true, but it by no means
sets aside the necessity for a Polar Land
Journey ; for, on the arrival of the explorers
at the Athabasca, if it should be found that
Mr. Rae has been wholly successful, then,
instead of one, t^vo boats should be built
there, and the parties, instead of separating,
should winter together at Great Bear Lake ;
and, on reaching Victoria Land, turn the

•il.

192

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

1 ''

**■

prows of their boats east and west, so as to
double the power employed in solving thv*}
great problem in that direction. To enter
further into detail is unnecessary until tho
service is determined upon, but in order that
my ability to supply the minutest detail may
not be questioned I tak' leave to state that
I led the mission in search of Sir John Ross
not only into but out of the Polar Regions.

In Queen Elizabeth's time the North-
West Passage problem was considered of
sufficient importance to demand the atten-
tion of commissioners expressly appointed.
If Queen Victoria will follow the steps of
Queen Elizabeth I will undertake to prove
the practicability of the plan here proposed,
and the impracticability of the plan pro-
posed by the Admiralty. The first report
that reached England of the last of the Polar
Sea Expeditions led the Admiralty " to
" auger favourably of its success." I augured
differently, and published my augura-
tion. It was subsequently designated the
" Ill-starred voyage in the Terror^^."

It has been considered essential to have
the cordial co-operation of the Hudson
^^ In command of Sir George Back.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

193

Bay Company in all overland journeys. I
do not know whether the Admiralty have
consulted the Royal Society upon this point,
but I am prepared to prove, if the com-
mander of an overland journey such as I
propose should entirely depend upon the
co-operation of the company, he is wholly
unfit for the command'^'^. It may even be
thought satisfactory to find the Hudson
Bay Company at last endeavouring to fulfil
the engagement they entered into in obtain-
ing their^* charter as a Fur Company, that

;!'

'^(1

'** Sir George Simpson sent to Mr. Anderson, who
lately descended Great Fish River, three Iroquois, and
but for them, he says, he could not have mastered that
impetuous stream. Of course not ; it was Iroquois I
intended to take, and thus to he entirely independent
of the Company.

" •• Whereas our dear entirely beloved cousin, Prince
Rupert, &c. &c., have, at their own great cost and
charges, undertaken an expedition for Hudson Bay,
in the N.W. parts of America for the discovery of a
new passage into the South Sea. * * * A: d whereas
the said undertakers for their further encouragement in
the said design have humbly besought us to incorporate
them, and grant unto them and their successors the
whole trade and commerce of all those seas, straits, and
bays, rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever

'If,

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194

TH£ FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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of prosecuting by all possible means the
North-West Passage ; but effectually as they
Lave hitherto closed their Country to the
man of science, it cannot last much longer.
Geographical science is surely not all that
requires furthering in North America. We
have to thank the Admiralty and the Hud-
son Bay Company for a state of ignorance
regarding that Country, which, in comparison
with what has been learned of Northern
Asia by Russia, places us nationally in a
most disadvantageous light.

I have the honour to be,

Your faithful servant,

17, Savile Bow, 31 Jan., '45. RICHARD KING.

Sir John Barrow hated me at once and for
ever for having thus pointed out the mani-
fest incompleteness of his Polar schemes.
He vowed he would smash the impudent
fellow who presumed to differ with him
on a subject he flattered himself was ex-
clusively his own; but the materials he
had to deal with were not so easily annihi-
lated. " With the greedy perseverance of

latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of
the straits commonly callerl Hudson Straits, &c. &c."

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

195

" the gamester, who feels an intimate per-
" suasion that if he could only hold out for
" one more trial, fortune would turn to the
" red^*," Sir John Barrow tried yet once
more; and the eleventh naval expedition
was resolved upon, in command of Sir
George Back.

Sir John Barrow must have been a cock-
fighter in his day, hence his disposition to
pif one animal against another; for in-
stance, Parry v. Koss, Ross v. Ross'', Back
V.King'*. Sir John Barrow was not phy-
siognomist enough to play «^o desperate a
game, so he lost on every pit, and then com-
pleted his Polar insolvency by persuading
Franklin to go and form the nucleus of
an iceberg'^; a man who had highly dis-
tinguished himself in the conduct of Polar

" Times, 1 Feb. '56.

" Uncle and Nephew. — A nice hash Sir John Barrow
made of these animals — they have not yet done fighting,
although the cock-pit itself is a " by-gone."

''*' This cock-fighting affair will scarcely be intelligible
to those who have not made Polar matters their study.

" I told Sir John Barrow publicly at the time Franklin
sailed that he was sending him to form the nuclem of
an iceberg.

S''ij'«!

i.^1,

196

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Land Journeys, and was consequently
wholly unfitted for Polar Sea Expeditions.

Young Admiralty, in the form of " Blue
" Jacket," take warning from me,for I should
have been smashed over and over again, if,
in dealing with the North Pole, I had been
dealing with mi/ daily bread. Be par-
ticularly ignorant in all your dealings with
Sir Maurice F. F. Berkley, M.P., for the
Board of Adtuiralty in these days is as
much his Board as the Board of Admiralty
in Sir John Barrow's days was his Board,
In Sir Maurice F. F. Berkley, M.P., you
have the counterpart of Sir John Barrow,
with this vast difference, that he is entirely
deficient in those qualifications which ren-
dered Sir John Barrow the great man. Sir
John Barrow possessed strong affections and
high talents and acquirements, and could
lo\)e and hate, while Sir Maurice F. F.
Berkley, M.P., can only hate and hate.

Now mark, on the 26th October, '54, I
informed the Admiralty I was preparing a
plan to be submitted to them in search of
The Franklin Remains; that was on a
Wednesday. On the following Tuesday
morning this letter in real print in the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

197

i '^
i^i

Times appeared to my astonished eyes,
signed John Rae, Tavistock Hotel, Oct. 30.
Dr. Rae made a sad mess of himself in
writing two diflferent accounts of his " relics,''
and now he makes a sad mess of the Ad'
miralty in publishing this letter. He
states — " It may interest your readers to
" learn that two overland journeys have
" been decided upon — the one, in boats to
go down the Mackenzie River, in search
of Captain CoUinson, the other, in canoes
" down Great Fish River, to make further
inquiry into the fate of Sir John Franklin's
people, and to endeavour to obtain some
more relics, and should any of the remains
" be found, to place them decently under
ground. About noon on Friday, it was
arranged by the Lord's Commissioners of
the Admiralty that these expeditions
should be left wholly in the hands of the
Hudson Bay Company'^"
Then let Sir James Graham excuse himself
if he can for writing me, on the Saturday,
one of the stereotyped letters of the Ad-
miralty, merely acknowledging the receipt

^" Times, 31 Oct., '55.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

of my letter of the 26th October, '54. The
common feelings of a gentleman should
surely have dictated to him the propriety
of informing me of his proceedings on the
Friday, and thus have spared me the labour
of studying my plan until I was cut short
by Dr. Kae's letter in the Times,

And now to the next step of my little
history. On the 20th June, *55, Mr. James
Anderson, a chief factor in the service of
the Hudson Bay Company, started from Fort
Resolution, a trading Post of the Company
on the Great Slave Lake, for Montreal
Island and Point Ogle, in three canoes, and
returned on the 17th September. This
is the narrative ; —

•* We had the advantage of Sir George Back's Map
and Narrative, thff former, the one attached to his
book, was on far too small a scale for our purpose, but
the latter was of great service. We found the want
also of an EsquimauK interpreter".

'T No map — no interpreter — and strangers in the land of their
search ! ! ! Sir George Back's expedition is known as " The ill-
" starred Voyage in the Terror." The Hudson Bay Couipanjf's
journey will be known as " The ill-conceived Search for Franklin."

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

199

" On the 30th July, '65, at the rapids below Lake
p'ranklin, three Esquimaux lodges were seeu on the
opposite shore, and shortly after an elderly man crossed
to us. After the portage was made, we crossed over,
aud immediately perceived various articles belonging to
a boat, such as tent poles and kayack paddles made out
of ash oars, pieces of mahogany, elm, oak, and pine ;
also copper and sheet iron boilers, tin soup tureens,
pieces of instruments, a letter nip with the date 1843,
a broken hand saw, chisels, &c. Only one man was at
the lodges, but the women, who were very intelligent,
made us understand by words and signs, that these
articles came from a boat, and the white men belonging
to it had died of starvation.

" Wo, of course, by shewing them books and written
papers, endeavoured to ascertain if they possessed any
papers, offering to give them plenty of the goods we
had with us for them ; but, though they evidently
understood us, they said they had none. They did not
scruple to shew us all their hidden treasures. Besides
the man, there were three women and eight children.
The remainder of the party, two men and three lads,
were seen towards evening.

" Point Beaufort was reached on the 31st. We
were detained there the next day till half-past two p.m.
by a S.W. gale. We then took the traverse to Montreal
Island. To seaward the ice appeared perfectly firm and
unbroken.

•• When about three miles from the Island, a large
stream of ice was observed coming at a great rate before
the wind and tide out of Elliott Bay and the other

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Soo

THE F'^ANKUN EXPEDITION

4»-

deep Bays to the westward. Every sinew was strained
to reach the land ; but we were soon surrounded by ice,
and for some time were in most imminent danger.
The ice was from six to seven feet thick, perfectly
sound, and drifting at the rate of five or six miles an
hour. In fifteen minutes after we had passed, the
whole Channel to Point Beaufort was choked with ice.
Had we not succeeded in crossing on this daj. we
should have been detained on the eastern shore tiu the
10th.

" We 1 a, \ thus arrived at the first spot indicated by
my instrucuons. The next two days were devoted by the
entire party to the examination of the Island, and the
small Islands in its vicinity. On a high ridge of rocks,
at the South-east point of the Island, a number of
Esquimaux caches were found, and, besides seal oil,
various articles were found belonging to a boat or
ship ; such as chain hooks, chisels, blacksmith's shovel
and cold chisel, tin oval boiler, a bar of unwrought iron
about three feet long, one and a-half inch broad, and a
quarter of an ii ch thick ; small pieces of ropo, bunting,
and a number of sticks strung together, on one of which
was cut * Mr. Stanley (Surgeon of Erebus).' A little
lower down was a large quantity of chips, shavings, and
ends of plank of pine, elm, ash, oak, and mahogany,
evidently sawed by unskilful hands ; every chip was
turned over, and on one of them was found the word
' Terror' carved. It was evident that this was the
spot where the boat was cut up by the Esquimaux.
Not even a scrap of paper could be discovered, and
though rewards were offered, and the most minute

H " i|. ^

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

201

search made over the whole Island, not a vestige of the
remains of our unfortunate countrymen could be dis-
covered.

" On the 5 th August, '55, we succeeded in crossing
over to the western mainland, opposite to Montreal
Island, and the whole party was employed in making a
most minute search as far as the point of Elliott Bay,
and also to the nortliward. The whole Coast between
Montreal Island and Point Fechel was searched by a
land party, always accompanied by Mr. Stewart or
myself. Many very old Esquimaux encampments were
seen, but not a trace of the party.

" Early on the 7th August, '65, the entire party,
with the excep*;ion of two of the Iroquois, who were
left to repair the canoes, started in light marching trim,
taking the Halket boat with us. Five men followed
all the sinuosities of the coast, while the others were
spread at equal distances inland, Mr. Stewart and
myself taking the middle space. Shortly after leaving
the encampment a river was forded ; this must be a
large stream at a high stage of water. It was called
Lemisieurier Biver, after a relative of Mr. Stewart's.
No fuel was found in our encampments, and in two
hours we left all signs of vegetation behind. The
remainder of the Peninsula is composed of high
sandhills intersected by deep valleys, evidently over-
flowed at spring tides and during gales.

" We encamped late opposite Maconochie Island,
and the only vestige of the missing party found was a
small piece of cod-line, and a strip of stiiped cotton
about two inches long and an inch broad. These were

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202

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

found at Point Ogle, in an Esquimaux encampment of
perhaps three or four years of age.

" Next morning a piece of open water enabled us
to launch the Halket boat, and explore Maconochie
Island, but nothing was found. It was impossible to
cross over to Point Richardson, as I wished, the ice
driving tlirough the strait between it and Maconochie
Island at a fearful rate. About three o'clock in the
afternoon we began to retrace our steps through a
tremendous storm of wind and rain. It may be thought
strange that the remains of so large a party could not
be discovered. It is my opinion that a party in a
starving condition would have chosen a low spot, where
they could haul their boat up and have had some
shelter ; and that, if they perished there, their bones
have been long since covered by sand or gravel forced
up by the ice'*. Any books or papers left open would be
destroyed by the perpetual winds and rain in this
quarter in a very short space of time ; for instance, a
large book, Raper's Navigation, was left open on a
cloak at Montreal Island ; it was blown open, and the
leaves were pattering about in such a way that, had it
not been instantly closed, it would soon have been torn
in pieces.

" JAMES ANDERSON, C.F.'*

^ This notion is far too absurd to be entertained. Besides it
does not account for the absence of all remains of the five that
died at Montreal Island.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

203

(.'■ i

The Examiner notices this journey with
its all-powerful pen.

" All that is ever likely to be told us of the closing
Bcene of the great tragedy which ends the history of
Arctic exploration, we now know. It is now absolutely
certain that, had attention been paid to the representa-
tions and entreaties of Dr. King, persisted in by him
80 early as 1847, search would then have been made in
the right direction, and there would still have been a
chance for the survivors who in 1860 reached the
coast at the mouth of the Great Fish River — to die.

'• Dr. Rae had understood the Esquimaux to mean
Montreal Island, and Point Ogle near it, as the places
where the white men perished in 1850. The recent
search has determined the locality beyond dispute.
After a day or two of unsuccessful exploration, one of
the first relics found was a part of one of the boats of
-he Terror, with the name of that vessel branded on
t. The Esquimaux said that some tribes further
lorth had seen the ships, and knew them to have been
irushed by the ice, — ^knew them to have met probably
in Victoria Straits, in 1848, with that accident which
many former voyagers are known to have been often
within but a hair's breadth of escaping. Here too was
a fragment of a boat, to tell how far, after suffering and
toil, at least one band of men escaping from the vessels
had advanced its efforts to reach to some one of the
northern stations of the Hudson Bay Company. There
was found also on Montreal Island another fragment of
this boat, on which the name of Sir John Franklin was

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204

THE PRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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carved. There was found besides part of a snow-shoe,
known to be of English manufacture, ' being made of

* oak, a species of wood which no man accustomed to

* use such shoes would ever select for the purpose ;'
and upon it the name of Mr. Stanley, surgeon to
Franklin's own ship the Erebus, was carved. There
was also a ship's hammer ; there were oars, boat-kettles,
empty meat cases ; there were remains of a flag ; and
there was a letter-clip. But there were no papers, and
no bones of the men who died.

" Here, then, it was that in the winter of 1860 the
survivors of the Erebus and Terror ran their boats
upon the beach, and, too weak to proceed further,
crawled ashore to die. It was in the same part of the
world that Franklin, thirty years before, had suffered all
the famine man can suffer and yet live. By the Copper
Mine River he had eaten tripe de roche, and supped on
scraps of roasted leather. By the estuary of Great
Fish River, if he was among those who came so far in
the direction of man's help, he died.

" One of the lost crew, the Esquimaux relates, died on
Montreal Island, the rest perished on the coast of the
mainland. ' The wolves were very thick.' Only one
white man seems to have been living when their tribe
arrived, and him it was too late to save. An Esqui-
maux woman saw him die. ' He was large and strong,'
she said, ' and sat on the sandy beach, his head resting
' on his hands, and thus he died.' A death that shall
not be forgotten by the poets, in days hereafter'^."

f^ Examiner, 12 Jan. '06.

FROM FIRST TO LAST,

205

What a sad destiny was Franklin's. Sir
James Ross *' could not conceive any position
in which he could be placed from which he
would make for Great Fish River ; " and
Sir John Richardson " did not think, under
any circumstances, he would attempt that
route ; " and yet these officers were selected
to be the leaders of a searching party, the
one by sea and the other by land, the one
having his starting point at Barrow Strait,
and the other at Mackenzie River, with in-
structions to meet, so as to cross the estuary
of Great Fish River ; to attract, in fact, each
other. This was not possible, seeing how
they were charged^ and, as might have been
expected, at a given point they repelled each
other, and thus tabooed The Franklin Expe-
dition — to death.

If this combined effort by sea and by
land had comprised a larger area, — if the
descent of Coppermine, Great Fish, and
Mackenzie Rivers had been made at one
and the same time, and each party, on
making the Polar Sea, had been instructed
to cross over to Victoria Land, and then to
trace that land, as Thomas Simpson traced
it, in the direction of North Somerset, it

ir •

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'■^'

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206

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

would have comprised a plan in accordance
with the meanest capacity, and c rmpletely
netted the lost adventurers ; but ..u imagine
for one moment that two men should meet,
the starting points being Barrow Strait on
the one hand, and Mackenzie River on the
other, displayed a state of ignorance of
Polar difhculty that reflects no credit on
those who planned it, nor on those who
undertook to conduct it.

To have entertained anything half so pre-
posterous, especially when life and death
on a large scale was the stake, — was an
utter recklessness such as the Admiralty
alone was capable of. Thomas Simpson
started, not from the Mackenzie but from
the Coppermine, and he had three of
my best men with him, — Mackay, Sinclair,
and Taylor, — and yet the known physical
power and endurance of that extraor-
dinary man barely enabled him to reach
Great Fish River. These are his words,
written in indelUble characters on the
spot — no cooking, for this great man died
on his journey, with his manuscript in
hand. — "The survey of the land of North
'* Somerset, which was the main object of

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

207

((

i(.

the Terror's ill-starred Voyage, would
necessarily demand the whole time and
energies of another Expedition, having a
starting point much nearer to the scene
of operations than Coppermine River®*^."
It is a weak point in Sir John Richardson's
character not to have insisted, as the old
friend of Sir John Franklin, upon the com-
bination of search I suggested. Even if
Sir John Richardson wete strong in the
belief that Sir John Franklin was not to be
found at Great Fish River, he should have
shewn himself the scientific man and the
great man, and encouraged my plan, were
it only for science' sake.

It was not thought possible that Sir
John Richardson and Sir James Ross could
do otherwise than meet. Then how was it
they did not 1 Because they could not and
would not. Sir John Richardson could not,
because he was too old. I told him so ; I

I!)

....

Times, 18 April, '40. I quote the Times in pre-
ference to the published works, because I like first
impressions. Sir George Back's Narrative and Map
were so over-cooked that I lost all knowledge of the raw
material. Sir John Barrow made a sad hash of Back
as well as the Rose'.

»«»

i*" < *!.

208

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

•

* IT*

told Lord Grey so*' ; others said so. Sir
James Ross would not, because he had re-
solved to turn his errand of mercy into an
errand of self-aggrandisement. Sir John
Ross told Lord Auckland so*"; everybody
knew so. And it is agony to reflect, when
these officers broke down, that they stood
face to face at the very threshold of the
whereabouts of their old friend®*.

Then comes the liudsor Bay Company
Expedition, dispatched to bury the bodies
and ascertain their sad history, and what
becomes of it ] The man who had pointed
out Montreal Island and Point Ogle as the
death-spot of The Franklin Expedition, and
was intimately acquainted with the locality,

" Vide p. 47.

«» VUe p. 73.

^ Sir George Back settled the vexed question in
language peculiarly his own. " He wholly rejected all
" and every idea of any attempt on the part of Franklin
" to send boats to any point of the mainland in the
" vicinity of Great Fish River^." As Medical Referee
to the London and Continental Life Office, I have to
read language of this kind : — Are you sober ? Par-
ticularly so ; a mere mistake, I generally find, for
Particularly drunk.

1 Firfep. 88.

PROM FIRST TO LAST.

209

was not to go and bury the bodies and fetch
the little history they had bequeathed to
their country, — the last message each had
delivered to his nearest and dearest relative
or friend.

The nation, with one voice, would most
assuredly have awarded to him that honour,
but that Sir James Graham, with all haste,
knowing well the little bit of active mortalitif
he had to deal with, flung him aside, and
with him such men as Osborne, Pim, and
M'Cormick, before he had an opportunity
to appeal to his nation.

What a sad destiny was Franklin's; it
extended even to his very remains. Sir
James Graham, upon whom fell the duty
of providing for the decent burial of these
remains, instead of performing this office,
which better blood than himself would hav(^
esteemed an honour of no little account,
delegated that office to a commercial com-
pany, notoriously ignorant®* of all things
except rat skins and cat skins®*, utterly

^ Science and Commerce never yet went hand in
liand.

^ The sable is sometimes called sable-cat ; — and rauKk-
rat is the ordinary name of the musquash or lesser

s 3

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^« ■. ..-"^

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210

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

indifferent as to the mode in which they
performed the task.

He had no right to do this. He had
no right to hand over the bodies of 138
gallant sailors to a commercial company.
He had no right to give them any other
funeral than that due to them, as be-
longing to Her Majesty's Service. He
surely should have dispatched an officer
of Her Majesty's Service, of known ability,
to perform that office, and to place a monu-
ment over their grave. He has compro-
mised the nation in having thus neglected
his duty.

But Dr. King was not the man to go,
because he would find bodies at Montreal
Island and Point Ogle whether or no. No
such thing, Sir James Graham. No such
thing. Sir Maurice F. F Berkeley, M.P.
It is as old as Adam, that is to say, North
Pole Adam, that I have always bargained
I would have as my companion an officer of
Her Majesty's Service, selected and appointed
by the Government. I was too old a soldier,

beaver, — the little animal which supplied us with beaver
hats before silk hats came into use. — King's Narrative,
Vol, i. p. 116.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

211

even as far back as 1847, not to see the
importance of having a living witness to
every transaction of my journey ®®.

Now what has come of the Commercial
Company's Expedition to bury the remains
of Franklin and to learn his sad history?
They reach Point Ogle and Montreal Island.
They find undoubted evidence of the truth
of the Esquimaux accounts, and they are
content with collecting a few relics to add
to Dr. Eae's relics, and return. They never
search King Cache of Montreal Island, —
because they had no map, — because they
had not read the Narrative of Thomas
Simpson, — because they had selected a crew
who were utter strangers in the land.

They do not ask of the Esquimaux
the particulars of the Franklin tragedy —
because they could not speak to them, —
because they had no interpreter. They
did not mark the spot where forty of their
countrymen met their death, — because they
had not provided themselves with a simple
monument of granite. They do not seek
for the history, in writing, of their sad fate
in the only spot it was likely to be found, —

«» Videip. as.

l3<

212

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

d.:"

because they had never heard that such a
spot had existence. O tempora ! mores !
With these feelings I addressed the
humble prayer which concludes this narra-
tive to the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, which I now address to my
country at large, in whose hands now rests
The Fate of The Franklin Expedition.

To the Right Honourable The Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty,

My Lords, — Your Lordships are aware
that, in the years 1833 — 35, I was the
Medical Officer attached to the Polar Land
Journey in search of Sir John Ross, and
that, for a considerable period, I commanded
the party.

The knowledge which I acquired in that
Journey, joined to an anxious desire for the
advancement of Geographical science, led
me to investigate the causes of the failure
of former expeditions, having for their
object the discovery of the North- West
Passage, and to entertain views as to the
means of solving that problem, which were,
at that time, at variance with the opinions
held by other Arctic travellers, although

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

213

their soundness has since been established
by the discoveries of Sir Robert MfClure,
Sir Edward Belcher, Mr. Thomas Simpson,
and others. '

In February 1845, when it had been
determined by your Lordships to despatch
Sir John Franklin, with the Erebus and
Terror, to prosecute the discovery of the
" Passage " from Barrow Strait, I pressed
upon Her Majesty's Government, although
without success, the expediency of aiding
the search by means of a Polar Land
Journey down the Coppermine and Great
Fish Rivers.

In 1847, after a lapse of two years since
tidings had been received of the Erebus
and Terror, doubts were entertained as to
their safety; and on the 10th of June in
that year, I submitted to the Government
a statement of the grounds which led me to
the conviction that the position of the lost
Expedition was on the western land of
North Somerset, and I proposed to com-
municate with and convey succour to them
by means of a Land Journey down Great
Fish River.

My proposal, however, was not enter-

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214

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

|.;^t;;-

tained ; on the contrary, two Naval ex-
peditions were despatched, one froir each
end of the Continent, and a party was
charged with a Land Journey for the
purpose of searching the Coast, not in the
locality which I had pointed out, but
between the Mackenzie and Coppermine
• Rivers.

It is unnecessary for me to dilate upon
the fruitless result of these expeditions.
On their return, the sympathies of the
whole world were aroused to the fate of
The Franklin Expedition, and a fleet of
vessels was despatched, partly by the State,
and partly by private enterprise, in search
of the missing navigators; but most un-
fortunately the coast near the mouth of
Great Fish River was again omitted from
the search. For the third time I pressed
upon the Government the expediency of a
Land Journey, for the purpose of examining
this neglected spot; and, in a letter ad-
dressed to your Lordships, on the 18th of
February, 1850, in which I used the
prophetic words, — " The route of Great
" Fish River will sooner or later be under-
" taken in search of Sir John Franklin,"

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

215

I repeated the offer I had previously made,
to lead a party in the search.

Your Lordships, however, acting upon
the advice of the recently appointed Arctic
Council, who, to use the words of one of
its members, — " did not think that, under
'' any circumstances, Franklin would at-
" tempt the route of Great Fish Kiver,"
ignored my plan, and declined my services,
and despatched a further Naval Expedition,
the crews of which returned from a fruitless
search, after the unparalleled desertion of
no less than five vessels. Their journey,
however, was not altogether without result,
for although they failed to find or save the
missing navigators, they discovered the long-
sought " Passage," in the identical position,
it may be observed, laid down in an imagi-
nary Chart which I had published some years
previously, and had upheld against the
opinion of other travellers up to the period
of the discovery.

In 1854 Dr. Kae was despatched by the
Hudson Bay Company to complete a survey
of the West coast of Boothia ; and, although
hfc informed the public, in his letter ad-
dressed to the "Times," on the 11th of

;i«

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216

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

:'^

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m*tti^'*<i^

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December, 1852, " that there was not the
'* slightest hope of finding any traces of the
" lost navigators in the quarter to which he
" was going," yet, strange as it may have
appeared to him, he ascertained from the
Esquimaux, on arriving in Pelly Bay, that
about forty white men had perished four
years previously at Montreal Island, and on
the banks of Great Fish River; — in the
vert/ spot, I may observe, where Dr. Rae
and the Arctic Council had come to the
conclusion that the lost navigators could by
no human possibility be found ; and in the
identical locality which I had never ceased
to urge was the precise point which Franklin
would endeavour to reach, and where traces
of the expedition would infallibly be found.
At the time of receiving this intelligence
Dr. Rae was at a distance of about 100
miles from Point Ogle ; and it appears, from
his official Report to the Hudson Bay
Company, that he subsequently arrived at
Castor and Pollux River, which is scarcely
forty-five miles distant from that spot, and
that, instead of hastening forward to verify
or disprove the horrible story of cannibalism
and death, related to him by the Esquimaux,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

217

he turned aside at a right angle, and travelled
not less than double that distance, in a
northeriy direction, up to Cape Porter !

Without pausing to inquire the reason
which induced Dr. Rae to turn aside, when
he was within forty-five miles from a spot in
which so much horrible interest was centred,
and when he must have been well aware
that neither the Government nor the people
of England would rest satisfied until the
locality of the reputed tragedy should have
been examined ; — without pausing, I say, to
advert to this inexplicable proceeding on
his part, I hasten to remind your Lordships
that the accounts thus brought home by
Dr. Rae, at once proved the incontestible
accuracy of the views which I had so lon^'
and unsuccessfully pressed upon the atten-
tion of Her Majesty's Government, respecting
the locality in which some traces or tidings
of Franklin would be found.

In the following year the soundness of
my views was at length tacitly admitted, by
the despatch of an expedition, in canoes,
down Great Fish River, almost in the pre-
cise mar'- /hich I had so vainly advocated
in 184^, iv347, 1848, and again in 1850; and.

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218

THE FRANKIIN EXPEDITION

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from the official Report of Mr. Anderson,
the leader of that expedition, (published in
the " Times " of the 11th instant), it appears
that, on the banks of that river, and on
Montreal Island, some slight traces of the
missing navigators have been found.

It is useless now to inquire what would
have been i i vult if your Lordships had
acceded to my eariest and repeated en-
treaties, and permitted me, in 1847 or 1848,
to lead an expedition to the spot where these
sad relics have since been found ; no doubt
can, I think, exist in the mind of any
reasoning being, that, if those entreaties
had been acceded to, a portion, at least, of
the lost expedition would, at the present
moment, be alive, and in England.

It is not with any view to my own
aggrandisement, or with any feeling of self-
laudation, that I submit this hurried analysis
of the recent Arctic Expeditions to your
Lordships' consideration. If such were my
object, I should point out further instances
in which the discoveries of Simpson and
others have proved the accuracy of my
views respecting the conformation of the
Polar Regions. But I think it right to place

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

219

on record a statement, however hasty and
incomplete, shewing the correctness of the
opinion which I so long entertained, as to
the position in which traces of Franklin
would be found, in order that your Lord-
ships may judge whether the further obser-
vations, which I feel it my duty to make
upon the subject, are not entitled to more
consideration than my former suggestions
have received at the hands of Her Majesty's
Government.

There is an important question now
before your Lordships. Has everything, in
the power of the English Government, been
done to obtain evidence of the death of The
Franklin Expedition ] I unhesitatingly
answer in the negative.

From the statements of the Esquimaux
seen by Dr. Rae, taken in connection with
the evidence procured by the last searching
party, there seems little doubt that a con-
siderable number of white men died at or
near Point Ogle, on the western coast of
the embouchure of Great Fish River, and
that a smaller party, consisting of an officer
and four men, died on Montreal Island, — a
spot about half a day's journey to the South

'!!!

« ,

220

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

'■*^

k '■-'*' 1*'

of Point Ogle. This last party had a boat
with them, which was subsequently sawn
up by the Esquimaux, who left a quantity
of chips, on one of which was found the
word "Terror." A number of articles of
common use, and even of luxury, belonging
to the expedition, have been purchased from
the Esquimaux, and brought to England,
but the inquiries of the last searching party
could find no trace of any papers, records,
or other written documents !

Such, then, are the simple facts before us,
and, without entering upon the vexed
question as to the manner in which our
unfortunate countrymen met their death,
whether by starvation, or by the hands of
the Esquimaux, the chief point for inquiry
appears to be ; — For what purpose did an
officer and four men visit Montreal Island ?
As the iron coast of an inhospitable little
Island is the last place to which an Arctic
traveller would resort for provisions, it is
evident that the visit must be assigned to
some other cause, and this point, which
seems at present to be a mystery, it is, I
think, in my power to elucidate.

On my visit to Montreal Island in 1834,

FROM FIRST TO LAST. H

221

■' H

I constructed a hiding-place, which was
known by the name of " King Cache," and
which was subsequently visited and opened
by Simpson in 1839, in the same manner as
the Cache made by Parry on Melville
Island, called " Parry Sandstone," was
opened by MfClure in 1852. The existence
of my Cache was known to Franklin^ and
it is my firm belief that he, or the leading
survivor of the Expedition, crossed over
from Point Ogle for the purpose of searching
this Cache, and of depositing there a record
of his visit, and that he and his boat's crew
subsequently met their death before they
could regain the main land. ^

By whatever means they perished, I
think there can be no doubt that the leader,
knowing of the existence of my Cache, and
trusting that it would be searched ere long
by friends from home, would strain every
nerve, before he ceased to live, to deposit
in this place of safety, not only the memorial
of his visit, which he crossed from the
mainland for the purpose of placing there,
but also the history, which he would most
unquestionably have carried with him, of
the endurance and the sufferings of that

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222

TH£ FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

devoted band, and of the heroic constancy
with which the officers had sustained the
flagging courage of their men, in the speedy
hope of receiving that succour which, by a
horrible fatality, had been directed to every
point of the Polar Seas, except the precise
spot on which they then stood. And the
fact that no papers were found in the
hands of the Esquimaux, is in itself a
strong presumption that the records of the
Expedition had been deposited in a place
of safety before the death of our hapless
countrymen.

In the official report of the leader of the
last searching party, my Cache is not
mentioned, and, as he would scarcely have
omitted to search it, or have forgotten to
refer to it in his report, if he had beeu
aware of its existence, I cannot but con-
clude that, by some further and unexplained
misfortune, he started on his journey without
being aware that Montreal Island contained
any particular spot in which there would
unquestionably be found some traces of the
missing Expedition.

From these facts, I can only draw the
deduction that, in all human probability, a

PROM FIRST TO LAST.

223

history of The Franklin Expedition still lies
burled in my Cache, beneath the rocky
shore of Montreal Island, and that it is
within the bounds of possibility that this
record may be recovered, and that the
discoveries of the ill-fated Expedition may
yet be published for the advancement of
science, and the narrative of their probably
unexampled sufferings be made known to
the world.

Under these circumstances, I feel assured
that the people of England will not consent
that the search for the missing Expedition
shall rest in its present position. More
than two millions sterline^ has already
been squandered in expeditions, which
have brought home no tidings of the
lost navigators, beyond a few silver forks
and other relics, and an apocryphal story,
interpreted from the vague signs of the
Esquimaux, too revolting in its details to be
worthy of implicit belief.

A further L md Journey down Great
Fish River may be performed at a cost of
about £.1000, and this Journev, if vour
Lordships will give me the command of a
party, I offer, for the fifth time, to under-

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"■*

224 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION, &c.

take, in the confident hope that I may yet,
at the eleventh hour, be the means of
recovering a record of the Expedition, the
recital of whose sufferings will otherwise b'
buried in everlasting oblivion.
I have the honour to be, my Lords, &c.,

17, Savile Row, 23 Jan. '66. RICHARD KING.

f 1 . ■

Sir, Admiralty, 28th Jan. 1856.

Having laid before my Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty your letter of
the 2 1st instant, volunteering your services
to command an Expedition by Land down
the Great Fish River to Montreal Island,
to search for traces of the fate of the late Sir
John Franklin and Party, I am commanded
by their Lordships to acquaint you that
they do not think it advisable to undertake
such an Expedition.

I am, &c..

Dr. Kino, M.D. THO? PHINN.

•ONDOMt
PRINTED BY T. BRETTELt, RUPERT STREET, HATMARKET.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

225

1 had concluded the active part 1 have
now for more than ten years taken, when
that season of the year arrived which re-
minded me and some of my Polar friends
of The Franklin Expedition ; of our December
and of tlieir December, if they still had a
December, and there were those, and they
were not a few, who insisted that the Ex-
pedition, reduced of course in numbers,
still existed, — cold, and shivering, and
hungered in their icy prison. It was
resolved then between Lieut. Bedford Pirn,
R.N., and myself to try the Admiralty yet
again, — and here is our memorial : —

**l

THO? PHINN.

TRKBT, HATMARKET.

My Lords, 17, Savile Row, 8 Dec. '56.

That season of the year is rapidly
approaching when the icy fetters of the
Arctic regions are loosened, and the Polar
Sea is open to a further search for the re •
mains of The Franklin Expedition. Gigantic
exertions have been already made, but in all
these vast efforts there has been a want of
comprehensiveness, which it has since been
proved could only result in utter failure. It

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THE l-RANKLIN EXPEDITION

is needless to call your Lordships' attention
to facts in support of this view of the case,
inasmuch as they are indelibly placed on
record, and your Lordships ai-e cognisant of
them.

But traces have been found — death traces,
it is to be deplored — of the gallant Sir J.
Franklin and his noble band — traces that
point to the "whereabouts of the missing
ships which sailed with so much glory to
carry out the scientiiic survey propounded by
your Lordships. Since these traces have
been found, your Lordships have taken no
steps towards a full and comprehensive
seai'ch, and until your Lordships shall follow
up these'! traces to the uttermost, we venture
respectfully to state our opinion that a stain
is stamped on our national honour. AVe,
therefore, imploi'e your Ijordships to take
into your consideration a compi'ehensive })lan,
which we now lay before you, and which we
maintain contains within itself elements of
success, such as have not been before
brought under your Lordships' notice. AVc
propose to make a combined ellbrt by sea
and by land — by sea, through Barrow Strait
and down Peel Sound ; by land, across tlio

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

2-^7

continent of America and down Groat Fish
River — meeting at the magnetic pole. Upon
the sea expedition it is proposed to use a
small screw steamer, and upon the land
journey bark canoes.

In the first effort made for the recovery of
Sir J. Franklin, your Lordships adopted the
prhiciple we ai'e now advocating uf a com-
bined effort by sea and land, but the scheme
unhappily failed in the details. The route
selected for the journey of the land party
was far too distant from that of the sea
expedition for human eftbrt to effect a
junction ; and the unhappy band of adven-
turers, in search of whom these expeditions
were dispatched, met their death with succour
on either side of them. Our land party on
the contrary would in the Great Fish River
be comparatively near to the sea expedition,
and more certain of effecting a juncuon.

We contend that it is essential that the
plan of search should embrace a land as well
as a. sea pai'ty, seeing that previous land
parties by themselves, and previous sea
parties by themselves, have invariably failed.
Tlie desirableness of such a combination of
search as we propose must at once be

228

THE fhankltn expedition

*'^.....*#

apparent to your Lordships, for it may he
auvonient for the land party to take passage
home with the sea party, and vice versd, and
with this end we consider that the two
parties should comprise the fewest possible
men. We would merely allude, in support
of our proposal, to the successful surveys
made by our forefathers — Davis, Baffin,
Behring, and Hudson.

We are not surprised that the First Lord
of the Treasury should ignore the plan of
search suggested by the Royal Geographical
Society, inasmuch as that plan merely con-
templates another search in precisely the
same manner as a host of sea searches have
been already made, unsupported by land
journeys, and affords no better prospect of
success than was attained by ■ / plans which
immediately preceded it, and Auicb resulted
in the total loss of five of her Majesty's
ships, one of which (the Resolute) has since
been recovered by a miracle, and is now
upon its return to this country.

The precise time of starting upon the
land journey will be towai'ds the end of
February ; that of the sea expedition will be
the end of June. By these means your

FilOM FIRST TO LAST.

2-20

^^.

Lordships will not be hurried ; and it is for
that reason we have thus eaily addressed
you. Most of the expeditions that have
been dispatched have been hurried at the
last moment, and to this, we apprehend, is
to he attributed in gi'eat measure their failure.
The precise time when both the sea and
land parties will reach their respective
wintering grounds, the precise fittings whirh
each service will reipiire, and the precise sum
which each will cost, are well known to your
Lordships, and therefore need not he re-
peated. For these services we place ourselves
at the disposal of your Lordships. We are
triced servants, intimately ac(piainted with the
services we undertake to conduct. AVe are
friends bound together in zeal and honesty
of purpose ; and we are confident in each
other, and earnest in our endeavour to press
forward in all prudence to our rendezvous.
In conclusion, we would state to your Lord-
ships that we are convinced that, in order to
be successful, the united service, both by
sea and bv land, should be under the conduct
of Government. It was on a Government
errand, propounded by the Government, that
Sir J. Frankliv; sailed ; and to the care of the

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230

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Government his honoured remains should be

committed. ^ • - •* »

"We have the honour to be, my Lords, &c.

RICHAIID KING, M.D.,
BEDFORD PIM, Lieutenant, R.N.

Gentlemen, Admu-alty, 9 Dec. '56.

I have received, and laid before my
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, your
letter of the 8th instant, proposing to make
a combined search by Sea and by Land for
the remains of The Franklin Expedition.
I am. Gentlemen,
Your most obedient.;
Humble servant

Richard King, Esq. M.D. and
Lieut. Bedford Pim,
17, Savile Row.

RISBURNE.

From the date of the acknowledgment of
our memor?^, which was next day (9 Dec.
'56) we had no tidings of their Lordships,
and vLen 1;^ Feb. '57 arrived, we became
anxious, we therefore pressed their Lordships
for a reply, but before there was time for
the reply the *' Times " always generous in
itartling information^ announced to me at
8 a.m. of 14 Feb. '57, upon the authority of

t FROM FIRST TO LAST.

231

an Arctic voyageur of known capacity and
capability (Capt. Sherard Osbom) that ten
or twelve men of The Franklin Expedition
were still alive hovering about the mouth of
Great Fish River. Here is the " Startling
information " and the correspondence to
which it gave rise.®^

To the Editor of the *' Tiniest

Sir, — The enclosed is from an undoubted
source, and of too great importance for me
to feel justified in withholding it from the
public press.

Mr. Anderson, as leader of the last ex-
pedition to the shores of the entrance of the
Great Fish River, and as a servant of the
Hudson's Bay Company, would not have
merely forwarded an idle rumour to Sir
George Simpson when it reflected on his
employers, and added one more to the many
proofs that the starving crews of Franklin's
ships reached the Hudson Bay tenitory,
and as yet have not been reached or dis-
covered. Indeed, their fate is still wrapped
in mystery, in spite of the relics brought

87 Vide p. 212.

233

THE FrANKLTN EXPEDITION

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from Becchy Island by Penny, and from
America by llae.

Yours obediently,

SHKUAllD OSBOllN, Captain.
Craven Ilotel, Craven-street, 13 Feb. '67.

Extract of a Letter, dated Red River

Skttlement,

Ilmhon Dai/ Territory, Der. (5, 'of).

I received a letter from Roderick by the
last mail, and he expresses a wish that I
should write to you by the first opportunity,
and state more particularly about the reports
we heard last summer about some traces of
whites being seen in the north.

I have just returned from — , v ho was at
Norwav-house last July, and saw the man
who br* ught down an express to Sir George
Simpson from Mr. Andeison'^'in Mackenzie's
River (district), stating that Indians had
brought over reports to one of the trading
posts in that quarter that Indians had seen
two or more encampments of Avhites on an
island on some point where Anderson and
Stewart turned back (in 1855), and that one
of the encampments particulai-ly was quite

Sf-' Comnmmler of the late soardiint? bout party down Great Tish

River.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

2V\

vn Great Tish

fresh, supposed to have been abandoned a
day or two before the Indians saw it, and
from the traces, thought there might have
been about 10 or 12 men.

I could not hear of the exact locality further
than that Anderson and Stewart yjere within
a very short distance of the place where the
traces were seen. I hope you have heard
more particularly about the report.

To tlie Editor of the '' Timcsr

Sir, — I lose no time in noticing the report
given in The Times and other papers of to-day
by Captain Sherard Osbom, in reference to
Sir John Franklin's Expedition, and to men-
tion that no information bearing upon this
important subject has reached this house in
an official or private shape, and that, in the
opinion of persons acquainted with the Indian
country, it is only one of those vague rumours
which have been current there from time to
time, upon which no rehance can be placed,
and probably arises from Indians having seen
one of Anderson's own encampments on or
iiear Great Fish River, but not near its mouth,
because the Indians, as far as is kno^vn to
the Hudson's Bay Company, never approach

Tin: MIANKLIN F.XPKTllTTON

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within 200 or 300 miles of it, i.e. tlie mouth
of the river.

Sir George Simpson, whose name is parti-
cularly mentioned hy Captain Oshorn, will Im
in London next week, and will no douht per-
sonally contradict the absurd charge made in
Captain Osborn's communication.

I am, Sir, your obedient son'ant,

W. G. SMITH, Secretary.

Hudson s Bay-home, 14 Feb. '57.

To the Editor of the '' Timesr

Sin, — I am as unwilling to give my time
as you must be your space to a controversy
with Mr. Smith as to the value of the report
about Franklin's expedition, received from
the Eed River settlement. The public are
as w^ll able to juilge of it as Mr. Smith,
Sir George Simpson, or myself, since the
value of the report depends not upon our
opinions, but the fact whether or not Sir G.
Simpson ever received such a communication
from Mr. Anderson, the only person capable
of estimating what it is worth.

I cannot accuse myself of making any
charge against Sir George Simpson. I acted
as I thought right towai'ds my friends in the

FROM FinST TO LAST.

235

lost expedition, without reference to the

opinions of any man.

I am, Sir, your oboJiont servnnt,

SHERAllD USliOKN.
Craven Hotel, Craven Street, 10 Feb, '67.

P.S. — The fact of Indians bringing tlie
report shows that tlie detachment which
reached the Great Fish lliver pushed on into
the Indian country. Time will prove whether
they starved, were nnu'dered, or still exist.

To the Editor of the '' Timcsr
Sir, — I beg to state that I place implicit
rehance on the statement of the Indians,
communicated to you by Captain Sherard
Osborn, and published in your impression of
Saturday, that " they ha<l seen two or more
encampments of whites on an island on some
point where Anderson and Stewart turned
back in ] 855, traces of about 10 or 12 men ;"
and that the letter of Mr. Smith, the Secretary
of the Hudson's Bay Company, published in
your impression of to-day, is no cont)'adiction,
inasmuch as he is unacquainted wiiU the fact
that the Chipewyan Indians, ever since the
vear 1835, have hunted on the banks of the
Great Fish lliver, and have entered into
friendl} relations with the Esquimaux.

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TEST TARGET (MT-S)

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2.2

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Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MSBO

(716) 872-4503

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236

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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Mr. Roderick M*Leod, one of the officers
of the expedition in search of Sir J. Ross in
1833-36, wrote to me from Great Slave Lake
on the 2nd of July, in 1836, as follows : —

" It may perhaps he in favour of your en-
terprise, the late intimacy that has taken
place between the Chipewyans and Esquimaux
tribes in the course of the last summer on the
Thlewee-dezza (Fish River) ; among the lat-
ter were many inhabitants of the Thlewee-
cho-dezza (Great Fish River), but the majority
were those that frequent Churchill annually ;
to prove which they produced the articles
they obtained from the Company's stores in
the way of trade, and readily exchanged the
same with their guests by way of cementing
their friendship, and I have reason to suppose
it will continue uninterrupted, now that the
former have become sensible of the errors of
their ancestors. There can be no doubt of a
successful issue to your undertaking, of which
I feel so confident that I hail with pleasure
the moment that will bring you once more
among us, as I am equally certain that every
attention will be directed to promote your views,
and be assured none shall more wiJhngly
contribute thereto than your humble servant. "

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

237

I can assure you, Sir, the want of know-
ledge which the Governors of the Hudson
Bay Company, arising from the form of their
constitution, possess of their own vast terri-
tory is such that, putting aside the necessity
of a farther search for The Franklin Expedition,
to guard the national honour, an exploring
expedition is imperatively called for in refer-
ence to a renewal of their charter, which is
now before Parliament.

I have the honour to be. Sir,

^ Your faithful servant,

17,SavUeRow,16Feb.'57 EICHARD KING, M.D,

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With these facts before me, I could not
resist addressing another humhk petition to
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty,
and in these words : —

The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty,

My Lords, — Upon the early decision of
Her Majesty's Government rests the probable
fate of twelve Englishmen ; — of twelve
servants of the Crown, dispatched many
years ago upon a perilous errand to an in-

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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hospitable region ; — of twelve men, who have
been long since officially recorded as dead,
but who, there is nevertheless reasonable
ground for believing, are yet alive, and may
be rescued from death by an immediate and
vigorous effort.

.These men form a portion of the long-lost
expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin ;
and intelligence has been received from the
Hudson Bay Territory of their existence at
the mouth of Great Fish River, on the
Continent of North America.

On the 14th instant. Captain Sherard
Osborn forwarded to the "Times" newspaper
an extract from a letter addressed to him
from the Red River Settlement, by a person,
whose name he omits to state, to the effect
that an express was on its road to Sir George
Simpson, with the information that Indians
had seen two or more encampments of white
men on an island on some point where
Mr. Anderson (the leader of the searching
party sent by the Hudson Bay Company, at
the expense of the British Government, in
1855) had turned back; and that one of
these encampments was quite fresh, and had
probably contained ten or twelve men.

•' FROM FIRST TO LAST.

239

Sir George Simpson has published a denial
that the express, alluded to by Captain
Osborn, ever reached him ; the Secretary of
the Hudson Bay Company has stated that
no information upon the subject in an official
or private shape has reached the Company,
and both he and Sir George Simpson urge
that it is a mere Indian rumour upon which
no reliance is to be placed. -

To these denials Captain Osborn has
replied, that the subject was the topic of
common conversation and remark at the
Company's settlements. He has declined to
state the name of his informant, but has
expressed his determination, so soon as the
Red River Settlement has passed into the
hands of the Canadian Legislature, that he
will do so ; and, from a letter addressed to the
"Times" newspaper of the 19th instant, it
appears that, although the Governor of the
Hudson Bay Company has been kept in the
dark on the subject, Mr. Isbister had heard
of the rumour many months ago !

Surprise and suspicion as to the trust-
worthiness of Captain Osborn's informant
may be excited by the fact that his name is
withheld; and similar distrust may also be

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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felt with regard to Mr. Isbister s statement,
but to those who are acquainted with the
pohcy of the Hudson Bay Company, — an
assemblage of traders, whose yery existeiice,
as a body, is at this moment threatened
with annihilation in consequence of the
approaching expiration of their Charter, — the
circumstance that persons in their employ-
ment, or subject to their influence, should
object to the publication of their names, as
having ventured, without the knowledge or
concurrence of the superior officers of the
Company to volunteer information which
may lead to the journey of an officer of the
Crown through the Company's settlements
at a moment when it is essential for the
interests of the Compsmy that the knowledge
of the capabilities of the country should be
confined to their own servants and de-
pendants ; to those, I say, who are aware of
the policy pursued by the Company, a fact
of this description may be the subject of
comment^ but not of surprise.

That such a rumour is in existence there-
fore among the settlements of the Hudson
Bay Company, I see no reason to doubt, and
as regards the degree of credibility to b^

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

241

attached to an Indian or Esquimaux tale of this
description, I think sufficient proof has heen
adduced during the search for The Frankhn
Expedition, not only that the information ob-
tained from the natives is not to be disregarded
with impunity, but that, if the traces fur-
nished by them had been promptly followed
up on a former occasion, we should at this
moment be in possession of more ample and
satisfactory information respecting the lost
expedition, than we have yet obtained.

In proof of this assertion, I need only
refer your Lordships to the circumstance
that the first information given to Mr. liae
by the Esquimaux was 21 April, '64. The
tale then related to him was to the eftect
that thirty-five or forty white men had
perished from starvation, near the mouth of
a large river, at a distance of about ten or
twelve days* journey. Unhappily, as he
informed your Lordships in his letter of the
10th of April last, he thought the information
too vague to be depended on — he made no
attempt to reach or examine the spot — the
opportunity was lost — and twelve months
elapsed before another expedition could be
fitted out. If, on the contrary, Mr. Rae had

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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endeavoured to test the accuracy of the
rumour, and had sought and examined the
locahty vaguely hinted at hy the Esquimaux,
there can be little doubt that such definite
and decided information would have been
obtained as to render all further expeditions
unnecessary.

The truth of the rumour is therefore more
than possible, and if we take into con-
sideration the circumstances that the neigh-
bourhood of the spot where the white men
are said to have been seen, is known to teem
with animal life, and that where an Indian
or Esquimaux can exist, an European,
possessed of superior tools and weapons, can
also find the means of subsistence, the
rumour assumes a shape of probability, which
it would be culpable to ignore.
«> Under these circumstances I submit to
your Lordships that there is a reasonable
probability, that twelve Englishmen are
wandering about in an apparently hopeless
attempt to escape from the frozen shores of
the Polai' Sea, and the question arises
whether these men, despatched by Her
Majesty's Government, on the service of the
Crown, ai'e to be suffered to perish without

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

S43

an cflort being made to restore them to their
native country, or, if they should be dead,
to unravel their fate.

The precise spot to which an expedition
ought to be directed is known, the district to
be seai'ched is limited in extent, and two
small expeditions, to act jointly by sea and
by land, could be fitted out at a ti'ifling cost ;
a cost of which your Lordships are fully
cognisant ; and could make such a close and
combined search as should set at rest for
ever the question, as to the fate of The
Franklin Expedition. The expedition by
sea should consist of a small screw steamer,
to proceed through Barrow Strait and Peel
Sound; the expedition by land of a small
party in bai*k canoes down Great Fish River.

Experience has shewn that the most
extensive results in Arctic discovery have
been obtained >7ith, comparatively speaking,
the most slender means. Sea expeditions,
on which thousands have been profusely
squandered, have proved to be repeated
failures, while land journies, equipped at the
cost of a few hundred pounds, have been
almost uniformly successful in their objects.

In the present instance, the two ex-

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THE FRANKLIil EXPEDITION

peditions would support each other, — would
be fitted and dispatched at little cost, — and,
if officered by men of energy and resolution,
enured to the climate, accustomed to com-
mand, and to the control of the Indian tribes,
would be calculated, as far as human efforts
can ensure success, to attain the object in
view.

It is, however, important that these
expeditions should be conducted by officers
appointed by the Crown. The last land
party which returned from an exploration of
Montreal Island and Great Fish River, with
such meagre results, was entrusted by your
Lordships to the Hudson Bay Company, by
whose management the expedition was dis-
patched without an interpreter, without a
proper map, without even the leader of the
party being made acquainted with the fact
that there was a particular spot on Montreal
Island that Franklin or his officers would
search®^, and where, in all human probability,
the survivors would deposit a record of the
fete of the expedition. .

80 Kng Cache, — a cache made by me in 1834; visited
by Thomas Simpson in 1839, and recorded in bis narrative,
page 370.

FEOM FIRST TO LAST.

245

On the 8th of December last a proposal
for the despatch of a joint expedition, in the
manner alluded to, was submitted to your
Lordships, and my services, in conjunction
with those of an officer of distinguished
merit. Lieutenant Bedford Pim, R.N., now
Commander Bedford Pim of H. M. Ship
Gorgon, were placed at your disposal, but I
learn that no provision has yet been pro-
posed in the Estimates of the year for a
further Arctic search. , ,.

The subject is now pressing ; another
Naval expedition, on the ordinary scale,
would probably be as fruitless as those which
have hitherto been dispatched on a similar
errand. A joint expedition, of the nature
pointed out to your Lordships, offers every
element of success, and may be sent at a
fourth part of the cost ; but, if it be dis-
patched at all, the Chief of the land party
must leave this country before the end of the
first week in March.

The facts ip^e now before your Lordships ;
the honour of this country is at stake. Are
the sons of England, the faithful servants of
the Crown, to be abandoned to drag out a
miserable existence in an inhospitable region,

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246

THE FRANKLIN KXPEDITION

P;':iH j

while there remains one spark of hope that
they may be restored to their country?
From my own experience as a traveller in
the land where traces of our unhappy coun-
trymen are said to have been found, I know
that Europeans can there obtain the means
of subsistence. The Indian tale points to
the conclusion that some may yet remain
alive; and, while that probability exists, I
cannot believe that the House of Commons,
or the People of England, will suffer their
unhappy countrymen to remain in hopeless
despair, "chewing," to use the words of Sir
Francis Beaufort, " the bitter cud of their
" country's want of gratitude, want of faith,
" and want of honour."

I have the honour to be.

Your obedient Servant,

17, Savile Row, 15 Feb, '67, RICHARD KING, M.D.

Gentlemen, Admiralty, S.W., 16 Feb. '57.

I have received and laid before my
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, your
letter of the 13th instant, calling their
Lordship's attention to your letter of the 8th

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

247

December last, proposing that a further
search by Sea and Laud should be made for
Sir Johii Franklin.

' I am, Gentlemen,

Your most obedient Servant,

Richard Kino, Esq. M.D. and THO» rilINN,

Lieut. Bedford Pim,

17, Savile Row. ^

Sir, Admiralty, 28 Feb. '57.

• ' I have received and laid before ray

Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, your

letter of the 15th instant, stating the reasons

why you consider it necessary that further

Searching Expeditions should be sent to the

Arctic Regions.

I am. Sir,

Your most obedient.

Humble servant,
Richard King, Esq. M.D. THOs PHINN.

17, Savile Row.

To the Memorialy in which I was associated
with Commander Pim, E.N. and to the Prayer^
the following acknowledgments were received ;
the one bein^^ «, second acknowledgment of
the one, and the other an acknowledgment

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248

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

m
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mm.

of the other, and these three acknowledgments
are all I ever received from Sir Charles
Wood. If Sir Charles Wood does not make
a hotter Chancellor of the Exclieqner than he
did a First Lord of the Admiralty y I do not
think the country will he much benefitted
by his wisdom^ for he declared in his place in
the House of Commons, in answer to the
question of Mr. Nppier for a further search,
that all that could be done had been done to
ascertain the fate of The Franklin Expedition.
Not so, Lady FrankHn. At her own expense,
she despatched the Fox lacht, Captain
M'Clintock in command, to the West Land
of North Somerset and to Great Fish River
and here are the results : —

Captain M*Clintock found in a Cairn at
Point Victory on the north-west coast
of King William Land, an island ly g
ofif the mouth of Great Fish River, a small
tin case containing this memorandum : —

" This Cairn was built by The Franklin
Expedition upon the assumed site of * Ross
Pillar,* which had not been found. The
Erebus and Terror spent their first winter at
Beechy Island, after having ascended Wel-
lington Channel to lat 77 deg. N, and returned

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

210

by the west side of Cornwallis Island.
September 12, '46, they were beset m lat. 70
deg. 05 mill. N. and long. 98 deg. J min.
W. Sir John Franklin died 11 June, '47.
April 22, '48, the ships were abandoned five
leagues to the N.N.W. of Point Victory, and
the survivors, 105 in number, landed here
under the command of Captain Crozier."

This paper was dated 26 April '48, and
upon the following day they intended to start
for Great Fish Biver, headed by Captain
Crozier and Captain Fitzjames. The total
loss by deaths in the expedition up to this
date was nine officers and fifteen men. . -

Both north and south of Point Victory
other Cairns were discovered. One a few
miles to the south, deposited by Lieutenant
Gore and M. des Voeux, containing the same
information, dated May '47; another three
miles north, but it contained merely a broken
pickaxe and an empty canister ; no record.
Another, still farther north containing nothing.
Another, near Cape Felix. This was a very
large Cairn, and close to it were three small
tents, with blankets, old clothes, and other
rehcs of a shooting or a magnetic station ;
but no record. A piece of blank paper folded

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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up was found in the Cairn, and two broken
bottles, which may perhaps have contained
records, lay beside it among some stones which
had fallen from oflf the top.

The most interesting feature of the " search"
was the discovery, in lat. 69 deg. 09 min. N.
and long. 99 deg. 27 min. W. of a boat. It
appears that this boat had been intended for
the ascent of Great Fish Biver, but aban-
doned, in the opinion of Captain M'Clintock,
upon a return journey to the ships, the
sledge upon which she was mounted being
pointed in that direction. She measured
twenty-eight feet in length, by seven and a
half feet wide, was most carefully fitted, and
made as light as possible ; but the sledge was
of solid oak, and almost as heavy as the boat.
A large quantity of clothing was found in
her, also two human skeletons. One of these
lay in the after part of the boat, under a pile
of clothing ; the other, which was much more
disturbed, was found in the bow. Five
pocket watches, a quantity of silver spoons
and forks, which can be readily identified by
initial marks as the property of various
officers who belonged to the expedition, and
a variety of miscellaneous articles were found

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

^51

!|6,

in the boat, such as a small pocket compass,
bead purse, part of a grass cigar-case, a shoe-
maker's awl, a sailor's clasp knife, two table
knives, one marked " W. R." on a white bone
handle, with the blade much corroded, a brass
match-box, &c. ; books found in the boat of
a religious character, comprehending a small
Prayer-book, a Book of Family Prayers, a small
Bible, and a French New Testament, together
with a copy of the "Vicar of Wakefield," and a
small poetical gift-book termed "Christian
Melodies." The latter contains an inscription
on one of the fly-leaves addressed to " G.G."
in female handwriting, and signed "S.M.P."^?
No journals, pocket-books, or even names
upon any article of clothing were found.
Two double-barrelled guns stood upright
against the boat's side, precisely as they had
been placed eleven years before. One barrel
in each was loaded and cocked; there was
ammunition in abundance, also thirty or
forty lbs. of chocolate, some tea and tobacco.
Fuel was not wanting, a drift tree lay within
100 yards of the boat. About Cape Parry,
ten miles eastward of Cape Herschel, a

^ " The hands and feet which have for me performed ten
thousand offices of love shall fall to dust."

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252

TITK FTANKLIN FXPEDITTON

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bleached skeleton, around which lay fragments
of European clothing, and a small pocket-
book containing a few letters, much decayed,
were discovered. The clothing consisted of
the tie of a black silk neckerchief, a piece of
cloth forming part of a waistcoat, with four
buttons attached, two coat buttons, silk
covered; a piece of coloured cotton skirt
lining, with a clothes brush and a horn pocket-
comb.

At Ross Caini, Point Victory, and the
other Cairns mentioned, the most important
of the articles found are a dip circle and box;
a 6 -inch double frame sextant in an entire
state, marked with the name of Frederick
Hornby, mate in the expedition, together
with a cooking apparatus ; a ship's ensign,
which was found wrapped up in a bag; a
college prize-medal that had belonged to
Assistant- Surgeon Macdonald, and a medicine
chest. '■ - -:;. ^>-/= ••■.■> Hi ^"^•(^l^•" ' -

From an intelligent old Esquimaux woman,
located with her tribe at Cape Norton, in-
formation was obtained that one day's march
up an inlet on the east side of King
William Land, and thence four days' over-
land to the west, would bring them to the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

253

-^reck of Franklin's ships. She said it was
on the fall of the year that one ship was
forced ashore ; many of the white men dropped
by the way as they went towards the Great
River ; but this was only known to them in
the winter following, when their bodies were
discovered. ' ' * -

A number of knives were obtained by bar-
ter from the Esquimaux. These bear e^ddence
of being manufactured by the natives from the
materials of the wreck. The greater number
are composed of blades which appear to have
been broken off in their original handles, and
on one or two the Government mark is im-
printed. One looks like part of a whaling
lance ; it is about six inches in length, with a
round-edged point, widening at its upper and
broadest extremity to a diameter of about two
inches, where it is narrowed at right angles
on both sides, in the manner of a dart, termi-
nating in what has either been a flat prong
or iron handle ; the blade has been twice per-
forated, and a slip of iron securely riveted to
each of its sides, which, as a prong, has been
thrust into a rude rib-bone as a handle.
Other parts of blades, one of which is evi-
dently that of a table knife ; another, which

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254

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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looks like that of a doctor's knife, and the
ends of three cutlasses are secured in the
same manner, only that in distinction to the
above method, the two slips of iron are riveted
with iron or copper rivets to the outside of
the wood or bone handle, and not thrust into
it. The large spear and two of the arrows
have been pointed in a similar manner, and
the barbed angles of the broken blades rounded
down to the extemporised prong or shaft.
These relics are deposited in the United
Service Museum.

This much Captain M'Chntock can tell
us, and this only; he did not visit the
wreck, and I must say, without casting the
slightest reflection upon his labours, for,
under the circumstances in which he was
placed, he has done much laborious and
praiseworthy work, and has surpassed all
Polar Sea Expeditions which for twenty years
I have maintained, were valueless in a geo-
graphical, as well as a natural historical
point of view, that meagre is the popular
characteristic of hi: search. With this feel-
ing I felt it incumbent upon me to address
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, as Colo-
nial Secretary, in these words :

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

255

' 17, Savile Row, 23 January '60.

My Lord Duke, — I venture to solicit
your Grace's most earnest attention to the
following proposal for the despatch of a party
upon a land journey for the purpose of com-
pleting the search for the remains, and pos-
sible survivors, of The FranLlin Expedition.

As your Grace may enquire upon what
grounds I address you, in reference to a
subject which has been dealt with by another
department, I venture to observe that almost
all Polar Land Journeys, properly so called,
that have been despatched under the com-
mand of oJ05cers appointed by the Crown, have
been undertaken under directions emanating
from the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
And in now pressing upon your Grace the
expediency of a further search for the remains
of The Frankhn Expedition, to be accom-
plished by means of a land journey from the
continent of America, I do not propose that
your Grace should assume a responsibility
that has not been accepted by former
Secretaries of State, under circumstances
of far less pressing importance than the
present. , - •

Before submitting the particulars of the

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256

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

If I

plan I am about to propose, as well as the
grounds upon which I urge its adoption, I
think it but right to lay before your Grace
such particulars respecting my services in
connexion with the Polar regions, as shall
show that my plan is not that of a crude
speculator, but is based upon the experience
acquired by actual service in the precise
locality where some remains of Franklin s
companions have been found ; and it is now
certain, if Her Majesty's Government had
accepted my offer, /owr times made in *47, and
repeated in '48, to proceed to that very spot,
a large portion of the Franklin Expedition
would be alive and at home.

In tiie years '33-5 I was the medical
officer to the party despatched upon the Polar
Land Journey in seai'ch of Sir John Ross,
and, for a considerable period I commanded
that party, which, descended Great Fish
River, and explored a portion of the coast
of America at the mouth of that stream. .

The knowledge I then acquired led me to
entertain views, in regard to the position of
the North-west Passage, which were at
variance with the opinions expressed by
other Polar travellers, but which have since

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

257

been proved by subsequent discoveries to be
entirely correct.

In proof of this statement I may observe
that in the year '46 I published a con-
jectural chart, enclosed herewith and marked
A, showing the position in which I then
assumed the existence of a North-west
passage. The accuracy of my "^ ews in that
respect is evidenced by the accompanying
reduced copy marked B, of the present
Admiralty chart, showing that the passage is
situated in the position which I assigned to
it, fifteen years since.

Within two years after the departure of
the Erebus and Terror under the command
of Sir John Frankhn, in the year '46, I
pointed out to Her Majesty's Government
the position in which those ships were
then probably ice-bound or lost, the direction
of the journey which, in my opinion, the
crews would thereupon take, and the only
certain and available way of conveying
succour to them, by means of a land journey
down Great Fish River and through the
country, with which I was familiar.

Most unfortunately, as subsequent events
proved, my views had no weight with Her

i»i

.#^'

* %

268 THE FLANKLIN EXPEDITION

Majesty's Government, my offers of service
were declined. Year after ir> with occa-
sional intervals, I repeated Uiem, and urged
the inexpensive nature of the journey I pro-
posed. Yeai' after year, while fruitless expedi-
tions by sea were dispatched at a cost of about
JC 2,000,000, my offers were declined. The
nature of these offers will be perceived upon
an inspection of the following chronological
table of events, in connexion with The
Franklin Expedition, which also shows the
remarkable manner in which my views have
now been proved to be coiTect, by the dis-
coveries of Rae, Anderson, and M'Clintock.

In this table the several events are
noticed in consecutive order, according to
the dates when they occured, but it must be
borne in mind that the particulai' events, of
which the notices are here italicised, were
not known in this country until some years
subsequently to the periods, when they
respectively took place. — -- - -

;J^»,

1845.

Tlie Franklin Expedition composed of the
ships Erebus and Terror, sail in search of

the North-west Passage.

iii

FROM FinST TO LAST.

250

1815.
Tlie Expedition winters at Deechy Island,

1810. September 12.
TJie Expedition is beset in the ice, and ivinters
15 miles north-west of King William Land,

1817. June 10.
' I offer to Her Majesty's Government to
lead a party by Great Fish River to the
western land of North Somerset,* which
I assign as the position of the missing
Expedition. • ;

1847. June 11.
Sir John Franklin dies on hoard his ship 1 5
miles north-west of King William Land,

■ ' 1847. November 11.
I inform Her Majesty's Government that,
" To the Western land of North Somerset,
" where, I maintain. Sir John Franklin will
" be found, the Great Fish River is the
" direct and only route," and I offer to lead
a party by Great Fish River, to reach
that land, before the close of the summer
of '48.

• . , I » . . . ■

1 King William Land is an island lying off the western land
of North Somerset.

'!♦..■<

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9 60

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

«• «•

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Ifl

wti'SKF >'

-X,

'.:#;.

I«-

m0r

1847. December 8.
I urge the same views on Her Majesty '3
Government.

1847. December 16.
I urge the same views on Her Majesty's
Government.

1848. February.
I repeat the proposal to reach the Western
Land of North Somerset, by Great Fish
River, before the close of the summer of '48.

, »^ 1848. March 3.

I repeat the proposal to reach the Western
Land of North Somerset, by Great Fish
iliver, before tiie close of the summer of '48.

1848. Apnl^6.
One hundred and Jive men land from the
deserted ships Erebus and Terror^ upon the
western coast of King William Land, and com-
mcnce their march for Great Fish Eiver,

1850. February 18.
I inform Her Majesty's Government that,
*' All that has been done by w^^ of search
" since February '48, tends to draw attention
" closer and closer to the Western Land of
" North Somerset, as the position of Sir John
" Franklin, and Great Fish River as the

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

SCI

" high road to reach it," and I repeat the
same proposal as before.

1850. Spring of the Year.
Forty white men are seen h\j the Esquimaux
on King William Land^ and the bodies of thirty-
five were suhsequenly seen also by tJie Esquimaux
near the mouth of Great Fish River,

• 1855. Aiigust.

Mr. Anderson^ ilie leader of a party des-
patched down Great Fish Biver by the Hudson
Bay Company i at the expense of Her Majesty's
Government^ finds traces of the missing
Expedition, at Montreal Island.

186G. January 23. ; ^ •'' • i
I point out the unsatisfactory nature of the
search made by Mr. Anderson and I offer for
the fifth time, to Her Majesty's Government,
to conduct a search down Great Fish River.

■V , - • 185G.

. Traces are seen, by Indians, of fresh
encampments of ten or twelve men, near tlie
locality where Mr. Anderson turned bach in '55.

1856. December 8.
I propose in conjunction with Commander
Bedford Pirn, R.N. a joint sea and land
search of the mouth of Great Fish River.

,-'•'

4.. "

\>J

262

THE FRANKLIN FXPEDITION

1*1

F' '

a 3 :

11 4P"i*

■1'^.

, f

1867. February 16.

I make a further proposal to a similar
effect.

Upon a perusal of the foregoing table
your Grace will observe that in the year '47
I four times implored Her Majesty's Govern-
ment to undertake a search by a land journey
down Great Fish River to King William
Land, that if any of these proposals had been
acceeded to, the survivors of the Expedition,
who deserted their vessels and commenced
their journey over the ice, in the spring of
'48, would have been met, in their passage
to the south, by the party in search, and that
some of them at least, together with the
records of the Expedition would have been
saved, and the enormous cost of subsequent
Expeditions would have been spared ; also,
that if my proposals of '48 and '60 had been
carried into effect, there is a strong pro-
bability that some survivor might even then
have been found and saved from a horrible
death ; and further, that the information that
first reached England as to the fate of the
Expedition, was obtained as the result of
land journeys despatched by the same route,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

263

and in the same economical manner as I had
urged although with such little success.

I have entered into these details for the
purpose of showing that I am justified in
expressing my opinions respecting the missing
Expedition, its possible survivors, and its
still to be discovered records, with the
authority of a traveller, whose views, hitherto
expressed upon the same subject have been
incontestably found to be correct, although
they were met, at the time when they were
promulgated, with the determined opposition
of the advisers of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment. The question now for consideration
is as follows, viz. —

Is there such a reasonable probability of
the discovery either of any survivors of the
missing Expedition, or of any more complete
record of their proceedings than has been
already found, as to justify a further search ?

I answer in the affirmative and beg to
submit the grounds upon which my opinion
is based.

Up to the present moment we know the
following to be facts because they are evi-
denced either by the written statement of
the officers of the Erebus and Terror or

+«

2G4

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

^>^

'* \.

I»

by those of M'Clintock and Anderson,
viz., — that one hundred and five survivors
of the Erebus and Terror deserted their
ships, and landed 2 April, '48, at Point
Victory on King William Land, and started
for Great Fish River, a distance of about
two hundred miles.

And that the remains of three, out of
those one hundred and five survivors, and
various relics of clothing &c., have been
found at different spots upon the line of
march referred to. ' - -■ > - ; .u^.

It has also been stated by the Esquimaux
that about forty white men (being evidently
some of the one hundred and five survivors)
died on King William Land, at Point Ogle and
on Montreal Island, in the embouchure of
Great Fish River, in or about the year '60.

And it has been asserted in the Hudson
Bay settlements, that the Indians came upon
the fresh traces of an encampment of ten or
twelve white men somewhere near the mouth
of Great Fish River so lately as '56.

Taking these several statements for what
they are respectively worth, it must next be
observed that the line of march of the one
hundred and five survivors is known to have

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

205

commenced at Point Victory, — to have ex-
tended southwards from thence along the
western shore of King Wilham Land, across
Simpson Strait, to Point Ogle, and down the
embouchure of Great Fish River to Montreal
Island and the mouth of Great Fish River.
The searches near this extent of country
have been as follows :

Mr. Anderson, in the summer of '55,
descended Great Fish River from the Hud-
son Bay Settlements, examined Montreal
Island and the coast of the continent in the
vicinity, and the result may be summed up
in very few words. Despatched by the
Hudson Bay Company, with insufficient
means and information, he was unable to
converse with the Esquimaux because he
had no interpreter ; he did not know there
was a particular hiding place in Montreal
Island, called King Cache,^ that was known
to Franklin, and where the leaders of the
lost Expedition, would probably deposit their
records. He had no proper map, and being
contented with a cursory examination of
Montreal Island and the coast about Point

8 " Narrative of Discoveries on North Coast of America," by
Thomas Simpson, p. 370.

A A

.,■):■

*^•^''^J

ffi^

iT'Ai

■"■v>-^

,266

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Ogle, he never crossed to King William
Land, or made further search in the hne of
march which we now know to have heen
taken by the fated one hundred and five.
He found a few relics, purchased others from
the Esquimaux, and after spending seven or
eight days about the mouth of Great Fish
River hastened homewards with all speed.

Captain M'Clintock in the spring of '69
while his vessel the Fox, despatched by
Lady Franklin and a few friends at their
private cost, was frozen up in Bellot Strait,
equipped several sledge parties and started
southward from that place for the purpose
of examining King William Land, he went
over the whole of the known line of march
of The Franklin Expedition, but his search
was made while the surface was buried in ice
and snow, beneath which the records of
the Expedition still lay buried, and it is
matter for sui-prise, not that he did not
succeed in recovering more detailed and
explicit accounts of the fate of the Ex-
pedition, but that he was able to bring
home even the imagre information that he
obtained as to the departure of the one
hundred and five survivors from Point

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

207

*" •,' I

Victory on their march to Great Fish River.

Of the whole known line of march there-
fore extending over a distance of about two
hundred miles, the portion near the mouti*
of Great Fish River was imperfectly examined
by Anderson, in the summer of '55, and
the country about Great Fish River was
only seen by M'CUntock, when the ground
was covered with ice and snow, and where —
as he himself admits — many remains may have
been hidden from the sight of his party, by
these natural causes.

The nature of the remains that I still
beheve to be recoverable, are easily set forth.

In the first place, it is to be assumed that
the logs of the Erebus and Terror were left
on board when those vessels were deserted,
and that extracts of them were carried off by
the retreating crews, for deposit in some
secure place on shore. Now it must
be remembered, that M'Clintock — probably
from want of time and provisions — never
visited the wrecks of the Erebus and
Terror, nor have any extracts of the logs
been found in the course of the searches
hitherto made. • '

But there is no satisfactory evidence that

I'',

^iii?"f

268

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

"1 .

T"^„

1 '^ i?^

Si')! .'

*',

». >•'%

these TiTecks — or at least one of them — are
not still above water^ nor can it be denied
that one of their logs is. possibly recoverable,
nor that a summer search of King William
Land may ba the means of obtaining
documents that would throw full light on the
disasti*ous fate of our unhappy countrymen.

Upon the question as to the possibility of
any individual member of the expedition
being alive, I venture to submit a few facts
to 3rour Grace. i , -

Tlie arguments against the existence of
any survivors ^ are to the following eflfect^ viz:

1. That the country about Great Fish
River is inhospitable, and produces very little
to support life; and that a civilised man
cannot succeed in procuring food in the same
manner as an Elsquimaux^ — ^and

2. That the various communities of
Esquimaux seen by Eae, Anderson, and
M'Clintock state that none survive.

In reply to these assertions^ I have to
Okbiserve : ' '• •

That the evidence of travellers, who have
descended Great Fish River, or have; jour-
neyed along the coast at its mouth, places
it beyond doubt that animal life is most

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

260

abundant during many months in the year,
as the following extracts will testify : — -

" At the mouth of Great Fish River,
Simpson found abundance of salmon, and
a little fish, called oonglak by the Es-
quimaux, and as seals were exceedingly
numerous, there can be no question that
various fish on which they prey abound in
these transparent waters. The objects seen
on the coast are easily enumerated : a lime-
stone country, low and uninteresting, but
abounding in reindeer and musk ox." ^

Hearne describes Great Fish River " as
flowing through a country so abounding in
animals, as not only to furnish an ample
supply to his party, at that time consisting
of two hundred people, but also to enable
the Indians to kill great numbers, merely for
the fat, marrow, and tongues." * ;

Sir George Back says of Great Fish
River, " that many parts have a close re-
semblance to the lava round Vesuvius, the
intermediate spaces being filled up with green
patches of meadow, which literally swarmed

" Narrative of Discoveries on the North Coast of America,
by Thomas Simpson, p. 3n5.

* Geographical Journal, vol. iii, p. 70.

aa3

1 i<*

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'■H'

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,1^

fr / 'V ■ -

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^^' 1 A| I

.-•Mjl' ^

270

THE FHANKIIN EXPEDmON

with reindeer, not fewer than twelve or
fifteen hundred having been seen within the
last twelve hours." ^ Between Lake Beechy
and Lakes Pelly, Garry, and McDougall,
" the country was composed of rocky hills
and swampy prairies, though the latter ^as
far more extensive, all thickly inhabited
by deer." Again, " we glided thickly along
with the strong current, passing by peaked
sand hills covered with deer to the amount of
many thousands/'* Between Lake McDougall
and the Sea, "near a picturesque and com-
manding mountain, called Mount Meadow
Bank, cattle were feeding." '' Again, " near
Montresor River is a sohtary bank of sand,
a favorite resort of geese, which having
frequented it in numberless flocks during
the moulting season, had left thousands of
the finest quills strewed on the sand, cai'ts
might have been laden with them."® Between
Musk Ox Lake and Lake Beechy, " sandy
banks are frequently met with, with small
streamlets winding round their bases, afford-
ing pasturage to musk oxen and deer."*

5 Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the mouth of
Great Fish River, by Capt. Back, ll.N. p. 328. « Idem, p. 3:31.
' Idem, p. 3G9. » Idem, p. 371. o Idem, p. 319.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

271

Again, *' a still sheet of water, where
numerous deer were feeding, brought us
to a long and appalUng rapid." ^° Again,
** occasionally we found some low islands,
and many deer were feeding in the prairies
on either side." " Again, *' near a lake, two or
three hundred deer, and apart from these,
herds of musk oxen were either grazing or
sleeping."" Again, "our hunters, unable to
resist the tempting neighbourhood of so many
animals, were allowed to go in pursuit; with
the express stipulation, that they were not to
fire at the does or the last years fawns." ^^

To these statements, I may add the
testimony expressed in my narrative " of the
journey down Great Fish River, and to the
fact, that at Point Ogle, which lies at the
mouth of that stream, my own party had no
less than seven head of reindeer and a musk
ox, which they had shot, lying dead at one
time; and M'Clintock, on his arrival there in
the depth of winter " saw a herd of eight rein-
deer, and succeeded in shooting one of them,

w Idem, p. 320. " Idem, p. 323. 12 idem, p. 325. "Idem,
p. 325.

1* Narrative of a Joumoy to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean
by Richard King, M.D. r

I
T

■« :S

J;-'-' I

^ I

1 1

272

THK FRANKLIN EXT»EDITION

* k

l^'^'li

\ ^

and in the evening, Peterson shot another, —
some willow grouse were also seen ; tliere we
found much more vegetation than upon King
William Land, or any other arctic land I Jiave
yet seen"^^

ks regards the assertion that a civilised
man cannot procure winter food in the same
manner as the Esquimaux, I have to observe
that the survivors of the Expedition had
the advantage of superior weapons, by the
assistance of which, they could in summer,
lay up a store of food sufficient for their
winter wants. With the aid of such weapons,
white men have already wintered in com-
parative comfort, in the immediate vicinity
of Great Fish Kiver. For example, Rae,
in '46-7, wintered in Repulse Bay, within
a short distance of Great Fish River, and
reports that his party of twelve men suffered
no privation as regards food, although only
two of his men had ever previously practised
reindeer shooting. "By our own exertions,"
he says, *' in a country, previously totally
unknown to us, we obtained the means of
subsistence for twelve months, why may not

; ^^ McClintock's Narrative, p. 371. ;■

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

273

The Franklin Expedition party do the same ?
If it has been providentially thrown on or
near a pai't of the coast where reindeer and
fish are at all numerous, surely out of so many
officers and men, sportsmen may be found
expert enough to shoot the former, and
fishermen to seize or net the latter, or take
them with hook and line set under the ice.
We shot one hnndred and sixty-two deer, two
hundred partridges , a couple of seals, and nets
under tlie ice yielded constantly salmon.'' ^®

Why then, I ask, should not some of the
survivors of the lost Erebus and Terror have
been able to pass, not only one, but many
winters in the same country ? It must be
remembered, that among the crews of those
vessels, there were four men — Mainely,
Blankey, McDonald, and Read, — well ac-
quainted with the means employed by the
Esquimaux to obtain their winter food. Otie
of these men had already passed four winters in
this very locality, with Sir John Ross ; and in
a country, where the Esquimaux— with the
rudest weapons — contrive, not only to live,
but attain a good old age, — ^where, during

1^ Franklin and the Arctic Regions, p. 235-6.

r
f

, \

. f

274

TTTE FUANKMN PXPRDITION

several montha of the year, both land and
water teem with animal life — it does seem
incredible that some of our countrymen,
blesaed with superior intelligence and su-
perior weapons, should not have succeeded
in supporting their lives.

2. It is asserted, however, that if any
of the missing crews are still alive, their
existence would have been known to the
Esquimaux, who have been seen by Rae,
Anderson, and M'Clintock, but the know-
ledge we already possess of the inhabitants
of that region, is sufficient to show that the
range of the habitat of each family or tribe
is extremely limited, — that little or no com-
munication takes place between different
families, and that some of them have been
found to be ignorant of events that had
taken place in the immediate vicinity of
their resting places; nor is there any
communication — except in isolated cases —
between the Esquimaux who frequent the
coast of North America, and the Indians
who inhabit the country between the coast
and the Hudson Bay territory. On the
contrary, there is an open hostility between
the races ; instances have been known of

FUOM FIRST TO LAST.

275

parties of the Esquimaux having been nearly
exterminated by the Indians, and the pro-
babihty therefore is, that if any scattered
remnant of our countrymen is still located
among the Esquimaux, they cannot hope
to escape to the Hudson Bay territory,
but must remain to perish by degrees,
unless assistance is rendered to them, and
the means of escape supplied by the English
Government.

For instance. Sir George Back states, " It
has been said that we should, ere this, have
heard of the missing Expedition through the
medium of the Esquimaux and the Hudson's
Bay Company. But I may state that the
Esquimaux have no intercourse whatever
with the Hudson's Bay Company ; and, with
the exception of the hordes that frequent
Mackenzie River, never communicate even
with the Indians.""

" The large horde of Esquimaux, exceeding
one hundred in number, met by Rae on
Victoria Land (in close proximity to King
William Land) had never seen ships or white

men.

« Sir G. Back in " Geograiiliical Journal," vol. iii, p. 70.
'' "Arctic Expedition Blue Book, 1852," pp. 177 S: 179.

m^^

•i^^,,'

'». i,.'

•^ f

■I

276

THE FRANKLrN EXPEDITION

Mr. Simpson says of the Esquimaux of Rich-
ardson River that the circle of their Hves was
confined to Behren's Isles and that stream/

Taking into consideration, therefore, the
unsatisfactory nature of the searches hitherto
made, — the fact that not more than forty
men out of the number that landed from the
ships, have been accounted for, and that,
whether any are still surviving, or whether
the whole of the residue have perished, a
summer search^ which can only be accom-
plished by a Land Journey — all the Sea
Expeditions having failed, down to the last,
that of McClintock — ^would probably lead to
the elucidation of the mystery, I trust that
your Grace will feel convinced that such a
search would be productive of important
results, and that Her Majesty's Government
will not hesitate to undertake the re-
sponsibility of adopting my proposal.
c> ' The manner in which such a search should
be conducted, would be by means of a party
of native Indians to be despatched in canoes
down Great Fish River. Arrived at the mouth
of that stream, the party would examine King

.. . ; . c "Sirapson's Narrative." p. 315. V: • ^

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

t t

tofBich-
lives was
stream.'
efore, the
5S hitherto
than forty
i from the

and that,
>r whether
)erished, a
be accorn-
II the Sea
to the last,
ibly lead to
I trust that
that such a
important
overnment

e the re-

►posal.

arch should

[s of a party
d in canoes
tt the mouth
amine King

Cache at Montreal Island, Simpson Cache at
Cape Britannia, which M'Clintock neglected
to search, as well as Point Ogle and the
adjoining country where the Indians are
stated to have seen traces of our countrymen
in '56. Accompanied by a proper inter-
preter the party would have the means of
conversing with the Esquimaux who frequent
the mouth of the river, and ascend it for a
short distance, during the summer months,
for the purposes of the chase.

The future course of the party would be
dependent upon the nature of the information
to be obtained from the Esquimaux, but, in
any case, King William Land would be
explored at a period of the year, when the
secrets that were hidden beneath the icy coat
of winter, during M'Clintock's search, would
be laid bare. The party being in no want
of provisions, would be able to seek for the
remains of the wreck or wrecks. If the
waters washing the western shore of King
William Land should still be frozen, the
seai'cli would be made over the ice, but, if
the sea should be open, the canoes used in
the descent of Great Fish River, would be
available, or in the event of their being

B B

^^"j

«'-.•!

L ''

if T

i>>'i''j{

278

rilK FHANKLTN EX FED IT TON

insufficient, recourse could be had to the
boat discovered by M'Chntock on. King
WilUam Land, and which there can scai'cely
be a doubt, is still fit for use.

A search of this description could be
carried into effect for a trifling sum.
Hundreds of thousands have been expended
in effoits, which have failed to clear up
the fate of the lost Expedition, and I
cannot bring myself to the belief that Her
Majesty's Government will be satisfied to
leave the matter in its present state, when
a sum of i^.2000 or ^.3000 would be suffi-
cient to equip a party that could scarcely fail
to gather sufficient information to render
their search complete and final.

But such a search ought not to he entrusted
to the agents of a commercial company. To
the insufficiency of the equipment of the
party despatched by the Hudson Bay
Company, under their factor Mr. Anderson,
is principally to be attributed the meagre
results obtained by that Expedition, ana
the final search for the materials of the
history, yet unwritten, of the discovery of the
North-west Passage by the Erebus and
Terror, ought to be carried into effect under

li,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

279

an officer appointed by Her Majesty's Govern-
ment. For tlie seventh time I offer to lead
a party upon such a search, in the manner
here pointed out ; too happy, if in the
discharge of a duty self-imposed, but not the
less onerous, I should be the chosen means
of clearing up the mystery in which the fate of
The Franklin Expedition is still enveloped.

The proved accuracy of my views respecting
the position of the lost ships, and the south-
ward march of their crews ; my knowledge
of the country through which the searching
party must pass ; my acquaintance with the
character of the various tribes, upon which
the leader of such a party would be dependent
for information ; my profession which would
give me a power over those tribes that the
leader of no other Expedition has possessed,
are circumstances, which point to the con-
clusion that a sumnur search under my com-
mand would commence with no ordinary ad-
vantages.

I feel confident, therefore, that Her
Majesty's Government will sanction a further
effort, complete yet inexpensive^ as to life
as well as moneij, for the purpose of
unravelling the dreadful secret of the

i -J

nil

S . m- '\

»•

..'M|

280 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION &C.

fate of our unhappy countrymen, and
possibly of recovering some living member of
the Expedition that sailed in all glory and
enthusiasm under Franklin, Crozier, and
Fitzjames, and that my claim to lead the
party entrusted with a service of such
world-wide importance will be favourably
considered. r ': •

•T 'ilT

" r

• V

a i i •. >i I

I have the honour to be,

My Lord Duke, jL rr r I : /
Your obedient Servant,
RICHABD KING, M.D.

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FEOM FIEST TO LAST.

The Naval and Militanj Gazette, 5th Nov., '59.

It is frequently urged as a reproach
against those philosophers who seek to
establish the laws of the moral universe,
that their labours are incapable of that
highest proof, the verification by obser-
vation of the predictions arrived at by a
sound induction. The actions of men in
society have not yet yielded to science
results at all comparable to those obtained
by the study of the motions of the hea-
venly bodies or the phenomena ^^f terres-
trial gravitation.

There are, however, some gifted natures
who appear occasionally endowed with
almost prophetic foresight; and either by
mere acute observation, or larger induction,
are enabled to arrive at almost as certain
results in the domain of social as of
physical science. ^^

The exercise of this faculty would prob-
ably be found of more frequent occurrence
but for the difficulty of obtaining satis-
factory proof of the existence of the pre-
diction antecedent to that of the pheno-
mena predicted. We are fortunate enough

''1?|f ^fc

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

for once to be in possession of documents
sufficiently numerous and complete to
satisfy the exigencies of the most sceptical.

The discovery of a passage available for
the purposes of navigation through the
intricacies of the Polar Seas had stimulated
the energies of our navigators for upwards
of three centuries. Slowly, but surely, we
had been extending our knowledge in that
direction until Pairy's famous voyage to
Melville Island eclipsed all his predeces-
sors, and afforded some hopes of a solution
of this great problem.

The want of success which attended his
subsequent efforts, more especially when
compared with what had been obtained at
a tenth part of the cost by the Polar land
travellers — Hearne, Mackenzie, Franklin,
and Simpson — would clearly have indi-
cated to even ordinary minds the means
best calculated to attain the end. Not so
the British Admiralty ; that body deter-
mined that, notwithstanding the repeated
failures of expeditions by sea, and the suc-
cess of those by land, that by sea the
passage should be sought; and 12tli De-
cember, 1844, appointed Sir J, Franklin,

[from first to last.

an officer fifty-nine years of age, who had
won a wide and well-earned reputation by
liis Polar land Journeys, to the command of
the Erebus and Terror,

On 20th February, 1845, Dr. King
addressed a letter to Lord Stanley, now
Lord Derby, ihen Secretary of State for
the Colonies, pointing out the dangers
which Sir J. Franklin would incur, and
indicating how the object he was sent to
efiect might be attained with little risk and
less cost. It must be remembered that
Dr. King was not then a theoretical geo-
grapher; he had led the expedition in
search of Sir John Ross into and out of the
Polar region, and had, as Sir Greorge
Back's Medical Officer, accompanied him
down Great Fish River to the shores of the
Polar Sea; he was, therefore, pre-emi-
nently an authority, and entitled to a
respectfiil hearing, which, however, he was
not successful in obtaining.

Nothing daunted by the contumelious
silence of the Colonial Office, on 10th Jime,
1847, he addressed Earl Grey, who had
succeeded Lord Stanley, in a letter com-
mencing with the memorable words, " My

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

Lord, one hundred and thirty-eight men
are at this moment in imminent danger of
perishing from famine." He again reca-
pitulated the dangers of which he had
already warned Lord Stanley, and in lan-
guage clear and forcible indicated " the
probable position of The Franklin Expe-
dition, the condition of the Polar lands
about it, and the best means of saving it."

He says, " The position, then, that I
should assign to the lost expedition, is the
Western Land of North Somerset, the
midway between the settlements of the
Hudson Bay Company on the Mackenzie
and the fishing grounds of the whalers in
Barrow Strait. If Sir J. Franklin has
attempted to make a short cut westward
instead of sailing southward, along the
Western Land of North Somerset, and
wrecked himself on Banks and WoUaston
Land, he has run headlong into that danger
against which I expressly warned him."

As to the means of affording relief to
the lost expedition, Dr. King pointed out
that North Somerset could easily be reached
by a party travelling down Great Fish
River, that depots of provision might be

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

formed on the Mackenzie and Great Slave
Lake, to which they might be conducted,
and himself volunteered to be their con-
ductor. In conclusion, he recounted the
terrible ravages which would be effected
among them by scurvy, should they be
compelled to pass a thii'd winter in those
regions. v ^

No further notice having been taken of
these earnest appeals, on November 25,
1847, he again addressed Earl Grey :
^^ The last ray of hope has passed, when
Sir J. Franklin, by his own exertions, can
save himself and his one hundred and
thirty-seven followers from the death of
starvation." He recapitulated the argu-
ments he had already so forcibly urged,
and earnestly entreated to be allowed to
lead an expedition to Sir J. Franklin's
relief. This offer he renewed 8th De-
cember and 16th December; and being
referred by the Colonial Office to the Ad-
miralty, he in February summed up the
whole case for their benefit; receiving no
reply to his communications, he, on 3rd
March, reminded them that the 18th was
the latest date at which he could start to

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

be of any service that season, and that it
would be necessary for him to make ar-
rangements for vacating the appointments
he held as a practising physician in
London. The Colonial Office were sa-
tisfied with coolly igno. ing him ; the Ad-
miralty thought it necessary thus delibe-
rately to insult the man who was desirous
of making an heroic effort to rescue those
men whom their official pigheadedness had
consigned to destruction.

On 3rd March Mr. Ward writes, ** I am
commanded by my Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty, to acquaint you that
they have no intention of altering their
present arrangements, or of making any
others which will require your assistance
or force you to make the sacrifices which
you appear to contemplate."

Not content with urging his views upon
every department of Government, Dr.
King, upon hearing that Lady Franklin
had offered £1,000 reward to any whaling
ships finding the expedition, addressed her
Ladyship, 29th March, pointing out the
inadequacy of her offer to effect its pur-
pose, and urging with how much greater

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

effect the money might be spent in sending
an expedition down Great Fish River.
. The voice of public opinion was, how-
ever, not wholly inoperative, and compelled
the Admiralty to take some steps in search
of the lost party. Three expeditions were
accordingly despatched ; Sir James Ross
tlirough Lancaster Sound ; Captain Moore
through Behring Straits ; Sir J. Richardson
to search the Polar Coast, from the Mac-
kenzie to the Coppermine Rivers. Neither
of these expeditions bore the slightest fruit,
and three private expeditions were fitted
out under command of Sir J. Ross and
Commander Forsyth on behalf of the Bri-
tish public; and under Lieutenant De
Haven on behalf of the citizens of the
United States. The Admiralty, not to be
behindliand, sent Captains McClure and
Collinson to Behring Straits ; Captains
Austen, Ommaney, Penny, and Stewart,
with Lieutenants Cator and Osbom, by
Barrov-r Strait. The only part of the Polar
Coast proposed to be omitted was that
adjacent to the mouth of Great Fish River.
Accordingly Dr. King again addressed the
Admiralty, 18. July, '50, pointing out the

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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causes of failure of preceding expeditions,
and recapitulating the evidence in favour
of tlie position he had annigned to 8ir J.
Franklin. The Admiralty again '^ must
decline the offer of his services."

Commander Forsyth, Lieutenant De
Haven, and Sir J. Ross, obtained no re-
sults ; but Captain Austen organised a com-
plete examination of the Shores of Barrow
Strait and Wellington Channel, as far west
as Melville Island ; and Captain Penny dis-
covered Sir J. Fra^nklin's first wintering in
Beechy Island in '46 '47.

The Admiralty next appointed an Arctic
Council, consisting of Sir F. Beaufort, Sir
E, Parry, Sir J. Richardson, Sir James
Ross, Sir G. Back, Col. Sabine, Capt.
Hamilton, Caj^t. Bird, Capt. Beechy, and
Mr. Barrow. It is to be supposed that
every particle of evidence bearing upon
the question was laid before these gentle-
men — at any rate some of them must have
had official cognisance of Dr. King's re-
peated memorials, — nevertheless : —

Sir F. Beaufort arrived at the conclusion
that they were locked up in the Archi-
pelago to the west of Melville Island.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Sir E. Parry's belief was, that, after the
first winter^ Franklin went up Wellington
Channel.

Sir J. Richardson did not think that,
under any circumstances^ Sir J. Franklin
would attempt the route of Great Fish
River.

Sir James Ross could not conceive any posi-
tion in which the Franklin expedition could he
placed from which they would make for
Great Fish River.

Sir G. Back requested the Secretary of
the Admiralty *^ to impress on my Lords
Commissioners that I wholly reject all and
every idea of any attempts on the part of
Sir J. Franklin to send boats or detach-
ments over the ice to any point of the
mainland in the vicinity of Great Fish
River." »

Colonel Sabine conceived that the crews
may have been at length obliged to quit
their ships and attempt a retreat, not
towards the continent, because too distant,
but to Melville Island.

Captain Beechy alone took a comprehen-
sive view of the subject : *^ I am of opinion
that nothing should be neglected in the

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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direction of the northern coast of America,
for it seems to me almost certain that Sir
J. Franklin has abandoned his ships and
made for the co-^tinent."

Two other members of the Council have
not recorded their opinions.

It cannot be too strongly urged on our
readers' attention that, notwithstanding the
earnest and ^^^peated warnings and en-
treaties of Dr. King, always accompanied
by a well-reasoned expose of the grounds
of his opinions, the Admiralty obstinately
persisted in ignoring every argument urged
by him, even when supported by such an
officer as Captain Beechy. As if to con-
summate their extravagance and cruel mocTtery
of his efforts, they de patched Sir E.
Belcher in command of a fleet of four ships
in the precise track which Captain Austen
had just explored without result. The same
verdict cannot be passed upon him, inas-
much as one of his lieutenants, Bedford
Pim, R.N., was the fortunate means of dis-
covering and rescuing Captain M^Clure and
the crew of the Investigator at Mercy Bay.

The first gleam of light which pierced
the cloud that enveloped Franklin and his

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

followers, was perceived accidentally by a
man perhaps of all Arctic travellers the
least qualified to avail himself of its indica-
tions. Mr. Eae, a chief factor in the service
of the Hudson Bay Company, was sent by
them to examine the Isthmus of Boothia
and adjoining tract, his course necessarily
leading him in the immediate vicinity of
Great Fish Eiver ; it was to be anticipated
that neither he nor his employers would
lose so favourable an opportunity for veri-
fying Dr. King's conjectures. Not at all ;
either entire ignorance of the whole ques-
tion, or perverse and obstinate determina-
tion that whatever might be Franklin's
fate he would not be a party to confirming
anything Dr. King had said, induced Mr.
Rae thus publicly to record his own con-
demnation^ giving a description of his journey
in the direction of Great Fish River. "I
do not mention the lost navigators, as there
is not the slightest hope of finding any
traces of them in the quarter to which I
am going." But at Pelly Bay he met a
party of Esquimaux, from whom he ob-
tained silver spoons and other articles
bearing the crests and initials of Franklin

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

and his Officers He further stated, that
from the same Esquimaux he learned that
the bodies of thirty white men had been
found on the continent and five on an
island near ; and from their description of
the locality he identified it as the shore
near Point Ogle and Montreal Island ; he
also asserted, on Esquimaux authority, that
our men had had recourse to cannibalism as
a means of prolonging existence. Such an
assertion was not likely to go unchallenged;
and Mr. Rae was severely called to account
both by the relatives of the lost party and
by Dr. King ; their strict cross-examination
elicited from him the fact that, having no
interpreter, he had learned all his alleged
facts from signs ! It was also remarked as
singular, that, although within six or eight
hours' journey of the alleged scene of the
final catastrophe, as he then^ supposed, he
made no efibrt to verify his Esquimaux
information.

On 20th June, 1855, the Hudson Bay
Company, to supply his deficiency, at last
despatched an expedition in charge of Mr.
Anderson, in the very course prescribed
by Dr. King, — and with what result ?

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

At the rapids below Lake Franklin they
found Esquimaux having in their possession
various articles belonging to a boat, such
as tent poles, pieces of mahogany, elm,
oak, pine, copper and sheet iron boilers,
tin soup tureens, pieces of instruments,
tools, &c. They endeavoured to ascertain
whether they had any books or papers,
but in vain ; by a singular want of pro-
vision, this expedition, like Rae's, was
unaccompanied by any Esquimaux inter-
preter. On Montreal Island, at the mouth
of Great Fish River, the very spot indicated
by Dr. King, abundant traces were dis-
covered, such as chain, Looks, chisels,
blacksmiths' tools, pieces of rope, and a
number of sticks strung together, on one
of which was cut " Stanley," the surgeon
of the Erebus, and on a chip the word
*^ Terror." They also found at Point Ogle
a small piece of cod-line and a strip of
striped cotton.

On receipt of the intelligence of Mr.
Anderson's journey. Dr. King again volun-
teered his services to proceed down Great
FishRiver, 23rd January,'56, recapitulating
his previous arguments, pointing out how

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THE FEANKLIN EXPEDITION

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they had been verified by Anderson's dis-
coveries " on the very spot where Mr. Rae
and the Arctic Council had come to the
conclusion that the lost navigators could
hi/ no human possihility be found, and in
the identical locality which he had nc%er
ceased to urge was the precise point which
Franklir would endeavour to reach, and
where tiaces of the expedition would in-
fallibly be found." Dr. King also pointed
out the object of the party visiting Mont-
real Island, viz., to deposit a record of the
proceedings of the expedition in the cairn
constructed by him in '34, visited by Simp-
son in '39, and well known to Franklin.
This cairn does not appear to have been
searched by Mr. Anderson, and therefore
Dr. King urged, with great probability,
that the last news of the heroic survivors will
be found there. By a singular fatality ^ Cap-
tain M' Clintock appears^ on his recent visit to
Montreal Island^ to have been totally unaware
of the very existence of King cache^ and,
therefore, was unsuccessful in finding any
records in that locality. Perhaps it will
scarcely be necessary to tell our readers
that "the Admiralty did not think it

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

advisable to undertake such an expe-
dition."

By this time Dr. King had come to
regard the refusal of his offers as a natural
phenomenon, standing in the mutual re-
lation of cause to effect, and therefore, 8th
December, ^56, volunteered for a combined
search, by sea and land^ in conjunction with
Commr.nder Bedford Pirn, E.N.

On February 14, Capt, Sherard Osbom
forwarded to the Times a report from
Bed River settlement, that the Indians had
seen two or more encampments of white
men on the island on some point where
Mr. Anderson had turned back, and that
one of the encampments was quite fresh,
and had probably contained ten or twelve
men; the indefatigable Dr. King lost no
time in knocking at the doors of the Ad-
miralty, 23rd February, '57, again pointing
out the causes of failure of previous expedi-
tions, urging the probability of the truth
of the report, and volunteering his services
to test it. The Admiralty contented them-
selves with acknowledging his letter.

But the hour had now struck when the
painful mystery was to be solved, and the

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

■'I

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culpahiliti/ of Her Majesty's Government in
so long neglecting the voice of warning
and advice to be completely demonstrated.
Lady Franklin and her friends had fitted
out a small vessel, the Fox, under command
of Captain M^Clintock, to make a ftirther
search. She sailed in '57 ; she passed the
first winter in the ice, unable to effect
anything; in September, '58, she passed
through Bellot Strait, and wintered on
North Somerset. Here they learned fi:om
the Esquimaux that several years ago a
ship had been crushed on the northern
coast of King William Land, that all her
people landed safely and went away to
Great Fish River, where they died,

A thorough search of thq western shore
of North Somerset, as well as of King
William Land, was organised in the spring,
and upon Point Victory (Sir J. R.'s farthest
search in '28-'30) a cairn was found, con-
taining a record, signed by Captains Cro-
zier and Fitzjames, stating that the Erebus
and Terror were beset in the ice off King
William Land. Franklin died 11th June,
'47; on 22nd April, '48, the ships were
abandoned, five leagues N.N.W. of Point

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Victory, and the survivors, 105 in number,
had landed, under commnnd of Captain
Crozier ; the paper was dated 25th April,
'48, and the following day they intended
to start for Great Fish River. A vast
quantity of stores and clothing were strewed
about, as if everything was thrown away
that could possibly be dispensed with.
About midway between Point Victoiy and
Cape Herschell a large boat was found
containing two skeletons and a further
quantity of cast-off articles, intended for the
ascent of Great Fish River, but was aban-
doned on a return journey to the ships, the
sledge on which she was mounted being
pointed in that direction. Two double-
barrelled guns stood against the side, with
ammunition in abunda^^ce.

The evidence is now complete of the
entire accuracy of Dr. King's predictions,
as well as of the efficiency of the means by
which he proposed to alleviate the fatal
results he so accurately foresaw. He told
the Admiralty, 10th June, '47, — ^^ One
hundred and thirty-eight men are at this
moment in imminent danger of perishing
from famine." Sir J. Franklin himself

i" ,.,'■

! *r

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

died on the very next day to the date of
that remarkable letter, in which his warn-
ing voice first sounded the alarm, — '*If
Sir J. Franklin has attempted to make a
short cut westward, instead of sailing
southward along the Western Land of
' North Somerset, and wrecked himself on
Banks and Wollaston Land, he has run
headlong into that danger of which I ex-
pressly warned him." . . . . "If,
however, Banks and WoUaston Land should
form the resting-place of the Erebus and
Terror, it will not be that of the Expe-
dition. If the party have kept together,
and woe be to them if they have not, they
will take to their boats and make for the
Western Land of North Somerset, for the
double purpose of ^I'eaching Barrow Strait
in search of the northern whalers, as Sir J.
Ross did successfully, and Great Fish River,
in search of the Esquimaux, for provision
or for letter conveyance to the Copper
Indians, with whom the Esquimaux are
now in friendly relation."

On that very land the first traces were found;
to that very point the expedition directed their
steps. Had Dr. King's offer been accepted
in the summer of '48, he would have

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

aimaux are

reached the mouth of Great Fish River,
for wliich Captains Crozier and Fitzjames
were starting with the survivors, 25th
April, '48 ! ! Could human foresight more
accurately have indicated the time, the
place, the nature of the catastrophe, and
the means for averting it ? Could human
infatuation more obstinately persist in stop-
ping its ears to the warning voice ? Let
the Admiralty, however, urge in extenua-
tion that they were not alone in their re-
jection of all words of warning or advice.
In the Athenceum, 19 June, '47, we find a
letter signed, " Charles Richard Weld,"
dated 15th June, stating that he felt it his
duty, as a connexion of Sir J. Franklin,
not to allow Dr. King's communications
to pass without observation. He argues
that Franklin was provisioned for the
summer of '49, and that there were no
grounds whatever for the assertion that
" one hundred and thirty-eight men are at
this moment in imminent danger of perish-
ing by famine." " There isj therefore^ no
cause as yet for flfjing to his rescue.'''^
June 11, '47, four days before the date of
Mr. Weld's letter, Franklin was dead.

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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United Service Museum, Oct. '59.

THE FRANKLIN RELICS.

Superior to all the sights and exhibi-
tions in London at the present moment,
especially to the patriot and the philan-
tlu'opist, is the collection of relics of The
Franklin Expedition in the United Service
Institution, Whitehall. Since the opening
of the collection of these relics, it has been
visited by all classes of the community ;
and much as they are experienced in sight-
seeing — ^for the metropolitan public will
incur any inconvenience and exertion, and
even suffer extortionate demands, to wit-
ness gewgaw or tomfoolery spectacles, if
they bear at all the mark of novelty — it
is absolutely instructive to observe the
varied impulses of feeling which gush,
as it were, from the fountain of the heart
of every spectator who gazes upon the

•;fi-

FROM FIRST TO hXST,

memorials of the ill-starred Polar adven-
turers. The great secret of the popular
sympathy now awakened is the fact that
The Franklin Expedition met its fate by ne-
glect of duty on the part of the Executive
authorities at home, and that these relics
do not represent the classic ages of other
lands, but call up the memories of men
who were " bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesh." This great metropolis, boast-
ing of its museums, and halls, and gal-
leries replete with the productions of
Nature, and enriched with the trophies of
art and science, the citizen and the stranger
delight to view the handiwork of the
higher intellectual labours of man ; but
does the fruit of wondrous mt chanical skill
elicit the throbbing interest with which the
spectator looks upon the dip-circle or the
sextant of the lonely wanderers who pe-
rished at Point Victory ? The connoisseur
may be gratified with the great works of
art by the old and modern masters ; but it
is unquestionable that his susceptibilities
will be more excited at sight of the once
gaudy remains of clothing found around
the skeleton of that forsaken adventurer,

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

who, liko his companions, ^^ dropped by
the way" not far distant from Capo Ilers-
cliell. Tho antiquary loves to muse over
the emblazoned shields and banners of an-
cient heraldry ; but deeper feelings have
been evoked, and holier sympathies en-
listed, at sight of the weather-battered
ensign found in the «»^mv-hoap on King
William Land. The votaric . of vetiil may
prize articles which have been recovered
from the ruins and debris of the palaces of
potentates who ruled the world before tho
Cliristian era ; but passionate has been the
grief of kindred on looking at the pocket-
watches and travelling equipments identi-
fied as having belonged to the ill-fated
voyagers. The British people, from time
to time, have bestowed almost incalculable
wealth upon individuals who brought to
our shores memorials of ancient Powers
and Principalities, whether these were relics
of imperial cities upon which once smiled
the rugged grandeur of the Alps, the
sunny mountains of Asia, the peaks of the
Andes, or the gigantic heights of Africa —
*^ Atlas with his head above the clouds ;"
many relics of ancient empires of the world

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

— relics from Pulmyra or Pfrstum, from
Nineveh or Ilelicarnassus — and works
which distinguislied the genius, tlie taste,
and the luxury of the Greeks and Italians,
embellish the rooms of our public institu-
tions, and adoni the mansions of our fellow-
subjects. But let those treasures indicate,
as they do, the ostentatious magnificence
of the ancients, and at whatever sacrifice
of labour or of money let them have been
procured : still, there have been recovered
from the cairns, the deserted snow-huts,
and the boat abandoned (which contained
the two skeletons that told the tale of
lonely sadness and resignation to the
death), such articles as belonged to the
band of martyrs which shall ever have a
priceless value in the eyes of the whole
British community. Peerless above the
knick-knacks which are now stored in the
various cases, however, are the well-worn
memor'als of the religious tone which per-
vaded Franklin's surviving companions,
for the parts of Bibles and Testaments,
Family Prayers, Christian Melodies, and
Goldsmith's inimitable moral romance,
attest the solemn frame of mind and heart

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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of each lost wanderer. Who can tell of
supplications at the Throne of Mercy by
men whose hearts quailed not at death in
the battle-line or at the roar of waters — by
those whose tones ^^ grew fainter and
more faint " in prayer, and who, strug-
gling with darkness and the rigours of
their icy prisons, sighed to God again and
again," Hide not Thyself," — and by others,
who, brooding over the horrible deaths
that seemed to overwhelm them, lisped the
wish of having "wings like a dove," as
David of Israel once prayed to his God,
" for then would they flee away, and be at
rest"?

Since the Franklin relics have been
opened to public view, surmises and ques-
tions are " the order of the day " relative
to the entire history of the Expedition,
which, it may be remembered, was resolved
upon in December, 1844, in search of the
North- West Passage — an endeavour to
solve the problem of 300 years. Sir John
Franklin, then 59 years of age, was en-
trusted with the command of the explo-
ration; but his instructions appearing
to be fraught with danger, and the Ex-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

pedition doubted as a failure, in con-
sequence of those instructions leading
him ^^ an adventurous way, through an
unknown sea," several eminent geogra-
phers protested against Franklin being
destined to lead such a '^ forlorn hope."
Chief of the opponents of the Admiralty
scheme was Dr. King, of London —
alike eminent in science and geography.
Many of the points refeiTcd to are
derived from epistolary correspondence
quoted in " The Franklin Expedition,
from First to Last," by Dr. King,
published originally in 1855. The work
has, however, been continued till the
present time, and contains sound opinionn
relative to the Expedition of M'Clintock.
But it is chiefly valuable as embracing
Dr. King's conjectmal chart (of 1845) of
the Polar Sea, when he devised measures
for the discovery of the North- West
Passage by means of a Land Journey,
in opposition to The Franklin Exj^edition
by sea ; also another chart, of 1859,
which thoroughly verifies the conjec-
tural chart of 1845 — showing the position
of Franklin's ships when abandoned, the

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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111'*'!

♦.

traces of the Lost Expedition, and the point
where the great geographical problem' was
accidentally solved by M'Clure.

It was on the 20th February, 1845, when
Dr. King addressed a communication to
Lord Stanley, now the Earl of Derby, tlien
Secretary of State for the Colonies, con-
tending against The Franklin Expedition
by sea^ from an honest conviction of its im-
practicability in the then state of our know-
ledge of Arctic lands, and proposing for
adoption a j)lan for a land journey. It was
proposed that a party of two officers, one
of the medical profession, a boat carpenter,
and thirteen men, fully equipped for the
service, should start from Montreal, in
Canada, and reach the Athabasca Lake in
summer. After certain preliminary ar-
rangements, such as the collecting and
hoarding of provisions, and winter quar-
ters fixed, the exploring party were to be
on the shores of the Polar Sea as early as
the navigation permitted. When the Cop-
permine River and the Great Fish River
were open, the Expedition was to be in
progress ; one detachment to go one way
— for Cape Britannia, on the Western

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

.>0

)asca Lake in

Land of North Somerset — and the otlier
to trace Victoria Land, westerly, with the
view of testing its vahie relatively to the
North- West Passage. To strengthen his
views, Dr. King informed the Colonial
Secretary, that " in two instances jomneys
by land had been set in motion to aid ex-
peditions by sea ; '^ and he informed his
Lordship that his position at that date was
very different to that of 1836 — remarldng,
with a candid spirit worthy of the noble
cause he espoused, "/ tvas then unJcnoivn ;
and, from the simplicity and economy of
my views, considered a visionary." This
observation is in reference to Dr. King's
practical opinions, contained in a commu-
nication to the Geographical Society, on
the best means by which Arctic discovery
was to be pursued; namely, " by a sraall
party rather than by a large number of
persons ; " quoting, as precedents, the cases
of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who made
'^ all his discoveries in a North-canoe ; and
Hearne, who discovered the mouth of the
Coppermine River without even a single
attendant ;" and citing quite opposite results
in the cases of Park and Lander, ^^ who sue-

''•'' '^li ;

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

!■"»;'

ceeded in their researches when alone ^ but
failed and lost their lives when accompanied
by a party." Let that be as it may, Dr.
King, who had pleaded from 1836 to 1845
in favour of a land journey to prosecute
Arctic discovery, received no encourage-
ment from the Governmerit of Sir Robert
Peel, even though that indefatigable and
enterprising geographer '^ was ready tc- vo-
lunteer the whole command, or part of the
command, with any officer Lord Stanley
might appoint, provided the said officer
was of Dr. King's own age, and in posses-
sion of the same amount of physical capa-
bility."

Sir John Franklin's Expedition, which
C(jnsisted of 138 officers and men, left the
shores of England in 1845. It was last
heard of on the 26th of July of the same
year, in lat. 74°, long. 66°, of Baffin Bay.
The spring of 1846 brought no tidings of
the voyagers, and their relatives and friends
became anxious about their safety. The
showers and sunshine of that year beauti-
fied the landscapes around the riu-al home-
steads of the British people — smiling plenty
blessed the harvest — and the sterility of

I-TIOM FIRST TO LAST.

winter, even in this favoured southern
clime, bound stream and cascade in icy
fetters. It was then that fear and appre-
hension—spreading, like a contagion, from
wife to wife, ft'om fatlier to mother, from
sister to brother, as to the difficulties of
their kindred in the frozen rei'ions — took
possession of the public mind. But when
the matter was broached incidentally at
head-quarters, relatives v/ere put off by a
side-wind, told to pay attention to tlieir
own business, and informed that Franklin
and his comrades knew well enough how
to husband their resources. The public
were satisfied for a time with the cool as-
surances of the Board of Admiralty, until
Dr. King, in the summer of 1847, addressed
a communication to Earl Grey, who, at
that time, was Secretary for the Colonies in
place of Lord Stanley — the Whigs liaving
displaced the Conservatives in power. Dr.
King, ever watchful over the interests of
the cause which he felt warmly at heart,
made the Colonial Secretary aware ^' that an
attempt would be made to save our country-
men, if not by the efforts of the Govern-
ment, by the British public ;" and suggested

I*- ^

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'st^

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

that the service of succour be open to public
competition. " Let the attempt that is to
be made to save Sir John Franklin," he
impressively remarked, '^ be made fully
public, that the proposed plans — for there
will, doubtless, be several — may be dis-
cussed, and therein be raised a praise-
worthy coni})etition, which will, at all
events, have the semblance of an endeavour
to follow the right course." In addition
to suggesting an honourable rivalry in
the mode of search, he most pointedly
assigned the position of the missing Ex-
pedition to tlie Western Land of Nortli
Somerset, which he described as being
midway between the settlements of the
Hudson Bay Company, on the Mackenzie
River, and the fishing grounds of the
whalers in Barrow Strait. And why did
he assign this position? Because, if Sir
Jo}ni Franklin had attempted to make " a
short cut westward J instead of sailing south'
tvard along the Western Land of North
Somerset, and wrecked himself on Banks
and Wollaston Land, he ran headlong into
that danger of which he was expressly
warned before he sailed — Polar Sea expedi-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

tions, since 1818, having in every instance
failed from the same cause ; the clinging
to lands having an eastern aspect : Sir
Edward Parry, Sir John Ross, Sir George
Back, Captain Lyon, Captain Beechy, and
Captain Buchan being the misuccessM
navigators."

With experience and forethought for his
guide, and discretion and common sense for
his monitor. Dr. King, in his efforts to
pilot the way to the missing voyagers,
assured Earl Grey ^^ that the Western Land
of North Somerset could easily be reached
by a party travelling overland from Canada;
and that it could not be denied that a land
journey afforded the only sure mode of ex-
tending our geographical knowledge, and,
therefore, the only sure ladder by which to
reach Sir John Franklin. If lie is to be
relieved, it must be in the summer of
1848. He must be spared the winter
of that year."

But while this zealous advocate was
pleading at the bureau of tlie Wliig Go-
vernment i behalf of the Expedition,
little dia he know that the gallant Frank-
lin was struggling with death on the very

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

day on which this celebrated epistle was
penned to Earl Grey, and that on the
following day — the eventful lltli of June,
1847 — his spirit winged its flight from
those hyperborean regions to a brighter
and a better world. Though the captain
of the host wa ^o Iv nger spared to preside
over the councils oi his comrades, tlicy
were then devising means of escape. It
was not, therefore, until the spring of the
following year, the 22nd of April, 1848,
that the ships were abandoned " in theice^^^
upon the north-west coast of King William
Land, and that the survivors, in all amount-
ing to 105 individuals, under the command
of Captain Crozier and Captain Fitzjames,
were proceeding to the Great Fish Kiver.
These facts, brought to light by tlie suc-
cessful Expedition of Lady Franklin, do
not alter Dr. King's position a single
hair's-breadth as to his energy towards
endeavouring to rescue the survivors.
We know from records found by
IVrClintock, that up till the day when
the survivors had determined to push
their way to the Great Fish River, the
total loss was nine officers and thirteen

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

men. Such being the case, then, Dr. Kin<2^
threw a lieavy responsibility upon the Go-
vernment — and that responsibility we know
now, alas ! was not too heavily imposed —
if every elfoi't that experience could suggest
was not made to save the Expedition from
the ordeal of passing the winter of 1848
in the Polar Seas — very gently and cour-
teously, withal, hinting to Earl Grey in
these words — ^^ The least that the present
Goverimient can do is to lessen the evils
that their predecessors have allowed the
veteran to heap upon himself."

This communication was unanswered.
On the 25th November of the same year,
Dr. King renewed his proposition " to at-
tempt to reach the Western Land of North
Somerset before the close of the summer of
1848, by which he would incur the risk
of having to winter with the Esquimaux,
or of having to make the journey along the
barren ground to winter quarters on snow
shoes." In this fresh communication, Dr^
King, discarding the Pacific route as an
idea of bygone days, and considering the
Atlantic route to be doubtful of success,
renewed his desire for a land journey as

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

alone reliable for success, and beckoned
the way, once more, to the Western Land
of North Somerset, where, he maintained,
the Expedition would be found, with the
Great Fish River as the direct and only
route ; *^ and although the api)roach to it,'^
he says, ^^ is through a country too poor
and too difficult of access to admit of the
transport of provisions, it may be the
medium of communication between the
lost Expedition and the civilized world."
In impressing upon the mind of the Colo-
nial Secretary the ardent wish that he
might be allowed to have a *' place" in the
great effort wliicli should be made for the
rescue of the Expedition, Dr. King em-
phatically observes — " The journey which
I proposed to Lord Glenelg in 1835, after-
wards to Lord Stanley, and which I now,
at the expiration of twelve years, propose
to your Lordship, is along a land which
has a western aspect^ and which I have
shown is almost invariably ice-free. My
progress, therefore, to the spot where I
suppose the lost Expedition will be found
will be unimpeded ; and not only will the
question as to the peninsularity of North

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Somerset be set at rest, hut tliat which
renuiins uiulone of the northern configura-
tion will he completed; for it is by hu^-
gin<r the Western Land of North Somerset
only that we can exj)ect to fall upon the
traces of the lost Expedition." Could there
have been anythinf)^ clearer or more dis-
tinct than this ^eo;j^raphical ])oi'traiture ?

It havino' transpired that the Board of
Admiralty had resolved to make a search
for the missing Expedition, Dr. King re-
smiied conmmnication with Earl Grey, and
renewed his proposal to reach the Polar
Sea across the continent of America — to
proceed from land known to be continent,
where, he said, ^^ every footstep is sure."
He very cleverly combated the Board of
Admiralty theory of an Arctic search,
which vii*tually amounted to the declara-
tion that the lost Expedition could not be
relieved unless the North-West Passage was
discovered ; in other words, first discover
the ^' Passage," and then seek for the lost
Expedition. He directed the attention of
Earl Grey to the necessity of the Govern-
ment filling up the blank which the Admi-
ralty had left in their intended search ;

'' »>.

. I

»^'lp

ir^'

'it:

THE FRANKLIN EXPr.DITION

namely, that wliilo Sir James Ross and
Captain Moore, in command of a fleet
of f(jur vessels, were to search the sea,
and Sir John Richardson in command of
a land jomniey across the continent of Ame-
rica, the latter's knowledge of the Mac-
kenzie and the Coj)permino Rivers, and
Dr. Kin^^'s knowledge of the Great Fish
River and its estuary, would he guarantees
that the work would he done well ; — '^ this
state of independence, " remarked Dr.
King, " insuring a large amount of effort,
even though it were merely in a spirit of
emulation."

But though he submitted his ^* offer of
service " to the consideration of the Govern-
ment, not only on pure and disinterested
grounds, but in the cause of humanity,
what must have been Dr. King's feelings
on receiving a letter from the Colonial Office
more than a fortnight afterwards, telling
him that, as he had solicited employment^ it
did not fall within the province of the
Secretary for the Colonies to confer ap-
pointments in connexion with the searching
Expedition, and referring him to the Board
of Admiralty on the subject? We are

riiOM FIKST TO LAST.

proud, however, to know tluit Dr. King,
whoso feeliiigH liad been too long dullicd
with by the nmrthiets of the Coh)nial and
Admiralty lioards, did not h)se his self-
conunand, and that he nuiintahied a calm
and dignified demeanour at an liouv when
other men might have flung down tlie
gauntlet in the heat of passion. Little
wonder at our ^' weary and worn" coun-
trymen being seen by the Escjuimaux to
" drop as they walked " on their struggling
journey to the Great Fish lliver — the very
position where Dr. King pledged his life
he would meet his long-lost friends and
countrymen: — little wonder that '^ bleached
skeletons" were found amidst the snow-
drifts of those inhospitable shores, when an
experienced pioneer was subjected to t\w
cold shade of a time-serving political faction.
But he met the missive of the Whig
Minister as a patriot and as a gentleman :
— ** I am not soliciting employment I I
am endeavouring to induce your Lordshij)
to take measures which I believe to be
necessary for saving the lives of 138 of our
fellow-creatures. So far from soliciting
employment — so far from desiring to con-

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

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tinue a Polar traveller, I have long ceased
to be a candidate for such an office : my
services in search of Sir John Ross no'
having been even acknowledged by the
Colonial and Admiralty Boards ; and it is
only for the sake of humanity that I am
induced to come forward again in such a
character."

Not having lost heart by "the slings
and arrows" of routine life — at that time
rather featly shot by the Executive of the
State, under whatever forai of Administra-
tion — Dr. King, in February, 1848, put
himself in communication with the Board
of Admiralty itself, and broached his pro-
position relative to attempting a journey
in the northern regions of America — an
attempt to reach the Western Land of North
Somerset, by the close of the approaching
summer, /. e., the summer of 1848. "It
was by the Great Fish River," says Dr.
King, " I reached the Polar Sea while
acting as second officer in search of Sir
John Ross ; " and hence he felt it his duty
to place his views on record as an earnest
of his sincerity.

•Having, therefore (on the 3rd of March

FROM FIKST TO LAST.

of the same year), volunteered his services
to the Admiralty to proceed by the Great
Fish River, convinced that it would even-
tually prove to be the only effectual route
for discovering the lost Expedition, he was
as coolly and cavalierly received at the
Admiralty as he had been at the Colonial
Office. He was told — " They have no
intention of altering their present arrange-
ments, or of making any others, that will
require your assistance, or force you to
make tho sacrifices which you appear to
contemplate." We have no doubt that Mr.
Ward, then Secretary to the Admiralty,
who wrote this curt, sarcastic, and liaughty
note, considered he was echoing tlie sen-
timents of his masters ; but he might have,
at least, been civil, even though he was
employed five years as the corresponding
clerk to the Naval Lords. Dr. King was
not a visionary — not a Will-o'-the-Wisp
who flickered momentary gleams of light
to dazzle and betray belated travellers.
He was a man who had braved the
Arctic regions, and saved Sir John Ross
and his comrades from the very fate that
threatened Franklin and his fellow-coun-

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

trymen. Besides, on the very face of tlie
record, he did not contemplate making any
more " sacrifices" than what his patriotism
and genial soul prompted him to forfeit.
And this was no mere trifle : for, in
addition to the surrender of an affluent
professional practice, he was prepared to
vacate a very honourable social status —
appointments as Physician to a London
Fire and Life Office, Physician to the
Blenheim - street Dispensary, Honorary
Secretary of the Ethnological Society, and
Assistant Secretary of the Statistical So-
ciety. Mr. Ward, therefore, was well
aware of the position and ability of the
man whom he was addressing. But public
servants, like menials attached to domestic
households, too often fancy they are per-
forming the legitimate functions of their
office when they substitute impertinence
for civility.

Lady Franklin having been advised to
offer £1000 to the Northern whalers for
the relief of her husband and his party.
Dr. King very kindly informed her that
if she had offered that sum for an Expe-
(Jition down the Great Fish River, and

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

another £1000 for an Expedition down the
Coppermine River, a large portion of the
coast line might have been searched in the
smnmer of 1849 : for we know that a great
number of the Expedition were alive in
1850, and that if such an offer had been
made a month only ago [Dr. King's advice
was m.adc on tlie 29th of March], the whole
of that coast line might have been reached
by the close of the summer of 1848. But
it was too late. The Fates had so decreed.
Dr. King now observed that his la])ours
in favour of a land journey by the Grea'i;
Fish River were altogether in vain. He
pursued the even tenor of his life socially
and professionally — no doubt, sometimes,
grieved to find that his propositions had
not been entertained, instead of the foolish
counsels of persons who looked for success-
ful results from mediocre talent and easy
enterprise. In the hours of his retirenu'nt
— judging from what he knew of the in-
completeness of the Admiralty effort — liis
keen and acute mind evidently followed
the track of the death-stricken navigators,
many of whom " dropped by the way " as
they penetrated through storms of wind,

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

aad sloct, and snow, towards the Great
Fish River.

It is mortifying now to know the melan-
choly truth that this stieam was the iden-
tical point towards which our countrymen
were hastening after they abandoned the
ships in the spring of 1848. Notwith-
standing the extraordinary exertions of Dr.
King, who, in the most explicit language
- — ^based upon a practical knowledge of the
country, as we have shown — forwarded in-
formation to successive Governments, since
the summer of 1847, that the missing Ex-
pedition would be found in that direction,
botli his offers of service and his informa-
tion were officially rejected. To be sure,
tlie Government of the dav appointed an
Arctic Council to deliberate LLj)on the pro-
bable position of Franklin and his com-
panions ; but, although this gentleman had,
after mature study, pointed out the right
path to ^^ seek and to save " them, tlie
Council simply contented themselves by
chiming in witli tlie opinions of Sir James
Ross, bii* J. Ricliardson, and Sir G. Back,
to \\\Qi effect that * the Expedition tvoidd not,
under am/ circumstances, make for the Great

.^^

' *«S> .4?.,

FROSl FIRST TO Lu\ST.

Fish River.^^ The public, unfortunately
sometimes, do not interfere with the course
of official life. But we dare sav tliere are
not ten men in Enfj^land who wjuld not
have responded to the sentiments of Dr.
King when lie declared, that had the
various Boards of Admiralty conscientiously
discharged their duty, the greater portion
of the Expedition would have been re-
stored to their families and frionds. Dr.
King appears to Tise the word ^^ conscien-
tiously " in a broad, catholic sense : for he
has given the Governments of the day
credit for lia\nig despat(;hed a scries of
Expeditions to the Polar Seas at three
different periods. We have already alluded
to the first period, when a fleet of foiu*
vessels was despatched under command of
Sir James Ross and Captain Moore, and a
land journey across the Continent of
America in cliarge of Sir Jolni Richard-
son. The second time, a fleet of eight
vessels sailed under the command of
Captains CoUinson, Austin, and Penny.
The third period, there was a fleet of
four vessels under the command of Sir
Edward Bcichei and Captain Kellet. At

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

>»

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%iA "?|t

tlie cost of £2,000,000, tlie results were
nothing — empty and fruitless missions.
Ever active in the cause of humanity, the
people of (jrreat Britain and America joined
in endeavouring to rescue their helpless
fellow-creatures. The first period em-
braced a fleet of three vessels, under the
command of Lieutenant de Haven, of the
United States service, and Commander
Forsyth and Sir John Ross ; the second
period showed two vessels, one in command
of Dr. Kane, of the United States, and the
other in charge of Caj)tain Kennedy. The
results of these two j)rivate Expeditions
were likewise barren. But the third period
compreheilds the successful Expedition of
M*Clintock, scmt at the sole expense of
Lady Franklin to discover traces of the
missing Expedition.

The pul^lic are now familiar with the
melancholy narrative of that officer. We
know timt after Sir John Franklin died,
the survivors, n\imbering 105, abandoned
the ships in the spring of 1848, and pro-
(jeedcd on tLcir way to the Great Fisli
Rivcx'. The relics which are now ex-
hibited in the United Service Institution,

FROM I^IRST TO LAST.

and which have so much engaged tlio
attention of the London p Al)lic as to
force us into an elucidation of the tinily
noble-hearted scheme that Dr. King pro-
jected to succour these poor fellows, indi-
cate simply so many milestones; of their
route, as they endeavoured to beat their
way to where Dr. King knew they would
be found. We know that these relics were
the travelling equipments of many brave
men who at last succumbed to death.
We know that Franklin's ships were
wrecked close to King William Land — an
island lying off the Western Land of
North Somerset. We know that death-
traces of the Expedition were found on
the south shore of King William Land ; on
the continent of America, at Point Ogle ;
and at Montreal Island, which is in the
estuary of Great Fish River. And we
know that if the authorities at home had
taken the counsel of Dr. King, and availed
them.selves of his practical services, a con-
siderable number of Englishmen would liavo
been rescued. If credence can be placed
in the statements of the Esquimaux, wo
know that the party of 105 was reduced to

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

forty. But wo do not know wlictlior
tlicy arc alive or dead. They cannot be
calculated as having, like their lost com-
rades, ^^ dropped as they walked along."
They may have separated into detached
bands — trusting to meet again in the course
of their perilous wanderings. It has been
attempted to chill the aspirations of the
people, T^lio have a right to learn the
destiny of those forty men. Though
England has lost bold and adventurous
sons wliile engaged in *^ cold crusades
against Nature ; " though she has offered up
the noblest sacrifice on the altar of science;
and though the North- West Passage will
ever bv^ closed by icy barriers against her
trade and commerce — the people demand
that the fate of the remnant of the Expedi-
tion be brought to the light of day. The
conviction grows stronger day after day
— and the impulse receives strength from
those circles who congregate at the United
Service Institution Rooms at Whitehall
— that some of our countrymen have
adopted the forlorn alternative of domesti-
cating themselves to the habits and usages
of the Esquimaux tribes who annually herd
around the estuary of the Great Fish River.

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

Towards that direction tlie people would
have found in Dr. Kin^ and Conniumder
Pirn, of the Royal Navy, two })ractical and
ener^i^etic pioneers. Wliy, it is only three
years since both these gentlemen memorial-
ised the Admii'alty, and proposed a com-
bined effort by sea and land — an Expedition
which, if it had been accepted, would have
been directed to the grounds where relics
and records were found by M'Clintock.
Even subsequent to this proposal, Dr.
King, founding his project upon a report
furnished from the Hudson Bay settle-
ments, that twelve of Franklin's men were
alive and located on the shores of the
Great Fish River, addi'Cbsed tlie Board of
Admiralty explanatory of the plan of
operating by sea and land. No answer
was ever given to this appeal. It will
require but little effort on the part of
the British people to compel the Execu-
tive Government to perform a great na-
tional duty — a duty which has prompted
this zealous geographer to actions high
above the fawning artifices of State para-
sites — a duty which incites to virtuous
patriotism, and to the noblest offices of
generosity.

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THE FRANKLIN EXI'F.DITIOX

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The Morning Star, 5th January, '60.

The Asian mystery is a ^reat per-
plexity ; it has never been cleared up.
Mr. Disraeli fjave us Rembrandt is] i adum-
brations of it, but even his practised
perspicacity failed to extricate its secn^t.
There is, however, a mystery nearer home,
and wliicli concerns us more to liave
cleared up, and that is the constitution of
the official mind. It ought to be some-
thing very profound, for it is very un-
fathomable. The people api)ear to luive
no plummet which can sound it. There is
every prospect of a cable being laid down
between Great Britain and America — there
is no prospect of any telegraphic com-
munication ever being establislied between
the Admiralty and public opinion. The
rock, shallows, and cluisms — tlie under-
currents of patronage, the strong winds of
political chicanery, defeat all attempts to
connect cases of public suffering and offi-
cial sensibility.

Wliy was it left to Lady Franklin to
rescue England from the infamy of per-

FHOM FIlfST TO LAST.

mittinji^ Its noblest band of Arctic navi<ifa-
tors to perish in ol)scurity? 'l^lio sapicity,
courago, and public s})irit of a woman iiavc
transcended the collective judfj^icnt, ])cne-
ii'ation, and enterprise of the <^reat board
which reo^idates our naval affairs. In the
faco of this immense fact, nuiy we not
stand excused, if we do not bow witli the
alacrity of humility to the vaticinations
of these latent-minded lords, when they
propose to spend millions to prevent war,
in a manner the most likely of all that could
be devised to make it? Lady Franklin
makes "vain entreaties," reports the officer
of the Fox, who writes the history of her
great expedition in the pages of the Corn-
hill Magazine. " Vain entreaties " to the
Lords of the Admiralty. Years had been
lost in this way. Wliy are her requests
unattended to ? What insensibility or
fatuity operates upon our naval board ?
Sir Roderick Murcliison, General Sabine,
and most distinguished Arctic officers, are
quite clear that more remained to be done.
It appears that the Admiralty had voted
Dr. Rau £10,000 for testimony which
cleared up the matter — in their opinion ; and

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(716)872-4503

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THE FltANKUN EXPEDITION

to re-open the question would be to stultify
themselves. We know that ^* wretches
sometimes hang, that jurymen may dine,"
but it appears that a hundred Arctic
heroes may perish rather than certain
Admiralty lords shall be known to stultify
themselves. We do not see why they
should be so coy of stultifying themselves
— they have done it often enough. Could
not these naval authorities have rewarded
Dr. Rae in some way which left them
open to the admission of new evidence ?
We know that petty parochial and other
committees frequently perplex their muddy
brains, by voting something to-day as
absolute, which the next day shows them to
be most undeterminate and transient ; but
their having voted it absolute, absolute
it must remain — they cannot "stultify"
themselves. The hopeless imbeciles can-
not see that there is no stultification so
complete and so contemptible, as that of
persisting in error after you know it to be
eiTor. A Transatlantic thinker, who is an
authority in the old world as well as the
. new, has well said that " a weak consis-
tency is the disease of little minds." This

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

appears to have been the affliction of the
Admiralty in the Sir John Franklin matter.
Every day we find peacock-headed men,
strutting before the world, taking pride in
their feathers, which they hope will draw
attention from their depletion of brains.
They have hopelessly and disastrously
blundered in the dark, and they shut
their eyes against all new light, and vote
it not to be light, ip the hope of per-
suading the public how well they have been
seeing. Thus the Lords of the Admiralty
trust to convince the public that they aro
cat-eyed, and can see best without light ;
and, haviug settled matters with Dr. Rae,
they lend only deaf ears and closed eyes to
the appeals of humanity and evidence of
science. By all means let the dignity of
the official mind be maintained — it needs
it : but we submit that this may be done
without leaving heroes to perish. Let
**my lords" give up the folly of final
resolutions in open matters, and fear, no
stultification like that of doing nothing
where humanity, science, and public repu-
tation demand prompt and indefatigable
action. j . .

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

/ K ''

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l-*^*'

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The last number of Once a Week con-
tained a portraiture of another phase of the
Arctic Mystery, by ^' Voyageur/' which
reveals to Englishmen a conception of offi-
cial fatuity, which no man, unless his soul
be absolutely saturated with red tape, can
hear of without blushes and indignation.
So early as February, 1845, Dr. King,
himself a distinguished Arctic traveller,
and eminent physician of Savile-row, be-
gan to address the then Secretary of State
for the Colonies, who is now the Earl of
Derby; pointing out, before Sir John
Franklin sailed, that an expedition by sea
was a " forlorn hope," and that an over-
land journey was the thing. *^ My lords"
issue contrary instructions to Franklin,
who sails in May. Seeing that Dr. King's
prediction proved true, it entitled him to
be regarded subsequently as a well-in-
formed adviser. In 1845 the Erebus and
Terror are seen in Baffin's Bay for the last
time. The Earl of Derby having declined
to send an expedition by land in search of
Sir John Franklin, Dr. King, in 1847,
makes a vain attempt to induce Earl Grey,
the new Secretary for the Colonies, to do

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

it. Dr. King says to him, " My lord, one
hundred and thirty-eight men are at this
moment in imminent danger of perishing
by famine." Four times this year the
warning entreaty is sung to Lord Grey's
official ears, by the indefatigable Dr. King ;
but how could his lordship be expected to
stultify his noble predecessor, by doing in
1847 what the said predecessor had declined
to do in 1845 ? True, Sir John Franklin
and his noble companions were dropping
dead, day by day, as with streaming eyes
of longing and agony they looked towards
fatherland, in the hope that noble lords at
the head of affairs would send some succour
out to them. But let scurvy kill — let the
parting ice-floe suck them in — let the heart
of the lost grow ^ick and break by hope
deferred — but let not official etiquette be
violated. In this case *^my lords" were
not perplexed by various plans or many
counsellors. There were few able to say
what ought to be done : of those few. Dr.
King, who had himself in 1835 won renown
in an overland search for Sir John Ross,
spoke with personal authority. He knew
the ground, the method of reaching it, and

1 1

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^*.

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:v» ^>

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1-^

* V-i*

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

volunteered to make the attempt. He said
precisely where the missing expedition was
to be found — and the result has proved the
accuracy of his knowledge. But, generous
and brave as well as sagacious, Dr.King told
Earl Grey he did not want to make a place
for himself — he was *'not soliciting em-
ployment ; " but he would relinquish " five
appointments of honour and emolument,"
and ask of their lordships no compe^nsation,
if, for the ^' sake of humanity," they would
send him out. Offers like this — an example
of this quality — demanded some cordial
recognition if unhappily it was unaccepted.
In March, 1848, Mr. H. G. Ward acquaints
Dr. King, in cold and sardonic terms, that
^^ My lords have no intention of altering
their present arrangements, or of making
any other that will require his assistance,
or force him to make those sacrifices he
appears to contemplate." Yet " so lately
as 1850," says the narrative from which we
quote the words in Once a Week, " some of
Sir John Franklin's party were absolutely
alive upon the Great Fish River." But we
need not pursue the frightful narrative
much further. The writer of it, though

^:i^

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

he speaks in pages which eschew political
judgments, cannot help saying what we
shall repeat with more emphasis — ** Sir
John Franklin's companions died the
victims less of those perils of their profes-
sion, which they were prepared to en-
counter, than of official apathy, or at least
of mistaken judgment." In another place
he says, '^ Englishmen must decide which."
The rigours of the northern seas — the
bleak and foodless regions of eternal snows,
braved by the noble band of Arctic adven-
turers, were less searing and deadly than
the frozen temperature of the official board
at home.

The Esquimaux woman who tells the
story of the last Arctic victim of the
" Foul Anchor," relates : —

" One of the crew died upon Montreal
Island.

" The rest perished on the coast of the
main land.
. " The wolves were very thick.

"Only one man was living when their
tribe arrived. '

" Him it was too late to save.

"He was large and strong, and sat on

■1.!

If .V,

!•■

^^i

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

the sandy beach, his head resting on his
hand ; and thus he died."

What thought that poor wretch of " my
lords" at home ? The last survivor of one
hundred and thirty-eight, what tale might
he not have to tell, had he not looked
speechless and dying into the faces of the
tribe, more merciful than lords at home,
who came up also too late ? He turned
his face again towards home, whence no
help was ever to come. That spot of
Arctic beach, with the abandoned, dying,
and solitary survivor upon it, should be
perpetuated in marble and placed for ever-
more at the entrance of the Admiralty
office. A cartoon of the same subject
would not be misplaced in the lobby of the
House of Commons.

/ The Morning Chronicle^ 14th Nov., '59.

For aught Englishmen know, many of
the companions of Franklin may yet live.
It is not at all certain that a large portion
of the hapless band of 105 which aban-
doned the Erebus and Terror in April, '48,
and attempted to reach Great Fish River,

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

does not still look for its deliverers. The
chances are^ no doubt, against it. Cold,
fatigue, and famine have, it is probable,
destroyed these gallant spirits. There is,
however, no evidence that they have been
overtaken by such a fate; possibly, some
may still survive. M^Clintock has, indeed,
dispelled all hope of the return of their
brave leader ; and of him, save in memoriamj
we have not to speak any more. But
brave and adventurous as he was — a per-
sonification of the whole expedition to the
general public — the men who, under his
command, displayed the same daring, have
claims as strong upon the British nation.
So long as there is still a belief in the pos-
sibility of their existence professed by men
who themselves are familiar with the fear-
ful regions, in which they either linger on
in ever fainter hope, or have long since
given up the struggle ; so long the British
natior, in whose name they undertook their
voyage, is bound in honour not to desist from
its attempts to save them. It is true, the
nation has repudiated the obligation. When
Rae brought back tidings which really only
went to induce a belief in the probability

i«

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

1i' •

r 1

of the death of the whole party, but which
did not give the sHghtest clue to their
history, it was assumed that all further
search would be in vain, and those who
represented the nation declared that nothing
more should be done. We were to wear
our mourning, and then dismiss the poor
creatures from our minds. The injustice
and folly of that repudiation, and deter-
mination not to meddle more in the matter,
have, however, been shown clearly by the
discoveries of M^Clintock. The search was
not, as we were told, a useless exposure of
valuable lives. We have acquired a cer-
tainty of Franklin's death j we know where
the ships are, and where and how the years
which preceded the abandonment were
spent. We have learned it at the cost of
Lady Franklin.

Repudiation need not, however, be per-
petual. Nations may repent as well as
individuals, and we ask Englishmen to cay
that they have erred, to admit that they
were deceived into the abandonment of
their duty, and to demand from the
Government a further search for the crews
of the Erebus and Terror.

FROM FIL^T TO LAST.

Such an appeal, wc allow, requires for
its justification the existence of reasonable
grounds, for hoping, either that these mem-
bers of the Expedition unaccounted for are
still alive, or that their fate, however sad
it may have been, can be discovered. All
these grounds do justify the appeal. Dr.
King, who has himself descended Great
Fish River — the point to which, be it re-
membered, Crozier and Fitzjames directed
their course — and who is, consequently,
well acquainted with the district in which
the interest of search would centre, has
expressed, in the lecture delivered by him
at Brighton the other day, his belief that
some of the party may still survive. If
they are all dead, some particulars of their
fate may be discovered. Now, an opinion
of this kind ought not to be neglected.
Dr. King, who knows the country, asserts
the possibility of the existence of some of
the o'ew in it ; and if there is such a pos-
sibility, an attempt ought to be made to
ascertain the fact. Dr. King also pointed
out that it would be most desirable to reach
the abandoned ships, the position of which
is clearly mS,rked out in the document

1 I

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'I'M

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

^* . I,

''t
i-*-*!

;

««.

found by M^Clintock ; and which an expe-
dition, availing itself of the proper season,
and directing its attention to the special
object, might eifect without much difficulty.
He thinks that the results of the observa-
tions made by Franklin might thus be
obtained ; and, however tliat might be, it
is much to be wished that the ships should
be visited, and as many particulars as pos-
sible of the voyage gleaned. '

That, however, is a minor consideration ;
the great point is the fate of the men.
Dr. King, who speaks with authority — and
his views are shared by other persons of
Arctic experience — tells us that some of
them may be alive ; at all events, that their
doom may be discovered. Why, then,
should not an expedition to Great Fish
Eiver be at once organised?

The cost of another search will be but a
trifle; the most vehement Financial Re-
former would not, we are confident, oppose
such an idea in the Miscellaneous Esti*
mates. Volunteers in plenty will under-
take the task ; and if brave men are pre-
pared to risk their own lives in a reasonable
hope of saving those of their fellow-coun-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

1 1 an cxpc-
pcr season,
the special
I difficulty,
le observa-
it thus be
light be, it
lips should
lars as pos-

Lsideration ;

the men.
ority — and

persons of
it some of
3, that their
iHiy, then,
jreat Fish

ill be but a
ancial Ee-
3nt, oppose
eous Esti-'
ivrill under-
en are pre-
, reasonable
3llow-coun-

trymen, or, at the worst, of being able to
perform the last pious offices to their re-
mains, it would be disgraceful to stay them.
- Prudence and economy are very good
things, but the paltry prudence and petty
economy which would neglect the chance
of saving human life, because lite might bo
risked and money must be spent in the
attempt, are the most hideous vices that
can stain a powerful nation.

Dublin University Magazine^ 1 February, '60.

The only man in England who pro-
posed an effectual plan for the relief of
Franklin, was Dr. Richard King, of Savile-
row, who, on the lOtli of June, 27th of
November, 1847, and February 1848, in
letters to the Admiralty, urged the abso-
lute necessity of an expedition in the
spring of 1848, to the mouth of the Great
Fish River, with which locality he was
well a/^quainted ; offering to go himself, in
conjunction with any officer the Admiralty
might name.

This rational proposal, the adoption of

: # •

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

which would have saved Crozier and Fitz-
james, and a large proportion of the 105
survivors, was shelved by referring it to
the Arctic Council ; who, with the honour-
able and single exception of Captain
Beechey, were unanimous in rejectiiig it:
Dr. King's proposal, doubtless, seeming to
them not only erroneous in principle, but
premature in point of time ; as but few
of those supposed to be well informed in
Arctic and scientific matters could bring
themselves to believe in the possibility of
disaster to so well-appointed an Expedi-
tion.

It is worth while to place on record some
of the opinions given on Dr. King's pro-
posal : —

^' Sir John Richardson. — With respect to
the Great Fish River, he did not think,
under any circumstances. Sir John Frank-
lin would attempt that route.
^ '^ Sir James Moss. — I cannot conceive any
position in which The franklin Expedi-
tion could be placed, from which they
would make for the Great Fish River.

" Sir George Back. — You will be pleased,
sir, to impress on my Lords Commissioners,

noN

ier and Fitz-
i of the 105
ferring it to
I the honour-
of Captain
rejectixig it^.
3, seeming to
principle, but
as but few
informed in
could bring
possibility of
. an Expedi-

1 record some
\ King's pro-

^th respect to

d not think,
John Frank-
conceive any

iklin Expedi-
which they

sh River.

ill be pleased,

ommissioners

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

that I wholly reject all and every idea of
any attempt on the part of Sir John
Franklin, to send boats or detachments
over the ice to any point of the mainland
in the vicinity of the Great Fish River.''

Truly, age does not confer experience —
neither experience, wisdom. Dr. King
was finally silenced by a polite note from
the Secretary of the Admiralty, informing
him that his services were not required,
and that it was unnecessary for him to
make the professional sacrifices which he
appeared to contemplate. Thus vanished
the first and only hope of saving the lives
of any of the officers and crews of the
Erebus and Terror. Hundreds of lives
risked, and thousands of pounds spent, in
ill-conceived though ably carried out pro-
jects of exploration ; and, by a singular
fiatality, every comer of the Arctic Archi-
pelago was searched except the right one,
— and this last corner was finally explored
by a private expedition, which has not yet
received any public reward for its success.
Upon the gallant M^Clintock, the leader of
this successful search, honours have been
heaped from various quarters. The Uni-

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THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

versity of Dublin hastened to enrol his
name, honoris causd, among those of her
most highly honoured sons ; the City of
London has conferred upon him her citizens'
Freedom ; the City of Dublin has presented
him with a public address, at a large and
most influential meeting of citizens con-
vened by the Lord Mayor ; and his native
town of Dundalk has shown her sense of
the honour conferred upon her by the brave
deeds of her son; but, as yet, no public
recognition by the Government has taken
place of the success of those who brought
home to England "the only authentic
intelligence " of the fate of Franklin and
his brave followers.

.^'' ■} .m

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Once a Week, 31st December, *59.

'^^:tS^;

A PHASE OF THE ARCTIC MYSTERY.

The details of the expert ition sent out by
Lady Franklin in the steam yacht Fox,
shortly will be, if they are not already,
before the public.

Sir John Franklin, as we learn, died as

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

► enrol his
lose of her
iie City of
tier citizens'
IS presented
a large and
itizens con-
d his native
ler sense of
)y the brave
t;, no public
it has taken
v^ho brought
authentic
ranklin and

., '59. "r -^-^''^

VIYSTERY.

sent out by
yacht Fox,
lot already,

arn, died as

early as June 11th, 1847. His ships the
Erebus and Terror were beset on Sep-
tember 12th, 1846, in lat. 70° 05' N., and
^ long. 88° 23' W. On 22nd April, 1848,
the ships were abandoned five leagues
N.N.W. of Point Victory, King William's
Island, where 105 survivors under Captain
Crozier landed, and on April 25th de-
posited in a cairn the records brought
home by Captain M^Clintock.

That gallant officer, with Lieutenant
Hobson, made a minute search of the whole
coast of King William's Island, and on its
south shore found death-traces of members
of the expedition, at a point exactly oppo-
site that portion of the mainland of North
America, whence the relics sent home in
1854, and now in Greenwich Hospital, had
been procured, viz.. Point Ogle, a cape at
the mouth of the Great Fish Kiver, and
Montreal Island in its estuary.

It is impossible to rise from the perusal
of Captain M^Clintock's journal, without
the absolute conviction that the late Sir
John Franklin's companions died the vic-
tims, less of those perils of their profession
which they were naturally prepared to

lil

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1 . n

,4 ^

if?* I

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

encounter, than of official apathy, or at
least of mistaken judgment.

The following facts, arranged in order of
date, are relied on to prove that this repre-
sentation is correct. ^'

It is to be borne in mind, that King
William's Island lies off the west land of
North Somerset, and that the silent but ter-
ribly convincing testimony of the bleached
skeletons on the way, proves that, from
the moment of landing on Point Victory,
the survivors were struggling in a death-
flight for the Great Fish River.

I2th Dec, 1844.— *^ My Lords" Com-
missioners of the Admiralty resolve upon
another expedition by sea in search of the
North West Passage, and appoint Sir John
Franklin to the command. '

20th Feb., 1845. — A distinguished Arctic
traveller and eminent physician. Dr. King,
of Sa vile-row, who, so far back as 1835,
had acquired renown as medical officer and
second in command of an overland journey
in search of Sir John Ross, — hearing of
the proposed expedition by sea, and re-
garding it, to use his own phrase, as a
*'* forlorn hope," — addresses to the Secretary

i'm.

■'i!!;

,thy, or at

in order of
this repre-

that King
est land of
ent but ter-
tie bleached

that, from
int Victory,
in a death-

rds" Com-
esolve upon
earch of the
nt Sir John

FROM FIRST TO LASl'.

ished Arctic
Q, Dr. King,
,ck as 1835,
^1 officer and
and journey
—hearing of
sea, and re-
phrase, as a
he Secretary

of State for the Colonies, Lord Stanley,
now the Earl of Derby, a proposal for a
land journey by the Great Fish River, to
aid the Franklin expedition in its geo-
graphical survey.

bth May, 1845. — " My Lords" issue their
instructions to Sir John Franklin, who sails
with the Erebus and Terror.

2Qth July, 1845. — The ships are seen in
Baffin Bay, for the last time,

IQth June, 1847. — Dr. King writes to
Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, ** My Lord, one hundred and
thirty-eight men are at this moment in
imminent danger of perishing by famine ; "
he regrets that Lord Stanley does not
entertain the proposition for a land journey
by the Great Fish River, renews his pro-
posal, shows how it can be carried out,
assigns the western land of North Somerset
as the position of the lost expedition, points
out that if Sir John Franklin is to be re-
lieved, it must be in the summer of 1848,
and implores permission to render him
*^the only succour which has the proba-
bility of success."

26th Nov,, 1847. — Dr. King again ad-

1!"

if^

ft-

if/ i ■

fft

•ij-. ;

^''ii

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

dresses Earl Grey, Lord Stanley's suc-
cessor in the administration of the Colonial
Department: "The last ray of hope has
passed that Sir John Franklin by his own
exertions can save himself and his one
hundred and thirty -seven followers from
the death of starvation I trust, therefore,
your Lordship will excuse my calling your
attention to my letter of 10th June last,
which is acknowledged, but which remains
unanswered.'^ Dr. King argues most ably
the geographical question, and once more
begs to be allowed a place in " the great
effort which must be made for the rescue
of the one hundred and thirty-eight men
who compose the lost expedition."

8th Dec, 1847.— Dr. King, for the third
time, addresses Earl Grey on the subject
of a new expedition, proposed by the
Admiralty, to search the coast of North
America for Franklin, from the Mackenzie
to the Coppermine rivers, with Wollaston
land, opposite tnat coast, in 1848, and
^'ictoria land in the summer of 1849. He
also offers to go at once by the Great Fish
River to Victoria land, as well as to the
western land of North Somerset. , ''^^

i \

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

iley's suc-
le Colonial
■ hope has
by his own
id his one
)wers from
, therefore,
ailing your

June last,
ch remains
J most ably

once more
'* the great

the rescue
-eight men

>r the third

the subject

d by the

t of North

Mackenzie

Wollaston

1848, and

1849. He
Great Fish

as to the

IQth Dec.^ 1847. — Dr. King acknow-
ledges the receipt of a reply from Lord
Grey, desiring him to address any applica-
tion he may desire to make, to *^ My Lords"
of the Admiralty. J)r. King regrets that
Earl Grey should lip.s^e delayed his answer
from June to December, because, if any-
thing is to be done, it must be in progress
by February. He explains that he is not
" soliciting employment," but '' endeavour-
ing to induce Earl Grey to take the neces-
sary measures foi saving the lives of one
hundred and thirty-eight fellow-creatures ; "
adding that he does not ask Earl Grey to
make good the loss he would sustain by
giving up his private practice and five ap-
pointments of honour and emolument — a
loss which cannot be measured by a money
standard, but that he '' comes forward again
only for the sake of humanity."

l^th Feb., 1848.— Dr. King writes to
" My Lords," repeating fully his arguments
as to the western land of North Somerset,
and undertaking to do in one summer what
has not before been done under two; he
also explains how he can do it, and again
volunteers to go by the Great Fish River.

i
J

■'i.;

1"H

^ II
1 )'

i <

'<"i

THE FRANKLTN EXPEDITION

Srd March, 1848. — Dr. King complains
to Mr. H. G. Ward. Secretary to "My
Lords," that he has i-eceived no reply to
his letter of February 16th ; states that
March 1 5th is the latest period at which he
should feel justified in starting on this
expedition, and requests early information
of their Lordships' decision, as he will have
to make arrangements to vacate his pro-
fessional appointments. '

Srd March, 1848.— Mr. H. G. Ward is
commanded by '^ My Lords" to acquaint
Dr. King that " they have no intention of
altering their present arrangements, or of
making any others that will require his
assistance, or force him to make the sacri-
fices he appears to contemplate."

18^^ Feb,, 1850. — Dr. King again urges
on ** My Lords" the overland expedition
by the Great Fish River, and is strengthened
in his convictions by the imsuccessful re-
sults of the various attempts to relieve
Franklin by sea.

2Sth Feb,, 1850.— "My Lords" must
decline the offer of Dr. King's services.

19^^ Jult/, 1854. — Dr. Rae, a Chief Factor
in the service of the Hudson Bay Com-

FROM FIRST TO LAST.

mplains
;o ^^My
reply to
tes that
diich he
on this
urination
ivill have
his pro-
Ward is
acquaint
mention of
nts, or of
Q[uire his
the sacri-

lin urges
xpedition
sngthened
essfal re-
o relieve

Ls" must
vices,
ief Factor
iay Com-

pany, engaged in completing a survey of
the west coast of Boothia, writing from
Repulse Bay, reports to " My Lords"
that on the 17th April he has met with
Esquimaux in Pelly Bay, from whom he
gathered, ^' that in the spring, four winters
past (spring, 1850), a paii^y of forty white
men were seen travelling southward over
the ice. * * * At a later date in the
same season, the bodies of thirty were dis-
covered on the continent, and five on an
island near it, about a long day's journey
N.W. of the Oot-ko-hi-ca-Hk." * The land
is, as Dr. Rae states. Point Ogle, and the
island Montreal Island, in the Great Fish
River. :

20th June, 1855. — Mr. James Anderson,
a Chief Factor in the service of the Hud-
son Bay Company, started for the Great
Fish River, and returned on 17th Sep-
tember. He found on Montreal Island ab-
solute proofs of the truth of the Esquimaux
story, as related to Dr. Rae.

So lately as 1850, some of Sir John Frank-
lin^ s party tvere absolutely alive upon the Great
Fish River.

* Oot-ko-lii-ca-lik is the Esquimaux name for Great Fish
River. *

*«

IS i

100

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

We cannot venture v io more than offer
the above facts to our leaders. Wo dare
not trust ourselves to comment on them.
Englishmen must decide between Dr. King
and the successive Secretaries of State and
Admiralty Boards, who disregarded a pro-
posal, by which it is now clear that this
remnant might have been saved.

*' My Lords" were too official to enter-
tain the right proposal ; can they now be
touched by the story of an Esquimaux
woman who records the fate of the last
Arctic victim to the *^ Foul Anchor ?" Let
them listen:

*^ One of the lost crew died upon Mon-
treal Island.

i " The rest perished on the coast of the
mainland.
-^ *^ The wolves were very thick.

" Only one man was living when their
tribe arrived.

" Him it was too late to save.

" He was large and strong, and sat on
beach, his head

the sandy

hand : and thus he died."

jstmg

VOYAGEUE.

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of the last

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upon Mon-

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• when their

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION

rnoM

FIRST TO LAST.

Db. king, m.d.

PUBLISHER : JOHN CHUBGUILL, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

TABULAR FORM OF CONTENTS.

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OPINIONS OP THE PRESS.

" Db. Kimo pointed out the locality where the relics of The Franklin
Expedition have been found, as a likely spot to find them." Spectator.

" Db. KiNa is the one man whose unheeded foresight certain information
has since completely justified. Examiner.

" Db. Kino speaks witli authority, und his views are shared with other
persons of Arctic experience. He tells nn that some of The Franklin Ex-
pedition may be alive ; at all events, that theu' doom may be diBcovered."-^—
Morning Chronicle, 14.11.'59.

"Could human foresight more accurately have indicated the time, the
place, the nature of the catastrophe, and the means for averting it, than that

of Dr. Kimo, in his offer to search for TlieFranklin Expedition in '47.

Kaval and Military Gazette, 5.11.'59.

" Had the Admii-alty accepted the offer of Db. Kino, those whose bones are
bleaching under a Polar Sky, would be alive and at home." — Star, 12.1.'60.

" Had Dr. Kino been listened to. The Franklin Expedition would have
been discovered while yet a numerous living band." Mom. Post, 4.10.'50.

" The discoveries of M'Glintock in '59 confirm Dr. Kino's prophecies of
47 to the letter." Sun, 3.10.'69.

" It is impossible not to regret most deeply that Dr. Kino was not permitted
to go in search of The Franklin Expedition." Weekly Timet, 9.10.' b9.

" The only man in England who proposed an e£'ectual plan for the relief of
Franldhi was Dr. Kino. — Dublin University Magazine, 1. Feb. 'GO

" Englishmen must decide between Db. Kino and the successive Secretaries
of State and Admiralty Boards, who disregarded his proposal. Can tlicy be
touclied by the story of the Esquimaux woman who records the fate of the
Polar Victims to the Foul Anclior ? Let them listen —

" ' One of the lost crew died upon Montreal Island.' "

" ' The wolves were vei'y thick.' "

" ' Ilim it was too late to save,' "

" ' He was lai-ge and strong, and sat on the sandy beach, his head resting
on his hand; and thus he died.'"— Once a Week, 31.12.'59.

" Dn. Kino, a London Pliysiciau, with singiilar devotion and perseverance,
marked in '47, with almost prophetic accuracy, the vei-y spot where The
Franklin Expedition must be found." — A Motion of Charles Bbsd, F.S.A.
in Court of Common Council, London, Sl.l.'OO.

" Had Db. Kino's advice been taken in '47 The Fmnklin Expedition would
have been found living, in the very spot where M'Clintock discovered the
skeletons.— Weekly Dispatch, 9.10.'50.

" Turn to Dit. Kino's Conjectural Map of '45, by which he sustained his
views of the position of The Franklin Expedition, and to the subsequent
Admiralty Chart of '59, and mark how wonderfully his geographical arguments
were proved trqe by the Touchers of the Adminilty itself."— Suf, 9. Oct. '59*

of The Franklin
— Speetaior.

ertftin information

shared with other
The Franklin Ex-
)e discovered."

ited the time, the
Brting it, than that
pedltion in '47.

Be whose bones are
—Star, 12.1.'60.

iditlon would have
m.Po«e, 4.10.'59.

[iKo's prophecies of

a was not permitted
'i«w»,9.10.'69.

>lanfor the relief of
Feb. '60

iccessive Secretaries
osal. Can they be
iords the fate of the

h, his head resting

)n nnd perseverance,
)i-y spot where Tiie
HBLKS Bbkd, F.S.A.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S ILL FATED EXPEDITION.

LAMENT OF XUE LAST MAN ON HIS WAY TO QBEAT FISH KIVEK. *

rhey have fallen, one by one ;

The last, but one, to-day —
(rod ! am I left, alone,

To track this weary way ;
My weary way to the River,

The haven where I would bo ?
But, alas I heart-struck I shiver —

1 cau never attain the sea !

am touchinf? his lifeloss head,

A waif on this desolate shore ;

am kissing the last of the dead —

Shall I see man's face no more ?

Cold, cold, cold :

IJut mine hour is not vet told

|n mine ear th<^ terrible rush,

The thuud'ring rush of the floe ;
^Q(l the shriek of her ribs in the grinding crush ,

And the good ship in her throe.

mine heart, their mute despair,

And the groans of our wailing knell,
^s the death -call swooiVdthro' the pitiless air,

And the pale men droop'd and fell.
There they fell, they lay ;

Not a knee rose more to the light ;
flie reeling and shrunken clay

Sank at once into icy night !

Cold, cold, cold :

And mine hour as yet untold !

Mine eyelids burn ; congeals

My brain within its coll ; i

And the scalding tear-drop steals '

From an overllowing well ; '

For I dream of fond hearts at home,

I think of the bravo that are gone ;
As I gaze at this star-lit dome,

And stagger from stone to stone.
Wo were two but yesternight ;

And, faint, to this welcome sod
I've crawl'd, till he's out of sight —

And there's no one near but God !

Cold, cold, cold :

And mine hour is nearly t

When they come, for come thoy will.

Nor search this coast in vain.
They will find us sleeping still.

On its lone unfriendly plain ;
But none shall ever know.

Till the Great Day comes at last.
Our griefs in these realms of snow,

And the horrors of the Past !
For I sink on this fatal beach ;

I have pray'd with my latest breath
And my struggles will only reach

The River of Life, in Death !

Cold, cold, icy cold :
And mine own last hour is 1

Edenhall Vicarage, Sept. 28.

ill Expedition would
itock discovered the

sh he Bustidiied his
to the subsequent
graphical argumenU
•—Sun, 3, Oct.'69»

* The writer assumed the last man had dieJ, this is questioned

Captain Sin Edwaud Belcueu, R.N.
Captain Collinson, R.N.
Dr. Kino, I\I.D.

Captain rARKER Snow.

Captain Kennedy.

Cvptain Bedford Pim, R.N.

.Tizr

I 1

fp* ' «ri

1 ■'

WORKS BY D? KING, M.D.

PUBLISHED.

Trice 4s.
THE CHIEF CAUSE OF MORTALITY

STILL-BOBN CHILDREN.

C^art^ill, |Ttlu Turlington Mini

'* The author of the present essay has taken up a subject
which possesses much interest in a physiological point of view,
and one which in its consideration he can derive but litfle
assistance from the labours of others. It is evident that he has
had opportunities of making himself acquainted with the subject
on which he writes, and that he has carefully observed those
phenomena which he attempts to elucidate. His monograpli,
therefore, is entitled to the respectful consideration of his
professional brethren. For our own part we believe there is a
great deal of truth in the author's statement." Medical Times.

" The monograph under notice \j an inquiry into the particular
causes of still-birth, by one who has especially cultivated the
obstetrical branch of medicine. Dr. King believes the wrong
method of treatment has been frequently adopted where the
infant's life has been endangered during birth. It is right that
his view should be fairly canvassed, and his arguments weighed,
for, upon the whole, his book promises to throw new light upon
our mode of practice." Lancet.

" The causes of death in still-births, with the means of
preserving the infant's life, have been made the subject of an
ingenious brochure by Dr. King. The arguments upon which
the author founds his opinion are selected with judgment, and,
the work is altogether worthy of the best attention of tj^

obstetrical practitioner." Abstract of the Medical Sciences, by

Dr. Ranking.

" An ingenious little brochure, the object of which is to prove
that death does not result from cerebral congestion, but from a
contrary condition — not from asphyxia, but from syncope." —
Dublin Journal of Medicine.

" It tends to prove a revolutionary era in the established usages
of the practice of midwifery." — Medico-Chirurgical Review.

** This work is devoted to an important point in the practice
of obstetricity ; and we recommend its attentive perusal to all
persons engaged in medical practice." Athenoeum.

WORKS BY D!' KINO, M.D.

Preparing for Publication.

Price ln.«.
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DOWN

GREAT EISll IlIVEU.

SECOND EDITION, ILLUSTRATED.

1 Vol. 8vo. - • *

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A« % liflaited number of Copies only will be published, Orders
slipn'd be immediately sent to the Publisher. The First L^ditiou
*• KJi out " in less than six weeks. * ,

Price 10s.
HISTORY OF THE ESQUIMAUX.

1 Vol. 12ino.

Cl^urtbill, Jlefo Turlington Str«t.

It is printed, but not published, in the " Journal of The
Ethnological Society;" and is published iu the French and
German languages.