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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit an un seul cliche, il est filmi A partir de I'angle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 6 6 ft« -'oM m ^M:^'::0^. aa ,-^.ter ■"■«-,5; ''v ,:^;.;'- :,•:,,> v-^S ^ iHl-J-pi::»A '"4>$Ktt' .;*;•*':'■ ,W.:.:--J^'f' '■j;.*:' ■?.k ...-'■ . "• . , ; .v^X: *fy" BT AUGUSTUS ji^ ■^ ' sX.-j::m i f. vr'>L- , •r *,>>C^«K F^' * .j,-43 J'nit' «'< c "N? • r; t .. HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF THE SEAKCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. IJV AUGUSTUS PETERiMANN. REPRmTED FROM SEEMANN'S NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. Printed for Private Circulation.'] ^ 'o 06028 .■)5o9 CONTENTS. First Series of (lie Searchinfj Expeditioiis, despalched in 1848 and 1849. X((. of I'aj^T 2 5 ii-n-^i 4* 7 3 1, H(!lii'i!i<>'s Strait Expedition (Kellett aiul Moore) „ Branoli Expedition (Pidlcn) 2. Land Expedition, North America (Richardson and llae) 4* 1 /o- M. [^arrow's Strait Expedition (J. C. lloss and Bird) .2 8 7^' 4. ,, Auxiliary Voyage (Saunders) ..19 ^• Second Series of the Searching Expeditions, despatched in 1850. 5. Rchring's Strait Expedition (CoUinson, M'Chire, Moore, and Kellett) 4 ii. Barrow's Strait Expedition (Penny and Stewart) 2 13 7. ,, ,, (Austin, Ommanney, Osborn, and Cator) ........ 4 S. Barrow's Strait Expedition (J Ross) ... 2 9. ,, United States Expedition (I)e Haven) 2 20 <^.| 10. Barrow's Strait Expedition (Forsyth) . 1 21 4. I 11 /^ JS. 16 /^i\ 18 ^\ Third Series of the Searching Expeditions, despatched in 1851 and 1852. 11. Land Journey, North America (Rae) 12. Voyage to Regent Inlet (Kennedy) V6. Voyage to Baffin's Bay (Inglefield) 1* 22 1 23 1 24 2. s. Searching Expeditions remaining in the Arctic Regions. II. liehring's Strait Expedition (Collinsou, M'Clure, and Maguire) ........ 1.5. Barrow's Strait Expedition (Belcher, Kellett, Osborn, M'Clintock, and PuUen) 5 3 20 /^. Conclusion 2() /sv Hoiils "I I l\^ ol Vaijrc A iO. 1 /o. 8 70. 9 ^' 11 /IXV 13 JS. 16 /^i-. 18 ^. m 6. 31 4. * 22 2. 2(j /^. 2(\ l^v 27 SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. Historical Summary of the five years' search after Sir John Franklin from the 1st of January, 18-48, to the 1st of January, 1853, enume- rated according to the dates on which the Expeditions left the British shores. The reader would probably feel disappointed if I were to conclude the narrative of an Arctic relief expedition without affording him a view of all that has been done to rescue the gallant Franklin and his brave companions. The question has now become so complicated, and the materials bearing upon it are so much scattered about in narratives of voyages, pamphlets, periodicals, and " Blue Books," that probably the best service a writer can render to the j)ub1ic is by presenting a concise ac- count of the various attempts made to determine the fate of the missing voyagers, and the results which have at- tended these meritorious endeavours. The great difficul- ties however that surround the subject made me anxious that this account should be written by one more compe- tent than myself, and applying for that purpose to my friend Mr. Augustus Petermann, he responded to my wishes by sending the following sketch, which, it may hn'. I)t! interesting to know, was not finally printed until it had been submitted to various Aretie authorities, who kindly pointed out whatever inaccuracies they detected in the statements. On the 2r)th of May, 1S45, II.M.S. Erebus and Terror, under the command of Sir John Franklin, and carryiug a total of 138 men, sailed from the Thames for the pur- pose of making once more the attempt to discover the North-west Passage. Their last despatches were from the Wlialefish Islands, dated July 12th, 1845, and the vessels themselves communicated last with the Prince of Wales whaler, near Melville Bay, on the 26th of the same month. As the third winter was passing by without any intelligence of Sir John Franklin reaching England, anxiety for his safety began to prevail, and his vessels gan to be spoken of as the " Missing Expedition." In the following year it was considered necessary to de- spatch expeditions in search of the missing one, and on the Ist of January, 1848, the first of these vessels left England. Five years have since passed, — expeditions after expeditions in the cause of humanity have unceas- ingly left these shores, — the British Government has spared no expense, private individuals of England and America have materially assisted, — the whole world has taken an intense interest in the fate of the 138 brave men who gallantly set out to solve one of the greatest geographical problems; but no tidings have been re- ceived, no clue to the mystery has been obtained, and the only indirect intelligence respecting their fate con- i I • sists of traces found id Jiucchcy Island, indicating their winter-quarters in 1845-40. Fh'sf Series of the Searchim/ E^vpedUions. The first Searching Expeditions sent out hy the Go- vernment were admirably planned. Bearing in mind that Franklin's route lay in the direction from Lancaster Sound to Behring's Strait, the Admiralty determined on three expeditions : one to proceed to Behring's Strait, to meet the ships, another to Lancaster Sound, to follow them in their supposed track, and a third down the Mackenzie River, to search the Arctic shores of North America, in the event of Sir John Franklin having been forced to make for that coast. It was reasonably hoped that one of these expeditions would succeed and fall in with the missing one. The. Behnnifs Strait Expeditio7i, 1848 and 1849*. — This consisted of the Herald and Plover, surveying ves- sels. The latter ship, commissioned by Commander Moore, sailed from the Thames on the 1st of January, 1848, to join the former under Captain Kellett, but being a slow sailer, she did not reach the Sandwich Islands until the end of August, 1848, too late in the season for commencing any search in Behring's Strait. She win- tered in the Bay of Anadyr, whence she sailed on the 30th of June in the following year, and on the 14th of Jidy, having passed Behring's Strait, anchored off Cha- misso Island in Kotzebue Sound, the appointed rendez- vous. The next day she was joined by the Herald and * The Expeditions are enumerated according to the date when they left the British shores. 8 the yucht Nancy Dawson, coininaiulocl })y Robert Shed- ili'M, wlio, liesiriiig in China of tlic object of the expedition to Behring's Strait, nobly resolved to aid in the seareh for his imperilled conntrynien. On the 18th of July the three vessels left Kotzebue Sound, and, after keeping pretty near the shore as far as 70° north, they stood out to the north-west. On the 29th of July their fur- ther progress was arrested by an impenetrable pack of ice, which forced them to return southwards. The highest latitude gained was 72° 51', long. 103° 48'. The Herald tried a second time to push nortlnvards in a more Avcsterly direction, but again her progr(!Ss was ar- rested, and she returned to Cape Lisburnc on the 20th of August, reaching Kotzebue Sound on the 31st. There the Plover whitered, while the Herald returned to the coast of Mexico, arriving at Mazatlan on the 14th of November, ] 849, almost simultaneously with the Nancy Dawson yacht, the gallant commander of which died at that place. On this expedition, although the coast was carefully searched, and frequent communication held with the natives, yet no trace or tidings whatever of the miss- ing vessels were obtained. The geographical disco- veries made however are among the most important which have resulted from the various searching expedi- tions, for the southern extremity of the Polar Land, so long spoken of by the Russians, was discovered and tixed on the map. It was on the 17th of August, when in lat. 71° 20' north, long. 175° 30' west, that Cap- tain Kellett landed on an almost inaccessible island of granite, named after the Herald, rising about 900 feet iiLove the sea. Buyoiul this isle, to the v/est and north, an e-tensivo high kind was scjn, "wlierc the clouds rolled in numerous immense masses, occasionally leaving the very lofty i)eaks uncapped, where could be distinctly seen columns and pillars." The position of this land very nearly corresponds \v'ith that described by Admiral AVran- gell, off' Caj)e Yakan, and is no doid)t connected with it, and probably the same as that said to hfive been reached by Andreyew in 17(32, called Tikigen, and inhabited by a race named Kraihai. The Plover, when off" Wainwright Inlet (lat. 70° 20') and on the 25th of July, 1849, di ^patched an expedition consisting of four boats, commanded by Lieutenant Pullen, and having for its object to trace the Arctic coast of North America as far as the Mackenzie. Finding con- siderable difficulty in proceeding with the four boats, the two largest returned to Behring's Strait, whilst the others continued the voyage. After a perilous navigation of thirty-two days the latter arrived at the mouth of the river, having obtained no clue or intelligence of the miss- ing expedition. The party went up the Mackenzie, some wintering at Fort Simpson, some on Great Bear Lake. In the following year Lieutenant Pullen resumed the coast search, tracing the shores from the mouth of the Mac- kenzie east as far as Cape Bathurst, from the 22nd of July to the 10th of August, 1850. He intended to push towards Banks Land, but being baffled in this attempt returned up the Mackenzie to his previous winter-quar- ters, and in the following year, by way of York Factory, to England. No geographical discoveries were made by this branch 8 / ih expedition, but a good deal of information respecting the country and its inhabitants was obtained. Lieutenant Hooper especially collected many words of the Eskimo languiigc between Point Barrow and Cape Bathurst. 2. Zand Expedition under Sir John liichardson and Dr. Bae, 1848 and 1849. — This party left England on the 25th of March, 1848, by the mail steamer for New York, and proceeding from Montreal in four boats to Cumberland House, and by the Methy Portage down the Mackenzie, they reached the sea on the 4th of August. The coast was searched east as far as Cape Krusenstern without obtaining any traces or tidings of the missing expedition. Having arrived at that promontory, the winter was felt to have set in with rigour, compelling the party to make the best of their way overland to their winter residence on Great Bear Lake. They set out on the 2nd of September towards that point, whence, after spending the winter. Sir John Richardson returned to England, while Dr. llae in the summer of 1849 pro- ceeded again to Cape Krusenstern, in order to cross thence to Wollaston Land, and to push on towards Banks Land. But all his attempts at effecting this pro- ject were baffled; the ice entirely barred the progress of his boat, and compelled him to abandon the enterprise. In this expedition no traces were found; but a very valuable mass of information was collected by Sir John Richardson respecting the physical features of North America, particularly that portion visited by him, and given to the world in the narrative of his voyage. 3. The Bar row' 8 Strait Expedition^ under Sir James C. Boss and Captain Bird, 1848 and 1849. — This expedi- 9 • tioii, consisting of the Enterprise nnd Investigator, left England on the 12th of Jnne, 1848, and reached Bar- row's Strait late in August. The heavy ice did not permit the vessels to push beyond Leopold Island, and on the 11th of September they entered Leopold Harbour to winter. In the spring of 1849 sledge-parties were or- ganized, the most important of which, that headed by Sir James Ross, traced the northern shore of North Somer- set and its western shore as far as lat. 72° 38' north. He returned to the ships on the 23rd of June, his party being much worn out by fatigue. Sir James Ross re- solved on examining Wellington Channel, but he was unable to move his ships out of their winter harbour until the 28th of August, and then his intentions were completely frustrated by the heavy ice. It was a matter of congratulation to be so fortunate, after great danger in the ice, to make their way homewards out of the pack. On the, 29th of September, 1849, the expedition safely reached the Orkney Islands. No traces or tidings of Sir John Franklin were found ; a comparatively small extent of coast on the western side of North Somerset were all the geographical additions resulting from the voyage. 4. Auociliary Voyage to the Barroivs Strait Expedi- tion, North Star, 1849.— This vessel, under the com- mand of Mr. J. Saunders, sailed from the Thames on the 26th of May, 1849, freighted with provisions for the missing Expedition, and with orders and supplies for that under Sir James Ross ; she was to proceed at once to Lancaster Sound for that purpose, and, after the com- pletion of this service, to examine the great sounds at the V, u head of Baffin's Bay. Her progress was very slow, and she only readied Melville Bay, in the northern part of Baffin's Bay, on the 29th of July, the place where vessels generally cross the latter over to Lancaster Sound. The North Star however was beset in an ice-field and drifted helplessly about. On the 29th of September, having been sixty-two days in the ice, without being able to reach either Lancaster Sound or the head of Baffin's Bay, she took up her w^inter-quarters in Wolstenholme Sound, a little to the north of Melville Bay, and it was not until the 1st of August, 1850, that she was able to leave her re- treat. She reached Lancaster Sound, and saw and spoke most of the vessels of the various Government and private expeditions despatched thither ; left provisions in Navy Board Inlet, at the entrance of Lancaster Sound, without making any of the vessels acquainted with the fact*; and returned home on the 9th of September, arriving at Spithead on the 28th of the same month. Of all expeditions, none probably was so unfortunate as the North Star ; she was prevented from carrying out any of her instructions, and from making any a.lditions of moment to our geographical knowledge of the Arctic regions. The first series of the searching expeditions, so well planned, fell fn^ short of their proposed limits. Their principal result however w^as that they afforded negative evidence that the missing vessels could not have been near Barrow's Strait, Behring's Strait, nor any part of the American shores from Behring's Strait to the Copper- * Sir Edwnrd Belcher's squadron, looking for these stores, has nowhere found them. ^ 11 late out ons 'ctic live een of Der- ■m mine River. Indeed, when it is considered that between the regions searched on North Somerset by Sir James Ross, and the American shores to the south-west, exa- mined by Richardson and Rao, a region of only 450 miles of extent intervenes, there was scarcely any ground for supposing that Franklin could have been arrested in a lower latitude than Parry Group, without being able to find his way to some of the points visited by the searching expeditions. It might snfely be asserted that Franklin would scarcely be found at a less distance from the American continent than three hundred miles, or five degrees of latitude. Second Series of the Searchin// Expeditions. These expeditions were despatched in 1850, and were on a still more extensive scale than the first, the basis of the plan remaining unaltered in the main. No less than six different expeditions, consisting of fourteen vessels, were sent forth to the icy regions, and all these, with the exception of the three Behring's Strait vessels, were accumulated upon Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait. Three of the expeditions were fitted out by Government and three by private means. 1. The Behring's Strait Eccpedition, under Captains Collin807i,M'Clure, Moore, and Kellett, 1850, 1851, etc. — ^This expedition consisted of the Herald and Plover, to which were added the Enterprise and Investigator, employed in the previous expedition under Sir James Clark Ross. The latter two vessels sailed from Plymouth on the 20th of January, 1850. The Enterprise pene- trated some distance to the north and east of Behring's c 2 Strait, but found it impossible to get tliroiigh the ice, and was consequently forced to return and pass the winter at Hongkong. She departed a second time in May, 1851, and the last accounts repoii; her having quitted Port Clarence, in Behring's Strait, on the 10th of July, 1851, for the purpose of carrying on her explo- rations to the north-east. The Investigator made her way to Point Barrow, to the westward of which she was last seen by the Plover on the 4th of August, 1850. She was then steering to the north, with a strong south-west wind, and had an open sea ahead for some distance. Captain M'Clure's intention was to pass on to the eastward as far as Cape Bathurst, where he purposed wintering. From that point he would endeavour, in the following summer, to make the best of his way north-east to Banks Land, and in a letter dated the 20th of July, 1850, he states, " No alarm need be felt should the Investigator not be heard of until 1854." The Herald, under Captain Kellett, departed from the west coast of Mexico for Behring's Strait in April, 1850, to make another start for the north, but met with less success than in the previous voyage, and in the autumn of that year she bade adieu to the Arctic regions, arriv- ing at Spith.ad in June, 1851. The Plover, under Commander Moore, was refitted from the Herald, and stationed, as a reserve or store ship to the Enterprise and Investigator, at Port Clarence, Behring's Strait, where she was to stay until the autumn of 1853. In 1851, a further addition of stores, provi- sions, clothing, and fuel was sent to the Plover, com- ,'*l ;1'^ 18 pleting her to December, 1853, with an additional supply of six months' provisions and warm clothing for sixty men. These stores were taken up by the Daedalus under Cap- tain VVellesley, from Valparaiso. Commander R. Maguire left England on the 2nd of February, 1 853, to supersede Conmiander Moore, of the Plover, and to take up further stores. Up to the 7th of September, 1853, no intelli- gence of any traces of Sir John Franklin had been re- ceived at Port Clarence, and no communication respect- ing the progress of the Enterprise and Investigator under Collinson and M'Clure. Upwards of four years' endea- vours and many attempts from that direction have there- fore been fruitless. No geographical discoveries were made in those regions in the years 1850 and 1851. The Barrow 8 Strait Expeditions. 3. Captain Penny's Expedition, 1850 and 1851. — Of the five Barrow's Strait expeditions this was the first that left the British shores. The difficulties of navigation in Baffin's Bay, and especially in the northern portion from Melville Bay to Lancaster Sound, having become appa- rent by the previous expeditions, the Admiralty, in their desire to render the expeditions this time as complete and effective as possible, decided on adding to the power of the navy the experience of a whaling captain. Ac- cordingly, they appointed Captain Penny — who had had nmch experience in the icy seas, having been engaged in the whaling trade since his twelfth year — to the com- mand of two vessels, hi addition to the great expedition under Captain Austin. These vessels, named the Lady Franklin and the Sophia, sailed from Aberdeen on the I3th of April, 1850, the coimuaiid of the Sophia having been entrusted to Mr. Stewart. It was intended, pre- vious to entering Lancaster Sound, to examine Jones's Sound, but the accumidation of ice prevented it. Cap- tain Penny now shaped his course towards Wellington Channel, at the entrance of which he arrived on the 24th of August. Having heard of the traces found by Captain Oinnianney at Cape Riley and Beecliey Island on the 23rd of August, he landed on the eastern side of Wellington Channel, with the view of examining those parts more closely than had been done before. On the 27th of August unquestionable traces of Sir John Frank- lin were discovered on Beechey Island, and it was clearly ascertained that that spot was the site of his winter- quarters in 1845-1846; but, notwithstanding a most careful search in every direction, no written document could be found. In Captain Penny's opinion the traces showed marks of a hasty departure on the part of Sir John Franklin, who — he further believed — had gone up Wel- lington Channel on the sudden opening of the ice. Cap- tain Penny intended following up that channel, but was frustrated by its being blocked up with old land-ice. On the 9th of September he directed his course westward ; but the ice became packed, and he was forced, on the 1 2th of September, to take up his winter-quarters in Assistance Bay, situated near the south-western extre- mity of WeUington ChanneV The winter having passed, Captain Peimy's sledge-excursions to the north were eonnnenccd on the I3th of April, 1851. At the point where Wellington Channel trends to the west, where it is intern4)ted by several islands and takes the name the I it line of Queen Victoria Channel, Captain Penny's progress was arrested by open water, extending twenty-five miles to the west, with decayed ice, and a water-sky to the north. Shortness of provisions forced the various tra- velling parties to return to the south, after having per- formed a distance equal to 2000 miles. Having failed to obtain from Captain Austin's squadron one of the steamers for the purpose of following up his discovery of the open water beyond WeUington Channel, Captain Penny shaped his course homewards on the 1.2th of August, where he arrived about the middle of Sep- tember, 1851. Whether Captain Penny's voyage is considered with reference to discoveries made in connection with the missing vessels, or to discoveries in a geographical point of view, or whether the comparatively small expenses of the voyage, and the short time in which it was accom- plished (only eighteen months), be taken into account, it has been by far the most successful and important of all the searching expeditions that have till now been completed. This opinion must have prevailed in the minds of the authorities when subsequently they deter- mined to concentrate their energies in following up the discoveries of Captain Penny, — unfortunately howeve] not until a year had elapsed. Peimy's discoveries forn as yet our only means for conjecturing with some degree of probability which route from Barrow's Strait Sir John Franklin may have taken. In a geographical point ot view they prove the existence of a sea of considerable extent and depth beyond Welhngton Channel, and in close contiguity with the labyrinthic region which has ,:ift hitlierto frustrated all attempts at effecting the so-called •' North-west Passage." The discoveries also hidicate that that sea leads into either the Siberian or the Ame- rican Polar Sea, — probably into the latter, as some pieces of drift-wood of American origin are said to have been found. 3. Captain Austins Eoopedition, 1850 and 1851. — This expedition, consisting of the ships Resolute and Assistance, and the screw- steamers Pioneer and Intrepid, connnanded by Captains Austin and Ommaimey and Lieutenants Osborn and Cator, was, in respect to equip- ment, the most complete and effective that had ever left the British shores for the Arctic seas. A transport -ship was despatched in advance as far as Whalefish Islands, and the squadron itself departed in the beginning of May, 1850. On the 15th of August the vessels parted company oil' Cape Dudley Digges, the plan being that the Resolute and Pioneer should examine the south shores of Lancaster Sound, and the Assistance and In- trepid its north shores. Captain Ommanney, in the Intrepid, reached Cape Riley and Beechey Island on the 23rd of August, and had the good fortune to be the first to find positive traces, at both places, of the missing ex- pedition. Captain Austin, in the Resolute, did not get to those places until the 28th, when he joined Captain Penny in the examination of the remains of Sir John Pranklin's winter-quarters, discovered by the latter. Being baffled in the attempt to push up Wellington Channel, he changed his course towards the west. But in spite of all endeavours very little advance could be made, and Captain Austin was soon obliged to relinquish 17 4 I the effort. He took up his winter-quarters, on the 13th of September, at Griffith Island, a little to the west of Assistance Bay, — those of Captain Penny. Several tra- velling parties were despatched as late as the 2nd of October, but they were compelled soon to retm'n. The winter was passed in good health and spirits, sledge- parties on an extensive scale being organized towards the spring. These were all despatched in a westerly direction, to explore the regions surrounding the winter- quarters in a semicircle, from north to south through west. By far the greater number started on the 15th of April, 1851, consisting of fourteen sledges and one hundred and four officers and men. The different par- ties returned between the 27th of April and the 4th of July, with but few casualties, although having been out from six to eighty days, and having travelled from forty- four to seven hundred and sixty miles. The greatest distance, in a direct line, was travelled by Lieutenant M'Clintock, who reached one of the western points of Melville Island, distant from the winter-quarters three hundred and fifty miles, which it took eighty days, going and returning, to accomplish. No trace whatever of Sir John Franklin having been found by any of the sledge-parties. Captain Austin concluded that the missing expedition had not been to the southward and westward of Wellington Channel. As soon as Captain Austin was released from his winter-quarters, on the 12th of August, he left Barrow's Strait, pa? sed the entrance of Wellington Channel, and shaped his course out of Lan- caster Sound, with the intention of examining Jones's Sound, but after having entered it a Uttle way, a bar- 0- 18 rier of ice arrested further progress. No traces were there found, and on the 6th of September the expe- dition proceeded to make the ])est of its way out of Baifin's Bay, passed Cape Farewell on the IGth, and arrived at Aberdeen on the 26th of the same month. In this expedition the first traces of the missing ves- sels were found. With regard to geographical discoveries but slight additions were made, when considering tli< magnitude and resources of that expedition, as well a the great exertions of the sledge-parties over the ice, a considerable part of the coast-line traced by the latter having already been discovered by Sir Edward Parry thirty-two years previously. 4. Expedition under Sir John Boss, 1850 and 1851. — - While the three preceding expeditions were fitted out by the Government, the other three were effected by private means. The Arctic veteran, Sir John Ross, volunteered his services to proceed in the search of Franklin ; the region however to which his proposal was directed being already provided for by the expedition under Captain Austin, the Admiralty declined his offer. Signally per- sistent in his endeavours, he prevailed upon the Hud- son's Bay Company and the public to enable him, by subscription, to realize his scheme. Accordingly Sir John Ross, accompanied by Commander Phillips, left the west of Scotland on the 23rd of May, 1850, in the Felix, accompanied by the Mary, as a tender. He arrived at Beechey Island on the 27th of August, anc; inspected the traces of the winter-quarters discovered by Captain Penny's expedition. The Felix did not get across the Wellington Channel till the 9th of September, '■^ 19 Hiul took Up winter-quarters in Assistance Buy on the 1 2th, simultaneously with Captain Penny. Coninumder Phillips made an excursion during the sunmier of 1851 on Cornwallis Land, a laborious task, owing to the ad- vanced period of the season. On the 12th of August, 1851, having been released from his winter-quarters, Sir John Ross, seeing no prospect of being able to get up Wellington Channel, commenced his homeward voyage, passed Godhaven on the 30th of August, and arrived on the west coast of Scotland on the 25th of September, 1851. This expedition was attended with no results, either as to the missing vessels or to geographical discoveries. But a cruel report, which for a time increased the anxiety of the pubhc mind, was got up by an Eskimo, one Adam Beck, who served as interpreter to the ships When off Cape York, in the northern part of Baffin's Bay, Sir John Ross held communication with live poor harmless wretches of Eskimos, who made a communi- cation which was interpreted in this meaning, " that two ships had been destroyed by fire in Wolstenholme Sound, and their crews massacred by the Eskimos." It happened that chance had collected the whole force of the searching squadrons near this point, so that the startling report could be deliberated upon. It was found to be without any foundation whatever, and, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, " so preposterous and so repulsive to common sense that one cannot help smiling, in spite of the painful feeling which is aroused by allusion to such an atrocious deed." Captain Inglefield, in his voyage up Baffin's Bay, moreover, has set the question 20 finally at rest by visiting and closely examining the very place where the massacre was alleged to have occurred. 6. T/w United States hlvpedition, 1850 and 1851.— In the spring of 1849 Lady Franklin made a tonching appeal to the American nation, which was generonsly responded to by a noble-hearted citizen of New York, Mr. Henry Grinnell, who stepped forward, and at his expense fitted out and despatched two sliips to the Arctic regions. These two ships, the Advance and Rescue, left New York on the 25th of May, 1850, under the command of Lieutenant l)e Haven, who was instructed to proceed first to Wellington Channel and Cape Walker. They arrived at Beechey Island just at the time when Captain Penny's expedition had discovered Franklhi's winter- quarters. Their movements thence were nuich like those of the other expeditions ; baffled in their attempt to get up Wellington Channel, they made their way out of it to proceed in the direction towards Cape Walker. On the 10th of Septend)cr the American vessels, with the entire searching squadron, were concentrated about eight miles south of Griflfith's Island, the furthest westing attained by the former. While the English vessels now took up their winter-quarters, the American commander, though he was provisioned for three years, decided on proceeding homewards. His vessels however became imbedded in pack-ice, opposite Wellington Channel, and were help- lessly drifting during the ensuing winter through Lan- caster Sound and along Baffin's Bay, beyond Cape Walsingham, where, after nmch exposm-e, trial, and danger, they were at last liberated, on the 10th of June, 1851. The commander, nothhig daunted, determined ',f.^-; ^>l up to return northward, but was unahlo to reach beyond MelviMe Hay, vvheneo lie oikh; more steered tor New York, wliere lie arrived on the 3()th of Septend)er, IS 5 1. In one respeet this is the most extraordinary of all searching expeditions, namely, in its being exi)osed to the drifting in the ice from the middle of Sc^ptiMuber, 1850, to the middle of June, 1851, an occurrence al- together un})recedented. Such were the dangers of tlu» situation, that the men had their knapsacks and sleighs ready, in order to save themselves over the ice should their vessels be crushed. But although the vessels werc^ thus imprisoned for no less than nine months, during the worst ])art of the year, and (b'ifted a distance of upwards of a thousand niiles,~and though they were lifted up by the stern more than six feet, they escaped but little damaged, and the expedition returned without the loss of a single man, though all had been attacked by the scurvy. The case of these two vessels, of only 144 and 91 tons, is alone sufficient to inspire us with the hope that those of Franklin would — at all events — be not so easily destroyed by the ice. 6. Captain Forst/ffis Vot/agCy 1850. — This was a fifth expedition to the same region as the preceding four. It was thought that Regent Inlet ought to be minutely searched, although this sea is so near Baifin's Bay that even whalers occasionally descend it to a considerable distance south. Accordingly the Prince Albert, a cHpper of about 90 tons, under Ca[)tain Forsyth, left England on the 5th of June, 1850, on that special service, which cost nearly £4000, the greater part of which was con- tributed by Lady Franklin, the rest by public sub- 22 scription. Captain Forsyth went along the western side of Regent Inlet as far as Fury Point, where the ice com- pelled him to return. Before however steering home- wards he sailed as far as Wellington Channel, where he met the other expeditions. He arrived at Aberdeen on the 22nd of October, 1850, after an absence of about four months. Captain Forsyth brought the first news of the dis- covery of the traces on Beechey Island to Fngland, which excited great interest. T/iird Series of ihe Searchi/in/ Expeditions. This series consists of expeditions despatched in the years 1851 and 1852. Though likewise accumulated upon the American side, they were not confined to one particular spot, as were the greater number of the preceding ones. Their chief result, as far as is known at present, is that they have more fully confirmed the opinion that Sir John Franklin must have penetrated to a considerable distance beyond the known Polar regions of America, towards Behring's Strait and the Siberian shores. 1 . Dr. Rae*s Journey to IFoUaston and Victoria Lands, 1851. — ^Dr. Rae, having been unsuccessful in his at- tempts in the summer of 1848 and 1849, to reach Wol- laston Land in a boat, determined on a journey over the ice in sledges in the spri^ig of 1851. Leaving Fort Confidence, on Great Bear Lake, on the 26th of April, accompanied by four men, with three sledges drawn by dogs, and a small sledge drawn by the men, he reached the coast near the mouth of the Coppermine River on ern side ice com- J horne- ^here he deen on f about he dis- , which ..■ft in the iulated led to of the mown d the ted to gions >erian anc/s, at- Wol the Fort pril, by hed on 23 the 2nd of May ; thence he crossed, in three days, over the ice to the southernmost point of Wollaston Land, and tracing from that point the coast to the east as far as 110° of longitude, and to the north-west as far as long. 117° 17', he returned to his starting-point on the coast on the 4th of June. On the 5th of July he departed again, but this time in boats, to explore Victoria Land. Keeping along the northern shores of the American con- tinent as far as Cape Alexander, and thence crossing over to Victoria Land on the 27th of the same month, he traced the coast to the east and then north, reached the latitude of 70° 14', his furthest point, on the 13th of August, and came back to the Coppermine River on the 29th of August. Though no traces of Sir John Franklin were found by this expedition, yet, in a geographical point of view, it is of some interest, as a considerable extent of new coast, connecting Wollaston and Victoria Lands, was discovered, which are probably separated from Banks Land and Prince of Wales Lanr" by a channel, through which the drift-wood makes its way to the eastern side of Victoria Land. 2. il/r. Kennedy 8 Voyage, 1851 and 1852. — On the 22nd of May, 1851, the Prince Albert was again despatched to continue the search in Prince Regent Inlet, this time under the command of Mr. Kennedy, accompanied by Lieutenant Bellot, of the French navy. In the first year Mr. Kennedy did not get further than Batty Bay, on the western side of Prince Regent Inlet, where he took up his winter-quarters. Mr. Kennedy and his party made excursions to Fury Beach, in the 24 ■i south, as early as January, 1852, with no other light than that of the noon, and thence started, on the 29th of March, with the intention of exploring Regent Inlet to its southern extremity. But discovering at Brentford Bay a channel trending to the west through North Somerset, they followed it, crossed over to Prince of Wales Land, and advanced in a westerly and then northerly direction as far as Ommanney Bay, whence they shaped their route towards Cape Walker. Short- ness of provision compelled them to return from that point to Port Leopold, where they arrived on the 5th of May. On the following day Mr. Kennedy proceeded to Beechey Island in the Prince Albert, and having there received communications from the North Star, one of the vessels of Sir E. Belcher's squadron, he shaped his course homewards, and arrived at Aberdeen on the 7th of October, 1852. • On this voyage no traces of Sir John Franklin were found. A small extent of new coast however was dis- covered, and it was also ascertained that North Somer- set is an island, divided from Boothia Felix by a narrow channel, which has been called Bellot's Strait. 3. Captain Inglefield's Voyage y 1852. — On the 6th of July, 1852, Captain Inglefield sailed from the Thames in the screw-steamer Isabel, for the purpose of examining the head of Baffin's Bay, and its western shor as far as Labrador. He reached Wolstenholme Sound, Greenland, on the 23rd of August, which he closely searched, and finally determined that there was no truth in Adam Beck's story. From the 25th of August to the 1st of Septem- ber Captain Inglefield explored the mopt northern por- M 'ifi 25 er light he 29th lit Inlet entford North ince of i then ivhence Short- n that 5th of fled to there »ne of 3d his ie7th were > dis- 3nier- irrow thof es in ning ir as and, and ck's em- 3or- tion of Baffin's Bay, from Whale Sound to Jones Sound, !)ut finding no traces whatever of the missing expedition, he abandoned a further search in that direction, and steered for Beechev Island, where he received communi- cations from Sir Edward Belcher's expedition, after which he exn mined the western shores of Baffin's Bay, from lat. 72i° to 71°, until, on the 14th of October, the late- ness of the season forced him to relinquish a more ex- tended search, and direct the ship's head homewards, lie arrived at Peterhead on the 10th of November, exactly four months from the day he sailed. This, of all the termhiated searching expeditions the last, was, like the greater number of the previous ones, unsuc- cessful in ascertaining the fate of the missing vessels or finding any traces of them. In a geographical point of view the results of this voyage are. highly interesting ; they establish, among other features, the existence of an (;x- teiisive sea beyond and in connection with what has been hitherto called the "head" of Baffin's Bay, and into which Whale Sound and Smith Sound are the chief en- trances. There are however many reasons for believing that this sea is neither connected with the great Polar Sea, generally called the " Polar Basin," nor that beyond Wellington Channel. Captain Inglefield also attained the latitude of 78° 35', the highest ever reached on the American side of the Arctic regions, but which tails far short of those at all times attainable on the op- posite side, where Sir Edward Parry, in the great Polar Sea to the north of Spitzbergcn, reached the latitude of 82° 45', and probably 83°, in small open boats. 26 Searclmig Eivpeditions remaining in the Arctic Regions, 1. The Behrings Strait Expedition. — It has already been seen in the foregoing that the Investigator, under Commander M'Clure, had pushed on to the north of Behring's Strait, and was last seen by the Plover near Point Barrow, on the 4th of August, 1850. Commander M'Clure's intention was to pass on to the eastward for Cape Bathurst, where he purposed wintering. From that point he would endeavour in the following summer to make the best of his way north-east to Banks' Land. The Enterprise, under Captain CoUinson, left Port Clarence in Behring's Strait on the 10th of July, 1851, for the purpose of proceeding also in a, north-easterly di- rection Neither this nor the former vessels have been heard of since. As a relief and store ship the Plover, under Commander Maguire, is stationed in Behring's Strait, with instructions to advance to Point Barrow, or beyond ; and the Rattlesnake, Commander H. TroUope, has been directed to co-operate w4th these vessels. 2. lite Bar voids Strait Expedition, under Sir Edward Belcher. — This is the most extensive expedition as yet despatched in the search, consisting of five vessels, the Assistance, Resolute, North Star, Pioneer, and Intrepid. On the 21st of April, 1851, these vessels sailed from England direct for Wellington Channel, Beechey Island, at its entrance, being intended as the head-quarters. The despatches brought home by Captain Inglefield made us acquainted with the progress of this expedition up to the 7th of September last. On the 11th of August Sir Edward Belcher had reached Beechey Island, and soon '2i after he proceeded in the Assistance and tender up Wel- Ungton Channel, while Captain Kellett with the Resolute and tender went towards Melville Island, where the latter was to deposit provisions for the use of Captain CoUinson and Commander M'Clure, who are supposed to have reached that island. The North Star remained at Beechey Island as a depot store-ship. Condusmi. Such are the noble efforts which have hitherto been made to rescue Sir John Franklin and his companions. But now that nearly eight years have elapsed without tidings of them, even the most sanguine must beghi to feel anxiety about their safety. If, as is very probable, they have not perished from the want of food, but have been eking out an existence by means of certain Arctic animals, their number must have greatly diminished, and those who may still be alive would doubtless, from their long confinement and severe trials, have their strength so reduced as to be unable to extricate themselves from their prison, or make much locomotive progress. In any efforts therefore that may yet be made for their relief, time should form a chief point of consideration, as every week may cut off some from the number yet living. It is now satisfactorily established that they must be looked for far beyond the American shores, — indeed far beyond Melville Island, — namely, opposite the shores of Siberia, in a region extending from the land discovered by Captain Kellett to the eightieth parallel, and from the meridian of Point Barrow on the American side to that of the Kolyma on the Asiatic. This is just the region which has 28 been, and is still, altogether unprovided for in the search, except by the Assistance and her tender under Sir Edward Belcher, who has gone up Wellington Channel, where most probably the missing expedition has preceded him. But although Sir Edward Belcher found an unusually open season, enabling him to push his way up that chan- nel, it is not very likely, considering the time that would be lost in looking for traces, that he would overtake Fraukhn in less than three years by following him on a route which has occupied the latter six years. For it nmst be remembered that Sir John Franklin in 1846 was in exactly the same position as Sir Edward Belcher now is, if he then did get up Wellington Channel ; and surely his expedition was as effective as that of the latter, and his crew not inferior. Wliile it is evident that the relief expeditions hitherto have been too much concentrated on one side of the Arctic regions — in sunnner, 1850, no less than eleven vessels were accumulated in one spot — it is not too much to say that the search on the track of the missing vessels has only now commenced, by Sir Edward Belcher's having sailed up Wellington Channel. The rest of the searching vessels at present in the Arctic regions, the Investigator and Enterprise, as well as those under Captain Kellett, are only directed to Banks Land and Melville Island, a region probably far away from Sir John Franklin's position. " The fearless- ness and tameness of the animals in Melville Island," says Lieutenant M'Clintock — the best authority on this 7 ^int — " was almost in itself a convincing proof that our countrymen had not been there;" and indeed, it may 0() be added, not anywhere within five hundred miles. If Sir Jolm FrankHn had wished to retreat to ai^y known region on the American side, nothing could surely have hindered him from doing so. It is well known that sledge parties have travelled distances of nearly one thousand miles during one winter, and Sir John Ross, after four years' imprisonment in the ice, and with a force of only twenty-four men, greatly reduced by hardships and trials, travelled at least five hundred miles, partly by laad and partly by water, from the point where he abandoned his vessel to that where he was released. The fact that no less than fifteen expeditions, con- sisting of thirty vessels besides the boats, had failed in their main object, prompted me a short time back to draw attention to a portion of the Arctic regions Avhich has remained entirely neglected, and to suggest a plan of search through the Spitzbergen Sea, that great ocean between Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya. I adduced reasons to show that that sea would probably offer the best route, and demonstrated that its explora- tion was a most important desideratum in a commercial and geographical point of view. As my plan is already before the public*, it is unnecessary to detail it here. If * The various communications in connection with my plan, an out- line of which was first submitted to the public in the ' Athenaeum' of the 17th of January, 1852, are as follows : — 1. The Search for Franklin. Illustrated by a Polar Chart. London, Longmans. (May 15, 1853.) 3. Notes on the Distribution of Animals available as Food in the Arctic llegions. (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1853, vol. xxii.) 3. Sir John Franklin, the Navigableness of the Spitzbergen Sea, and the Whale-fisheries in the Arctic Regions. (A paper read at the 80 the searching operations are to be based on a compre- hensive and exhaustive system, my scheme cannot pos- sibly be left unconsidered and neglected. The com-- mercial interests of the country likewise demand an early exploration of the region to which I have drawn atten- tion, and science looks eagerly forward to the solution of one of the most interesting of geographical problems. Moreover, when it is considered that five years' increasing efforts from one side have hitherto proved complete fail- ures, the other side, so promising as regards an easy and speedy access with the aid of steam, should no longer be neglected. As yet the missing voyagers may not all have perished, but a further delay of one or two years may not leave one of them to tell the woeful tale of their suf- ferings, and may repeat the fearful case of Sir Hugh Willoughby's Expedition, where the stiff and frozen corpses only were found on the dreary shores of the Arctic regions. A. P. meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, November 8, 1853. See abstracts in the 'Times,' November 12, and 'Athenaeum,' November 13, 1852.) 4. On the Whale-fisheries in the Arctic Regions. (' Times,' Novem- ber 8 and 11, 1852.) 5. Baffin's Bay and the Polar Basin. (' Athenseum,' December 11, 1352.) 6. Letter addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated November 29, 1852. (Parliamentary Papers, 'Arctic Expeditions,' ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, December, 1852.) PRINTED BY ■ . JOTTN KDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QURKK STRRFl', Lincoln's inn kielps.