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Toua lee autrea axempiairea origlnaux aont fiimAa en commen9ant par la premiere page qui comporta una empreinte dimpreeeion ou d'illustration et en terminant par la damlAre page qui comporta une telle empreinte. Un dee symboiee suivanta apparattra sur la damMre image de cheque microfiche, seion le caa: la symboia -i»> signlfle "A 8UIVRE", le symbole ▼ signlfle "FIN". Lee cartea, planchee, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fiim4e * dee taux da rMuction diffArants. Lorsque le document eet trop grand pour Atra reprodult en un seui ciichA. II est fiim4 i partir de i'angia supArleur gauche, de gauche i droite. et de haut an baa. en prenant la nombre d'imegee nAcessaira. Lee diagrammes suivanta illuatrant la mAthoda. 1 2 « 4 S • mmmmnf %A ./ Il SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC REGIONS: saowisa €it Jfxog^tii of Brititfl W,ntnptiit FOB THE DISCOYEBY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE DUEING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY; WITH MOBB DETAILED NOTICES OF THE BECENJ 8EABCH OF THE MISSING OAPT. SIB JOHN BY P. L. iSI BOMOmABT AND OOMOSPOIIDIITO MIMBSB Or THB LXTIBABT AMD HUTOIIOUi ■ooimss or qvuio, mw toek, iodiuama, no. AMD MAMT TIAU MDOO* Of TBI OOLOMIAL KAOAUMB, BTO. BSO. " MlMnble they Who here eatucled in the gathering lee, Dihe their iMt look of the deacending mm "While ftall of death and fleree with tenfold ftoet, The long long night, inoombeat o'er their heada, XUla honlbl*." Cowna. -■* LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., SOHO SQUARE. SEP 2 3 m^ TO CAPT. SER W. E. PAHEY, B.N., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. CAPT. SIB JAMES C. BOSS, B.N., D.C.L., F.B.S. CAPT. SIB GEOBGE BACK, B.N., F.B.S. DB. SIB J. BICBABDSON, B.N., C.B., F.B.S. AND THB OTHSB i' BRAVE ARCTIC NAVIGATORS AKD TRAVELLERS WHOSE ABDUOUS EXPLOBINO SEBVIOES ABB HEBEIN BEOOBDED, THIS VOLUME IS, IN ADIUBATION OF THEIB 6ALLANTBT, HEBOIO BNDUBANCE, AND FEBBEVEBANOl OTEB QBSIAOLES OF NO OBDINABT OHABAOTEB, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BT THBIB VEBT OBEDIENT HUMBLE BEBVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. The desire for information felt all over this country, and, in- deed, I may almost say throughout the civilized world, re- specting the fate of the missing expedition under Capt. Sir I John Franklin, is very great, and continues to become more and more intense, as the lapse of time lessens the probability of their return in safety. The large number of individuals now engaged in prosecuting the search for them in the Arctic regions, and the deep anxiety manifested by the Ifnends and relatives whom Uiese fresh explorers have lefb [behind, has turned the attention of thousands to this in- Lospitable and comparatively little known quarter of the , serving to lend an added interest to evary book Lescriptive of the Polar seas and shores. Among the publications which have fVom time to time ippeared, there seems to have been no popular nana-^ bive, especially treating of the voyages and journeys of icovery and research prosecuted in the nineteenth oen- towards the North Pole, embracing accounts of all the recent public and private searching expeditions after* bhe lost ships, and adapted in price to the bulk of l^e >mnmnity who so eagerly seek information. To meet this want I have been induced, at the solicita- |;ion of my publishers, to undertake the compilation of bhe following work, in which I have brought into one view that is really important to be known by those who VI PREFACE. desire to form a correct opinion of the present state of the case, and to make themselves acquainted with what has really been done in the progress of discovery for a north-west passage, and what measures have been adopted for the relief of our imprisoned seamen. Much of the material thus condensed is to be found scattered through a variety of publications, huge and expensive quarto volumes of voyages, now scarce or out of print, parliamentary papers and returns, foreign journals, &o., but the largest portion of this information is entirely new. In condensing from the voluminous Blue books on this subject that have been published during the last few years, my chief object has been, avoiding rash and gpeoulative opinion, to direct the reader's attention as much as possible to matters of fact ; to place before him idl that is really practical, important, and interesting, and especially to put him in possession of what is known of the result of the recent voyages, and the latest position and intended plan of operations of the numerous vessels at present out on the search for the Erebus and Terrw, In putting myself in communication with all those best informed on the subject of which this volume treats, I have to acknowledge myself deeply indebted for much polite attention and valuable information to Lady Frankliii and her niece Miss Cracroft, to John Barrow, Esq., of the Admiralty, to Capt. Becher, E.N., the talented editor of the Nautical Magazine, to Commander C. C. Forsyth, !R.IT., and to Br. Shaw, the Secretary of the Boyal Geographical Society of London. In conclusion, I may state, that as the son and grand- son of very old Lieutenants in the Boyal Navy, having been originally in the service myself, having five brothers afloat, and a large number of other relatives holding Her Majesty's commission, I feel a deep professional, as well as philanthropic interest, in hearing tidings of the safety of PItEFACB. vii Sir John Franklin and his gaUant oomradeSi and am but too happy to aid in satisfying the public desire for informa- tion, by contributing my mite in the publication of the following narrative of voyages and travels in the Arctic Begions, with the appended suggestions and opinions of experienced officers and competent parties* To theintrepid veteran and navigator, whose namefigures so frequently and so honourably in these pages, I hope we may yet be able to apply, with the few slight verbal alterations I have made, the following lines, which were originally addressed to Dr. Leichardt, who after two years absence on a journey through the unexplored regions of Australia, returned to Sydney, when all hopes of his safety had been given up, and his dirge had been sung by his friends. That bold traveller is again absent on a second journey in the interior of that vast continent, and has not been heard of for more than two years. May Heaven grant to each and aU of our care-worn travel- I lers by sea and land a speedy deliverance fi*om the perils 'which environ them, and a safe return to their friends and native country, — a wish to which all my readers will, I am sure, most heartily respond " So mote it be I" " Thy footsteps have returned again, thou ^iranderer of the wild. Where Nature from her Northern throne in silent beauty smiled, FUgrim of mighty wastes, nntrod by human foot before. Triumphant o'er Frost's wilderness, thy weary Journey's o'er. " Thou hast battled with the dangers of the iceberg and the flood. And amid the orjrstal desert a conqueror hast stood ; Thou hast triumphed o'er the perils of the glacier and the main, And a nation's smiling welcome is thy greeting home again. " Long had we moum'd with sorrowing, and plaintive dirges sung, For fate a wild mysterious veil around thy name had flung ; And hope's declining energies with feeble eflbrt strove Against the boding voice of fear that haunts the heart of love. jmrn^^mm^^trnm- • •• Till PREFACE. ** And Banioiir, with her hundred tongues, her vagne and Uightlng hreath. Had whispered tidings sad and drear, dark tales of blood and death ; Till tOTtnred fonoy ceased to hope, and all despairing gave Thy name a hallowed memory— thy bones a Fgne and tdighting CONTENTS. L. SiMMONDS. PA08 I Introductory Remarks 1 Little known of the Arotio Regioni.— Notice of Captain Phlpps* Toyage. — Parry's and Franklin's opinions on a North-west passage. — Abstract of Sir John Barrow's works on Arctic Discovery. — England's neglect of her nautical heroes. Captain John Ross's Voyage in the IscAdia and Aleaxmder ' to Hudson's Bay in 1818 14 Names of officers and men. — Ships visited by the natives of Greenland. — Abundance of birds on this coast. — Oale of wind. — Red snow.— Lancaster Sound. — The fabtdous Croker Moun- tidns. — Agnes monument. — Large bear shot. — Return home. jyoyage of Buchan and Franklin in the Dorothea and Tremt to Spitzbei^en, &c., 1818 23 Names of officers, and complement, &c. — ^Fancifiil appearance of icebergs.— Ships arrive at Spitsbergen.— Anchor in Magdalene bay.— Hang^g icebergs. — Immense flocks of birds. — Dangerous ascent of Rotge Hul. — Attack of walraaes. — Suiprised by unlooked-for visitors.- Devout fiselbig of recluses. — ^Expedition puts to sea again.— Party lose themselves on the ice. — Ships damaged by pressure of the floes. — Dangerous position of the ships. — They take reflige in the nudn pack of icebergs. — Vessels put into Fair Haven to stop leaks and refit. — Return home. Tranklin's First Land Expedition, 1819-21 41 Party leave England in the Prince of Wale$. — Reach Hudson's Bay nctory by the end of August.— Proceed by the rivers and lakes to Cumberland House. — Arrive at Fort Chipewyan after - a winter Journey of 857 miles. — Engage voyueurs and guides. — Make the acquaintance of Akaitcho, the Indian chief.— Push on for Fort Enterprise, which is made their winter resi- dence after a voyage of fi53 miles. — Exploring excursions carried on during the winter.—" Green Stockings," the Indian beauty. — Stores and Esquimaux interpreters anive. — Severity of the winter.— SuffiBring of the Indians.- Party set out for the Pdar Sea.— Examine the coast westward to Pdnt Tumagain. — DreadAil hardships and sufferings endured on their return Journey from fiunme and fatigue.— Death of several of the party.— Mr. Hood is murdered by Michel the Iroquois, who for their mutual safety is kil'ed by Dr. Richardson.— Hunger and flunine endured by the party. — Their ultimate relief. CONTENTS. %■ Parry's First Voyage in the Hecla and Oripery 1819-20 . Names of officers serving, &c. — Enter Lancaster Sound. — The Croker mountains proved to be fallacious. — Parry discovers and enters Regent Inlet. — Also discovers and names various islands, capes, and channels.— Reaches Melville Island. — Ezpe> dition cross the meridian of 1 10 deg. W.. and become entitled to the Parliamentary reward of 5000/. — Drop anchor for the first time. — ^Land on the idand. — Abundance of animals found. — An exploring party lose themselves for three days. — But are recovered and brought back. — Vessels get into winter quarters. — A MS. newspaper published.— Amateur plays performed.— ObservatoYjr destroyed by fire. — Scurvy makes its appearance.— Crews put on short allowance. — An ezour* sion of a fortnight made to examine the island. — Ships get clear of the ice. — But are unable to> make Airther progress to the westward, and their return to England is determined on. Parry's Second Voyage in the Pwry and Hwla, 1821-23 . . His opinion as to a Northwest passage. — ^Names of officers, fto., of the expedition. — Make Resolution Island at the entrance of ' Hudson Strait.— ^Dangers of the ice. — Fall in with Hudson's Bay Company's ships, and emigrant vessel, with Dutch colonista proceeding to Red River.— 'Two iomiense bears killed. — Descrip* tion of the Esquimaux. — Surveys made of all the indentations and coasts of this locality.— Ships driven back by the current and drift-ice. — Take up their winter quarters. — And ntsort to theatrical amusements again.— Schools established. — Great severity of the vrinter. — Surveying operations resumed. —Intelligent Esquimaux female affords valuable hydrognu phioal information. — Perilous position of the ^ecto. — Her miraculous release.— Ships pass their second winter at Igloolik. —The Fury and Hecla Strait examined— Ice breaks up.— Ships driven about by the current for thirty-five days. — At last gain the Atlantic, and make for England. 67 84 Clavering's Voyage to Spitzbergen and Oreenland in the Onper, 1823 Ill Conveys out Captain Sabine to make observations.— Reach Spits* bergen.— Proceed thence to Pendulum Islands.— North-eastern coast of Greenland surveyed. — Captain Clavering and a party of nineteen men carry on an exploring expedition for a fort* night.— Meet with a tribe of Esquimaux.— Ship puts to sea.— Make for the coast of Norway.— Anchor in Drontnelm Fiord. — Observations being completed, ship returns to England. Lyon's Voyage In the Qriper, 1824 ......... 113 Is sent to survey and examine the straits and shores of Arctic America.— Anrives in the Channel known as Roe's Welcome.— Encounters a terrific gale. — Is in imminent danger in the Hay of God's Mercy. — Suffors flrom anoiiher fearfm storm. — The ship being quite crippled, and having lost all her anchors, &o., is obliged to return home. CONTENTS. XI 1821-23 . . 84 mland in the PAOB Fany's Thiid Voyage in the Hecla and Fwry, 1824-25 . . 116 Names and number of officera, kc.— 'Hecla laid on her broadside by the ice. — Ships reach Lancaster Sound.— Enter Regent Inlet, and winter at Port Bowen. — Dreary character of the Arctic Winter. — Former amusements worn threadbare.— Polar Sal Moigue got up. — Exploring parties sent out inland and along the coasts. — Ships are released, but lieset by the ice, and ourried by the pack down the inlet. — Fury driven on shore and abandoned. — Ketum Toyage necessarily determined on. — Scarcity of aniiral fbod In this locality.— F«fy arrives at Peterhead. — ^Parry's opinions of the North-west passage. Fnmklin's Second Land Expedition, 1825-26 . 4 ... 123 Names of officers accompanying him. — Arrive in New Torlc and proceed through the Hudson's Bay Company's territories. — Winter at Fort Franklin on Great Bear Lake.— A pioneer party proceeds to examine the state of the Polar Sea. — Return and Mss the long winter. — ^Descend the Mackeniie in the spring.— Party divide ; Franklin and Back proceeding to the westward, whilst Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendal, &o., follow the Copper- mine River. — Franklin encounters a fierce tribe of Esquimaux at the sea.— After a month's survey to the eastward, Franklin and his party retrace their steps.— Find Ricliardson and Kendal had returned before them, after reaching and exploring Dolphin and Union Strait. — Another winter spent at Fort Franklin.— Intensity of the cold. — Large collection of objects of natural history made by Mr. Drummond. — Franklin's struggle between ailiBCtion and duty. — Party return to Eng- land. Captain Beechey's Voyage to Behriug Strait in the Blossom, 1826-28 126 Anchors off Petropaulowski. — Receives intelligence of Parry's safe return.— Interview with the natives. — Correct hydrographical descriptions given by the Esquimaux. — Ship's boat pushes on to the eastward as flu* as Point Barrow, to communicate with Franklin.— Crew in danger firom the natives.— Obliged to return to their ships. — The Bku$om proceeds to the Pacific to replenish her provisions. — Returns to Kotsebue Sound in the summer.— Ship grounds on a sandbank, but is got off. — Boat sent out to learn tidings of Franklin, is wrecked. — Crew come into coMision with hostile natives, and are wounded : picked up by the snip.— Des- patches left for Franklin, and the ship returns to England. IParry'a Fourth or Polar Voyage in the Hecla, 1827 . . .180 Plans and suggestions of Sooresby, Beaufoy, and Franklin for tra- velling In sledges over the ice.— Names of officers employed. — Ship embarks reindeer on the Norway coast.— Experiences a tre- mendous gale.— Beset by ice for a month.— Anchors at Spiti* bergen.— Sledge-boats prepared for the Ice journey. — Description of them.— Night tumea Into day. — Slow progress.— Occupations of the party.— Lose groundiby the southward drift of the ice.— Bear shot. — Notices of animals seen. — Reach northernmost known land.— The Islet named after Ross.— Return to the ■hip. — Parry's subsequent suggestions on this mode of travelling.— Sir John Barrow's comments thereon.— Opinions of this perifous ice Journey.— Review of Parry's Arctic services. "6 ms Xll CONTENTS. TAOB Captain John Boss's Second Voyage in the Victory, 1829-33 142 Boss seeks oflScial employment from the Admiralty on another Arctic voyage.— Is refused. — Fmids are ftimished by Mr. Felix Booth.— The Victory steamer purchased.— Engages his nephew. Commander James Ross, as his second in command.— List of other ofBeers.— Ship encounters a gale, and is obliged to put in to Hoi- steinborg to refit.- Proceed on their voyage.— Enter Lancaster Sound and Regent Inlet. — Reach Fury Beach.— Find abundance of stores there and preserved provirions in excellent condition. — Replenish their stock.— Proceed down the inlet. — Perils of the ice.— Vessel secured in Felix Har>>oiu* for the winter.— Esqui- maux visit the ship.— Furnish very correct sketches of the coast. —Commander James Ross outkes many excursions inland and along the bays and inlets. — Explores Ross's Strait, and pushes on to Kmg William's Land.— Difficulty of distinguishing land firom sea.— Reaches Point Victory, and turns back.— Ship gets clear of the ice, after eleven months' imprisonment, but in a week is again fW>zen in, and the party are detained during another severe winter. — Further discoveries made, and Commander Ross plants the Briti^ flag on the North magnetic pole.— In August, 1831, the ship is waited out, and makes sail, but after beating about for a month, is again frozen in, and rather than spend a fourth winter, there being no prospect of releasing the ship, she is abandoned, and the crew make for Fury Beach.— Provisions and boats taken on with great labour.— Party erect a canvas hut, which they name Somerset House. — In a month, the boats being prepared for the voyage, the party embark and reach the mouth of the hilet.— Barrow's Strait is found one compact mass of ice.— They are obliged to fall back on the stores at Fury Beach to spend their fourth winter.— Placed on short allowance.— In the spring they agpiin embark in their boats, and succeed in reaidiing Lancaster Sound.— Fall in with whalers.— Are received on boara the liobeUot Captain Ross's old ship.— Arrive home.— Public nJoicings for their safety. — Rtwarda granted.— Resum6 of Cap- tun John Ross's services. Captain Back's Land Journey in search of Ross, 1833*85 . 157 Attention called to the missing expedition by Dr. Richardson.— Plans of relief suggested.— Public meeting held to consider cm best measures.— Ample ftinds raised.- Captain Back volunteers. — Leaves England in oompanv with Dr. King.— Vovageurs and guides, fro. engaged in Canada.— Party push through the north- west country.— Dreadftil sufforlngs Iran insect pests.— Reach Fort Resolution, on Great SlaveLue.— Motley description of the travellers and their encampment. — Arrangements are completed, and the Journey in search of the Great Fish River is com- menced.— FrightAil nature of the precipices, rapids, foils, ravines, Itc— Meet with old acquaintances.— Obliged to return to their winter quarters.- Dreadful snfllsrings of the Indians.— Famine and intense cold. — Noble conduct of Akaitcho the Indian chief. — News received of Captain Ross's safo return to England.— Frank- lin's folthftil Esquimaux Interpreter, Augustus, endeavouring to Join Back, Is froien to death.— A Aresh Journey towards the sea resolved on.— Provisions for three mimths taken.— Indian en- eampment.— Green Stockings, the beauty. — Interview with the chief, Akaitcho. — Arduous and perilous procress towards the sea.— Pilfering propensities of the Indians.— Meet with a large IHendly tribe or Esquimaux.— Reach the sea, and proceed along CONTENTS. • •• xm TAGB (n^, 1829-33 142 ty on another id by Mr. Felix [es his nephew, [.—List of other > put in to Hol- Inter Lancaster i'ind abundance int condition. — .—Perils of the nrlnter.— Esqui- 168 of the coast, ions inland and ;, and pushes on hing land firom tiip gets clear of 1 a week is again another severe ider Ross plants n August, 1831, r beating about 1 spend a fourth ;he ship, she is -Provisions and t a canvas hut, the boats being each the mouth ct mass of ice. — Fury Beach to >wance.— In the seed in reaching iceivedonboara home.— Public lesumft of Cap- 1833-36 . 157 Richardson.— to condder ugh the north- pests.— Reach iscriptionofthe are completed. River is com- s,(Uls,ravinei, return to their ians.- Famine Indian chief. — {land.— Frank- ndeavouring to owards the sea -Indian en- rview with the IB towards the Bt with a large proceed along PAOK the coast to the eastward, unable to arrive at the Point Turn- again of Franklin.— Privations of the party on their return Jour- ney. — ^Difficulties encountered in reascending the river. -Reach Fort Reliance after four months' absence.- Pass the winter there.— Captain Back arrives in England in September, after two years and a h %lf absence.— Dr. King follows him in the Hud- son's Bay spring snips. Back's Voyage in the Terror up Hudson's Strait, 1836 . . 176 Ship arrives at Salisbury Island— Proceeds up Frosen Strait.— Is blocked up in the ice, and driven about powerless for more than six months. — Cast on her beam ends for three days.— From the crippled state of the ship and the insurmountable difficulties of the navig(ation, the return to England is determined on.— Sum- mary of Captain Back's Arctic services. Messrs. Dease and Simpson's Discoveries on the Coast of Arctic America, 1836-39 177 Descend the Mackensie to the sea.— Survey the western part of the shores of Northern America firom Return Reef to Cape Barrow. — Discover two new rivers, the Garry and Colville.— After reach- ing Elson Bay, return to winter at Fort Confidence, on Great Bear Lake.— Survey resumed in the ensuing spring.— Dangerous rapids on the Coppermine River.— Encamp at its mouth.— Copper ore found here.— Victoria Land discovered, and 140 miles of new coast traced.— Reascent of the Coppermine commenced.— Boats abandoned, and the Barren grounds traversed on foot.— Spend another winter at Fort Confidence.— The following season a third voyagocommenced.— Richardson's Riverezamined.— Coronation Gulf found clear of ice.— Coast survey to the eastmurd prose* cuted.— Simpson's Starait discovered.— Back's estuary reached.— Depoeit of provisions made by Back five years previous found.— Aberdeen Island, the extreme point reached.— Parts of the coasts of Boothia and Victoria Land traced.— One of the boats aban- doned.— Descent Hi the Coppermine, and safe arrival at Fort Confidence. Dr. John Rae's Land Expedition, 1846-47 188 Hudson's Bay Company despatch Rae and a party of thirteen men to complete the survey between Dease and Simpson's furthest, and the Fury and Heola Strait.— Expedition leaves Fort Churchill.— Reaches Wager River.— Boats taken acrou Rae's Isthmus.— Winter residence constructed.— Short commons.— West shore of Melville Peninsula, ko., examined.— Party return to their en> campment, and proceed to Fort Ohurohill.- Gratuity of 400/. awarded to Dr. Rae. Captun Sir John Franklin's Last Expedition in the Erehm and Terror, 1845-61 187 Probability of the safety of the Expedition.- Montgomery's lines on ice-imprisoned vessels — Lady Franklin's devotion and enthu- siasm.— Verses. — Her i^peu to the North.— Sir E. Parry's opinion.— Outfit and despatch of Franklin's expedition.— Names of the officers employed.— Outline of Franklin's servlceii.-Notices of the services of other of the officers.— Searching Expeditions sent out in 1848.— Different volunteers offer.— Absence of intelli- gence of Franklin.— His latest despatches and letters.— Coppr cylinders.— Franklin's tiews and intentions.— Letters of Captain XIV CONTENTS. PAGE Fit^ames.— General opinioiu of the most experienced Arctic officers as to Franklin's safety.— Offer of services and suggebtioiis by Dr. King.— Opinions of Captains Parry and James Ross thereon.— Consultation of officers at the Admiralty.— Report of the Hydrographer.— Advice tendered by those consulted. — Views of Mr. Snow and Mr. McLean.— Public and private rewards offered for discovery and assistance to be rendered. — Second Report of Admiral Beaufort to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.— Various private and official letters and despatches, pointing out, or commenting on, plans and modes of relief. — Abundance of animal food found in Uie Arctic Regions. — A ballad of Sir John Franklin. The Government and Private Searching Expeditions . ^ . 280 list of the vessels and commanders, frc, now employed on the . search |n the Arctic regions. — Notices of those returned home. Voyage of the Enterprise and InvesttgcUor under Captains Sir J. G. Boss and £. J. Bird, 1848-49 281 Names of officers employed in this expedition.— Ships arrive at Uppemavick.— Proceed on their voyage, force a passage through the ice. — ^Enter Barrow Strait.- After being driven about in the pack take shelter for the winter in the harbour of Port Leopold. — Surveying trips carried on down the inlet, and round the nor- thern and western shores of Boothia. — Foxes trapped and libe- rated with copper eollars on. — Funr Beach visited. — Many of tiie old packages of provisions found in good conditiriTate rewards idered.— Second kissioners of tlie and despatches, odes of relief.— igions.— A ballad litions . . 280 281 imployed on the returned home. ader Captains -Ships arrive at , passage through riven ahout in the r of Port Leopold, nd round the nor- trapped and libe- ted.— Many of the dltion.— A house ){t for the relief island.— Channel ten water.- Beset g, the whole body ships are drifted a England deter> us services in the .... 291 „ firom the Oom- [northem part of ays.— Winters in .-Ship gets clear -ranklinuAFeli* .jm reaching Port by the ^TorM Star Prince Atberi.— I.— Commander ^iga^yr under ire, 1850 . . 295| : interpreter ap- the Sandwich lers of the vessels, [with the Hwald llnsoaand Oom- PAOI Voyage of the Plover ^ and Boat Expeditions under Commander PuUen, 1848-61 309 Purport of instructions issued from the Admiralty.— Ship arrives in Behring Strait. — ^Discovers new land and islands to the north of the Strait.— Winters in Kotzebue tiound.- Lieut. PuUen and party proceed in boats along the coast to the Mackensie River. — No tidings gleaned of Franklin's ships.— Letter frt>m Lieutenant Bpoper.-rLatest official de9patch from Cpmipander Pullen.— Bis Intentions.— Sir John Richardson's advice. Voyage of the Lady Framklin and Sophia, purchased govern- ment ships, under the command of Mr. Penny . . . 814 Nature of instructions given. — Printing press supplied.— Ships sail and reach Wolstenholme Sound. — Prevented oy the ice from examining Jones' Sound. — Reach Wellington Channel, and are Idft there by the Prince Alberi, Voyage of the Resolute and Assistance, under command of Captain Austin, with their steam tenders. Pioneer and Intrepid, 1860-61 816 Ships purchased and re-named by the Government.— Officers em- ploved.— Instructions given to search Wellington Channel, and push on to Melville Isund.— Official despatch ftx>m Captain Om- maney.— MS. newspaper started on ooard the Auiatanee.-^ Extracts thereftt>m. Voyage of CaptJuh Sir John Ross in the Fdix private schooner, 1860-51 822 It fitted out by the Hudson's Bay Company and private subscrip- tion.- Arrives at Whaleflsh I^mds, and overtakes the Ateittance and iZetoAite.— Proceeds in company. — Esquimaux reports of Uie destruction of Franklin's ships, and murder of the crew.— Proved by investigation to be devoid of foundation.— Letter of Sir John Ross to the Secretary of the Admiralty. American Government Searching En>edition in the U.S. ships Advemce and Pescue, under the command of Lieutenant de Haven, 1860-51 328 Lady Franklin's appeal to the American nation. — Mr. Clayton's reply.- Second letter of Lady Franklin to the President.— Sug- gestions of Lieut. S. Osbom, R.N.— Debate in Congress.— Reso- lutions agreed to.— Munificence of Mr. H. Orlnnell.— Ships fitted out and despatched.— Names of offleen employed.— Deq^tohee from the Commander. I Remarkable Voyage of the private ship Prince Albert, under the command of Captain Forsyth, R.N., to Regent Inlet and back, 1860 864 Fitted out by Lady Franklin and by public subscription.— Reafsns for the expeution.— Officers and crew.- IMscover traces of FrankUn.— Fall In with other ships.— Visits Regent Inlet— Is forced to return home.— Remarks on this voyage.— Position of the vessels of the squadron.— Linea to the Expemtions In searoh of Sir John Franklin. im-m XVI CONTENTS. APPENDIX. PAOK (A.) ThePolarSea 369 (B.) National Coet of Arctic Disooyery in the Nineteenth Gentuiy 370 (C.) last of Works relating to the Arctic Expeditions.. . . 371 ILLUSTRATIONS. MAP OF Tin COUNTRIES ROUND THE NORTH POLE (To/aee Titte.) \ CHART OP BARROW STRAIT, REGENT INLET, ftc. SHOWING THE i TRACK OF THE " PRINCE ALBERT" . . . {To/aeepage96i.)\ -r PAOli . . . . . 3«9 e Nineteenth . . e . .370 iitions.. . . 871 'i:^ ^J- POLE (To face Title.) \ &c^ SHOWING THE . {To face page Mi.) \ y \ ^i. ''^ 4' :.. '^^ i*nM K M MAP OF THE COUNTRIES ROUND THE NO Prepared by ZIEU'R.S.M0LES WORTH, R. ^*^HfQ TO ILLUSTRATE .^^^''•^OCRESS OF ARCTV Mj.l>irf>.Mi>raiiiHUl Lllii^rf |}dr.'l«Oiu|;i^-aphM^ Mr/jsoJ^ &2. / ■r''^-'%^ jtA r o k "i^ftdwOnrJiTtpd 1tM(>«.V^.triTl i I n IP n WND TH\ M by ^ \sWORTh USTRATE "^ OF ARCTIC / 4,v5inV. THE PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY In the NINETEENTH CENTURY. If we examine a map of Norfcbem, or Arctic, America, showing what was known of the countries around the North Pole in the commencement of the present century, we shall find that all within the Arctic circle was a complete blank. Mr. Heame had, indeed, seen the Arctic Sea in the year 1771; and Mr. Mackenzie had traced the river which now bears his name to its junction with the sea; but not a single line of the coast &om Icy Gape to Baffin's Bay was known. The eastern and western shores of Greenland, to about 75° latitude, were tolerably well defined, from the visits of whaling vessels; Hudson's Bay and Strait were partially known; but Baffin's Bay, according to the statement of Mr. Baffin, in 1616, was bounded by land on the west, running parallel with the |90th meridian of longitude, or across what is now known us as Barrow's Strait, and probably this relation led to the subsequently formed hasty opinion of Captain Sir Fohn Boss, as to his visionary Croker Mountains, of rhich I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. As early as the year 1527, the idea of a passage to the Sast Indies by the North Pole was suggested by a Bristol lerchant to Henry VIII., but no voyage seems to have )een undertaken for the purpose of navigating the Polar B 2 PBOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. seas, till the commencement of the following century, when an expedition was fitted out at the expense of certain merchants of London. To this attempt several others succeeded at different periods, and all of them were pro- jected and carried into execution by private individuals. The adventurers did not indeed accomplish the object they exclusively sought, that of reaching India by a nearer route than doubling the Cape of Good Hope, but though they failed in that respect, the fortitude, perseverance, and skill which they manifested, exhibited the most irre- fragable proofs of the early existence of that superiority in naval affairs, which has elevated this country to her present eminence among the nations of Europe. At length, after the lapse of above a century and a half, this interesting question became an object of Eoyal patron- age, and the expedition which was commanded by Captain Phipps (afterwards Lord Mulgrave), in 1773, was fitted out at the charge of Government. The first proposer of this voyage was the Hon. Daines Barrington, F.B.S., who, with indefatigable assiduity, began to collect every fact tending to establish the practicability of circumnavigating the Pole, and as he accumulated his materials he read them to the Boyal Society, who, in consequence of these repre- sentations, made that application to Lord Sandwich, then First Lord of the Admiridty, which led to the appointment of this first official voyage. Captain Phipps, however, found it impossible to penetrate the wall of ice which extended for many degrees between the latitude of 80^ and 81°, to the north of Spitzbergen. His vessels were the Jtaoehorw and Careciss; Captain Lutwidge being his second in command, in the latter vessel, and having with him, then a mere boy, Ndson, the future hero of England. From the year 1648, when the famous Eussian navi- gator, Senor Deshnew, penetrated from the river Kolyma through the Polar into the Pacific Ocean, the Eussians INTRODUCTION. iv'mg century, ense of certain aeveral others hem were pro- te individuals, the object they t by a nearer pe, but though perseverance, the most irre- b superiority in jr to her present niry and a half, f Royal patron- ded by Captain .773, was fitted rst proposer of n, F.R.S., who, lect every fact •cumnavigating he read them of these repre- landwich, then lc appointment Lpps, however, of ice which llatitude of 80° LB vessels were idge being his id having with iro of England. Kussian navi- river Kolyma the Bussians have been as arduous in their attempts to discover a north- east passage to the north of Cape Shelatskoi, as the English have been to sail to the north-west of the Ame- rican continent, through Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound. On the side of the Pacific many efforts have, within the last century, been made to further this object. In 1741, the celebrated Captain Behring discovered the straits which bear his name, as we are informed by Miiller, the chronicler of Eussian discoveries, and several subsequent commanders of that nation seconded his endeavours to penetrate from the American continent to the north-east. From the period when Deshnew sailed on his expedition, to the year 1764, when Admiral Tchitschagc f, an indefatigable and active officer, endeavoured to force a passage round Spitzbergen, (which, although he attempted with a resolu-* tion and skill which fall to the lot of few, he was unable to effect,) and thence to the present times, including the arduous efforts of Captains Billings and Vancouver, and the more recent one of M. Von WrangeU, the Eussians have been untiring in their attempts to discover a passage eastwards, to the north of Cape Taimur and Cape Shelat- skoi. And certainly, if skill, perseverance, and courage, could have opened this passage, it would have been accomplished. Soon after the general peace of Europe, when war's alarms had given way to the high pursuits of science, the government recommenced the long-suspended work of prosecuting discoveries within the Arctic circle. An expedition was despatched under the command of Sir John Boss, in order to explore the scene of the former \ labours of Erobisher and Baffin. Still haunted with the I golden dreams of a north-west passage, which Barrington and Beaufoy had in the last age so enthusiastically advo- cated, our nautical adventurers by no means relinquished [the long-cherished chimera. b2 PROGRESS OB" ARCTIC DISCOVERT. It must be admitted, However, that the testimony of Parry and Franklin pass for much on the other side of the question. Both these officers, whose researches in the cause of scientific discovery entitle them to very high respect, have declared it as their opinion that such a pas- sage does still exist to the north of the 75th degree of lati- tude. Captain Parry, in the concluding remarks of his first voyage (vol. ii. p. 241) says, — " Of the existence of a north- west passage to the Pacific, it is now scarcely possible to doubt, and from the success which attended our efibrts in 1819, after passing through Sir James Lancaster's Sound, we were not unreasonable in anticipating its complete accomplishment," &c. And Franklin, in the eleventh chapter of his work, is of the same opinion, as to the practicability of such a passage. (See Appen- dix A.) But in no subsequent attempt, either by themselves or others, has this long sought desideratum been accomplished; impediments and barriers seem as thickly thrown in its way as ever. ( CoL Mag.^ vol. xiii. p. 340.) An expedition was at length undertaken for the sole purpose of reaching the North Pole, with a view to the ascertainment of philosophical questions. It was planned % and y'laced under the command of Sir Edward Parry, and here first the elucidation of phenomena connected with this imaginary axis of our planet formed the primary object of investigation. My space and purposes in this work will not permit me to go into detail, by examining what Barrow justly terms " those brilliant periods of early English enterprise, so con- spicuously displayed in every quarter of the globe, but in | none, probably, to greater advantage than in those bold and persevering efibrts to pierce through frozen seas, in their little slender barks, of the most miserable description, INTRODUCTION. 5 ill provided with the means either of comfort or safety, without charts or instruments, or any previous knowledge of the cold and inhospitable region through which they had to force and to feel their way ; their vessels oft beset amidst endless fields of ice, and threatened to be over- whelmed with instant destruction from the rapid whirling and bursting of those huge floating masses, known by the name of icebergs. Yet so powerfully infused into the i minds of Britons was the spirit of enterprise, that some of the ablest, the most learned, and most respectable men of the times, not only lent their countenance and support to 1 expeditions fitted out for the discovery of new lands, but strove eagerly, in their own persons, to share in the glory [and the danger of every daring adventure." To the late Sir John Barrow, F.K.S., for so long a [period secretary of the Admiralty, and who, in early life, iimself visited the Spitzbergen seas, as high as the 80th >arallel, we are mainly indebted for the advocacy and pro- lotion of the several expeditions, and the investigations md inquiries set on foot in the present century, and to the voyages which have been hitherto so successfully car- ried out as regards the interests of science and of our knowledge of the Polar regions. Although it is absurd to impute the direct responsibility [or these expeditions to any other quarter than the several idministrations during which they were undertaken, there ^an be no question but that these enterprises originated in Jir John Barrow's able and zealous exhibition, to our mval authorities, of the several facts and arguments upon k'hich they might best be justified and prosecuted as Rational objects. The general anxiety now prevailing !!specting the fate of Sir John Franklin and his gallant )mpauions, throws at this moment somewhat of a gloom the subject, but it ought to be remembered that, up to le present period, our successive Polar voyages have, 19 6 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. without exception, given occupation to the energies and gallantry of British seamen, and have extended the realms of magnetic and general science, at an expense of lives and money quite insignificant, compared with the ordinary dangers and casualties of such expeditions, and that it must be a very narrow spirit and view of the subject which can raise the cry of " Cui bono" and counsel us to relin- quish the honour and peril of such enterprises to Bussia and the United States of America ! (See Appendix B.) It can scarcely be deemed out of place to give here a short notice of the Uterary labours of this excellent and talented man, as I am not aware that such an outline has appeared before. Sir John Barrow was one of the chief writers for he Quarterly Review y and his articles in that journal amount to nearly 200 in number, forming, when bound up, twelve separate volumes. All those relating to the Arctic Expeditions, &c., which created the greatest interest at the period they were published, were from his pen, and consist chiefly of the following papers, commencing from the 18th volume : — On Polar Ice ; On Behring's Straits and the Polar Basin ; On Boss's Voyage to Baffin's Bay ; On Parry's First Voyage; Kotzebue's Voyage; Franklin's First Expedition ; Parry's Second and Third Voyages, and Attempt to Beach the Pole ; Franklin's Second Expe- dition ; Lyon's Voyage to Bepulse Bay ; Back's Arctic Land Expedition, and his Voyage of the Terror. Besides these ho published " A Chronological History of Voyages to the Arctic Seas," and afterwards a second volume, " On the Voyages of Discovery and Besearch within the Arctic Begions." He also wrote lives of Lord Macartney, 2 vols. 4to; of Lord Anson and Howe, each 1 vol. 8vo; of I Peter the Great ; and an Account of the Mutiny of the Bounty, (in the " Family Library ;") " Travels in I INTRODUCTION. Southern Africa," 2 vols. 4to ; and " Travels in China and Cochin China," each 1 vol. 4to. In the " Encyclopsedia Britannica " are ten or twelve of his articles, and he wrote one in the Edinburgh Review by special request. In addition to these Sir John Barrow prepared for the press innumerable MSS. of travellers in all parts of the globe, the study of geography being his great delight, as is evidenced by his having founded the Boyal Geographical Society of London, which now holds so high and influen- tial a position in the learned and scientific world, and has advanced so materially the progress of discovery and research in all parts of the globe. Lastly, Sir John Barrow, not long before his death, published his own autobiography, in which he records the labours, the toil, and adventure, of a long and honourable public life. Sir John Barrow has described, with voluminous care and minute research, the arduous services of all the chief Arctic voyagers by sea and land, and to his volume I must refer those who wish to obtain more extensive details and particulars of the voyages of preceding centuries. He has also graphically set forth, to use his own words, " their several characters and conduct, so uniformly displayed in their unflinching perseverance in difficulties of no ordinary description, their patient endurance of extreme sufiering, borne without murmuring, and with an equanimity and fortitude of mind under the most appalling distress, rarely, if ever, equalled, and such as could only be supported by a superior degree of moral courage and resignation to the Divine will — displaying virtues like those of no ordinary cast, and such as will not fail to excite the sympathy, and challenge the admiration, of every right-feeling reader." Hakluyt, in his " Chronicle of Voyages," justly ob- serves, that we should use much care in preserving the memories of the worthy acts of our nation. a PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. The different sea voyages and land journeys of tHe pre- sent century towards tlie North Pole have redounded to the honour of our country, as well as reflected credit on the characters and reputation of the officers engaged in them ; and it is to these I confine my observations. The progress of discovery in the Arctic regions has been slow but progressive, and much still within the limits of practical navigation remains yet unexplored. As Englishmen, we must naturally wish that discoveries which were first attempted by the adventurous spirit and maritime skill of our countrymen, should be finally achieved by the same means. ** Wil it not," says the worthy ** preacher," Hakluyt, " in all posteritie be as great a renown vnto our English natione, to have beene the first discouerers of a sea beyond the North Cape, (neuer certainely knowen before,) and of a conuenient passage into the huge empire of Eussia, by the Bale of St. Nicholas and of the Bluer of Duina, as for the Portugales, to have found a sea beyond the Cape of Buona Esperanza, and so consequently a passage by sea into the East Indies P" I cordially agree with the Quarterly Review^ that " neither the country nor the naval service will ever believe they have any cause to regret voyages which, in the eyes of foreigners and posterity, must confer lasting honour upon both." The cost of these voyages has not been great, whUe the consequences will be permanent ; for it has been well re- marked, by a late writer, that ** the record of enterprising hardihood, physical endurance, and steady perseverance, displayed in overcoming elements the most adverse, will long remain among the worthiest memorials of human enterprise." " How shall I admire," says Purchas, " your heroic courage, ye marine worthies, beyond all names of wor- INTRODUCTION. 9 thiness ! that ney tlier dread so long ey ther the presence or absence of the sunne ; nor those foggy mysts, tempes- tuous winds, cold blasts, snowe and hayle in the ayre ; nor the unequall seas, which might amaze the hearer, and amate the beholder, when the Tritons and Neptune's selfe would quake with chilling feare to behold such mon- strous icie ilands, renting themselves with terrour of their own massines, and disdayning otherwise both the sea's sovereigntie and the sunne's hottest violence, mustering themselves in those watery plaines where they hold a con- tinual civill warre, and rushing one upon another, make windes and waves give backe ; seeming to rent the eares of others, while they rent themselves with crashing and splitting their congealed armours." So thickly are the polar seas of the northern hemisphere clustered with lands, that the long winter months serve to accumulate iield ice to a prodigious extent, so as to form an almost impenetrable barrier of hyperborean frost — "A crystal pavement hy the breath of Heaven Cemented firm." Although there are now no new continents left to dis- cover, our intrepid British adventurers are but too eager to achieve the bubble reputation, to hand down their names to future ages for patient endurance, zeal, and en- terprise, by explorations of the hidden mysteries of— " the fHgid zone, Where, for relentless months, continual night Holds o'er the glittering waste her starry niglit ;" by undergoing perils, and enduring privations and dangers, which the mind in its reflective moments shudders to contemplate. It is fair to conjecture that, so intense is the cold, and so limited the summer, and consequently so short the time allowed for a transit within the Arctic circle, from 10 PROGBESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. I Baffin's Bay to Behring's Straits, that a passage, even if discovered, "will never be of any use as a channel. It is not likely that these expeditions would ever have been persevered in with so much obstinacy, had the prospects now opening on the world of more practicable connexions with the East been known forty years ago. Hereafter, when the sacred demands of humanity have been answered, very little more wiU be heard about the north- west passage to Asia; which, if ever found, must be always hazardous and protracted, when a short and quick one can be accomplished by railroads through America, or canals across the Isthmus. A thorough knowledge of the relative boundaries of land and ocean on this our globe has in all ages, and by all countries, been considered one of the most important desiderata, and one of the chief features of popular infor- mation. But to no country is this knowledge of such practical utility and of such essential importance as to a maritime nation like Great Britain, whose mercantile marine visits every port, whose insular position renders her completely dependent upon distant quarters for half the necessary supplies, whether of food or luxury, which her native population consume, or which the arts and manufactures, of which she is the emporium, require. With a vast and yearly increasing dominion, covering almost every region of the habitable globe, — the chart of our colonies being a chart of the world in outline, for we sweep the globe and touch every shore, — it becomes neces- sary that we should keep pace with the progress of Colonization, by enlarging wherever possible our maritime discoveries, completing and verifying our nautical surveys, improving our meteorological researches, opening up new and speedier periodical pathways over the oceans which were formerly traversed with so much danger, INTRODUCTION. 11 doubt, and difficulty, and maintaining our superiority as tlie ^eatest of maritime nations, by sustaining that high and distinguished rank for naval eminence which has ever attached to the British name. The arduous achievements, however, of our nautical discoverers have seldom been appreciated or rewarded as they deserved. We load our naval and military heroes^ the men who guard our wooden walls and successfully fight our battles — with titles and pensions; we heap upon these, and deservedly so, princely remuneration and all manner of distinctions ; but for the heroes whose patient toil and protracted endurance far surpass the tur- moil of war, who peril their lives in the cause of science, many of whom fall victims to pestilential climates, famine, and the host of dangers which environ the voyager and traveller in unexplored lands and unknown seas, we have only a place in the niche of Fame. What honours did England as a maritime nation confer on Cook, the foremost of her naval heroes, — a man whose life was sacrificed for his country? His widow had an annuity of 200^., and his surviving children 261. each per annum. And this is the reward paid to the most eminent of our naval discoverers, before whom Cabot, Drake, Frobisher, Magellan, Anson, and the arctic adventurers, Hudson and Baffin, — although all eminent for their discoveries and the important services they rendered to the cause of nautical science, — sink into insignificance ! If we glance at the results of Cook's voyages we find that to him we are indebted for the innumerable discoveries of islands and colonies planted in the Pacific ; that he deter- mined the conformation, and surveyed the numerous bays and inlets, of New Holland; established the geogra- phical position of the north-western shores of America ; ascertained the trending of the ice and frozen shores to the north of Behriijg's Straits; approached nearer the 12 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Il South Pole, and made more discoveries in the Australian regions, than all the navigators who had preceded him. On the very shores of their vast empire, at the ex- tremity of Xamtschatka, his active genius first taught the Russians to examine the devious trendings of the lands which border the Frozen Ocean, in the neigh- bourhood of the Arctic circle. He explored both the eastern and western coasts above Behring's Straits to so hi^h a latitude as to decide beyond doubt the question as to the existence of a passage round the two continents. He showed the Eussians how to navigate the dangerous seas between the old and the new world ; for, as Coxe has remarked, "before his time, everything was uncertain and confused, and though they had undoubtedly reached the continent of America, yet they had not ascertained the line of coast, nor the separation or vicinity of the two continents of Asia and America." Coxe, certainly, does no more than justice to his illustrious countryman when he adds, ** the solution of this important problem was re- served for our great navigator, and every Englishman must exult that the discoveries of Cook wc re extended further in a single expedition, and at the distance of half the globe, than the Russians accomplished in a long series of years, and in a region contiguous to their own empire." Look at Weddell, again, a private trader in seal-skins, who, in a frail bark of 160 tons, made important dis- coveries in the Antarctic circle, and a voyage of greater length and peril, through a thousand miles of ice, than had previously been performed by any navigator, paving the way for the more expensively fitted expedition under Sir James Eoss. Was Weddell remunerated on a scale commensurate with his important services P Half a century ago the celebrated Bruce of Kinnaird, by a series of soundings and observations taken in the INTRODUCTION. 13 Red Sea, now the great highway of overland eastern traffic, rendered its navigation more secure and punctual. How was he rewarded by the then existing ministry P Take a more recent instance in the indefatigable energy of Lieutenant Waghom, E1.N., the enterprising pioneer of the overland route to India. What does not the commerce, the character, the reputation, of this country owe to his inde- fatigable exertions, in bringing the metropolis into closer connexion with our vast and important Indian empire P And what was the reward he received for the sacrifices he made of time, money, health, and life P A paltry annuity to himself of 1001., and a pension to his widow of 251. per annum ! Is it creditable to ua, as the first naval power of the world, that we should thus dole out miserable pittances, or entirely overlook the successful patriotic exertions and scientific enterprises and discoveries of private adven- turers, or public commanders P The attractions of a summer voyage along the bays and seas where the sun shines for four months at a time, ex- ploring the bare rocks and everlasting ice, with no com- panion but the white bear or the Arctic fox, may be all very romantic at a distance ; but the mere thought of a winter residence there, frozen fast in some solid ocean, with snow a dozen feet deep, the thermometer ranging from 40° to 50° below zero, and not a glimpse of the blessed sun from November to February, is enough to give a chill to all adventurous notions. But the officers and men engaged in the searching expeditions after Sir John Franklin have calmly weighed all these difficulties, and boldly gone forth to encounter the perils and dangers of these icy seas for the sake of their noble fellow-sailor, whose fate has been so long a painful mystery to the world. ;• It has been truly observed, that " this is a service for 14 PBOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. which all oflGlcers, however brave and intelligent they may be, are not equally qualified ; it requires a peculiar tact, an inquisitive and persevering pursuit after details of fact, not always interesting, a contempt of danger, and an enthusiasm not to be damped by ordinary difficulties." The records which I shall have to give in these pages of voyages and travels, unparalleled in their perils, their duration, and the protracted sufferings which many of them entailed on the adventurers, will bring out in bold rehef the prominent characters who have figured in Arctic Discovery, and whose names will descend to posterity, em- blazoned on the scroll of Fame, for their bravery, their patient endurance, their skill, and, above all, their firm trust and reHance on that Almighty Being who, although He may have tried them sorely, has never utterly forsaken them. Ku Capt. John Boss's Voyage, 1818. Ix 1818, His Boyal Highness the Prince Eegent having signified his pleasure that an attempt should be made to find a passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were pleased to fit out four vessels to proceed towards the North Pole, under the command of Captain John Boss. No former expedition had been fitted out on so extensive a scale, or so completely equipped in every respect as this one. The circumstance which mainly led to the sending out of these vessels, was the open character of the bays and seas in those regions, it having been ob- served for the previous three years that very unusual quantities of the Polar ice had floated down into the Atlantic. In the year 1817, Sir John Barrow relates that the eastern coast of Greenland, which had been shut up with ice for four centuries, was found to be accessible from the 70th to the 80th degree of latitude, and the inter- FIRST VOYAGE OP CAPTAIN ROSS. 15 may tact, ' fact, id an • ges of their mj of ibold Arctic ;y, em- r, their ott trust lemay them. having nade to Pacific Lmiralty iowards in John out on every [yled bracter •een ob- |tmu8ual Lto the ites that shut up »lefrom le inter- mediate sea between it and Spitzbergen was so entirely open in the latter parallel, that a Hamburgh ship had Actually sailed along this track. On the 15th of January, 1818, the four ships were put in commission — the Isabella, 385 tons, and the Alexander, 252 tons — under Captain Eoss, to proceed up the middle of Davis's Strait, to a high northern latitude, and then to stretch across to the westward, in the hope of being able to pass the northern extremity of America, and reach Behring's Strait by that route. Those destined for the Polar sea were, the Dorothea, 382 tons, and the Trent, 249 tons, which were ordered to proceed between Greenland and Spitzbergen, and seek a passage through an open Polar sea, if such should be found in that direction. I shall take these voyages in the order of their publica- tion. Boss having given to the world the account of his voyage shortly after his return in 1819 ; while the narra- tive of the voyage of the Dorothea and Trent was only published in 1843, by Captain Beechey, who served as Lieutenant of the Trent, during the voyage. The following were the officers &c. of the ships under Captain Ross : — Isabella. Captain — JohnEoss. Lieutenant — ^W. Robertson. Purser— W. Thom. Surgeon — John Edwards. Assistant Surgeon— C. J. Beverley. Admiralty Midshipmen — ^A. M. Skene and James Clark EosB. Midshipman and Clerk — J. Bushnan. Greenland Pilots — ^B. Lewis, master j T. Wilcox, mate. Captain (now Colonel) Sabine, E.A. John Sacheuse, an Esquimaux interpreter. 45 petty officers, seamen, and marines. Whole complement, 57. 16 ill PBOGBESS OF ARCTIO DISCOVERT. Alexander, Lieutenant and Commander— William Edward Parry, (now Captain Sir Edward.) Lieutenant — H. H. Hoppner (a first-rate artist.) Purser — ^W. H. Hooper. Greenland Pilots — J. Allison, master ; J. Philips, mate. Admiralty Midshipmen — P. Bisson and J. Nius. Assistant Surgeon — ^A. Fisher. Clerk — J. Halse. 28 petty officers, seamen, &c. Whole complement, 37. On the 2nd of May, the four vessels being reported fit for sea, rendezvoused in Brassa Sound, Shetland, and the two expeditions parted company on the following day for their respective destinations. On the 26th, the Isabella fell in with the first iceberg, which appeared to be about forty feet high and a thousand feet long. It is hardly possible to imagine anything more exquisite than the variety of tints which these icebergs display ; by night as well as by day they glitter with a vividness of colour beyond the power of art to represent. While the white portions have the brilliancy of silver, their colours are as various and splendid as those of the rainbow ; their ever-changing disposition producing effects as singular as they are new and interesting to those who have not seen them before. On the 17th of June, they reached Waygatt Soimd, beyond Disco Island, where they found forty-five whalers detained by the ice. Waygatt Island, from observations taken on shore, was found to be 5° longitude and 30 miles of latitude from the situation as laid down in the Admiralty Charts. They were not able to get away from here till the 20th, when the ice began to break. By cutting passages through FIRST VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN ROSS. 17 the ice, and by dint of towing and warping, a slow progress was made with the ships until the 17th of July, when two ice-floes closing in upon them, threatened inevitable de- struction, and it was only by the greatest exertions that they hove through into open water. The labours of warping, towing, and tracking were subsequently very severe. This tracking, although hard work, aJSbrded great amusement to the men, giving frequent occasion for the exercise of their wit, when some of the men occasion- ally fell in through holes covered with snow or weak parts of the ice. Very high mountains of land and ice were seen to the north side of the bay, which he named Melville's Bay, forming an impassable barrier, the precipices next the sea being from 1000 to 2000 feet high. On the 29th of June, the Esquimaux, John Sacheuse, who had accompanied the expedition from England as interpreter, was sent on shore to communicate with the natives. About a dozen came ofl" to visit the ship, and, after being treated with cofiee and biscuit in the cabin, and having their portraits taken, they set to dancing Scotch reels on the deck of the Isabella with the sailors. Captain Boss gives a pleasant description of this scene — " Sacheuse's mirth and joy exceeded aU bounds ; and with a good-humoured officiousness, justified by the important distinction which his superior knowledge now gave him, he performed the oflfice of master of the cere- monies. An Esquimaux M.C. to a ball on the deck of one of H.M. ships in the icy seas of Greenland, was an office somewhat* new, but Nash himself could not have performed his functions in a manner more appropriate. It did not belong even to Nash to combine in his own person, like Jack, the discordant qualifications of seaman, inter- preter, draughtsman, and master of ceremonies to a ball, with those of an active fisher of seals and a hunter of Mill II 'ii !!ll i t„. . 18 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. white bears. A daughter of the Danish resident (by an Esquimaux woman), about eighteen years of age, and by far the best-looking of the half*caste group, was the object of Jack's particular attentions ; which being observed by one of our officers, he gave him a lady's shawl, ornamented with spangles, as an offering for her acceptance. He presented it in a most respectful, and not ungraceful, manner to the damsel, who bashfully took a pewter ring from her finger and gave it to him in return, rewarding him, at the same time, with an eloquent smile, which could leave no doubt on our Esquimaux's mind that he had made an impression on her heart." (Yol. 1, p. 67-8.) On the 5th of August the little auks {Mergulfua alle,) were exceedingly abundant, and many were shot for food, as was also a large gull, two feet five inches in length, which, when killed, disgorged one of these little birds entire. A fortnight later, on two boats being sent from the Isabella to procure as many of these birds as possible, for the purpose of preserving them in ice, they returned at midnight with a boat-load of about 1500, having, on an average, killed fifteen at each shot. The boats of the Alexander were nearly as successful. These birds were afterwards served daily to each man, and, among other ways of dressing them, they were found to make excellent soup — not inferior to hare soup. Not less than two hundred auks were shot on the 6th of August, and served out to the ships' companies, among whose victuals they proved an agreeable variety, not having the fishy flavour that might be expected from their food, which consists of { Crustacea, small fishes, mollusca, or marine vegetables. On the 7th of August the ships were placed in a most j critical situation by a gale of wind. The Isabella was I lifted by the pressure of ice floes on each side of her, and | it was doubted whether the vessel could long withstand . '||ii FIRST VOYAGE OF|CA]fayLmS>^ A PJ^^ \ the grips and concussions she ^^^^^^^fcA£y^^%^^Vl^ J^' threatened to give way, the beaml^ltei as! n fiwP%B^^ ^y bend, and the iron water-tanks settled together. Ihe two vessels were thrown with violent concussion against each other, the ice-anchors and cables broke one after the other, a boat at the stem was smashed in the collision, and the masts were hourly expected to go by the board ; but at this juncture, when certain destruction was momentarily looked for, by the merciful interposition of Providence the fields of ice suddenly opened and formed a clear passage for the ships." A singular physical feature was noticed on the part of the coast near Cape Dudley Bigges : — " We have discovered (says Boss) that the snow on the face of the clifis presents an appearance both novel and interesting, being apparently stained or covered by some substance which gave it a deep crimson colour. This snow was penetrated in many places to a depth of ten or twelve feet by the colouring matter." There is nothing new, however, according to Barrow, in the discovery of red snow. Pliny, and other writers of his time, mention it. Saussure found it in various parts of the Alps ; Martin found it in Spitz- bergen, and no doubt it is to be met with in most alpine regions. In the course of this tedious, and often laborious, pro- gress through the ice, it became necessary to keep the whole of the crew at the most fatiguing work, sometimes for several days and nights without intermission. When this was the case, an extra meal was served to them at midnight, generally of preserved meat ; and it was found that this nourishment, when the mind and body were both occupied, and the sun continually present, rendered them capable of remaining without sleep, so that they ofben passed three days in this manner without any visible inconvenience, returning after a meal to their labour on o2 20 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. the ice or in the boats quite refreshed, and continuing at it without a murmur. After making hasty and very cursory examinations of Smith's and Jones' Sounds, Eoss arrived on the 30th of August off the extensive inlet, named by BafiSn Lancaster Sound. The entrance was perfectly clear, and the sound- ings ranged from 650 to 1000 fathoms. I shall now quote Boss's own observations on this subject, because from his unfortunate report of a range called the Croker moun- tains, stretching across this Strait, has resulted much of the ridicule and discredit which has attached to his accounts, and clouded his early reputation — " On the Slst (he says) we discovered, for the first time, that ike land extended from the south two-thirds across this apparent Strait; but the fog which continually occupied that quarter, obscured its real figure. During the day, much interest was excited on board by the appearance of this Strait. The general opinion, however, was, that it was only an inlet. The land was partiaUy seen extending across ; the yellow sky was perceptible. At a little before 4 o'clock a.m., the land was seen at the bottom of the inlet by the officers of the watch, but before I got on deck a space of about seven degrees of the compass was obscured by the fog. The land which I then saw was a high ridge of mountains extending directly across the bottom of the inlet. This chain appeared extremely high in the centre. Although a passage in this direction appeared hopeless, I was determined to explore it com- pletely. I therefore continued all sail. Mr. Beverley, the surgeon, who was the most sanguine, went up to the crow's nest, and at twelve reported to me that before it became thick he had seen the land across the bay, except for a very short space. *• At three, I went on deck ; it completely cleared for ten minutes, when I distinctly saw the land round the bottom FIRST VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN ROSS. 21 nd continuing of the bay, forming a chain of mountaing connected with those which extended along the north and south side. This land appeared to be at the distance of eight leagues, and !Mt. Lewis, the master, and James Haig, leading man, being sent for, they took its bearings, which were inserted in the log. At this moment, I also saw a continuity of ice at the distance of seven miles, extending &om one side of the bay to the other, between the nearest cape to the north, which I named after Sir George Warrender, and that to the south, which was named after Viscount Gastlereagh. The mountains, which occupied the centre, in a north and south direction, were named Oroker's Mountains, after the Secretary to the Admiralty." (Vol. 1, p. 241-46, 8vo edit.) They next proceeded to Possession Bay, at the entrance of the Strait, where a great many animals were observed. Deer, fox, ermine, bears, and hares, were either seen, or proved to be, in abundance by their tracks, and the skeleton of a whale was found stranded about 500 yards beyond high water mark. Finding, as Eoss supposed, no outlet through Lancaster Strait, the vessels continued their progress to the southward, exploring the western coast of Baffin's Bay to Pond's Bay, and Booth's Inlet, discovering the trending of the land, which he named North Galloway, and North Ayr to Cape Adair, and Scott's Bay. On September the 10th, they landed on an island near Cape Eglington, which was named Agnes' Monument. A flag-staff and a bottle, with an account of their proceedings, were set up. The remains of a temporary habitation of some of the Esquimaux were here observed, with a fire- place, part of a human skull, a broken stone vessel, some bones of a seal, burnt wood, part of a sledge, and tracks of dogs, &c. While the boat was absent, two large bears swam off 22 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. t," to the ships, which were at the distance of six miles from the land. They reached the AlexandeTf and were imme- diately attacked by the boats of that ship, and killed. One, which was shot through the head, unfortunately sank ; the other, on being wounded, attacked the boats, and showed considerable play, but was at length secured and towed to the Isabella by the boats of both ships. The animal weighed llSl^lbs., besides the blood it had lost, which was estimated at 30lbs. more. On the following day, Lieut. Parry was sent on shore to examine an iceberg, which was found to be 4169 yards long, 3869 yards broad, and 51 feet high, being aground in 61 fathoms. When they had ascended to the top, which was perfectly flat, they found a huge white bear in quiet possession of the mass, who, much to their mortification and astonishment, plunged without hesitation into the sea from the edge of the precipice, which was fifty feet high. From careful observation it was found that there was no such land in the centre of Davis Strait as James's Island, which was laid down in most of the charts. Nothing deserving of notice occurred in the subsequent course of the vessels past Cape Walsingham to Cumber- land Strait. The 1st of October having arrived, the limit to which his instructions permitted him to remain out, Boss shaped his course homewards, and after encountering a severe gale off Cape Farewell, arrived in Grimsby Eoads on the 14th of November. As respects the purposes of Arctic discovery, this voyage may be considered almost a blank, none of the important inlets and sounds of BaflSn's Bay having been explored, and all that was done was to define more clearly the land-bounds of Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay, if we except the valuable magnetic and other obser- vations made by Capt. Sabine. The commander of the FIRST VOYAGE OP CAPTAIN ROSS.. 23 expedition was promoted to the rank of captain on paying off the Siiips in December, 1818. The account of his voyage, published by Capt. Boss, is of the most meagre and uninteresting description, and more than half filled with dry details of the outfit, copies of his instructions, of his routine letters and orders to his officers, &c. BnCHAN AND FbANELIK. Dorothea and Trent to Pole, 1818. In conjunction with the expedition of Oapt. John Boss, was that sent out to the coast of Spitzbergen, and of which Capt. Beechey has published a most interesting account, embellished with some very elegant illustrations from his pencil. The charge of it was given to Capt. D. Buchan, who had a few years previously conducted a very interest- ing expedition into the interior of Newfoundland. The first and most important object of this expedition was the discovery of a passage over or as near the Pole, as might be possible, and through Behring's Straits into the Pacific. But it was also hoped that it might at the same time be the means of improving the geography and hydro- graphy of the Arctic regions, of which so little was at that time known, and contribute to the advancement of science and natural knowledge. The objects to which attention was specially pointed in the Admiralty instructions, were the variation and inclination of the magnetic needle, the intensity of the magnetic force, and how far it is affected by atmospherical electricity ; the temperature of the air, the dip of the horizon, refraction, height of the tides, set and velocity of the currents, depths and sound- ings of the sea. Collections of specimens to illustrate the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms, were also directed to be made. 24 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. The officers and crew appointed to these vessels were : — Dorothea, 382 tons. Captain — ^David Buchan. Lieutenant — ^A. Morell. Surgeon— John Duke. Assistant-Surgeon — ^W. G. Borland. Purser — John Jermain. Astronomer — George Fisher. Admiralty-Mates — 0. Palmer and W. J. Dealy. Greenland Pilots — P. Bruce, master ; G. Crawfiird, mate. 45 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. Total complement, 65. Trent, 249 tons. Lieutenant and Commander— John Franklin. Lieutenant — ^Fred. W. Beechey (artist). Purser — W. Barrett. Assistant- Surgeon — ^A. Gilfillan. Admiralty Mates — ^A. Beid and George Back. Greenland Pilots — G. Fife, master, and G.Kirby,mate. 30 Petty Officers and Seamen. Total complement, 38. Having been properly fitted for the service and taken on board two year's provisions, the ships sailed on the 25th of April. The Trent had hardly got clear of the river before she sprang a leak, and was detained in the port of Lerwick nearly a fortnight undergoing repairs. On the 18th of May, the ships encountered a severe gale, and under even storm staysails were buried gunwale deep in the waves. On the 24th they sighted Cherie Island, situated m lat. 74° 33' N., and long. 17° 40' E., formerly so noted for its fishery, being much frequented by walruses, and for many years the Muscovy Company VOYAGE OP BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN. 25 [lese vessels carried on a lucrative trade by sending ships to tiie island for oil, as many as a thousand animals being often cap- tured by the crew of a single ship in the course of six or seven hours. The progress of the discovery ships through the small floes and huge masses of ice which floated in succession past, was slow, and these from their novelly were regarded with peculiar attention from the grotesque shapes they assumed. The progress of a vessel through such a laby- rinth of frozen masses is one of the most interesting sights that ofler in the Arctic seas, and kept the officers and crew out of their beds till a late hour watching the scene. Capt. Beechey, the graphic narrator of the voyage, thus describes the general impression created: — "There was besides, on this occasion, an additional motive for remain- ing up ; very few of us had ever seen the sun at midnight, and this night happening to be particularly clear, his broad red disc, curiously distorted by refraction, and sweeping majestically along the northern horizon, was an object of imposing grandeur, which riveted to the deck some of our crew, who would perhaps have beheld with indifierence the less imposing eflect of the icebergs ; or it might have been a combination of both these phenomena; for it cannot be denied that the novelty, occasioned by the floating masses, was materially heightened by the singular effect produced by the very low altitude at which the sun cast his fiery beams over the icy surface of the sea. The rays were too oblique to illuminate more than the inequa- lities of the floes, and falling thus partially on the grotesque shapes, either really assumed by the ice or distorted by the unequal refraction of the atmosphere, so betrayed the imagination that it required no great exertion of fancy to trace in various directions architectural edifices, grottos and caves here and there glittering as if with precious metals. So generally, indeed, was the deception admitted, 26 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. that, in directing the route of the vessel from aloft, we for awhile deviated from our nautical phraseology, and shaped our course for a church, a tower, a bridge, or some similar structure, instead of for lumps of ice, which were usually designated by less elegant appellations." The increasing difficulties of this ice navigation soon, however, directed their attention f5pom romance to the reality of their position, the perils of which soon became fOarmmgly apparent. " The streams of ice, between which we at first pursued our serpentine course with comparative ease, gradually became more narrow, and at length so impeded the navi- gation, that it became necessary to run the ships against some of these imaginary edifices, in order to turn them aside. Even this did not always succeed, as some were so substantial and immovable, that the vessels glanced off to the opposite bank of the channel, and then became for a time embedded in the ice. Thus circumstanced, a vessel has no other resource than that of patiently awaiting the change of position in the ice, of which she must take every advantage, or she will settle bodily to leeward, and become completely entangled." On the 26th the ships sighted the southern promontory of Spitzbergen, and on the 28th, while plying to wind- ward on the western side, were overtaken by a violent gale at south-west, in which they parted company. The weather was very severe. " The snow fell in heavy showers, and several tons weight of ice accumulated about the sides of the brig (the 2}rent)f and formed a complete casing to the planks, which received an additional layer at each plunge of the vessel. So great, indeed, was the ac- cumulation about the bows, that we were obliged to cut it away repeatedly with axes to relieve the bowsprit from the enormous weight that was attached to it ; and the ropes were so thickly covered vith ice, that it was VOYAGE OF BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN. 27 necessary to beat them with large sticks to keep them in a [state of readiness for any evolution that might be ren- Idered necessary, either by the appearance of ice to lee- |ward, or by a change of wind." On the gale abating, Lieutenant Franklin found himself Isurrounded by the main body of ice in lat. 80° N., land had much difficulty in extricating the vessel. Had this formidable body been encountered in thick weather, rhilst scudding before a gale of wind, there would have )een very little chance of saving either the vessels or the Brews. The Trent fortunately fell in with her consort, the hrothea, previous to entering the appointed rendezvous it Magdalena Bay, on the 3rd of June. This commodious fnlet being the first port they had anchored at in the Polar regions, possessed many objects to engage attention, ^hat particularly struck them was the brilliancy of the itmosphere, the peaceful novelty of the scene, and the randeur of the various objects with which Nature has Stored these unfrequented regions. The anchorage is formed by rugged mountains, which rise precipitously to le height of about 3000 feet. Deep valleys and glens 3cur between the ranges, the greater part of which are bither filled with immense beds of snow, or with glaciers, [loping from the summits of the mountainous margin to le very edge of the sea. The bay is rendered conspicuous by four huge glaciers, |f which the most remarkable, though the smallest in pze, is situated 200 feet above the sea, on the slope of a lountain. From its peculiar appearance this glacier has [een termed the Hanging Iceberg. Its position is such that it seems as if a very small iatter would detach it from the mountain, and precipitate ; into the sea. And, indeed, large portions of its front do 3casionally break away and fall with headlong impetuosity )on the beach} to the great hazard of any boat that may 2S PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. chance to be near. Th-" largest of these glaciers occupies the headof thebay, and, according toCaptain Beechey's account, extends from two to three miles inland. Numerous large rents in its upper surface have caused it to bear a resem- blance to the ruts left by a wagon, hence it was named by the voyagers the "Wagon Way." The frontage of this glacier presents a perpendicular surface of 300 feet in height, by 7000 feet in length. Mountain masses — " Whose blocks of sapphire seem to mortal eye Hewn from cerulean quarries in the sky, With glacier battlements that crowd the spheres, The slow creation of six thousand years, Amidst immensity they tower sublime, Winter's eternal palace, built by Time." At the head of the bay there is a high pyramidal mountain of granite, termed Eotge Hill, from the myriads of small birds of that name which frequent its base, and appear to prefer its environs to every other part of the harbour. "They are so numerous that we have frequently seen an uninterrupted line of them extending full half way over the bay, or to a distance of more than three mUes, and so close together that thirty have fallen at one shot. This living column, on an average, might have been about six yards broad, and as many deep ; so that, allowing sixteen birds to a cubic yard, there must have been nearly four millions of birds on the wing at one time. The number I have given certainly seems large ; yet when it is told that the little rotges rise in such numbers as completely to darken the air, and that their chorus is dis* tinctly audible at a distance of four miles, the estimate will not be thought to bear any reduction." One of their earliest excursions in this bay was an attempt to ascend the peak of Eotge Hill, " upon which," says Captain Beechey, "may now, perhaps, be seen at the height of about 2000 feet, a staff that once carried a red VOYAGE OP BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN. 29 flag, which was planted there to mark the greatest height we were able to attain, partly in consequence of the steep- ness of the ascent, but mainly on account of the detached masses of rock which a very slight matter would displace and hurl down the precipitous declivity, to the utter destruction of him who depended upon their support, or who might happen to be in their path below. The latter part of our ascent was, indeed, much against our inclina- tion ; but we found it impossible to descend by the way we had come up, and were compelled to gain a ledge, which promised the only secure resting-place we could find at that height. This we were able to effect by sticking the tomahawks with which we were provided into crevices in the rock, as a support for our feet ; and some of these instruments we were obliged to leave where they were driven, in 'Onsequence of the danger that attended their recovery." During the vessel's detention in this harbour, the bay and anchorage were completely sur- veyed. When the first party rowed into this bay, it was in quiet possession of herds of walruses, who were so un- accustomed to the sight of a boat that they assembled about her, apparently highly incensed at the intrusion, and swam towards her as though they would have torn the planks asunder with their tusks. Their hides were so tough that nothing but a bayonet would pierce them. The wounds that were inflicted only served to increase their rage, and it was with much difficulty they were kept ofi" with fire-arms. Subsequently the boats went better prepared and more strongly supported, and many of these monsters were killed; some were fourteen feet in length and nine feet girth, and of such prodigious weight that the boat's crew could scarcely turn them. The ships had not been many days at their anchorage when they were truly astonished at the sight of a strange 30 PBOGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. •'PI 'I boat pulling towards the ships, which was found to belong to some Eussian adventurers, who were engaged in the collection of peltry and morse' teeth. This is the last re- maining establishment at Spitzbergen still upheld by the merchants of Archangel. Although equally surprised at the sight of the vessels, the boat's crew took courage, and after a careful scrutiny, went on board the Dorothea ; Captain Buchan gave them a kind reception, and supplied them with whatever they wanted; in return for which they sent on board the following day a side of venison in excellent condition. Wishing to gain some further information of these people, an officer accompanied them to their dwelling at the head of a small cove, about four miles distant &om the bay, where he found a comfortable wooden hut, well lined with moss and stored with venison, wild ducks, &c. It is related by Captain Beechey that it was with extreme pleasure they noticed in this retired spot, pro- bably the most northern and most desolate habitation of our globe, a spirit of gratitude and devotion to the Al- mighty rarely exercised in civilized countries. " On land- ing from the boat and approaching their residence, these people knelt upon its threshold, and offered up a prayer with fervour and evident sincerity. The exact nature of the prayer we did not learn, but it was no doubt one of thanksgiving, and we concluded it was a custom which these recluses were in the habit of observing on their safe return to their habitation. It may, at all events, be regarded as an instance of the beneficial effects which seclusion from the busy world, and a contemplation of the works of Nature, almost invariably produce upon the hearts of even the most uneducated part of man- kind." On the 7th of June the expedition left the anchorage to renew the examination of the ice, and after steering a few VOYAGE OF BUCHAX AND FRANKLIN. 31 leases to the northward, found it precisely in the same state as it had been left on the 2nd. In spite of all their endeavours, by towing and otherwise, the vessels were driven in a calm by the heavy swell into the packed ice, and the increasing peril of their situation may be ima- gined from the following graphic description : — " The pieces at the edge of the pack were at one time wholly immersed in the sea, and at the next raised far above their natural line of flotation, while those further iQ, being more extensive, were alternately depressed or elevated at either extremity as the advancing wave forced its way along. "The see-saw motion which was thus produced was alarming, not merely in appearance, but in fact, and must have proved fatal to any vessel that had encountered it ; as floes of ice, several yards in thickness, were continually crashing and breaking in pieces, and the sea for miles was covered with fragments ground so small that they actually formed a thick, pasty substance — ^in nautical language termed ' hrash ice' — which extended to the depth of five feet. Amidst this giddy element, our whole attention was occupied in endeavouring to place the bow of the vessel, the strongest part of her frame, in the direction of the most formidable pieces of ice — ^a mauGeuvre which, though likely to be attended with the loss of the bowsprit, was yet preferable to encountering the still greater risk of having the broadside of the vessel in contact with it ; for this would have subjected her to the chance of dipping her gunwale under the floes as she rolled, an accident which, had it occurred, would either have laid open her side, or have overset the vessel at once. In either case, the event would probably have proved fatal to all on board, as it would have been next to impossible to rescue any person from the confused moving mass of brash ice which covered the sea in ©very direction." 32 PBOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. I.: ili The attention of the seamen was in some degree diverted from the contemplation of this scene of difficulty by the hecessity of employing all hands at l^e pump, the leak Shaving gained upon them. But, fortunately, towards morning, they got quite clear of the ice. Steering to the westward to reconnoitre, they fell in, in longitude 4° 30' E., with several whale ships, and were informed by them that the ice was quite compact to the westward, and that fifteen vessels were beset in it. Pro- ceeding to the northward, the ships ptussed, on the 11th of June, Cloven Cliff, a remarkable isolated rock, which marks the north-western boundary of Spitzbergen, and steered along an intricate channel between the land and ice; but, next morning, their further advance was stopped, and the channel by which the vessels had entered became so completely closed up as to preclude the possibiUty also of retreating. Lieut. Beechey proceeds to state — ** The ice soon began to press heavily upon us, and, to add to our difficulties, we found the water so shaUow that the rocks were plainly discovered under the bottoms of the ships. It was impossible, however, by any exertion on our part, to improve the situations of the vessels. They were as firmly fixed in the ice as if they had formed part of the pack, and we could only hop« that the current would not drift them into still shallower water, and damage them against the ground." The ships were here hemmed in in almost the same position where Baffin, Hudson, Poole, Captain Phipps, and all the early voyagers to this quarter had been stopped. As the tide turned, the pieces of ice immediately around the ships began to separate, and some of them to twist round with a loud grinding noise, urging the vessels, which were less than a mile from the land, still nearer and nearer to the beach. By great exertions, the ships were hauled in to small VOYAGE OF BUOHAN AND FRAKJSUK. ^ ed in to small bays in the floe, and secured there by ropes fixed to the ice by means of large iron hooks, called ice anchors. Shifting the ships from one part of this floe to the other, they remained attached to the ice thirteen days. As this change of position could only be effected by main force, the crew were so constantly engaged in this harassing duty, that their time was divided almost entirely between the windlass and the pump, until the men at length became so fatigued that the sick-list was seriously augmented. During this period, however, the situation of the leak was fortunately discovered, and the damage repaired. An officer and a party of men who left the Dorothea to pay a visit to the shore, about three or four miles distant, lost themselves in the fog and snow, and wandered about for sixteen hours, until, quite overcome with wet, cold, and fatigue, they sat down in a state of despondency upon a piece of ice, determined to submit their fate to Providence. Their troubles are thus told — " To travel over ragged pieces of ice, upon which there were two feet of snow, and often more, springing from one slippery piece to the other, or, when the channels between them were too wide for this purpose, fenying themselves upon detached fragments, was a work which it required no ordinary exertion to execute. " Some fell into the water, and were with difficulty pre- served from drowning by their companions ; while others, afraid to make any hazardous attempt whatever, were left upon pieces of ice, and drifted about at the mercy of the winds and tides. Foreseeing the probability of a separa- tion, they took the first opportunity of dividing, in equal shares, the small quantity of provision which they had remaining, as also their stock of powder and ammunition. They also took it in turns to fire muskets, in the hope of being heard from the ships." The reports of the fire-anm were heard by their ship- 34 PB00RES9 OF ABCTIO DISCOVERY. mates, and Messrs. Fife and Eirby, tHe Greenland ice- masters, ventured out with poles and lines to their assist- ance, and had the good fortune to Ml in with the party* and bring them safely on board, after eighteen hours* absence. They determined in future to rest satisfied with the view of the shore which was afibrded them from the ship, having not the slightest desire to attempt to approach it again by means of the ice. The pressure of the ice against the vessels now became very great. " At one time, when the Trent appeared to be so closely wedged up that it did not seem possible for her to be moved, she was suddenly lifted four feet by an enormous mass of ice getting under her keel ; at another, the frag- ments of the crumbling floe were piled up under the bows, to the great danger of the bowsprit. " The Dorothea was in no less imminent danger, especially from the point of a floe, which came in contact with her side, where it remained a short time, and then glanced ofi*, and became checked by the field to which she was moored. The enormous pressure to which the ship had been sub- jected was now apparent by the field being rentf and its point broken into fragments, which were speedily heaped up in a pyramid, thirty-five feet in height, upon the very summit of which there appeared a huge mass, bearing the impression of the planks and bolts of the vessel's bottom." Availing themselves of a break in the ice, the ships were moved to an anchorage between the islands contiguous to the Cloven Clifi*; and on the 28th of June, anchored in fifteen fathoms water, near Yogel Sang. On the islands they found plenty of game, and eider ducks. The island of Yogel Sang alone supplied the crews with forty rein-deer, which were in such high condition that the fat upon the loins of some measured from four to six ' inches, and a carcass, ready for being dressed, weighed VOYAGE OP BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN. 85 285 lbs. Later in the season, the deer were, however, so lean that it was rare to meet with any fat upon them kt aU. On the 6th of July, finding the ice had been driven to the northward, the ships again put to sea, and Captain Buchan determined to prove, by a desperate effort, what advance it was possible to make by dragging the vessels through the ice whenever the smallest opening occmred. This laborious experiment was performed by fixing large ropes to iron hooks driven into the ice, and by heaving upon them with the windlass, a party removing obstructions m the channel with saws. But in spite of all their exertions, the mo:* northerly position attained was 80° 37' N. AlthoUfeVs S' 3ned to the ice, the ships were now drifted bodily to *^ ; southward by the prevailing current. They were also much injured by the pressure of hummocks and fields of ice. On the 10th of July, Captain Beechey tells us, the 7}rent sustained a squeeze which made her rise four feet, and heel over five streaks ; and on the 16th and 16th, both vessels suffered considerable damage. " On that occasion," he says, "we observed a field fifteen feet in thickness break up, and the pieces pile upon each other to a great height, until they upset, when they rolled over with a tremendous crash. The ice near the ships was piled up above their bulwarks. Fortunately, the vessels rose to the pressure, or they must have had their sides forced in. The Ih^ent received her greatest damage upon the quarters, and was so twisted that the doors of all the cabins fiew open, and the panels of some started in the frames, while her false stempost was moved three inches, and her tim- bers cracked to a most serious extent. The Dorothea suffered still more : some of her beams were sprung, and two planks on the lower deck were split fore and aft, and doubled up, and she otherwise sustained serious injury in d2 36 PROaBESS OF ABCTIC DISCOVERY. )| her hull. It was in yain that we attempted any relief; our puny efforts were not even felt, though continued for eight hours with unabated zeal ; and it was not until the tide changed that the smallest effect was produced. When, however, that occurred, the vessels righted and settled in the water to their proper draught." From the 12th to the 19th, they were closely beset with ice. For nine successive days following this the crews were occupied, night and day, in endeavouring to extricate the ships, and regain the open sea. Thinking he had given the ice a fair trial here, the commander determined upon examining its condition towards the eastern coast of Green- land, and in the event of finding it equally impenetrable there, to proceed round the south cape of Spitzbergen, and make an attempt between that island and Nova Zembla. On the 30th of July, a sudden gale came on, and brought down the main body of the ice upon them, so that the ships were in such imminent danger that their only means of safety was to take refuge amongst it — a practice which has been resorted to by whalers in extreme cases — as their only chance of escaping destruction. The following is a description of the preparation made to withstand the terrible encounter, and the hair-breadth escape from the dangers : — ** In order to avert the effects of this as much as pos- sible, a cable was cut up into thirty-feet lengths, and these, with plates of iron four feet square, which had been sup- plied to us as fenders, together with some walrus's hides, were hung round the vessels, especially about the bows. The masts, at the same time, were secured with additional ropes, and the hatches were battened and nailed dcTm. By the time these precautions had been taken, our ap- proach to the breakers only left us the alternative of either permitting the ships to be drifted broadside against the ioe, and lo to take their chance, or of endeavouring to VOYAGE OF BUCHAN AM) FRANKLIN. 37 force fairly into it by putting before the wind. At length, the hopeless state of a vessel placed broadside against so formidable a body became apparent to all, and we resolved to attempt the latter expedient." Eagerly, but in vain, was the general line of the pack scanned, to find one place more open than the other. All parts appeared to be equally impenetrable, and to present one unbroken line of furious breakers, in which immense pieces of ice were heaving and subsiding with the waves, and dashing together with a violence which nothing ap- parently but a solid body could withstand, occasioning such a noise that it was with the greatest difficulty the officers could make their orders heard by the crew. The fearful aspect of this appalling scene is thus sketched off by Captain Beechey : — " No language, I am convinced, can convey an adequate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effect now produced by the collision of the ice and the tempestuous ocean. The sea, violently agitated and rolling its mountainous waves against an opposing bod} , is at all times a sublime and awful sight ; but when, in addition, it encounters immense masses, which it has set in motion with a violence equal to its own, its effect is prodigiously increased. At one mo- ment it bursts upon these icy fragments and buries them many feet beneath its wave, and the next, as the buoyancy of the depressed body struggles for reascendancy, the water rushes in foaming cataracts over its edges ; whilst every individual mass, rocking and labouring in its bed, grinds against and contends with its opponent, untU one is either split with the shock or upheaved upon the surface of the other. Nor is this collision confined to any par- ticular spot ; it is going on as far as the sight can reach ; and when from this convulsive scene below, the eye is turned to the extraordinary appearance of the blink in the sky above, where the unnatural clearness of a calm and silvery -'*«»^l- ■"• 38 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. atmosphere presents itself, bounded by a dark bard line of stormy clouds, sueb as at this moment lowered over our masts, as if to mark the confines within which the efforts of man would be of no avail. The reader may imagine the sensation of awe which must accompany that of grandeur in the mind of the beholder." " If ever," continues the narrator, " the fortitude of seamen was fairly tried, it was assuredly not less so on this occasion ; and I will not conceal the pride I felt in wit- nessing the bold and decisive tone in which the orders were issued by the commander (the present Captain Sir John FrankUn) of our little vessel, and the promptitude and steadiness with which they were executed by the crew." As the labouring vessel flew before the gale, she soon neared the scene of danger. "Each person instinctively secured his own hold, and with his eyes fixed upon the masts, awaited in breathless anxiety the moment of concussion. " It soon arrived, — ^the brig (T^ent) cutting her way through the light ice, came in violent contact with the main body. In an instant we all lost our footing; the masts bent with the impetus, and the cracking timbers from below bespoke a pressure which was calculated to awaken our serious apprehensions. The vessel staggered under the shock, and for a moment seemed to recoil ; but the next wave, curling up under her counter, drove her about her own length within the margin of the ice, where she gave one roll, and was immediately thrown broadside to the wind by the succeeding wave, which beat furiously against her stem, and brought her lee-side in contact with the main body, leaving her weather-side exposed at the same time to a piece of ice about twice her own dimensions. This imfortunate occurrence prevented the vessel pene- trating sufficiently far into the ice to escape the effect of VOYAGE OF BUOHAN AND FRANKLIN. 39 the gale, and placed her in a situation where she was assailed on all sides by battering-rams, if I may use the expression, every one of which contested the small space which she occupied, and dealt such unrelenting blows, that there appeared to be scarcely any possibility of saving her from foundering. Literally tossed from piece to piece, we had nothing left but patiently to abide the issue ; for we could scarcely keep our feet, much less render ib ^ «sist- ance to the vessel. The motion, indeed, was so great, that the ship's bell, which in the heaviest gale of wind had never struck of itself, now tolled so continually, that it was ordered to be muffled, for the purpose of escaping the unpleasant association it was calculated to produce. " In anticipation of the worst, we determined to attempt placing the launch upon the ice under the lee, and hurried into her such provisions and stores as could at the moment be got at. Serious doubts were reasonably entertained of the boat being able to live amongst the confrised mass by which we were encompassed ; yet as this appeared to be our only refrige, we clung to it with all the eagerness of a last resource." From the injury the vessel repeatedly received, it became very evident that if subjected to this concussion for any time, she could not hold together long; the only chance of escape, therefore, appeared to depend upon getting before the wind, and penetrating further into the ice. To effect this with any probability of success, it became necessary to set more head-sail, though at the risk of the masts, already tottering with the pressure of that which was spread. By the ezpertness of the seamen, more sail was spread, and under this additional pressure of can- vass, the ship came into the desired position, and with the aid of an enormous mass under the stem, she split a small field of ice, fourteen feet in thickness, which had hitherto 40 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. impeded her progress, and e£fected a passage for herself between the pieces. In this improved position, bj carefully placing the pro- tecting fenders between the ice and the ship's sides, the sifokes were much diminished^ and she luanaged to weather out the gale, but lost sight of her consort in the clouds of spray which were tossed about, and the huge intervening masses of ice among which they were embayed. On the gale moderating, the ships were fortunately got once more into an open sea, although both disabled, and one at least, the Dorothea, which had sustained the heavy shocks, in a foundering condition. For the main object of the expedi- tion they were now useless, and, both being in a leaky state, they bore up for Fair Haven, in Spitzbergen. In approach- ing the anchorage in South Gtit, the Trent bounded over a sunken rock, and struck hard, but this, after their recent danger, was thought comparatively li^ht of. On examining the hulls of the vessels, it was found they had sustained frightful injuries. The intermediate lining of felt between the timbers and planks seems to have aided greatly in enabling the vessels to sustain the repeated powerM shocks they had encountered. Upon consulting with his ofScers, Captain Buchan came to the opinion that the most prudent course was to patch up the vessels for their return voyage. Lieutenant Franklin preferred an urgent request that he might be allowed to proceed in his own vessel upon the interesting service still unexecuted; but this could not be complied with, in consequence of the hazard to the crew of proceeding home singly in a vessel so shattered and unsafe as the Dorothea. After refitting, they put to sea at the end of August, and reached England by the middle of October. 41 Fbanelin's Fibst Land Expedition, 1819-21. In 1819, on the recommendation of the Lords of the Admiralty, Capt. Franklin was appointed to command an overland expedition from Hudson's Bay to the northern shores of America, for the purpose of determining the latitudes and longitudes, and exploring the coast of the continent eastward from the Coppermine Biver. Dr. John Eichardson, B.N., and two Admiralty midshipmen, Mr. George Back, (who had been out on the Polar expedition in the previous year in H. M. S. Trent,) and Mr. Robert Hood, were placed under his orders. Previous to his de- parture from London, Capt. Franklin obtained all the information and advice possible from Sir Alex. Mackenzie, one of the only two persons who luid yet explored those shores. On the 23rd of May, the party embarked at Gravesend, in the Prince of Wales, belonging to the Hud- son's Bay Company, which immediately got under weigh I in company with her consorts, the Eddysttme and Wear. Mr. Back, who was left on shore by accident in Yarmouth, succeeded in catching the ship at Stromness. On the 4th I of August, in lat. 59° 58' N., and long. 59° 63' W., they I first fell in with large icebergs. On the following day, the height of one was ascertained to be 149 feet. After a I stormy and perilous voyage they reached the anchorage at I York Flats on the 30th of August. On the 9th of September, Capt. Franklin and his party [left York Factory in a boat by the way of the rivers and lakes for Cumberland House, another of the Company's [posts, which they reached on the 22nd of October. On the 19th of January, Franklin set out in company rith Mr. Back, and a seaman named Hepburn, with prO' dsions for fifteen days stowed in two sledges, on their journey to Fort Chipewyan. Dr. Eichardson, Mr. Hood, md Mr. Connolly, accompanied them a short distance. 42 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. After touching at different posts of the Company, they, reached their destination safely on the 26th of March, after a winter's journey of 857 miles. The greatest difficulty experienced by the travellers was the labour of walking in snow shoes, a weight of between two and three pounds being constantly attached to galled feet and swelled ankles. On the 13th of July, they were joined by Dr. Bichardson and Mr. Hood, who had made a very expeditious journey from Cumberland House ; they had only one day's pro- visions left, the pemmican they had received at the posts being so mouldy that they were obliged to leave it behind. Arrangements were now made for their journey north- ward. Sixteen Canadian voyageurs were engaged, and a Chipewyan woman and two interpreters were to be taken on from Great Slave Lake. The whole stock of provision they could obtain before starting was only sufficient for one day's supply, exclusive of two barrels of flour, three cases of preserved meats, some chocolate, arrow-root, and portable soup, which had been brought from England, and were kept as a reserve for the journey to the coast in the following season ; seventy pounds of deer's flesh and a little barley were all that the Company's officers could give them. The provisions were distributed among three canoes, and the party set off in good spirits on the 18th of July. They had to make an inroad very soon on their preserved meats, for they were imfortunate in their fishing. On the 24th of July, however, they were successful in shooting a buffalo in the Salt Eiver, after giving him fourteen balls. At Moose Deer Island they got supplies from the Hud- son's Bay and North West Companies' officers, and on the | ?7th set out again on their journey, reaching Fort Provi- dence by the 29th, Shortly after they had an interview with a celebrated and I influential Indian chief, named Akaitcho, who was to furnisli | FBANKLIN S FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. i^ them with guides. Another Canadian voyageiir was here engaged, and the party now consisted of the officers already named, Mr. Fred. Wentzel, clerk of the N. W. Fur Company, who joined them here, John Hepburn the I English seaman, seventeen Canadian voyageurs, (one of whom, named Michel, was an Iroquois,) and three Indian interpreters, besides the wives of three of the voyageurs [who had been brought on for the purpose of making {clothes and shoes for the men at the winter establish- ment. The whole number were twenty-nine, exclusive of three children. I give the list of those whose names occur most frequently in the narrative : J. B. Belanger, I Peltier, Solomon Belanger, Samandre, Benoit, Perrault, jAntonio Fontano, Beauparlant, Yaillant, Credit, Adam J St. Germain, interpreter ; Augustus, and Junius, Esqui- Imaux interpreters. They had provisions for ten days' con- Isumption, besides a little chocolate and tea, viz., two casks |of flour, 200 dried rein -deer tongues, some dried moose leat, portable soup, and a little arrow-root. A small extra Icanoe was provided for the women, and the journey for the |Coppermine Kiver was commenced on the 2nd of August, le party met with many hardships — were placed on short diet— and some of the Canadians broke out into open rebellion, refusing to proceed further. However, they rere at last calmed, and arrived on the 20th of August at i^ort Enterprise on Winter Lake, which, by the advice of leir Indian guides, they determined on making their winter quarters. The total length of the voyage from Uhipewyan was 553 miles ; and after leaving Fort Erovi- ience they had 2I|^ miles of portage to pass over. As the len had to traverse each portage four times with a load )f 180 lbs., and return three times light, they walked in le whole upwards of 150 miles. In consequence of the re^sal of Akaitcho and his party )f Indians to guide and accompany them to the seag 44 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. a %, because, as they alleged, of the approach of winter, and the imminent danger, Capt. Franklin was obliged to abandon proceeding that season down the river, and contented himself with despatching, on the 29th, Mr. Back and Mr. Hood, in a light canoe, with St. Germain as interpreter, eight Canadians, and one Indian, famished with eight days' provisions — all that could be spared. They returned on the 10th of September, after having reached and coasted Point Lake. In the meantime, Franklin andBichardson, accompanied by J. Hepburn and two Indians, also made a pedestrian excursion towards the same qiuirter, leaving on the 9th of September, and re- turning on the 14th. The whole party spent a long winter of ten months at Fort Enterprise, depending upon the fish they could catch, and the success of their Indian hunters, for food. On the 6th of October, the officers quitted their tents for a good log house which had been built. The clay with which the walls and roof were plastered had to be tem- pered before the fire with water, and froze as it was daubed on ; but afterwards cracked in such a manner as to I admit the wind from every quarter. Still the new abode, I with a good fire of fagots in the capacious clay-built chinmey, was considered quite comfortable when compared | with the chilly tents. The rein-deer are found on the banks of the Coppermine I Itiver early in May, as they then go to the sea coast to bring forth their young. They usually retire from the coast in July and August, rut in October, and shelter themselves in the woods during winter. Before the middle of October, the carcases of 100 deer had been secured in I their store-house, together with 1000 lbs. of suet, and some dried meat ; and eighty deer were stowed away at variowl distances from their house, en cache. This placing proyij sions " en cach^," is merely burying and protecting it froml franklin's first land expedition. 45 oh. of winter, 1 was obliged ilie river, and ;he 29tli, Mr. St. Germain as lian, iumislied be spared. )r, after having the meantime, r. Hepburn and Lon towards the member, and re- spent a long lepending upon of their Indian Ltted their tents | The clay with had to be tern- iroze as it was a manner as to { the new abode, cious clay-built when compared the Coppermine the sea coast to retire from the )er, and shelter jfore the middle been secured in I suet, and some I away at varioTuI IS placing proTi-f 'otecting it frool wolves and other depredators by heavy loads of wood or stone. On the 18th of October, Mr. Back and Mr. Wentzel, accompanied by two Canadian voyageurs, two Indians and their wives, set out for Fort Providence to make the neces- sary arrangements for transporting the stores they expected from Cumberland House, and to see if some further supplies might not be obtained from the establishments on Slave Lake. Despatches for England were also forw;\rded by them, detailing the progress of the expedition up to thi» date. By the end of the month the men had also com- pleted a house for themselves, 34 feet by 18. On the 26th of October, Akaitcho, and his Indian party of hunters, amounting with women and children to forty souls, came in, owing to the deer having migrated southwards. This added to the daily number to be provided for, and by this time their ammunition was nearly expended. The fishing failed as the weather became more severe, and was given up on the 5th of November. About 1200 white fish, of from two to three lbs., had been procured during the season. The fish froze as they were taken from the nets, becoming in a short time a solid mass of ice, so that a blow or two of the hatchet would easily split them open, when the intestines might be removed in Oii ^ ]ump. I If thawed before the fire, even after being frozen for nearly I two days, the fish would recover their animation. On the 23rd of November, they were gratiiied by the I appearance of one of the Canadian voyagours who had set out with Mr. Back. His locks were matted with snow, and he was so incrusted with ice from head to foot, that they could scarcely recognise him. He reported that they had had a tedious and fatiguing journey to Fort Provi- [denee, and for some days were destitute of provisions. Letters were brought from England to the preceding I April, and quickly was the packet thawed to get at the 46 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. contents. The newspapers conveyed the intelligence of the death of George III. The advices as to the ex- pected stores were disheartening ; of ten bales of 90 lbs. each, five had been left by some mismanagement at the Grand Bapid on the Sattkatchawan. On the 28th of November, St. Germain the interpreter, with eight Cana- dian voyageurs, and four Indian hunters, were sent ofif to bring up the stores from Fort Providence. On the 10th of December, Franklin managed to get rid of Akaitcho and his Indian party, by representing to them the impossibility of maintaining them. The leader, however, left them his aged mother and two female attendants ; and old Keskarrah, the guide, with his wife and daughter, remained behiqpl. This daughter, who was designated " Green Stockings" from her dress, was considered a great beauty by her tribe, and, although but sixteen, had belonged successively to two husbands, and would pro- bably have been the wife of many more, if her mother had not required her services as a nurse. Mr. Hood took a good likeness of the young lady, but | her mother was somewhat averse to her sitting for it, fearing that "her daughter's likeness would induce the Great Chief who resided in England to send for the I • original !" The diet of the party in their winter abode consisted I almost entirely of rein-deer meat, varied twice a week by fish, and occasionally by a little flour, but they had do vegetables of ).ny kind. On Sunday morning they had a . cup of chocolate ; but their greatest luxury was tea, which they regularly had twice a day, although without sugar Candles were formed of rein-deer fat and strips of cottoo shirts ; and Hepbur. acquired considerable skill in the . manufacture of soap from the wood-ashes, fat, and salt. I The stores were anxiously looked for, and it was hoped franklin's first land expedition. 4r they would have arrived by New Year's Day (1821), so as to have kept the festival. As it was, they could only receive a little flour and fat, both of which were considered great luxuries. On the 15th, seven of the men arrived with two kegs of rum, one barrel of powder, sixty pounds of ball, two rolls of tobacco, and some clothing. " They had been twenty-one days on their march from Slave Lake, and the labour theyunderwent was sufficiently evinced by their sledge collars having worn out the shoulders of their coats. Their loads weighed from sixty to ninety pounds each, exclusive of their bedding and provisions, which at starting must have been at least as much more. We were much rejoiced at their arrival, and proceeded forthwith to pierce the spirit cask, and issue to each of the household the portion of rum which had been promised on the first day of the year. The spirits, which were proof, were frozen ; but after standing at the fire for some time they flowed out, of the consistence of honey. The temperature of the liquid, even in this state, was so low as instantly to convert into ice the moisture which condensed on the surface of the dram-$^lass. The fingers also adhered to the glass, and would doubtless have been speedily frozen had they been kept in contact with it ; yet each of the voyagers swallowed his dram without experiencing the slightest inconvenience, or complaining of tooth-ache." It appeared that the Canadians had tappod the rum- cask en their journey, and helped themselves rather freely. On the 27th, Mr. Wentzel and St. Germain arrived, with two Esquimaux interpreters who had been engaged, possessed of euphonious names, representing the belly and the ear, but which had been Anglicised into Augustus and Junius, being the months they had respectively arrived at 48 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Fort Churchill. The former spoke English. They brought four dogs with them, which proved of great use during the season in drawing in wood for Aiel. Mr. Back, at thii^ time, the 24th of December, had gone on to Ghipewyan to procure stores. On the 12th of February, another party of six men was sent to Fort Providence to bring up the remaining supplies, and these returned on the 5th of March. Many of the caches of meat which had been buried early in the winter were found destroyed by the wolves, and some of these animals prowled nightly about the dwellings, even venturing upon the roof of their kitchen. The rations were reduced from eight to the short allowance of five ounces of animal food per day. On the 17th of March, Mr. Back returned from Fort Chipewyan, after an absence of nearly five months, during which he had performed a journey on foot of more than eleven hundred miles on snow shoes, with only the j slight shelter at night of a blanket and deer skin, with the thermometer frequently at 40° and once at 57°, and very | often passing several days without food. Some y%iij interesting traits of generosity on the part I of the Indians are recorded by Mr. Back. Often they gave up and would not taste of fish or birds which they caught with the touching remark, " We are accustomed to { starvation, and you are not.'* Such passageti as the following often occur in his nar* rative — " One of our men caught a fish, which, with the I assistance of some weed scraped from the rocks {tripe dt\ roche) which forms a glutinous substance, made us a tole- rable supper ; it was not of the most choice kind, yet good! enough for hungry men. While we were eating it, 1 1 perceived one of the women busily employed scraping anl old skin, the contents of which her husband presented ml with. They consisted of pounded moat, fat, and a greater! FRANKLIN S FITtST LAND EXPEDITION. 49 proportion of Indian's and deer's hair than either, and, though such a mixture may not appear very alluring to an English stomach, it wa s thought a great luxury after three days' privation in these cheerless regions of America." To return to the proceedings at Fort Enterprise. On the 23rd of March, the last of the winter's stock of deer's meat was expended, and the party were compelled to consume a little pounded meat, which had been saved for making pemmican. The nets scarcely produced any fish, and their meals, which had hitherto been scanty enough, were now restricted to one in the day. The poor Indian families about the house, consisting principally of sick and infirm women and children, suffered even more privation. They cleared away the snow on the site of the Autumn encampments to look for bones, deer's feet, bits of hide, and other offal. " When (says Frank- lin) we beheld them gnawing the pieces of hide, and pounding the bones for the purpose of extracting some nourishment from them by boiling, we regretted our inability to relieve them, but little thought that we should ourselves be afterwards driven to the necessity of eagerly collecting these same bones a second time from the dung- hill." On the 4th of June, 1821, a first party set off* from the winter quarters for Point Lake and the Coppermine Biver, under the charge of Dr. Bichardson, consisting, in all, voyageurs and Indians, of twenty-three, exclusive of children. Each of the men carried about 80 lbs., besides his own personal baggage, weighing nearly as much more. Some of the party dragged their loads on sledges, others preferred carrying their burden on their backs. On the 13th, Dr. Eichardson sent back most of the men ; and on the 14th Franklin despatched Mr. Wentzel and a party with the canoes, which had been repaired. Following the water-course as far as practicable to Winter Lake, Frank- iliii'iV'Tiiiiiiiwiii 50 PBOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOYEBY. lin followed liimself with Hepburn, three Canadians, two Indian hunters, and the two Esquimaux, and joined Dr. Bichardson on the 22nd. On the 25th they all resumed their journey, and, as they proceeded down the river, were fortunate in Ifilling occasionally several musk oxen. On the 15th they got a distinct view of the sea from the Bimimit of a hill ; it appeared choked with ice and full of islands. About this time they fell in with small parties of Esquimaux. On the 19th Mr. Wentzel departed on his return for Slave Lake, taking with him four Canadians, who had been discharged for the purpose of reducing the expendi- ture of provision as much as possible, and despatches to be forwarded to England. He was also instructed to cause the Indians to deposit a relay of provisions at Fort Enterprise, ready for the party should they return that way. The remainder of the party, including officers, amounted to twenty persons. The distance that had been traversed from Fort Enterprise to the mouth of the river was about 334 miles, and the canoes had to be dragged nearly 120 miles of this. Two conspicuous capes were named by Franklin after Heame and Mackenzie ; and a river which falls into the sea, to the westward of the Coppermine, he called after his companion, Bichardson. On the 21st of July, Franklin and his party embarked in their two canoes to navigate the Polar Sea to the east- ward, having with them provisions for fifteen days. On the 25th they doubled a bluff cape, which was named after Mr. Barrow, of the Admiralty. An opening on it8 eastern side received the appellation of Inman Harbour, and a group of islands were called after Professor Jameson. Within the next fortnight, additions were made to their stock of food by a few deer and one or two bears, which franklin's first land expedition. 51 were shot. Being less fortunate afterwards, and with no prospect of increasing their supply of provision, the daily- allowance to each man was limited to a handM of pem- mican and a small portion of portable soup. On the morning of the 6th of August they came to the mouth of a river blocked up with shoals, which Franklin named after his friend and comp>iiiion Back. The time spent in exploring Arctic and Melville Sounds and Bathurst Inlet, and the failure of meeting with Esqui- maux from whom provisions could be obtained, precluded any possibility of reaching Bepulse Bay, and therefore hav- ing but a day or two's provision left, Franklin considered it prudent to turn back after reaching Point Tumagain, having sailed nearly 600 geographical miles in tracing the deeply indented coast of Coronation Gulf from the Coppermine Eiver. On the 22d Aug. the return voyage was commenced, the boats making for Hood's Biver by the way of the Arctic Sound, and being taken as far up the stream as possible. On the 31st it was found impossible to proceed with them farther, and smaller canoes were made, suitable for crossing any of the rivers that might obstruct their progress. The weight carried by each man was about 90 lbs., and with this they progressed at the rate of a mile an hour, including rests. On the ^th of September, having nothing to eat, the last piece of pemmican and a little arrow-root having formed a scanty supper, and being without the means of making a fire, they remained in bed aU day. A severe snow-storm lasted two days, and the snow even drifted into their tents, covering their blankets several inches. " Our suffering (says Franklin) fk>m cold, in a comfort- less canvass tent in such weather, with the temperature at 20°, and without fire, will easily be imagined: it was, however, less than that which we felt from hunger." Weak from fasting and their garments stiffened with the e2 52 PBOGSESS OP ABCTIC DISCOVERY. frost, after packing their frozen tents and bedclothes the poor travellers again set out on the 7th. After feeding almost ezdusively on several species of Gyrophora, a lichen known as tripe de rochet which scarcely allayed the pangs of htinger, on the 10th " they got a good meal by killing a musk ox. To skin and cut up the animal was the work of a few minutes. The contents of its stomach were devoured upon the spot, and the raw intestines, which were next attacked, were pro- nounced by the most delicate amongst us to be excellent." Wearied and worn out with toil and suffering, many of the party got careless and indifferent. One of the canoes was broken and abandoned. With an improvidence scarcely to be credited, three of the fishing-nets were also thrown away, and the floats burnt. On the 17th they managed to allay the pangs of hunger by eating pieces of singed hide, and a little tripe de roche. This and some mosses, with an occasional soli- tary partridge formed their invariable food; on very many days even this scanty supply could not be obtained, and their appetites became ravenous. Occasionally they picked up pieces of skin, and a few bones of deer which had been devoured by the wolves in the previous spring. The bones were rendered friable by burning, and now and then their old shoes were added to the repast. On the 26th they reached a bend of the Coppermine, which terminated in Point Lake. The second canoe had been demolished and abandoned by the bearers on the 23rd, and they were thus left without any means of water transport across the lakes and river. On this day the carcass of a deer was discovered in the cleft of a rock, into which it had fallen in the spring. It was putrid, but little less acceptable to the poor starving travellers on that account; and a fire being kindled a large FRANKLINS FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. 53 portion was devoured on the spot, affording an unexpected breakfast. On the Ist of October one of the party, who had been out hunting, brought in the antlers and backbone of another deer, which had been killed in the summer. The wolves and birds of prey had picked them clean, but there stiU remained a ouantity of the spinal marrow, which they had not been able to extract. This, although putrid, was esteemed a valuable prize, and the spine being divided into portions was distributed equally. " After eating the marrow (says Franklin), which was so acrid as to excoriate the lips, we rendered the bones friable by burning, and ate them also." The strength of the whole party now began to fail, from the privation and fatigue which they endured. Franklin was in a dreadfully debilitated state. Mr. Hood was also reduced to a perfect shadow, from the severe bowel'Complaints which the tri^e de roche never failed to give him. Back was so feeble as to require the support of a stick in walking, and Dr. Eichardson had lameness superadded to weakness. A rude canoe was constructed of willows, covered with canvass, in which the party, one by one, managed to reach in safety the southern bank of the river on the 4th of October, and went supperless to bed. On the follow- ing morning, previous to setting out, the whole party ate the remains of their old shoes, and whatever scraps of leather they had, to strengthen their stomachs for the fatigue of the day's journey. Mr. Hood now broke down, as did two or three more of the party, and Dr. Bichardson kindly volunteered to remain with them, while the rest pushed on to Fort Enterprise for succour. Not being able to find any tripe de rochet they drank an infusion of the Labrador tea- plant (Ledrum palustrct var. decumhens)^ and ate a few IHtti&^fHMiiiMNHWMta-' 114 PROQRESS OF ABCTIC PISCOVERY. morsels of burnt leather for supper. This continued to be a frequent occurrence. Others of the party continued to drop down with fatigue and weakness, until they were reduced to five per- sons, besides Franklin. When they had no food or nourishment of any kind, they crept under their blankets, to drown, if possible, the gnawing pangs of hunger and fatigue by sleep. At length they reached Fort Enter- prise, and to their disappoinianent and grief found it a perfectly desolate habitation. There was no deposit of provision, no trace of the Indians, no letter from Mr. Wentzel to point out where the Indians might be found. " It would be impossible (says Franklin) to describe our sensations after entering this miserable abode, and dis- covering how we had been neglected: the whole party shed tears, not so much for our own fate as for that of our friends in the rear, whose lives depended entirely on our sending immediate relief from this place." A note, how- ever, was found here from Mr. Back, stating that he had reached the house by another route two days before, and was going in search of the Indians. If he was unsuccess- ftd in finding them, he purposed walking to Fort Provi- dence, and sending succour from thence, but he doubted whether either he or his party could perform the journey to that place in their present debilitated state. Franklin and his small party now looked round for some means of present subsistence, and fortunately discovered several deer skins, which had been thrown away during their former residence here. The bones were gathered from the heap of ashes; these, with the skins and the addition of tfipe de roche, they considered would support life tolerably well for a short time. The oones were quite acrid, and the soup extracted from them, quite putrid, excoriated the mouth if taken alone, but it was somewhat milder when boiled with the lichen, and the mixture was even deemed franklin's first land expedition. 55 palatable with a Httle salt, of wMcli a cask had been left here in the spring. They procured fuel by pulling up the flooring of the rooms, and water for cooking by melting the snow. Augustus arrived safe after them, just as they were sitting round the fire eating their supper of singed skin. Late on the I3th, Belanger also reached the house, with a note from Mr. Back, stating that he had yet found no trace of the Indians. The poor messenger was almost speechless, being covered with ice and nearly frozen to death, having fallen into a rapid, and for the third time since the party left the coast narrowly escaped drowning. After being well rubbed, having had his dress changed, and some warm soup given him, he recovered sufficiently to answer the questions put to him. Under the impression that the Indians must be on their way to Fort Providence, and that it would be possible to overtake them, as they usually travelled slowly with their families, and there being likewise a prospect of killing deer about Beindeer Lake, where they had been usually found abundant, Franklin determined to take the route for that post, and sent word to Mr. Back by Belanger to that effect on the 18th. On the 20th Oct. Franklin set out in company with Benoit and Augustus to seek relief, having patched three pairs of snow shoes, and taken some smged skin for theur support. Peltier and Samandre had volunteered to remain at the house with Adam, who was too ill to proceed. They were so feeble as scarcely to be able to move. Augustus, the Esquimaux, tried for fish, without success, so that their only fare was skin and tea. At night, composing them- selves to rest, they lay close to each other for warmth, but found the night bitterly cold, and the wind pierced through their famished frames. On resuming the journey next morning, Franklin had 56 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. JJ'K,, the misfortune to break his snow-shoes, by falling between two rocks. This accident prevented him from keeping pace with the others, and in the attempt he became quite exhausted; unwilling to delay their progress, as the safety of all behind depended on their obtaining early assistance and immediate supplies, Franklin resolved to turn back, while the others pushed on to meet Mr. Back, or, missing him, they were directed to proceed to Fort Pro- vidence. Franklin found the two Canadians he had left at the house dreadfully weak and reduced, and so low-spirited that he had great difficulty in rallying them to any exertion. As the insides of their mouths had become sore from eating the bone-soup, they now relinquished the use of it, and boiled the skin, which mode of dressing was found more palatable than frying it. They had pulled down nearly all their dwelling for fuel, to warm themselves and cook their scanty meals. The trvpe de roche, on which they had depended, now became entirely frozen ; and what was more tantalizing to their perishing frames, was the sight of food within reach, which they could not pro- cure. " We saw (says Franklin) a herd of rein-deer sporting on the river, about half a mile from the house ; they remained there a long time, but none of the party felt themselves strong enough to go after them, nor was there one of us who could have fired a gun without rest- ing it." Whilst they were seated round the fire this evening, discoursing about the anticipated relief, the sound of voices was heard, which was thought with joy to be that of the Indians, but, to their bitter disappointment, the debilitated frames and emaciated countenances of Dr. Hichardson and Hepburn presented themselves at the door. They were of course gladly received, although each marked the ravages which famine, care, and fatigue had made on the other. The Doctor particularly remarked the sepulchral FRANKLIN S FIBST LAND EXPEDITION. 57 tone of the voices of his friends, which he requested them to make more cheerfU if possible, unconscious that his own partook of the same key. Hepburn having shot a partridge, which was brought to the house, Dr. Bichardson tore out the feathers, and having held it to the fire a few minutes, divided it into six portions. Franklin and his three companions ravenously devoured their shares, as it was the first morsel of flesh any of them had tasted for thirty-one days, unless, indeed, the small gristly particles which they found adhering to the pounded bones may be termed flesh. Their spirits were revived by this small supply, and the Doctor endea- voured to raise them stiU higher by the prospect of Hep- bum's being able to kill a deer next day, as they had seen, and even fired at, several near the house. He endeavoured, too, to rouse them into some attention to the comfort of their apartment. Having brought his Prayer-book and Testament, some prayers, psahns, and portions of scrip- ture, appropriate to their situation, were read out by Dr. Bichardson, and they retired to their blankets. Early next morning, the Doctor and Hepburn went out in search of game ; but though they saw several herds of deer, and fired some shots, they were not so for- tunate as to kill any, being too weak to hold their guns steadily. The cold compelled the former to return soon, but Hepburn perseveringly persisted until late in the evening. " My occupation (continues Franklin) was to search for skins under the snow, it being now our object immediately to get all that we could ; but I had not strength to drag in more than two of those which were within twenty yards of the house, until the Doctor came and assisted me. We made up our stock to twenty-six; but several of them were putrid, and scarcely eatable, even by men sufifering the extremity of famine. Peltier and Samandre continued 6S PROQRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. rery weak and dispirited, and they were unable i<; ;i"?; firewood. Hepburn had, in consequence, that laborious task to perform after he came back late from hunting." To the exertions, honesty, kindness, and consideration of this worthy man, the safety of most of the party is to be attributed. And I may here mention that Sir John Franklin, when he became governor of Yan Piemen's Land, obtained for him a good civil appointment. This deserv- ing man, I am informed by Mr. Barrow, is now in Eng. land, having lost his office, which, I believe, has been abolished. It is to be hoped something will be done for him by the government. After their usual supper of singed skin and bone soup. Dr. Bichardson acquainted Franklin with the events that had transpired since their parting, particularly with the afflicting circumstances attending the death of Mr. Hood, and Michel, the Iroquois ; the particulars of which I shall now proceed to condense from his narrative. After Captain Franklin had bidden them farewell, having no tripe de roche they drank an infusion of the country tea plant, which was grateful from its warmth, although it afibrded no sustenance. 'They then retired to bed, and kept to their blankets all next day, as the snow drift was so heavy as to prevent their lighting a fire with the green and frozen willows, which were their only fiiel. Through the extreme kindness and forethought of a lady, the party, previous to leaving London, had been furnished with a small collection of religious books, of which (says Richardson) we still retained two or three of the most portable, and they proved of incalculable benefit to us. " We read portions of them to each other as we lay in bed, in addition to the morning and evening service, and found that they inspired us on each perusal with so strong a sense of the Omnipresence of a beneficent God, that our FRANKLINS FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. A9 situation, even in these wilds, appeared no longer destitute; and we conversed not only witiii calmness, but with cheer- fulness, detailing with unrestrained confidence the past events of our lives, and dwelling with hope on our future prospects." How beautiAil a picture have we here repre- sented, of true piety and resignation to the Divine Will inducing patience and submission under an unexampled load of misery and privation. Michel the Iroquois joined them on the 9th Oct., having, there is strong reason to believe, murdered two of the Canadians who were with him, Jean Baptiste Belanger and Perrault, as they were never seen afterwards, and he gave so many rambling and contradictory statements of his proceedings, that no credit could be attached to his story. The travellers proceeded on their tedious journey by slow stages. Mr. Hood was much affected with dimness of sight, giddiness, and other symptoms of extreme debi- lity, which caused them to move slowly and to make fre- quent halts. Michel absented himself all day of the 10th, and only arrived at their encampment near the pines late on the 11th. He reported that he had been in chase of some deer which passed near his sleeping place in the morning, and although he did not come up with them, yet that he found a wolf which had been killed by the stroke of a deer's horn, and had brought a part of it. Eichardson adds — "We impUcitly believed this story then, but afterwards became aware — from circumstances, the details of which may be spared — ^that it must hav6 been a portion of the body of Belanger or Perrault. A question of moment here presents itself— namely, whether he actually murdered these men, or either of them, or whether he found the bodies in the snow. Captain Franklin, who is the best able to judge of this matter, from knowing their situation when he parted from them, 60 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. suggested the former idea, and that both these men had been sacrificed; that Michel, having already destroyed Belanger, completed his crime by Perrault's death, in order to screen himself from detection." Although this opinion is founded only on circumstances, and is unsupported by direct evidence, it has been judged proper to mention it, especially as the subsequent conduct of the man showed that he was capable of committing such a deed. It is not easy to assign any other adequate mo* tive for his concealing &om Richardson that Perrault iiad turned back ; while his request, over-night, that they would leave him the hatchet, and his cumbering himself with it when he went out in the morning, unlike a hunter, who makes use only of his knife when he kills a deer, seem to indicate that he took it for the purpose of cutting up some- thing that he knew to be frozen. Michel left them early next day, refusing Dr. Richard- son's offer to accompany him, and remained out all day. He would not sleep in the tent with the other two at night. On the 13th, there being a heavy gnle, they passed the day by their fire, without food. Next day, at noon, Michel set out, as he said, to hunt, but returned unexpectedly in a short time. This conduct surprised his companions, and his contradictory and evasive answers to their questions excited their suspicions still further. He subsequently re- fused either to hunt or out wood, spoke in a very surly manner, and threatened to leave them. When reasoned *with by Mr. Hood, his anger was excited, and he repUed it was no use hunting — there were no animals, and they had better kill and eat him. '• At this period," observes Dr. Bichardson, " we avoided H? much as possible conversing upon the hopelessness of our situation, and generally endeavoured to lead the cor- versation towards our future prospects in life. The fact is, that with the decay of our strength, our minds decayed, franklin's first land expedition. 61 5 men liad destroyed death, in lunstances, een judged int conduct titting sucli equate mo- 'errault iiad they would Qself with it hunter, who eer, seem to ng up some- Dr. Bichard- l out all day. two at night, assedtheday lOon, Michel 5xpectedlyin ' ipanions, and ieir questions sequentlyre- a very surly _ien reasoned ind he rephed and they had , •* we avoided opelessnesfl of lead the cou* The fact is, Linds decayed, and we were no longer able to bear the contemplation of the horrors that surrounded us. Yet we were calm and resigned to our fate; not a murmur escaped us, and we were punctual and fervent in our addresses to the Supreme Bemg." On the morning of the 20th, they again urged Michel to go a-hunting, that he might, if possible, leave them some provision, as he intended quitting them next day, but he showed great unwillingness to go out, and lingered about the fire under the pretence of cleaning his gun. After the morning service had been read. Dr. Bichardson went out to gather some tripe de roche, leaving Mr. Hood sitting before the tent at the fireside, arguing with Michel; Hepburn was employed cutting fire-wood. While they were thus engaged, the treacherous Iroquois took the opportunity to place his gun close to Mr. Hood, and shoot him through the head. He represented to his companions that the deceased had killed himself. On examination of the body, it was found that the shot had entered the back part of the head and passed out at the forehead, and that the muzzle of the gun had been applied so close as to set fire to the nightcap behind. Michel protested his inno- cence of the crime, and Hepburn and Dr. Eichardson dared not openly to evince their suspicion of his guilt. Next day, Dr. Eichardson determined on going straight to the Fort. They singed the hair off a part of the buffalo robe that belonged to their ill-fated companion, and boiled and ate it. In the course of their march, Michel alarmed them much by his gestures and conduct, was constantly muttering to himself, expressed an unwillingness to go to the Fort, and tried to persuade them to go south- ward to the woods, where he said he could maintain himself all the v inter by killing deer. *' In consequence of this behaviour, and the expression of his countenance, I requested him (says Eichardson) to leave us, and to go to ) |i tmw i i i>iMiiii(iii I I ^ 62 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. '>.\ the southward by himself. This proposal increased his ill- nature ; he threw out some obscure hints of freeing him- self from all restraint on the morrow ; and I overheard him muttering threats against Hepburn, whom he openly accused of having told stories against him. He also, for the first time, assumed such a tone of superiority in addressing me, as evinced that he considered us to be completely in his power ; and he gave vent to several ex- pressions of hatred towards the white people, some of whom, he said, had killed and eaten his uncle and two of his relations. In short, taking every circumstance of his conduct into consideration, I came to the conclusion that he would attempt to destroy us on the first opportunity that ofiered, and that he had hitherto abstained from doin^ so from his ignorance of his way to the Fort, but that he would never suffer us to go thither in company with him. Hepburn and I were not in a condition to resist even an open attack, nor could we by any device escape from him — our united strength was far inferior to his; and, beside his gun, he was armed with two pistols, an Indian bayonet, and a knife. " In the afternoon, coming to a rock on which there was some tripe de roche, he halted, and said he would gather it whilst we went on, and that he would soon overtake us. " Hepburn and I were now left together for the first time since Mr. Hood's death, and be acquainted me with ueveral material circumstances, which he had observed of Michel's behaviour, and which confirmed mo in the opinion that there was no safety for ub except in his death, and he offered to be the instrument of it. I determined, how ever, as I was thoroughly convinced of the necessity of | such a dreadful act, to take the whole responsibility upon myself; and immediately upon Michel's coming up, I put an end to his life by shooting him through the head with a pistol. Had my own life alone been threatciied (observes FRANKLIN S FIRST LAND EXPEDITION. Eichardson, in conclusion), I woold not have purchased it by such a measure, but I considered myself as entrusted also with the protection of Hepburn's, a man who, by his humane attentions ajbui devotedness, had so endeared himself to me, that I felt more anxiety for his safety than for my own. " Michel had gathered no tripe de rochcy and it was evi- dent to us that he had halted for the purpose of putting his gun in order with the intention of attacking us — ^perhaps whilst we were in the act of encamping." Persevering onward in their journey as well as the snow- storms and their feeble limbs would permit, they saw several herds of deer, but Hepburn, who used to be a good marks- man, was now unable to hold the gun straight. Following the track of a wolverine which had been dragging something, he however found the spine of a deer which it had dropped. It was clean picked, and at least one season old, but they extracted the spin<»l marrow from it. A species of comicularia, a kind of lichen, was also met with, that was found good to eat when moistened and toasted over the fire. They had still some pi^-es of singed buffalo-hide remaining, and Hepburn, o., ono occasion, killed a partridge, after firing several tin eg it a flock. About dusk of the 29th they reached t] ; Foct. " Upon entering the desolate dwelling, we ha J ':h? satis- faction of embracing Captain Franklin, but -no v^^O'iL can convey an idea of the filth and wretchedness tha^ met our eyes on looking around. Our own misery had stc Ion upon us by degrees, and we were accustomed to the contempla- tion of each other's emaciated figures ; but the ghastly countenances, dilated eye-balls, and sepulchral voices oi Captain Franklin and those with him were more than we could at first bear.*' Thus ends the narrative of Bichardson's journey. To resume the detail of proceedings at the Fort. On 64 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DIStOVERY. 1 M ffe.llA flh'H ■^ B" WMX' mt fSsi m ■Hi' HKIi 11 H' !•' ft]. LJiliii< the 1st of November two of the Canadians, Peltier and Samandre, died from sheer exhaustion. On the 7th of NoTvimber they were relieved from their privations and sufferings by the arrival of three Indians, bringing a supply of dried meat, some fat, and a few tongues, which had been sent off by Back with all haste from Akaitcho's encampment on the 5th. These Indians nursed and attended them with the greatest care, cleansed the house, collected fire-wood, and studied every means for their general comfort. Their sufferings were now at an end. On the 26th of November they arrived at the encampment of the Indian chief, Akaitcho. On the 6th of December, Belanger and another Canadian arrived, bringing farther supplies, and letters from England, from Mr. Back, and their former companion, Mr. Wentzel. The despatches from England announced the successful termination of Captain Parry's voyage, and the promotion of Captain Franklin, Mr. Back, and of poor Mr. Hood. On the 18th they reached the Hudson's Bay Company's establishment at Moose Deer Island, where they joined their friend Mr. Back. They remained at Fort Chipewyan until June of the following year. It is now necessary to relate the story of Mr. Back's journey, which, like the rest, is a sad tale of suffering and privation. Having been directed on the 4th of October, 1821, to proceed with St. Germain, Belanger, and Beauparlant to Fort Enterprise, in the hopes of obtaining relief for the party, he set out. Up to the 7th they met with a little tripe de roche, but this failing them they were compelled i to satisfy, or rather allay, the cravings of hunger, by eating | a gun-cover and a pair of old shoes. The grievous dis- appointment experienced on arriving at the house, and| finding it a deserted niin, cannot bo told. FBANKLIN S FIRST LAND EXPEDITION". 65 " Without the ajsaistance of the Indians, bereft of every resource, we felt ourselves (says Mr. Back) reduced to the most miserable state, which was rendered still worse from the recollection that our friends in the rear were as miserable as ourselves. For the moment, however, hunger prevailed, and each began to gnaw the scraps of putrid and frozen meat and skin that were lying about, without waiting to prepare them." A fire was, however, afterwards made, and the neck and bones of a deer found in the house were boiled and devoured. After resting a day at the house, Mr. Back pushed on with his companions in search of the Indians, leaving a note for Captain Franklin, informing him if he failed in meeting with the Indians, he intended to push on for the first trading establishment — distant about 130 miles — and send us succour from thence. On the 11th he set out on the journey, a few old skins having been first collected to serve as food. On the 13th and 14th of October they had nothing what- ever to eat. Belanger was sent ofi* with a note to Franklin. On the 15th they were fortunate enough to fall in with a partridge, the bones of which were eaten, and the remain- der reserved for bait to fish with. Enougii Inpe de roche was, however, gathered to make a modL Beauparlant now lingered behind, worn out by extreme weakness. On the 17th a number of crows, perched on some high pines, led them to believe that some carrion was near; and on searching, several heads of deer, half buried in the snow and ice, without eyes or tongues, wore found. An expression of " Oh, merciful God, we are saved," broke from them both, and with feelings more easily imagined than described, they shook hands, not knowing what to say for joy. St. Germain was sent> back to bring up Beauparlont, P m^»mm»mmmuf>» 66 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. n ■!•%• VI if Wi r'lifciir for wliose safety Back becams very anxious, but he found the poor fellow frozen to death. The night of the 17th was cold and clear, but they could get no sleep. " From the pains of having eaten, we suffered (observes Back) the most excruciatinjy tor- ments, though I in particular did not eat a quarter of what would have satisfied me ; it might have been from having eaten a quantity of raw or frozen sinews of the legs of d?er, which neither of us could avoid doing, so great was oi'. • hunger." On the following day Belanger returned famishing with hi iiger, and told of the pitiable state of Foanklin and his r( iuced party. Back, both this day and the next, tried to Xkvge on his companions towards the object of their j M.iiney, but he could not conquer their stubborn deter- minations. They said they were unable to proceed from weakness ; knew not the way -, that Back wanted to expose them again to death, and in fact loitered greedily about i;he remnants of the deer till the end of the month. " It was not without the greatest difficulty that I could restrain the men from eating every scrap they found : though they were well aware of the necessity there was of being eco- nomical in our present situation, and to save whatever they could for our journey, yet they could not resist the temptatiorti and whenever my back was tumeil they seldom failed t'; snatch at the nearest piece to them, whether cooked or ro V. Having co^locter'. with great care, and by self- denial, two small pack( C8 ot dried Tneat or sinews sufficient (for men who knew wiiat it was to fast) to last for eight days, at the rate of one indifferent meal per day, they sf^t out on the 30th. On the 3rd of November they came ou tne track of Indians, and soon reached the tents of Akaitcho and his followers, when food was obtained, and assistance sent off to Franklin. In July they reached York Factory, from whence they PARRY S FIRST VOYAGE. 67 he found but they ig eaten, itins; tor- l^uarter of been from the legs of great was shing with iin and his xt, tried to ;t of their bom deter- oceed from d to expose sedily about onth. "It uld restrain hough tbey being eco- e whatever ot resist the they seldom jther cooked ind by self- !ws sufficient ast for eight lay, they s^t Ley came on [he tents of [btained, and rhence they had startedthree yearsbefore,and thus terminateda journey of 5550 miles, during which human courage and patience were exposed to trials such as few can bear with fortitude, unless, as is seen in Franklin's interesting narrative, arising out of reliance on the ever-sustaining care of an Almighty Providence. Paeby's First Voyage, 1819—1820. The Admiralty having determined to continue the pro- gress of discovery in the Arctic seas, Lieut. W. E. Parry, who had been second in command imder Capt. Boss, in the voyage of the previous year, was selected to take charge of a new expedition, consisting of the Secla and Griper. The chief object of this voyage was to pursue the survey of Lancaster Sound, and decide on the proba- bihty of a north-west passage in that direction; failing in which. Smith's and .Tones's Sounds were to bo explored, with the same purpose in view. The respective officers appointed to the ships, were — Hecla, 375 tons : Lieut, and Commander — W. E. Parry. Lieutenant — Fred. W. Beechey. Captain — E. Sabine, R.A., Astronocer. Purser — W. H. Hooper. Surgeon — John Edwards. Assistant- Surgeon — Alexander Fisher. Midshipmen — James Clarice Boss, J . Nias, W. J. Dealy, Charles Palmer, John Bushnan. Greenland Pilots— J. Allison, master; G. Crawfurd, mate. 44 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. Total complement, 58. r2 ^S^Mi p"*-*-— ' 68 PBOGBESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. GripeTi 180 tons : lieut. and Commander — ^Matthew Liddon. Lieutenant — H. P. Hoppner. Assistant-Surgeon-^C. J. Beveriey. Midshipmen — A. Eeid, A. M. Skene, W. N. Griffiths. Greenland Pilots — George Fyfe, master; A. Elder, mate. 28 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. Total complement, 36. The ships were raised upon, strengthened, and well found in stores and proTisions for two years. On the 11th of May, 1819, they got away from the Thames, and after a fair passage feU in with a considerable quantity of ice in the middle of Davis Straits about the 20th of June ; it consisted chiefly of fragments of icebergs, on the out- skirts of the glaciers that form along the shore. After a tedious passage through the floes of ice, efiected chiefly by heaving and warping, they arrived at Possession Bay on the morning of the 31st of July, being just a month earlier than they were here on the previous year. As many as fifty whales were seen here in the course of a few hours. On landing, they were not a little astonished to find their own footprints of the previous year still distinctly visible in the snow. During an excursion of three or four miles into the interior, a fox, a raven, several ring-plovers and snow - buntings, were seen, as alno a bee, from which it may be inferred that honey is to be procured even in these wild regions. Vegetation flourishes remarkably well here, con- siderinff the high latitude, for wherever there was moisture tufts and various ground plants grew in considerable abundance. Proceeding on from hence into the Sound, they verified the opinion which had previously been entertained by parry's first voyage. 69 many of the officers, that the CroJcer Mountains had no existence, for on the 4th of August the ships were in long. 86° 56' W., three degrees to the westward of where land had been laid down by Boss in the previous year. The strait was named after Sir John Barrow, and was found to be pretty clear ; but on reaching Leopold Island, the ice extended in a compact body to the north, through which it was impossible to penetrate. !Rather than remain inactive, waiting for the dissolution of the ice, Parry determined to try what could be done by shaping his coarse to the southward, through the magnificent inlet now named Eegen^j Inlet. About the 6th of August, in consequence of the local attraction, the ordinary com- passes became useless from their great variation, and the binnacles were removed from the deck to the carpenter's store-room as useless lumber, the azimuth compasses alone remaining \ and these became so sluggish in their motions, that they required to be very nicely levelled, and frequently tapped before the card traversed. The local attraction was very great, and & mass of iron-stone found on shore attracted the magnet powerfully. The ships proceeded 120 miles from the entrance. On the 8th of August, in lat. 72° 13' N., and long. 90° 29' W., (his extreme point of view Parry named Cape Kater), the Secla came to a compact barrier of ice extend- ing across the inlet, which rendered one of two alternatives necessary, either to remain here until an opening took place, or to return again to the northward. The latter course was determined on. Making, therefore, for the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, on the 20th a narrow channel was discovered between the ice and the land. On the 22nd, proceeding due west, after passing several bays and headlands, they noticed two large openings or passages, the first of which, more than eight leagues in width, he named Wellington Channel. To various capes, inlets, and 10 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. groups of islands passed, Parry assigned the names of Hotham, Barlow, Comwallis, Bowen, Byam Martin, Griffith, Lowther, Bathurst, &c. On the 28th a boat was sent on shore at Byam Martin Island with Capt. Sabine, Mr. J. C. Boss, and the surgeons, to make observations, and collect specimens of natural history. The vegetation was rather luxuriant for these regions; moss in particular grew in abundance in the moist valleys and along the banks of the streams that flowed from the hills. The ruins of six Esquimaux huts were observed. Tracks of rein-deer, bears, and musk oxen were noticed, and the skeletons, skulls, and horns of some of these animals were found. On the 1st of September, they discovered the large and fine island, to which Parry has given the name of Melville Island after the First Lord of the Admiralty of that day. On the following day, two boats with a party of officers were despatched to examine its shores. Some rein-deer and musk oxen were seen on landing, but being startled by the sight of a dog, it was found impossible to get near them. There seemed here to be a great quantity of the animal tribe, for the tracks of bears, oxen, and deer were numerous, and the horns, skin, and skulls were also found. The burrows of foxes and field-mice were observed; several ptarmigan were shot, and flocks of snow-bunting, geese, and ducks, were noticed, probably commencing their migration to a milder cHmate. Along the beach there was an immense number of small shrimps, and various kinds of shells. On the 4th of September, Parry had the satisfaction of crossing the meridian of 110° W. in the latitude of 74° 44' 20", by which the expedition became entitled to the reward of 5000/., granted by an order in Council upon the Act 58 Geo. III., cap. 20, entitled " An Act for more eflectually discovering the longitude at sea, and encou- parry's first voyage. 71 raging attempts to find a northern passage between tlie Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to approach the North Pole." This fact was not announced to the crews until the following day ; to celebrate the event they gave to a bold cape of the island then in sight the name of Boimty Cape ; and so anxious were they now to press for- ward,that they began to calculate the time when they should reach the longitude of 130° W., the second place specified by the order in Council for reward. On tb ' afternoon of the 5th, the compactness of the ice stop^ them, and therefore, for the first time since leaving England, the anchor was let go, and that in 110° W. longitude. A boat was sent on shore on the 6th to procure turf or peat for fiiel, and, strangely enough, some small pieces of tolerably good coal were found in various places scattered over the surface. A party of officers that w^ent on shore on the 8th killed several grouse on the island, and a white hare ; a fox, some field mice, several snow-bunting, a snowy owl, and four musk oxen were seen. Ducks, in small flocks, were seen along the shore, as well as several glaucous guUs and tern ; and a solitary seal was observed. As the ships w^re coasting along on the 7th, two herds of musk oxeTi were seen grazing, at the distance of about three-quarters of a mile from the beach : one herd con- sisted of nine, and the other of five of these cattle. They had also a distant view of two rein-deer. The average weight of the hares here is about eight pounds. Mr. Fisher the surgeon, from whose interesting journal I quote, states that it is very evident that this island must be frequented, if not constantly inhabited, by musk oxen in great numbers, for their bones and horns are found scattered about in all directions, and the greatest part of the carcase of one was discovered on one occasion. The skulls of two carnivorous animals, a wolf and a lynx, were also picked up here. A party sent to gather coak IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !^>^ 1^ 1.1 i.-^KS I P% FhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STillT WnSTIR.N.Y. I4SM (7U) t73-4S03 ^^2'^ ^^<^' 4> 72 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. brought on board abont half a bushel-^all they could obtain. On the morning of the 10th, Mr. G^eorge Fyfe, the master pilot, with a party of six men belonging to the Griper, landed with a yiew of making an exploring trip of some fifteen or twenty miles into the interior. They only took proyisions for a day with them. Great uneasiness was felt that they did not return ; and when two days elapsed, fears began to be entertained for their safety, and it was thought they must have lost their way. Messrs. Seid (midshipman), Beverley (assistant-sur- geon), and Wakeham (clerk), volunteered to go in search of their missing messmates, but themselves lost their way ; guided by the rockets, fires, and lights exhibited, they returned by ten at night, almost exhausted with cold and fatigue, but without intelligence of their friends. Four relief parties were therefore organized, and sent out on the morning of the 13th to prosecute the search, and one of them fell in with and brought back four of the wan- derers, and another the remaining three before nightfall. The feet of most of them were much frost-bitten, and they were all wearied and worn out with their wanderings. It appears they had lost their way the evening of the day they went out. With regard to food, they were by no means badly off, for they managed to kill as many grouse as they could eat. They found fertile vallies and level plains in the interior, abounding with grass and moss ; also a lake of ft«sh water, about two miles long by one broad, in which were several species of trout. They saw several herds of rein-deer on the plains, and two elk; also many hares, but no musk oxen. Some of those, however, who had been in search of the stray party, noticed herds of these cattle. The winter now began to set in, and the packed ice was •o thick, that fears were entertained of being locked up in PARRT*S FIBST TOYAOE. 73 Bould laster Bome ^took B was it was nt-sur- aettTch b their libited, ith cold friends. jeixt out )Il, and Ihewan- ^ghtfall. in, and lerings. [the day by no grouBO iterioT, water, iBeyeral Leer on musk searob ioe was up in an exposed position on »he coast ; it was, therefore, thought most prudent to put back, and endeavour to reach the harbour which had been passed some days before. The vessels now got seriously buffeted among Ihe floM and hummocks of ice. The Oriper was forced aground on the beach, and for some time was in a very critical position. Lieutenant Liddon having been confined to his cabin by a rheumatic complaint, was pressed at this juncture by Commander Parry to allow himself to be removed to the Hecla, but he nobly refused, stating that he should be the last to leave the ship, and continued giving orders. The beach being sand, the Griper was got off without injury. On the 23rd of September they anchored off the mouth of the harbour, and the thermometer now fell to 1°, The crew were set to work to cut a channel through the ice to the shore, and in the course of three days, a canal, two and a half miles in length, was completed, through which the vessel was tracked. The ice was eight or nine inches thick. An extra allowance of preserved meat was served out to the men, in consideration of their hard labour. The vessels were unrigged, and everything made snug and secure for passing the winter. Captain Parry gave the name of the T^orth Georgian Islands to this group, after his Majesty, King George III., but this has since been changed to the Parry Islands. Two reindeer were killed on the 1st of October, and several white bears were seen. On the 6th a deer was killed, which weighed 170 pounds. Seven were seen on the 10th, one of which was killed, and another severely wounded. Following after this animal, night overtook several of the sportsmen, and the usual signals of rockets, lights, &Q. were exhibited, to guide them back. One, John Pearson, a marine, had his hands so fVost-bitten that he was obliged, on the 2nd of November, to have the four fingers of his left hand amputated. A wolf and four rein- u PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. deer were seen on the 14t]i. A herd of fifteen deer were seen on the 16th ; but those who saw them could not bring down any, as their fowling-pieces missed fire, from the moisture freezing on the locks. On the 17th and 18th herds of eleven and twenty respectively, were seen, and a small one was shot. A fox was caught on the 29th, which is described as equally cunning with his brethren of the temperate regions. To make the long winter pass as cheerfully as possible, plays were acted, a school established, and a newspaper set on foot, certainly the first periodical publication that had ever issued from the Arctic regions. The title of this journal, the editorial duties of which were undertaken by Captain Sabine, was " The Winter Chronicle, or New Georgia Gazette." The first number appeared on the 1st of November. On the evening of the 6th of November the farce of " Miss in her Teens" was brought out, to the great amusement of the ships' companies, and, considering the local difficulties and disadvantages under which the per- formers laboured, their first essay, according to the officers' report, did them infinite credit. Two hours were spent very happily in their theatre on the quarter-deck, notwith- standing the thermometer outside the ship stood at zero, and within as low as the freezing point, except close to the stoves, where it was a little higher. Another play was performed on the 24th, and so on every fortnight. The men were employed during the day in banking up the ships with snow. On the 23rd of December, the officers performed " The Mayor of Garratt," which was followed by an after-piece, written by Captain Parry, entitled the " North-West Pas- sage, or the Voyage Finished." The sun having lon(jf since departed, the twilight at noon was so clear that books in the smallest print could be distinctly read. PARRY S FIRST VOYAGE. 75 3er were Lot bring rom the md 18th m, and a ih, which 311 of the possible, lewspaper ation that Ltle of this irtaVen by , or New on the Ist e farce of the great dering the the per- he officers' ere spent :, notwith- ,d at zero, it close to ir play was tght. The ig up the led " The ifter-piece, [West Pas- iving long I clear that 3ad. On the 6th of January, the farce of " Bon Ton" was performed, with the thermometer at 27° below zero. The cold became more and more intense. On the 12th it was 51° below zero, in the open air; brandy froze to the consistency of honey ; when tasted in this state it left a smarting on the tongue. The greatest cold experienced was on the 14th January, when the thermometer fell to 64° below zero. On the 3rd of February, the sun was first visible above the horizon, after eighty-four days* absence. It was seen from the maintop of the ships, a height of about fifby-one feet above the sea. On the forenoon of the 24th a fire broke out at the storehouse, which was used as an observatory. All hands proceeded to the spot to endeavour to subdue the flames, but having only snow to throw on it, and the mats with which the interior was lined being very dry, it was found impossible to extinguish it. The snow, however, covered the astronomical instruments and secured them from the fire, and when the roo^ had been pulled down the fire had burned itself out. Considerable as the fire was, its infiaence or heat extended but a very short distance, for several of the officers and men were frost-bitten, and confined from their efforts for sevextd weeks. John Smith, of the Artillery, who was Captain Sabine's servant, and who, together with Sergeant Martin, happened to be in the house at the time the fire broke out, suffered much more severely. In their anxiety to save the dipping needle, which was standing close to the stove, and of which they knew the value, they imme- diately ran out with it ; and Smith not having time to put on his gloves, had his fingers in half an hour so benumbed, and the animation so completely suspended, that on his being taken on board by Mr. Edwards, and having his hands plunged into a basin of cold water, the surface of the water was immediately frozen by the intense cold 76 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. thus suddenly commmiicated to it ; and notwithstanding the most hfimane and unremitting attention paid him by the medical gentlemen, it was found necessary, some time after, to resort to the amputation of a part of four fingers on one hand, and three on the other. Parry adds, " the appearance which our faces presented at the fire was a curious one ; almost every nose and cheek having become quite white with frost bites, in five minutes after being exposed to the weather, so that it was deemed necessary for the medical gentlemen, together with some others appointed to assist them, to go constantly round while the men were working at the fire, and to rub with snow the parts afiected, in order to restore animation." The weather got considerably milder in March ; on the 6th the thermometer got up to zero for the first time since the 17th of December. The observatory house on shore was now rebuilt. The vapour, which had been in a solid state on the ship's sides, now thawed below, and the crew, scraping oil' the coating of ice, removed on the 8th of March above a hundred bucketsfuU each, containing from five to six gallons, which had accumulated in less than a month, occasioned principally from the men's breath, and the steam of victuals at meals. The scurvy now broke out among the crew, and prompt measures were taken to remedy it. Captain Parry took great pains to raise mustard and cress in his cabin for the men's use. On the 30th of April the thermometer stood at the freezing point, which it had not done since the 12th of September last. On the 1st of May the sun was seen at midnight for the first time that season. A survey was now taken of the provisions, fuel, and stores; much of the lemon juice was found destroyed from the bursting of the bottles by the frost. Having PABRT*S FIB8T VOTAGB. 77 banding lid him J, some of four resented ad cheek I minutes I deemed Lth some [iy round itib with lotion." 1 J on the time since ) ou shore Lte on the , scraping [of March ,m five to a month} and the id prompt >arry took pin for the |od at the 16 12ih of fas seen at foel, and [destroyed Having been t1iau jlding ongof ;luckly ^maike li-west )m til® same reach, which jceived jing the It navi- iei who They about )f these pg the do not Attempts were still made to work to the eastward, but on the 25th, from want of wind, and the closeness of the ice, the ships were obliged to make fast again, without having gained above a mile after several hours labour. A fresh breeze springing up on the 26th opened a passage along shore, and the ships made sail to the eastward, and in the evening were off their old quarters in Winter Har- bour. On the following evening, after a fine run, they were off the east end of Melville Island. lieut. Parry, this day, amiounced to the officers and crew that after due consideration and consultation, it had been found useless to prosecute their researches farther westward, and there- fore endeavours would be made in a more southerly direc- tion, failing in which, the. expedition would return to England. Begent Inlet and the southern shores generally, were found so blocked up with ice, that the return to England was on the 30th of August publicly announced. This day. Navy Board and Admiralty Inlets were passed, and on the Ist of September the vessels got clear of Bar- row Strait, and reached Baffin's Bay on the 6th. They fell in with a whaler belonging to Hull, from whom they learnt the news of the death of George the Third and the Duke of Kent, and that eleven vessels having been lost in the ice last year, fears were entertained for their safety. The Miendship, another Hull whaler, informed them that in company with the Truehve she had looked into Smith's Sound that summer. The Alexander^ of Aberdeen, one of the ships employed on the former voyage of discovery to these seas, had also entered Lancaster Sound. After touching at Clyde's Biver, where they met a good-natured tribe of Esquimaux, the ships made the best of their way across the Atlantic, and after a somewhat boisterous pas- sage, Commodore Parry landed at Peterhead on the 30th of October, and, accompanied by Captain Sabine and Mr. Hooper, posted to iA>ndon. o2 u PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Pabet*8 Second Votaob, 1821—1823. The experience which Oapt. Parry had formed in his previous voyage, led him to entertain the opinion that a communication might be found between Kegent Inlet and Eoe's Welcome, or through KepulseBay, and thence to the north-western shores. The following are his remarks : " On an inspection of the charts I think it will also appear probable that a communication wiU one day be found to exist between this inlet (Prince Kegent's) and Hud- son's Bay, either through the broad and unexplored channel called Sir Thomas Boe's Welcome, or through Kepulse Bay, which has not yet been satisfactorily examined. It is also probable. that a channel will be found to exist between the western land and the northern coast of America." Again, in another place, he says, " Of the existence of a North- West Passage to the Pacific it is now scarcely possible to doubt, and from the success which attended our efforts in 1819, after passing through Sir James Lancaster's Sound, we were not unreasonable in anticipating its complete accomplishment. But the season in which it is practicable to navigate the Polar Seas does not exceed seven weeks. From all that we observed it seems desirable that ships endeavouring to reach the Pacific Ocean by this route should keep if possible on the coast of America, and the lower in latitude that coast may be found, the more favourable will it prove for the purpose; hence Cumberland Strait, Sir Thomas Boe's Welcome, and Kepulse Bay appear to be the points most worthy of attention. I cannot therefore but consider that any expedition equipped by Great Britain with this view ought to employ its best energies in attempting to pene- trate from the eastern coast of America along its northern shore. In consequence of the partial success which has hitherto attended our attempts, the whalers have already PAKBT S SECOND YOTAOE. 85 a Let to lb: ear t to )red [)iily DUDd coast f the J now f^hicli hSir Ae in [eason does ed it the ^ntlie coast ir the lEoe's most )T that view pene- jhern jh has 'eady extended their views, and a new field has been opened for one of the most lucrative branches of our commerce, and what is scarcely of less importance, one of the most valuable nurseries for seamen which Great Britain pos- sesses." — Parry's Mn,^ Voyage, vol. ii. p. 240. Pleased with his former zeal and enterprise, and in order to give him an opportunity of testing the truth of his observations, a few months after he returned home, the Admiralty gave Parry the command of another expe- dition, with instructions to proceed to Hudson's Strait, and penetrate to the westward until in Bepulse Bay, or on some other part of the shores of Hudson's Bay to the north of Wager Biver, he should reach the western coast of the continent. Failing in these quarters, he was to keep along the coast, carefully examining every bend or inlet, which should appear likely to afford a practicable passage to the westward. The vessels commissioned, with their officers and crews, were the following. Several of the officers of the former expedition were promoted, those who had been on the last voyage with Parry I have marked with an asterisk : — Fury, Commander — •W. E. Parry. Chaplain and Astronomer — ^Biev. Qeo. Fisher (was in the Dorothea, under Capt. Buchan, in 1818.) Lieutenants^*J. Nias and *A. Beid. Surgeon — ^•J. Edwards. Purser — ^•W. H. Hooper. Assistant-Surgeon — J. Skeoch. Midshipmen — ^*J. C. Boss, *J. Bushnan, J. Henderson, F. B. M. Crozier. Greenland Pilots — ^*J. Allison, master ; *G. Crawfurd, mate. 47 Petty Officers, Seamen, &o. Total complement. 60. 86 PROQBESS OF AROTIO DISCOVERY. JSeela» . Commander^ Cr. F. Ityon. Lieutenants — *E[. P. Hoppner and *C. Palmer. Surgeon — ^•A. Fisher* Purser — J. Germain. Assistant-^nrgeon— A. M'Laren. Midshipmen— *W. N, Griffiths, J. Sherer, C.Eichards, £. J. Bird. Greenland PUots — ^*G. Fife, master ; *A. Elder, mate. 46 Petty Officers, Seamen, Ao, Total complement, 58. Lieutenant Lyon, the second in command, had obtained some reputation from his travels in Tripoli, Mourzouk, and other parts of Northern Africa, and was raised to the rank of Commander on his appointment to the Sisela, and received his promotion as Captain, when the expedition returned. The ships were accompanied as far as the ice by the Nautilus transport, freighted with provisions and stores, which were to be transhipped as soon as room was found for them. The vessels got away from the little Nore early on the 8th of May, 1821, but meeting with strong gales oS the Greenland coast, and a boisterous passage, did not fall in with the ice until the middle of June. On the 17th of June, in a heavy gale from the south- ward, the sea stove and carried away one of the quarter boats of the Secla. On the following day, in lat. 60° 63' N.f long. 61° 39' W., they made the pack or main body of ice, having many large bergs in and near it. On the 19th, Resolution Island, at the entrance of Hudson Strait, was seen distant sixty-four miles. Capt. Lyon states, that during one of the watches, a large fragment was observed to fall from an iceberg near the Hecla, parry's second voyage. 87 rds, i.te. aiiiied zouk, bo the 1, and dition ►y the itores, found mthe kfftlie [faUin wliich threw up the water to a great height^ gending forth at the same time a noise like the report of a great gun. From this period to the Ist of Julj, the ships were occupied in clearing the Nautiltia of her stores pre- paratory to her return home, occasionally made fkst to a berg, or driven out to sea by gales. On the 2nd, after running through heavy ice, they again made Eesolution Island, and shaping their course for the Strait, were soon introduced to the company oi some unusually large ice- bergs. The altitude of one was 258 feet above the surface of the sea ; its total height, therefore, allowing one-seventh ooly to be visible, must have been about 1806 feet I This however is supposing the base under water not to spread beyond the mass above water. The vessels had scarcely drifted past this floating mountain, when the eddy tide carried them with great rapidity amongst a cluster of eleven bergs of huge size, and having a beautiful diversity of form. The largest of these was 210 feet above the water. The floe ice was running wildly at the rate of three miles an hour, sweeping the vessels past the bergs, against any one of which they might have received incalculable injury. An endeavour was made to make the ships fast to one of them, (for all of them were aground), in order to ride out the tide, but it proved unsuccessful, and the Fwry had much difficulty in sending a boat for some men who were on a small berg, making holes for her ice anchors. They were therefore swept past and soon beset. Fifty-four icebergs were counted from the mast-head. On the 3rd theymadt some progress through very heavy floes ; but on the tide taming, the loose ice flew together with such rapidity and noise, that there was barely time to secure the ships in a natural dock, before the two streams met, and even then they received some heavy shocks. Water was procured for use from the pools in the floe to 88 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. which the ships were made fast ; and this being the first time of doing so, afforded great amusement to the novices, who, even when it was their period of rest, preferred pelt- ing each other with snow-balls, to going to bed. Buffeting with eddies, strong currents, and dangerous bergs, they were kept in a state of anxiety and danger, for a week or ten days. On one occasion, with the prospect of being driven on shore, the pressure they experienced was so great, that five hawsers, six inches thick, were carried away, and the best bower anchor of the Secla was wrenched from the bows, and broke off at the head of the shank, with as much ease as if, instead of weighing upwards of a ton, it had been of crockery ware. For a week they were embayed by the ice, and during this period they saw three strange ships, also beset, under Kesolution Island, which they contrived to join on the 16th of July, making fast to a floe near them. They proved to be the Hudson's Bay Company's traders, Prince of Wales and Eddystonct with the Lord Wellington^ chartered to convey 160 natives of Holland, who were proceeding to settle on Lord Selkirk's estate, at the Bed Biver. " Whilst nearing these vessels (says Lyon), we observed the settlers waltzing on deck, for above two hours, the men in old-fashioned grey jackets, and the women wearing long-eared mob caps, like those used by the Swiss peasants. As we were surrounded by ice, and the thermometer was at the freezing point, it may be supposed that this ball, al vero fresco^ afforded us much amusement." The Hudson's Bay ships had left England twenty days after the expedition. The emigrant ship had been hampered nineteen days amongst the ice, before she joined the others ; and as this navigation was new to her captain and crew, they almost despaired of ever getting to their journey's end, so varied and constant had been their impediments. The Dutch- men had, however, behaved very philosophically during this 8pit€ had them more the C( whicl snow. ships theiri bear 1 sent he too long 8j withdi] very fa lashed hoisting weight ( largest being sb in histl tbe nan measurei measurec insertion ©xperienc gators at three of J '^ould ha foot." B blubber fi tbe smell i ^ been j parry's second voyage. 89 this period, and seemed determined on being merry, in spite of 'the weather and the dangers. Several marriages had taken place, (the surgeon, who was accompanying them to the colony, officiating as clergyman,) and many more were in agitation; each happy couple always deferring the ceremony until a fine day allowed of an evening ball, which was only terminated by a fresh breeze, or a fall of snow. {JjyovCs Private Journal^ p. 11.) On the 17tJi the ships were separated by the ice, and they saw no more of their visitors. On the 21st they were only off the Lower Savage Islands. In the evening they saw a very large bear lying on a piece of ice, and two boats were instantly sent off in chase. They approached very close before he took to the water, when he swam rapidly, and made long springs, turning boldly to face his pursuers. It was with difficulty he was captured. As these animals, although very fat and bulky, sink the instant they die, he was lashed to a boat, and brought alongside the ship. On hoisting him in, they were astonished to find that his weight exceeded sixteen hundred pounds, being one of the largest ever killed. Two instances, only, of larger bears being shot are recorded, and these were by Barentz's crew, in his third voyage, at Cherit Island, to which they gave the name of Bear Island. The two bears killed then measured twelve and thirteen feet, while this one only measured eight feet eight inches, firom the snout to the insertion of the tail. The seamen ate the flesh without experiencing any of those baneful effects which old navi- gators attribute to it, and which are stated to have made three of Barentz's people " so sick that we expected they would have died, and their skins peeled off from head to foot." Bruin was very fat, and having procured a tub of blabber from the carcass, it was thrown overboard, and the smell soon attracted a oouplo of walruseB, the first that had been yet seen. 90 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. They here fell in with a numerous body of the Esqui- maux, who visited them from the shore. In less than an hour the ships were beset with thirty " kayaks/' or men's canoes, and five of the women's large boats, or " oomiaks." Some of the latter held upwards of twenty women. A most noisy but merry barter instantly took phice, the crew being as anxious to purchase Esquimaux curiosities, as the natives were to procure iron and European to3r8. " It is quite out of my power (observes Captain Lyon) to describe the shouts, yells, and laughter of the savages, or the confusion which existed for two or three hours. The females were at first very shy, and unwilling to come on the ice, but bartered everything from their boats. This timidity, however, soon wore ofi^, and they, in the end, became as noisy and boisterous as the men." " It is scarcely possible (he adds) to conceive anything more ugly or disgusting than the countenances of the old women, who had inflamed eyes, wrinkled skin, black teeth, and, in fact, such a forbidding set of features as scarcely could be called human ; to which might be added their dress, which was such as gave them the appearance of aged ourang-outangs. Frobisher's crew may be pardoned for having, in such superstitious times as ▲.n. 1576, taken one of these ladies for a witch, of whom it is said, ' The old wretch whom our sailors supposed to be a witch, had her buskins pulled off, to see if she was cloven-footed ; and being very ugly and deformed, we let her go.' " In bartering they have a singular custom of ratifying the bargain, by licldng the article all over before it is put away in security. Oaptain Lyon says he Arequently shud- dered at seeing the children draw a razor over their tongue, as unconcernedly as if it had been an ivory paper-knife. I cannot forbear quoting here some humorous passages from his journal, which stand out in relief to the scientific and nautical parts of the narrative. *( r that mark< with many nasty wfaidi itwitl sider it the zei supply. "In possible found the won sistedin musician tion, an(i one on i together, sights I < ruddy 001 females, wherever "Thee tliat they »Qd playec it was a fa ihoutang !< • very sma rfiaiply sal "twtled, to ^Jook* who became so I w soundly, PAItBY*S SECOND VOTAOE. n qm- . A crew s the [jyon) rages, iiours. I come This e end, •It ia tt fktifying Ib put thud- mgue, jaBBBges nentific The strangers were so well pleased in onr society, that they showed no wish to leave ns, and ^dien the market had qaite ceased, they began dancing and playing with our people, on the ice idongside. This exercise set many of their noses bleeding, and discorered to us a most nasty custom, which accounted for their gory faces, and whidi was, that as fast as the blood ran down, they scraped it with the fingers into their months, appearing to con- sider it as a refreshment, or dainty, if we might judge by the zest with wiuoh they smacked their lips at each flupply." • # • " Li order to amnse onr new acquaintances as much as possible, the fiddler was sent on the ice, where he instantly found a most delightftil set of dancers, of whom some of the women kept pretty good time. Their only figure con- sisted in stamping and jumping with all their might. Our musician, who was a Ihrely fellow, soon caught the infec- tion, and began cutting capers also. In a short time every one on the floe, officers, men, and savages, were dancing together, and exhibited one of the most extraordinary sights I ever witnessed. One of our seamen, of a firesh, ruddy complexion, excited the admiration of all the young females, who patted his face, and danced around him wherever he went. ** The exertion of dancing so exhilarated the Esquimaux, that they had the appearance of being boisterously drunk, and played many extraordinary pranks. Amongst others, it was a favourite joke to run slily behind the seamen, and shouting loudly in one ear, to give them iat the same time i very smart slap on the other. While looking on, I was sharply saluted in this manner, and, of course, was quite startled, to the great amusement of the bystanders : our oook, who was a most active and unwearied jumper, became so great a favourite, that every one boxed his ears 80 soundly, as to oblige the poor man to retire from 92 PROOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. 8110I1 boisterous marks of approbation. Amongst other sports, some of the Esquimaux rather roughly, but with great good humour, challenged our people to wrestle. One man, in particular, who had thrown several of his countrymen, attacked an officer of a very strong make, but the poor sayage was instantly thrown, and with no very easy fall; yet, although every one was laughing at him, he bore it with exemplary good humour. The same officer afforded us much diversion by teaching a large party of women to bow, curtsey, shake hands, turn their toes out, and perform sundry other polite accom* plishments; the whole party, master and pupils, pre- serving the strictest gravity. " Towards midnight all our men, except the watch on deck, turned in to their beds, and the fatigued and hungry Esquimaux returned to their boats to take their supper, which consisted of lumps of raw flesh and blubber of seals, birds, entrails, &c. ; licking their fingers with great zest, and with knives or fingers scraping the blood and grease which ran down their chins into their mouths." Many other parties of the natives were fallen in with during the slow progress of the ships, between Salisbuiy and I^ottingham Islands, who were equally as eager to beg, barter, or thieve ; and the mouth was the gene- ral repository of most of the treasures they received; needles, pins, nails, buttons, beads, and other small et- ceteras, being indiscriminately stowed away there, but detracting in nowise from their volubility of speech. On the 13th of August the weather being calm and fine, narwhals or sea-uniooms were very numerous about the ships, and boats were sent, but without success, to strike 1 one. There were sometimes as many as twenty of these beautiful fish in a shoal, lifting at times their immense horn above the water, and at others showing their glossy backs, Englai exclusi Capt His bo sillocks whole t were se feeding of Yorf Middlet day was which w heaving The ship) careful ei Captaii each ship, a boat ex a long cov lately hid which, unc their first < Captain couple of , «nd discove subsequent] channel bet miles in len^ ^ard by Hu I ground swel jing a steep fjay, subseqi I islands, and t Captain B PABBT^S SECOND VOYAGE. 93 ther jvith stle. rhiB Lake, h. no rhing The ing a turn ccom* , pre- ,tclion lungry mpper, )lubber ps "wiih blood tbeir backs,' which were spotted in the manner of coach dogs in England.. The length of these fish is about fifteen feet, exclusive of the horn, which averages five op six more. Captain Parry hmded and slept on Southampton Island. His boat's crew caught in holes on the beach sufficient sillocks, or young coal-fish, to serve for two meals for the whole ship's company. During the night white whales were seen lying in hundreds close to the rocks, probably feeding on the sillocks. After carefully examining Duke of York Bay, the ships got into the Frozen Strait of Middleton on the morning of the 20th, and an anxious day was closed by passing an opening to the southward, which was found to be Sir Thomas Eoe's Welcome, and heaving to for the night off" a bay to the north-west. The ships got well in to B«pulse Bay on the 22nd, and a careful examination of its shores was made by the boats. Captains Parry and Lyon, with several officers from each ship, landed and explored the northern shores, while a boat examined the head of the bay. The waters of a long cove are described by Captain Lyon as being abso- lutely hidden by the quantities of young eider ducks, which, under the direction of their mothers, were making their first essays in swimming. Captain Lyon with a boat's crew made a trip of a couple of days along some of the indents of the bay, and discovered an inlet, which, however, on being entered subsequently by the ships, proved only to be the dividing channel between an island and the mainland, about six miles m length by one in breadth. Proceeding to the north- ward by Kurd's channel, they experienced a long rolling ground swell setting against them. On the 28th, ascend- I ing a steep mountain, Captain Lyon discovered a noble bay, subsequently named Gore Bay, in which lay a few islands, and towards this they directed their course. Captain Parry, who had been two days absent with Q4 PROGRESS OF AROTIO DI800TERT. boats exploring the ehannel and shores of the strait, returned on the 29th, but set off again on the same day with six boats to sound and examine more minutely. When Parry returned at night, Mr. Griffiths, of the Meela, brought on board a large doe, which he had killed while swunming (amcmgst large masses of ice) from isle to isle ; two others and a fawn were procured on shore by the Fwry*8 people. The game laws, as they were laid down on the former voyage while wintering at Melville Island, were once more put in force. These "enacted that for the purpose of economizing the ship's provisions, all deer or musk-oxen killed should be served out in lieu of the usual allowance of meat. Hares, ducks, and other birds were not at this time to be included. As an encou- ragement to sportsmen, the head, legs, and offal of the larger animals were to be the perquisites of those who procured the carcases finr the general good." "In the flipimRla of this day (observes Lyon) we were convinced that our sportsmen had not forgotten the latitude to which their perquisites might legally extend, for the necks were made so long as to encroach considerably on the vertebrse of the back ; a manner of amputating the heads which had been leamt during the formw voyage, and, no doubt, would be strictly acted up to in the present one." Whilst the ships on the 30th were proceeding through this strait, having to contend with heavy wind and wild ice, which with an impetuous tide ran against the rocks with loud crashes, at the rate of five knots in the centre stream; four boats towing astern were torn away by the ice, and, with the men in them, were for some time in great danger. The vessels anchored for the night in a small nook, and weighing at daylight on the 31st they stood to the eastward, but Grore Bay was found closely packed with ice, and most of the inlets they passed were also beset. of son of coi very a eommi Septei one oi theshi of six 1 ofala next da inlet, Ti Captain head of returned the place full of fi procured supper 01 the day, small pai propensity Animal iu this loc one of the of the He eighty-twc three rave Tvro of ti bearded sp Wffht or ni (P. vitulinc Captain J more carefu I the 6th an( PABRT 8 SECOND YOTAOE. 95 day iely. tlie Uled isle •eby laid ilville acted sions, a lieu otlxer bucou- of the le wbo In tlie yinced which were irtebrae which doubt, )ugh id wild rocks centre [by the le iu it in a kt they closely Id were A prevalence of fog, northerly wind, and heavy ice in floes of some miles in circumference, now carried the ships, in spite of constant labour and exertions, in three days back to the rery spot in Fox's Channel, where a month ago they had commenced their operations. It was not till the 5th of September that they could again get forward, aud then by one of the usual changes in the navigation of these seas, the ships ran well to the north-east unimpeded, at the rate of six knots an hour, anciuxring for the night at the mouth^ of a large opening, which was named Lyon Inlet. The next day they proceeded about twenty-five miles up this inlet, which appeared to be about eight miles broad. Captain Parry pushed on with two boats to examine the head of the inlet, taking provisions for a week. He returned on the I4th having failed in finding any outlet to the place he had been examining, which was very extensive, full of fiords and rapid overfalls of the tide. He had procured a sufficiency of game to afibrd his people a hot supper every evening, which, after the constant labour of the day, was highly acceptable. He fell in also with a small party of natives who displayed the usual thieving propensities. Animal food of all kinds was found to be very plentiful in this locality. A fine salmon trout was brought down by one of the officers from a lake in the mountains. The crew of the Secla killed in a fortnight four deer, forty hares, eighty-two ptarmigan, fifty ducks, three divers, three foxes, three ravens, four seals, ermines, marmottes, mice, &c. Two of the seals killed were immense animals of the bearded species {Phoca barbata), very fat, weighing about eight or nine cwt., the others were the common species (P. vitulina.) Captain Parry again left in boats on the 15th to examine more carefully the land that had been passed so rapidly on the 5th and 6th. Not finding him return on the 24th, 96 PROGBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Captain Lyon ran down the cpast to meet him, and by burning blue lights fell in with him at ten that night. It appeared he had been frozen up for two days on the second evening after leaving. When he got clear he ran down to, and sailed round. Gore Bay, at that time per- fectly clear of ice, but by the next morning it was quite filled with heavy pieces, which much impeded his return. Once more he was frozen up in a small bay, where he was detained three days ; when finding there was no chance of getting out, in consequence of the rapid formation of young ice, by ten hours' severe labour, the boats were carried over a low point of land, a mile and a half wide, and once more launched. On the 6th of October the impediments of ice continuing to increase, being met with in all its formations of sludge or young ice, pancake ice and bay ice, a small open bay within a little cape of land, forming the S. E. extremity of an island off Lyon Inlet, was sounded, and being found to be safe anchorage the ships were brought in, and, from the indications which were setting in, it was finally deter- mined to secure them there for the winter ; by means of a canal half a mile long, which was cut, they were taken further into the bay. The island was named Winter Isle. Preparations were now made for occupation and amuse- ment, so as to pass away pleasantly the period of detention. A good stock of theatrical dresses and properties having been laid in by the officers before leaving England, arrangements were made for performing plays fortnightly, as on their last winter residence, as a means of amusing the seamen, and in some degree to break the tedious monotony of their confinement. As there could be no desire, or hope of excelling, every officer's name was readily entered on the list of dramatis jperaofUB, Captain Lyon kindly undertaking the difficult office of manager. Those ladies (says Lyon) who had cherished the growth of tl incic awaj bade As the c belon TheP elegj next form Sir Am Captaii Sir Inn Faulkla Acres Fag David Mrs. Ma Julia Lydia Zt I/ucy Songs by wiU On the ; formed to comedj of PABRT S SECOND VOYAGE. 97 rbt. the ran per- |mte tarn. > was lance on of were ■wide, of their beards and whiskers, as a defence against the inclemency of the climate, now generously agreed to do away with such unfeminine ornaments, and everything bade fair for a most stylish theatre. As a curiosity, I may here put on record the play-bill for the evening. I have added the ship to which each officer belonged. THEATRE ROYAL, WINTER ISLB. The Public are respectfully informed that thi: little, yet elegant, Theatre will open for the season on Friday next, the 9th of November, 1821, when will be per- formed Sheridan's celebrated Comedy of THE RIVALS. Sir Anthony Absolute Captain Absolute Sir Lucius O Trigger Faulkland Acres . . . Fag ... David . . . Mrs. Malctprop Julia . . . Lydia Languish Lucy . . . Captain Parry {Fu/ry), Captain Lyon {Hecla), Mr. Crozier {Fmry). Mr. J. Edwards {Fwry). Mr. J. Henderson {Fwry), Lieut. Hoppner (Hecla). Lieut. Reid {Fury). Mr. C. Richards (Hecla), Mr. W. H. Hooper {Fwry), Mr. J. Sherer (Hecla), Mr. W. Mogg (clerk of Hecla). Songs by Messrs. C. Palmer {Hecla) and J. Henderson will be introduced in the course of the evening. On the 17th of December a shivering set of actors per- formed to a great-coated, yet very cold audience the comedy of the " Poor Gentleman.'* A burst of true Eng- 98 PKOGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. lisb feeling was exhibited during the performance of this play. In the scene where Lieut. Worthington and Corporal Foss recount in so animated a manner their former achieve- ments, advancing at the same time, and huzzaing for " Old England," the whole audience, with one accord, rose and gave three most hearty cheers. They then sat down, and the play continued uninterrupted. On Christmas Eve, in order to keep the people quiet and sober, two farces were performed, and the phantasma- goria (which had been kindly presented anonymously to the ships before leaving by a lady) exhibited, so that the night passed merrily away. The coldness of the weather proved no bar to the per- formance of a play at the appointed time. If it amused the seamen the purpose was answered, but it was a cruel task for the performers. " In our green-room (says Lyon), which was as much warmed as any other part of the Theatre, jlihe thermometer stood at 16°, and on a table which was placed over a stove, and about six inches above it, the coffee froze in the cups. For my sins, I was obliged to be dressed in the height of the fashion* as JDicIc Dow laSf in the " Heir at Law," and n^ent through the last scene of the play with two of my fingers frost-bitten ! Let those who have witnessed and admired the performances of a Young, pnswer if he could possibly have stood so cold a reception." Captain Parry also states in his Journal, " Among the recreations which afforded the highest gratification to several among us, I may mention the musical parties we were enabled to muster, and which assembled on stated evenings throughout the winter, alternately in Commander Lyon's cabin and in my own. More skilful amateurs in music might well have smiled at these, our himible con- certs, but it will not incline them to think less of the science they admire, to be assured that, in these remote and desolate regioni of the globe, it has often flimishod us with PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. tHe most pleasurable sensations which our situation was capable of affording; for, independently of the mere grati- fication afforded to the ear by music, there is, perhaps, scarcely a person in the world reaUy fond of it, in whose mmd its sound is not more or less connected with *his far distant home.' There are always some remembrances which render them inseparable, and those associations are not to be despised, which, while we are engaged in the performance of our duty, can still occasionaUy transport us into the social circle of our friends at home, in spite of the oceans that roU between us." But their attention was not confined to mere amusements. Much to the credit of the seamen, an application was made in each ship for per- mission to open an erening school, which waa wiUingly acceded to. Almost every man could read and some could write a little, but several found that, from long disuse, it was requisite to begin again. Mr. Halse volunteered to superintend the classes in the Fury; wMle Benjamin White, a seaman, who had been educated at Christ's Hospital, officiated as schoolmaster in the Hecla, and those best qualified to assist aided in the instruction of their shipmates, who made rapid progress under their tuition. On Christmas Day, Captain Lyon states that he received sixteen copies from men, who two months before scarcely knew their letters. These little specmiens were aU weU written, and sent with as much pride as if the writers had been good little schoolboys, instead of stout and excellent seamen. An observatory was erected on shore, for carrying on magnetical, astronomical, and other scientific operations. Foxes were very plentiful about the ships ; fifteen were caught in one trap in four hours on the night of the 25th of October, and above one hundred were either trapped or killed in the course of three months, and yet there seemed but little diminution in their numbers. Captain Lyon h2 100 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. says he found them not bad eating, the flesh much resembling that of kid. A pack of thirteen wolves came occasionally to have a look at the ships, and on one occa- sion broke into a snow-house alongside, and walked off with a couple of Esquimaux dogs confined there. Bears now and then also made their appearance. A very beautiful ermine walked on board the BJecla one day, and was caught in a small trap placed on the deck, certainly the first of these animals which was ever taken alive on board a ship 400 yards from the land. The ravenous propensities of even some of the smallest members of the animal kingdom are exemplified by the following extract: — " We had for some time observed that in the fire-hole, which was kept open in the ice alongside, a countless mul- titude of small shrimps were constantly rising near the surface, and we soon found that in twenty-four hours they would clean, in the most beautiful manner, the skeletons." After attending Divine service on Christmas Day, the officers and crews sat down to the luxury of joints of English roast beef, which had been kept untainted by being frozen, and the outside rubbed with salt. Cranberry pies and puddings, of every shape and size, with a full allowance of spirits, followed, and, probably the natural attendance of headaches succeeded, for the next morning it was deemed expedient to send all the people for a run on the ice, in order to put them to rights ; but thick weather coming on it became necessary to recal them, and, post- poning the dinner hour, they were all danced sober by one o'clock, the fiddler being, fortunately, quite as he should be. During this curious ball, a witty fellow attended as an old cake woman, with lumps of frozen snow in a bucket ; and such was the demand for his pies on this occasion, that he was obliged to replenish pretty frequently. The year had now drawn to a close, and all parry's second voyage. 101 ftUCll Bame occa- jdoff Bears fa one I deck, taken . The oaalleBt by the re-bole, 3B8 mill- lear the UTS they ketone." )ay, the jointB of Qted by •anberry th aM natural |moming a run on weather id, post- lober by ;e as he fellow if frozen bis pies ih pretty ), and all enjoyed excellent health, and were blessed with good spirits, 'and zeal for the renewal of their arduous exertions in the summer. No signs of scurvy, the usual plague of such voyages, had occurred, and by the plans of Captain Parry, as carried out on the former voyage, a sufficiency of mustard and cress was raised between decks to afford all hands a salad once, and sometimes twice a week. The cold now became intense. Wine froze in the bottles. Port was congealed into thin pink laminse, which lay loosely, and occupied the whole length of the bottle. White wine, on the contrary, froze into a solid and perfectly transparent mass, resembling amber. On the 1st of February the monotony of their life was varied by the arrival of a large party of Esquimaux, and an interchange of visits thenceforward took place wifch this tribe, which, singularly enough, were proverbial for their honesty. Ultimately, however, they began to display some tiiievish propensities, for on one evening in March a most shocking theft was conmiitted, which was no less than the last piece of English corned beef from the mid- shipmen's mess. Had it been an 181b. carronade, or even one of the anchors, the thieves would have been welcome to it; but to purloin English beef in such a country was unpardonable. On the 15th of March Captain Lyon, Lieutenant Palmer, and a party of men, left the ship, with provisions, tents, &o., in a large sledge, for an excursion of three or four days, to examine the land in the neighbourhood of the ships. The first night's encampment was anything but com- fortable. Their tent they found so cold, that it was determined to make a cavern in the snow to sleep in ; and digging this afforded so good an opportunity of warming themselves, that the only shovel was lent from one to the 102 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. other as a particular favour. After digging it of sufficient size to contain them all in a sitting posture, by means of the smoke of a fire they managed to raise the temperature to 20°, and, closing the entrance with blocks of snow, crept into their blanket bags and tried to sleep, with the plea- sant reflection that their roof might fall in and bury them all, and that their one spade was the only means of liberation after a night*s drift of snow. They woke next morning to encounter a heavy gale and drift, and found their sledge so embedded in the snow that they could not get at it, and in the attempt their faces and extremities were most painfully frost-bitten. The thermometer was at 32° below zero : they could not, moreover, see a yard of the road ; yet to remain appeared worse than to go forward — ^the last plan was, therefore, decided on. The tent, sledge, and luggage were left behind, and with only a few pounds of bread, a little rum, and a spade, the party again set out ; and in order to depict their sufierings, I must take up the narrative as related by the commander himself. " Not knowing where to go, we wandered amongst the heavy hummocks of ice, and suffering from cold, fatigue, and anxiety, were soon completely bewildered. Several of our party now began to exhibit symptoms of that horrid kind of insensibility which is the prelude to sleep. They all professed extreme willingness to do what they were told in order to keep in exercise, but none obeyed ; on the contrary, they reeled about like drunken men. The faces of several were severely frost-bitten, and some had for a considerable time lost sensation in their fingers and toes ; yet they made not the slightest exertion to rub the parts affected, and even discontinued their general custom of warming each other on observing a discolora- tion of the skin. Mr. Palmer employed the people in building a snow waU, ostensibly as a shelter from the ient .8 of iture crept plea- tliem 18 of e and snow their 3itten. d not, geared refore, re left erum, depict kted by PARRY S SECOND VOYAGE. wind, but in fact to give them exercise, when standing still niust have proved fatal to men in our circumstances. My attention was exclusively directed to Sergeant Speck- man, who, having been repeatedly warned that his nose was frozen, had paid no attention to it, owing to the state of stupefaction into which he had fallen. The frost-bite had now extended over one side of his face, which was frozen as hard as a mask ; the eyelids were stiff, and one comer of the upper lip so drawn up as to expose the teeth and gums. My hands being still warm, I had the happi- ness of restoring the circulation, after which I used all my endeavours to keep the poor fellow in motion ; but he complained sadly of giddiness and dimness of sight, and was so weak as to be unable to walk without assistance. His case was so alarming, that I expected every moment he would lie down, never to rise again. " Our prospect now became every moment more gloomy, and it was but too probable that four of our party would be unable to survive another hour. Mr. Palmer, however, endeavoured, as well as myself, to cheer the people up, but it was a faint attempt, as we had not a single hope to give them. Every piece of ice, or even of small rock or stone, was now supposed to be the ships, and we had great diffi- culty in preventing the men from running to the different objects which attracted them, and consequently losing themselves in the drift. In this state, while Mr. Palmer was running round us to warm himself, he suddenly pitched on a new beaten track, and as exercise was indispensable, we determined on foUowing it, wherever it might lead us. Having taken the sergeant under my coat, he recovered a little, and we moved onwards, when to our infinite joy we found that the path led to the ships.'* As the result of this exposure, one man had two of his fingers so badly frost-bitten as to lose a good deal of the flesh of the upper ends, and for many days it was feared 104 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. that he would be obliged to have them amputated. Quar- ter-master Carr, one of those who had been the most hardy while in the air, fainted twice on getting below, and every one had severe frost-bites in different parts of the body, which recovered after the usual loss of skin in these cases. One of the Esquimaux females, by name Igloolik, who plays a conspicuous part in the narrative, was a general favourite, being possessed of a large fund of useful informa- tion, having a good voice and ear for music, being an excellent sempstress, and having such a good idea of the hydrography and bearings of the neighbouring sea-coasts, as to draw charts which guided Parry much in his future operations, for he found her sketches to be in the main cor- rect. She connected the land from their winter-quarters to the north-west sea, rounding and terminating the northern extremity of this part of America, by a large island, and a strait of sufficient magnitude to afford a safe passage for the ships. This little north-west passage, observes Lyon, set us all castle-building, and we already fancied the worst part of our voyage over ; or, at all events, that before half the ensuing summer was past, we should arrive at Akkoolee, the Esquimaux settlement on the western shore. Half- way between that coast and Eepulse Bay, Igloolik drew on her chart a lake of considerable size, having small streams running from it to the sea, on each side ; and the correctness of this information was fully proved by Bae in his recent expedition in 1846. On the 13th of April their Esquimaux friends took their departure for other quarters, towards the end of tho month the crews completed the cutting of trenches round the vessels, in order that they might rise to their proper bearings previous to working in the holds, and the ships floated like corks on their nati'.e element, after their long mprisonment of 191 days. As the season appeared to be imp and a p{ with sled^ ft great humi pleasi cross we tl night. SCT Bird' head In spj crape i party I evening inflamn much 8 relief, I their st enough As th invalids, breaking of the s ingand them ami to resumi powerful out havin For ne in their h PABRT S SECOin> VOTAQE. 105 improying, another land expedifcion was determined on, and Captain Lyon and Lieutenant Palmer, attended by a party of eight men, set off on the 8th of May, taking with them twenty days' proyisions. Each man drew on a sledge 126 lbs., and the officers 96 lbs. a-piece. " Loaded as we were (says the leader), it was with the greatest difficulty we made our way amongst and over the hunmiocks, ourselves and sledges taking some very un- pleasant tumbles. It required two hours and a half to cross the ice, although the distance was not two miles, and we then landed on a small island, where we passed the night." Seyeral islands and shoals in the strait were named Bird's Isles. At noon on the 11th, they camped at the head of a fine bay, to which the name of Blake was given. In spite of all the care which had been taken by using crape shades, and other coverings for the eyes, five of the party became severely afflicted with snow blindness. Before evening two of the sufferers were quite blinded by the inflammation. Their faces, eyes, and even heads, being much swollen, and very red. Bathing would have afforded reUef, but the sun did not produce a drop of water, and their stock of fuel being limited, they could only spare enough wood to thaw snow for their mid-day draught. As the morning of the 12th brought no change in the invalids, another day was lost. Towards evening, by breaking pieces of ice, and placing them in the full glare of the sun, sufficient water was obtained, both for drink- ing and for the sick to bathe their faces, which afforded them amazing relief, and on the morrow they were enabled to resume their journey. At noon the sun was sufficiently powerful to afford the travellers a draught of water with- out having to thaw it, as had hitherto been the case. For nearly three days after this, they were imprisoned in their low tent by a snow-storm, but on the morning of 106 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. the 18th, they were enabled to sally out to stretch their legs, and catch a glimpse of Uie sun. After examining many bays and indentations of the coast, the party returned to the ships on the evening of the 2l8t. A canal was now cut through the ice, to get the ships to the open water, in length 2400 feet, and varying in breadth from 60 to 197 feet. The average thickness of the ice was four feet, but in some places it was as much as twelve feet. This truly arduous task had occupied the crews for fifteen days, f^om six in the morning to eight in the evening; but they laboured at it with the greatest spirit and good humour, and it was concluded on the 18th of June, when the ofiScers and men began to take leave of their several haunts and promenades, particularly the " garden" of each ship, which had become favourite lounges during their nine months' detention. A few ill-fated bunting came near enough to be shot*, and were instantly roasted for a farewell supper, and bright visions of active exertions on the water on the morrow were universally entertained. But the night dis- pelled aU these airy castles, for with the morning's dawn they found that the whole body of ice astern of the ships had broke adrift, filled up the hard-wrought canal, and imprisoned them as firm as ever. Death now for the first time visited the crews. James Fringle, a seaman of the ffecla, fell from the mast-head to the deck, and was killed on the 18th of May. Wm. Souter, quarter-master, and John Beid, carpenter's mate, belong- ing to the Fury, died on the 26th and 27th, of natural causes. Towards the end of June, the sea began to clear rapidly to the eastward, and the bay ice soon gave way as far as where the ships were lying, and on the 2nd of July they put to sea with a fresh breeze, after having been frozen in for 267 days. In making their way to the northward, they were fre- quently in much danger. On the 3rd, the ice came down ont] Fur, and ofth three piece run imexy must destrv cable ( to the the sh large 1 action i "Th says Ci tion wa andultj site for sure wa stream-( gave wa; ing them drive, an enormoui over on t entirely 1 water. 1 and the t would ha At the san jerk, whi< driver-boo From tl a miracle , parry's second voyage. 107 Fames ;adto louter, 3long- latural clear ray as July been re fre- down on the Hecla with such force as to carry her on board the Fwryy by which the Hecla broke her best bower anchor, and cut her waist-boat in two. On the 4th, the pressure of the ice was so great as to break the Mecla adrift from three hawsers. Four or five men were each on separate pieces of ice, parted from the ships in the endeavour to run out a hawser. A heavy pressure closing the loose ice, unexpectedly gave them a road on board again, or they must have been carried away by the stream to certain destruction* On the 8th, the Secla had got her stream- cable out, in addition to the other hawsers, and made fast to the land ice, when a very heavy and extensive floe took the ship on her broadside, and being backed by another large body of ice, gradually lifted her stem as if by the action of a wedge. '*The weight every moment increasing, obliged us," says Captain Lyon, " to veer on the hawsers, whose fric- tion was so great as nearly to cut through the bitt-heads, and ultimately to set them on fire, so that it became requi- site for people to attend with buckets of water. The pres- sure was at length too powerful for resistance, and the stream-cable, with two six and one five-inch hawsers, all gave way at the same moment, three others soon follow- ing them. The sea was too full f ice to allow the ship to drive, and the only way in which she could yield to the enormous weight which oppressed her, was by leaning over on the land ice, while her stem at the same time was entirely lifted to above the height of five feet out of the water. The lower deck beams now complained very much, and the whole frame of the ship underwent a trial which would have proved fatal to any less strengthened vessel. At the same moment, the rudder was unhung with a sudden jerk, which broke up the rudder-case, and struck the driver-boom with great force." From this perilous position she was released abnost by a miracle , and the rudder re-hung. 108 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. The ships at last reached the island which had been so accurately described to them by the Esquimaux lady — Ig;loolik, where they came upon an encampment of 120 Esquimaux, in tents. Captains Parry and Lyon and other officers made frequent exploring excursions along the shores of the Fury and Hecla strait, and inland. On the 26th of August the ships entered this strait, which was found blocked up with flat ice. The season had also now assumed so wintry an aspect that there seemed but little probability of getting much farther west : knowing of no harbour to protect the ships, unless a favourable change took place, they had the gloomy prospect before them of wintering in or near this frozen strait. Boating and laod parties were dispatched in seyeral directions, to report upon the difierent localities. On the 4th of September, Captain Lyon landed on an island of slate formation, about six miles to the westward of the ships, which he named Amherst Island. The result of these expeditions proved that it was impracticable, either by boats or water conveyance, to examine any part of the land south-west of Igloolik, in consequence of the ice. Mr. Beid and a boat-party travelled about sixty miles to the westward of Amherst Island, and ascertained the termination of the strait. On a consultation with the officers. Captain Parry determined to seek a berth near to Igloolik, in which to secure the ships for the winter. They had now been sixty-five days struggling to get for- ward, but had only in that time reached forty miles to the westward of Igloolik. The vessels made the best of their way to the natural channel between this island and the land, but were for some time drifted with the ice, losing several anchors, and it was only by hard work in cutting channels that they were brought into safer quarters near the land. Some fine teams of dogs were here purchased from in mi Th arrive "C super onioni in bo2 ship in fresh eightei farthei the pe] This Additii nels ea ing fir( frequen andmej Notk Onti the Sec Parry o made mi Onth( also died After 1 bility of j determin the prov could be westward, closed wil additions regions, b PARRT S SECOND VOYAGE. 109 from the Esquimaux, which were found very serviceable in making excursions on sledges. Their second Christmas Day in this region had now arrived, and Lyon informs us — " Captain Parry dined with me, and was treated with a superb display of mustard and cress, with about fifty onions, rivalling a fine needle in size, which I had reared in boxes round my cabin stove. All our messes in either ship were supplied with an extra pound of real English fresh beef, which had been hanging at our quarter for eighteen months. We could not afford to leave it for a farther trial of keeping, but I have no doubt that double the period would not have quite spoiled its flavour." This winter proved much more severe than the former. Additional clothing was found necessary. The stove-fun- nels collected a quantity of ice within them, notwithstand- ing fires were kept up night and day, so that it was frequently requisite to take them down in order to break and melt the ice out of them. Nothing was seen of the sun for forty-two days. On the 15th of April, Mr. A. Elder, Greenland mate of the Mecla^ died of dropsy : he had been leading man with Parry on Eoss's voyage, and for his good conduct was made mate of the Chipery on the last expedition. On the 6th of September, 1823, Mr. Geo. Fife, the pilot, also died of scurvy. After taking a review of their provisions, and theproba- bility of having to pass a third winter here. Captain Parry determined to send the Hecla home, taking from her all the provision that could be spared. Little or no hopes could be entertained of any passage being found to the westward, otherwise than by the strait now so firmly closed with ice; but Parry trusted that some interesting additions might be made to the geography of these dreary regions, by attempting a passage to the northward or east- 110 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. ward, in hopes of finding an outlet to Lancaster Sound or Prince Begent's Inlet. On the 21st of April, 1823, they began transshipping the provisions ; the teams of dogs being found most useM for this purpose. Even two anchors of 22 cwt. each, were drawn by these noble animals at a quick trot. Upon admitting daylight at the stem windows of the Hecla, on the 22nd, the gloomy, sooty cabin showed to no great advantage, no less than ten buckets of ice were taken from the sashes and out of the stem lockers, from which latter some spare flannels and instruments were only liberated by chopping. On the 7th of June, Captain Lyon, with a party of men, set off across the Melville Peninsula, to endeavour to get a sight of the western sea, of which they had received de- scriptive accounts from the natives, but owing to the diffi- culties of travelliag, and the ranges of mountains they met with, they returned unsuccessful, after being out twenty days. Another inland trip of a fortnight followed. On the 1st of August, the Mecla was reported ready for sea. Some symptoms of scurvy having again made their appearance in the ships, and the surgeons reporting that it would not be prudent to continue longer, Captain Parry reluctantly determined to proceed home with both ships. After being 319 days in their winter quarters, the ships got away on the 9th of August. A conspicuous landmark, with despatches, was set up on the mainland for the information of Franklin, should he reach this quarter. On reaching Winter Island, and visiting their last year's garden, radishes, mustard and cress, and onions were brought off, which had survived the winter and were still alive, seventeen months from the time they were planted, a very remarkable proof of their having been preserved by the warm covering of snow. The by the mercy swept selves. On 1 Inlet, when I within 1 the 12t] The da horrible being fi again pa "Ten expectat: affairs, e such she have slic e^ressef or tide, a Forth) period hi any exert of extrica they once the 10th CliAVEBI In 1823, time engag meats to < Means of pe VOYAGE TO SPITZBEROEN AND GREENLAND. Ill The ships, durmg the whole of this passage, were driven by the clirrent more than three degrees, entirely at the mercy of the ice, being carried into every bight, and swept over each point, without the power of helping them* selves. On the 1st of September, they were driven up Lyon Inlet, where they were confined high up till the 6th, when a breeze sprung up, which took them down to within three miles of Winter Island ; still it was not until the 12th that they got thoroughly clear of the indraught. The danger and suspense of these twelve days were horrible, and Lyon justly observes that he would prefer being frozen up during another eleven months' winter, to again passing so anxious a period of time. ** Ten of the twelve nights were passed on deck, in expectation, each tide, of some decided change in our afiairs, either by being left on the rocks, or grounding in such shoal water, that the whole body of the ice must have slid over us. But, as that good old seaman Baffin expresses himself, ' God, who is greater than either ice or tide, always delivered us !* " For thirty-five days the ships had been beset, and in that period had driven with the ice above 300 miles without any exertion on their part, and also without a possibility of extricating themselves. On the 23rd of September they once more got into the swell of the Atlantic, and on the 10th of October arrived at Lerwick, in Shetland. Clavebino's Voyage to Spitzbebgen and Gbeen- LAND, 1823. In 1823, Capt. Sabine, B.A., who had been for some time engaged in magnetic observations, and also in experi- ments to determine the configuration of tLe earth, by means of pendulum vibrations in different latitudes, having 112 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. perfected his observations at different points, from the Equator to the Arctic Circle, suggested to the Eoyal Society, through Sir Humphry Davy, the importance of extending similar experiments into higher latitudes towards the Pole. Accordingly, the Government placed at his disposal H.M.S. Griper, 120 tons. Commander Clavering, which was to convey him to Spitzhergen, and thence to the east coast of Greenland. The GMper sailed from the Nore on the lltb. of May, and proceeded to Hammerfest, or Whale Island, near the North Cape in Norway, which she reached on the 4th of June, and Capt. Sabine having finished his shore observa- tions by the 23rd, the vessel set sail for Spitzbergen. She fell in with ice off Cherry Island, in lat. 75° 6', on the 27th, and on the 30th disembarked the tents and instru- ments on one of the small islands round Hakluyt's Head- land, near the eightieth parallel. Capt. Clavering, mean- while, sailed in the Ghnper due north, and reached the latitude of 80° 20', where being stopped by close packed ice, he was obliged to return. On the 24th of July they again put to sea, directing their course for the highest known point of the eastern coast of Greenland. They met with many fields of ice, and made the land, which had a most miserable desolate appearance, at a point which was named Cape Borlase Warren. Two islands were discovered, and as Capt. Sabine here landed and carried on his observations, they were called Pendulum Islands. From an island situate in lat. 76° 12', to which he gave the name of Shannon Island, Clavering saw high land, stretching due north as far as lat. 76°. On the 16th of August, Clavering landed with a party of three officers and sixteen men on the mainland, to examine the shores. The temperature did not sink below 23°, and they slept for nearly a fortnight they were on shore with onlj ingi Esqi jour] ferer Ham The] On t havin set s{ Parry thousj ice in stood gale, T and it station was cl land al Octobe: got off 1 On t: they we andafte the ship the 19th In18S simultani I'yon wai ing the i straits, ai as Prank gazetted lyon's voyage m the oriper. 113 meeting iasteni lof ice, isolate lorlase Capt. », they late in [sland, I far as rtyof ;:amine ^°, and le with only a boat-cloak and blanket for a covering, without feel- ing an^ inconvenience from the cold. A tribe of twelve Esquimaux was met with here. They reached in their journey a magnificent inlet, about fifty miles in circum- ference, which was supposed to be the same which Gale Hamkes discovered in 1654, and which bears his name. The mountains round its sides were 4000 to 5000 feet high. On the 29th of August, they returned on board, and having embarked the tents and instruments, the ship again set sail on the 31st, keeping the coast in view to Cape Parry, lat. 72^°. The cliffs were observed to be several thousand feet high. On the 13th of September, as the ice in shore began to get very troublesome, the ship stood out to sea, and after encountering a very heavy gale, which drove them with great fury to the southward, and it not being thought prudent to make for Iceland, a station in about the same latitude on the Norway coast was chosen instead by Capt. Sabine. They made the land about the latitude of Christiansound. On the 1st of October the Chiper struck hard on a sunken rock, but got off undamaged. On the 6th they anchored in Drontheim Fiord, where they were received with much kindness and hospitality, and after the necessary observations had been completed the ship proceeded homewards, and reached Deptford on the 19th of December, 1823. Lyon's Voyage in the Gbipeb. In 1824 three expeditions were ordered out, to carry on simultaneous operations in Arctic discovery. To Capt. Lyon was committed the task of examining and complet- ing the survey of the Melville Peninsula, the adjoining straits, and the shores of Arctic America, if possible as far as Franklin's turning point. Oapt. Lyon was therefore gazetted to the Oriper gun-brig, which had taken out I # 114 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Capt. Sabine to Spitzbergen in tbe previous year. The fol- ^ lowing officers and crew were also appointed to her : — Griper, Captain— G. F. Lyon. Lieutenants — P. Manico and F. Harding. Assistant- Surveyor — E. N. Kendal. Purser — J. Evans. Assistant-Surgeon — W. Leyson. Midshipman — J. Tom. 34 Petty officers, seamen, &c. Totid complement, 41. It was not till the 20th of June that the Griper got away from England, being a full month later than the usual period of departure, and the vessel was at the best but an old tub in her sailing properties. A small tender, called the Snap^ was ordered to accompany her with stores as far as the ice, and having been relieved of her supplies, she was sent home on reaching Hudson's Straits. The Griper made but slow progress in her deeply laden state, her crowded decks being continually swept by heavy seas, and it was not until the end of August that she rounded the southern head of Southampton Island, and stood up towards Sir Thomas Eoe's Welcome. On reach- ing the entrance of this channel they encountered a terrific gale, which for a long time threatened the destruction of both ship and crew. Drifting with this, they brought up the ship with four anchors, in a bay with five fathoms and a half water, in the momentary expectation that with the ebb tide the ship would take the ground, as the sea broke fearfully on a low sandy beach just astern, and had the anchors parted nothing could have saved the vessel. Neither commander nor crew had been in bed for three nights, and although little hope was entertained of th th< on ful oft him befo slig] aUa by \ obtai scene lifeh sailor not b( not oii was a am fii shown obtain: tide, name( spot OE Proo about 12th of it blew was dri fury of dashed good Vi again st a Lyon's voyage in the griper. 115 laden beavy bt she and •eacli- lerrific ion of [hi up iB and with l8 the Mem, of surviving the gale, and no boat could live in such a sea, the officers and crew performed their several duties with their accustomed coolness. Each man was ordered to put on his warmest clothing, and to take charge of some use- ful instrument. The scene is best described in the words of the gallant commander : — *' Each, therefore, brought his bag on deck, and dressed himself; and in the fine athletic forms which stood e:q)Osed before me, I did not see one muscle quiver, nor the slightest sign of alarm. Prayers were read, and they then all sat down in groups, sheltered from the wash of the sea by whatever they could find, and some endeavoured to obtain a little sleep. Never perhaps was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of my little ship, when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of the British sailor is always allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it to be possible that among forty-one persons not one repining word should have been uttered. Each was at peace with his neighbour and all the world ; and I am firmly persuaded that the resignation which was then shown to the will of the Almighty, was the means of obtaining His mercy. God was merciful to us, and the tide, almost miraculously, fell no lower." The appropriate name of the Bay of God's Mercy has been given to this spot on the charts by Capt. Lyon. Proceeding onward up the Welcome, they encountered, about a fortnight later, another fearful storm. On the 12th of September, when ofi'the entrance of Wager Inlet, it blew so hard for two days, that on the 13th the ship was driven from her anchors, and carried away by the fury of the gale, with every prospect of being momentarily dashed to pieces against any hidden rock ; but the same good Providence which had so recently befriended them, again stood their protector. On consulting with his zS 116 PEOGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. officers, it was tmanimously resolved, that in the crippled state of the ship, without any anchor, and with her com- passes worse than useless, it would be madness to continue the voyage, and the ship's course was therefore shaped for England. I may observe, that the old Crriper is now laid up as a hulk in Chichester Harbour, furnishing a residence and dep6t for the coast guard station. Paebt*8 Third Voyage. In the spring of 1824 the Admiralty determined to give Capt. Parry another opportunity of carrying out the great problem which had so long been sought after, of a north> west passage to the Pacific, and so generally esteemed was this gallant commander that he had but to hoist his pennant, when fearless of aU danger, and in a noble spirit of emulation, his former associates rallied around him. The same two ships were employed as before, but Parry now selected the JSecla for his pennant. The staff of officers and men was as foUows : — Secla. Captain — ^W. E. Parry. Lieutenants — J. L. Wynn, Joseph Sherer, and Henry Foster. Surgeon — Samuel Neill, M.D. Purser — ^W. H. Hooper. Assistant- Surgeon — W. Rowland. Midshipmen — J. Brunton, F. B. M.Crozier, C. Bichards, and H. N. Head. Greenland Pilots^J. Allison, master; and G. Cham- pion, mate. 49 Petty Officers, Seamen, and Marines. Total complement, 62. parry's third voyage. 117 enry Fury, Commander— H. P. Hpppner. Lieutenants — H. T. Austin and J. C. Boss. Surgeon — A. M*Laren. Purser — J. Halse. Assistant-Surgeon — T. Bell. Midshipmen — B. Westropp, C. C. Waller, and E. Bird. Clerk— W. Mogg. Greenland Pilots — G. Crawford, master ; T. Donaldson mate. 48 Petty Officers, Seamen, and Marines. Total complement, 60. The William HarriSf transport, was commissioned to accompany the ships to the ice with provisions. Among the promotions made, it will be seen, were Lieut. Hoppner to the rank of Commander, and second in command of the expedition. Messrs. J. Sherer and J. C. Koss to be Lieu- tenants, and J. Halse to be Purser. The attempt on this occasion was to be made by Lancaster Sound through Barrow's Strait to Prince Eegent Lilet. The ships sailed on the 19th of May, 1824, and a month afterwards fell in with the body of the ice in lat. 60|°. After trans- shipping the stores to the two vessels, and sending home the transport, about the middle of July they were close beset with the ice in Baffin's Bay, and " from this time (says Parry) the obstructions from the quantity, magni- tude, and closeness of the ice, were such as to keep o\ir people almost constantly employed in heaving, warping, or sawing through it ; and yet with so little success that, at the close of July, we had only penetrated seventy miles to the westward." After encountering a severe gale on the 1st of August, by which masses of overlaying ice were driven one upon the other, the Hecla was laid on her broadside by a strain, which Parry says must inevitably 1 1 li 118 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. have crushed a vessel of ordinary strength ; they got clear of the chief obstructions by the first week in September. During the whole of August they had not one day suffi- ciently free from rain, snow, or sleet, to be able to air the bedding of the ship's company. They entered Lancaster Sound on the 10th of Sep- tember, and with the exception of a solitary berg or two found it clear of ice. A few days after they, however, fell in with the young ice, which increasing daily in thickness, the ships became beset, and by the current which set to the east at the rate of three miles an hour, they were soon drifted back to the eastward of Admiralty Inlet, and on the 23rd they found themselves again off WoUaston Island, at the entrance of Navy Board Inlet. By perse- verance, however, and the aid of a strong easterly breeze, they once more managed to recover their lost ground, and on the 27th reached the entrance of Port Bowen on the eastern shore of Prince Kegent Inlet, and here Parry resolved upon wintering ; this making the fourth winteiv this enterprising commander had passed in these inhos-^ pitable seas. The usual laborious process of cutting canals had to be resorted to, in order to get the ships near to the shore in, secure and sheltered situations. Parry thus describes the dreary monotonous character of an Arctic winter : — " It is hard to conceive anyone thing more like another than two winters passed in the higher latitudes of the Polar regions, except when variety happens to be afforded by intercourse with some other branch of the whole family of man. Winter after winter, nature here assumes an aspect so much alike, that cursory observation can scarcely detect a single feature of variety. The winter of more temperate climates, and even in some of no slight severity, is occasionally diversified by a thaw, which at once gives variety and comparative cheerfulness to the prospect. But hei ton mo] is ti the torp anyt a dei keep, drem anim; Di] mainc point with ] longi ing P amuse it requ possesi idea w whose great c 120. their queradt "Iti happy, dressed their pt degree not hav€ latter mi order, d ii parry's third voyage. 119 here, when once the earth is covered, all is dreary mono- tonous' whiteness, not merely for days or weeks, but for more than half a year together. Whichever way the eye is turned, it meets a picture calculated to impress upon the mind an idea of inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor with which our feelings have nothing congenial ; of anything, in short, but life. In the very silence there i& a deadness with which a human spectator appears out of Jceeping. The presence of man seems an intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, which even its native animals have for awhile forsaken." During this year Parry tells us the thermometer re- mained below zero 131 days, and did not rise above that point till the 11th of April. The sun, which had been absent from their view 121 days, again blessed the crews with his rays on the 22nd of February. During this long imprisonment, schools, scientific observations, walk- ing parties, &c., were resorted to, but "our former amusements," says Parry, " being almost worn threadbare, it required some ingenuity to devise any plan that should possess the charm of novelty to reconmiend it." A happy idea was, however, hit upon by Commander Hoppner, at whose suggestion a monthly hal masquS was held, to the great diversion of both officers and men, to the number of 120. The popular commander entered gaily into their recreations, and thus speaks of these Polar mas- querades : — " It is impossible that any idea could have proved more happy, or more exactly suited to our situation. Admirably dressed characters of various descriptions readily took their parts, and many of these were supported with a degree of spirit and genuine good humour which would not have disgraced a more refined assembly ; while the latter might not have been disgraced by copying the good order, decorum, and inoffensive cheerfulness which our 120 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. humble masquerades presented. It does especial credit to the dispositions and good sense of our men, that though all the officers entered ftilly into the spirit of these amuse- ments, which took place once a month alternately on board of each ship, no instance occurred of anything that could interfere with the regular discipline, or at all weaken the respect of the men towards their superiors. Ours were masquerades without Hcentiousness — carnivals without excess." Exploring parties were sent out in several directions. Commander Hoppner and his party went inland, and after a fortnight's fatiguing journey over a mountainous, barren, and desolate country, where precipitous ravines 500 feet deep obstructed their passage, travelled a degree and three- quarters — ^to the latitude of 73° 19' — ^but saw no appear- ance of sea from thence. Lieutenant Sherer with four men proceeded to the southward, and made a careful survey of the coast as far as 72^°, but had not provisions sufficient to go round Cape Xater, the southernmost point observed in their former voyage. lieutenant J. C. Soss, with a similar party, travelled to the northward, along the coast of the Inlet, and from the hills about Cape York, observed that the sea was perfectly open and free from ice at the distance of twenty-two miles from the ships. After an imprisonment of about ten months, by great exertions the ships were got clear from the iee, and on the 20th of July, 1825, upon the separation of the floe across the harbour, towed out to sea. Parry then made for the western shore of the Inlet, being desirous of examining the coast of North Somerset for any channel that might occur, a probability which later discoveries in that quarter have proved to be without foundation. On the 28th, when well in with the western shore, the Hecla, in spite of every PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. 121 exertion, was beset by floating ice, and after breaking two large ice anchors in endeavouring to heave in shore, was obliged to give up the effort and drift with the ice until the 30th. On the following day, a heavy gale came on, in which the JSecla carried away three hawsers, while the JFtify was driven on shore, but was hove off at high water. Both ships were now drifted by the body of the ice down the Inlet, and took the ground, the Fufyhemg so nipped and strained that she leaked a great deal, and four pumps kept constantly at work did not keep her clear of water. They were floated off at high water, but, late on the 2nd of August, the huge masses of ice once more forced the Fttfy on shore, and the Secla narrowly escaped. On examining her and getting her off, it was found that she must be hove down and repaired ; a basin was therefore formed for her reception and completed by the 16th, a mile Airther to the southward, within three icebergs grounded, where there were three or four fathoms of water. Into this basin she was taken on the 18th, and her stores and provisions being removed, she was hove down, but a gale of wind coming on and destroying the masses of ice which sheltered her, it became necessary to re-em- bark the stores, &c., and once more put to sea ; but the unfortunate vessel had hardly got out of her harbour before, on the 21st, she was again driven on shore. After a careful survey and examination, it was found necessary to abandon her : Parry's opinion being thus expressed — " Every endeavour of ours to get her off, or if got off, to float her to any known place of safety, would be at once utterly hopeless in itself, and productive of extreme risk to our remaining ship." The loss of this ship, and the crowded state of the remaining vessel, made it impossible to think of continuing the voyage for the purposes of discovery. '' The incessant labour, the constant state of anxiety. 1 1 I 122 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. and the frequent and imminent danger into which the sur- viving ship was thrown., :n the attempts to save her com- rade, which were continued for twenty-five days, destroyed every reasonable expectation hitherto cherished of the ultimate accomplishment of this object." Taking advantage of a northerly wind, on the 27th the Hecla stretched across the Inlet for the eastern coast, meeting with little obstruction from the ice, and anchored in Neill's Harbour, a short distance to the southward of their winter quarters. Port Bowen, where the ship was got ready for crossing the Atlantic. The Hecla put to sea on the 31st of August, and enter- ing Barrow's Strait on the 1st of September, found it perfet ^y clear of ice. In Lancaster Sound a very large number of bergs were seen ; but they found an open sea in Baffin's Bay, till, on the 7th of September, when in lati- tude 72° 30', they came to the margin of the ice, and soon entered a clear channel on its eastern side. From thirty to forty large icebergs, not less than 200 feet in height, were sighted. On the 12th of October, Captain Parry landed at Peter- head, and the Hecla arrived at Sheemess on the 20th. But one man died during this voyage — John Page, a sea- man of the Fv/ry — ^who died of scurvy, in Neill's Harbour, on the 29th of August. This voyage cannot but be considered the most unsuc- cessful of the three made by Parry, whether as regards the information gleaned on the subject of a north-west passage or the extension of our store of geographical or scientific knowledge. The shores of this Inlet were more naked, barren, and desolate than even Melville Island. With the exception of some hundreds of white whales, seen sporting about the most southernmost part of the Inlet that was visited, few other species of animals were seen. , " We have scarcely," says Parry, " ever visited a coast on T l?eth< and 1 Ui objec narra "I other which, liable, human contro] within tried oi circumj but I : accomp "lai west paji nay, I favoural mnter i there is ] for we n not only JN'ot o passed w and care: encounte: ardour ai prosecute franklin's second expedition. 123 on which so little of animal life occurs. For days to- gether only one or two seals, a single sea-horse, and now and then a flock of ducks were seen." He still clings to the accomplishment of the great object of a north-west passage. At page 184 of his official narrative, he says — " I feel confident that the undertaking, if it be deemed advisable at any ^ture time to pursue it, will one day or other be accomplished; for — setting aside the accidents to which, from their very nature, such attempts must be liable, as well as other unfavourable circumstances which human foresight can never guard against, or human power control — I cannot but believe it to be an enterprise well within the reasonable limits of practicability. It may be tried often and fail, for several favourable and fortunate circumstances muft be combined for its accompUshment ; but I believe, nevertheless, that it will ultimately be accomplished." " I am much mistaken, indeed," he adds, "if the north- west passage ever becomes the business of a single summer ; nay, I believe that nothing but a concurrence of very favourable circumstances is likely ever to make a single winter in the ice sufficient for its accomplishment. But there is no argument against the possibility of final success : for we now know that a winter in the ice may be passed not only in safety but in health and comfort." JN'ot one winter alone, but two and three have been passed with health and safety in these seas, under a wise and careful commander. Fbanelin's Second Expedition, 1825-26. Undaunted by the hardships and sufferings he had encountered in his previous travels, with a noble spirit of ardour and enthusiasm. Captain Franklin determined to prosecute the chain of his former discoveries from the 124 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Coppermine river to the most western point of tlie Arctic re^ons. A sea expedition, under the command of Captain Beechey, was at the same time sent round Cape Horn to Behring's Straits, to co-operate with Parry and Franklin, so as to furnish provisions to the former, and a conveyance home to the latter. Captain Franklin's offer was therefore accepted by the government, and leaving Liverpool in February, 1825, he arrived at New York about the middle of March. The ojQScers under his orders were his old and tried companions and fellow sufferers in the former journey — Dr. Richard- son and Lieutenant Back, with Mr. £. N. iKendal, a mate in the navy, who had been out in the Griper with Capt. Lyon, and Mr. T. Drummond, a naturalist. Four boats, specially prepared for the purposes of the expedition, were sent out by the Hudson's Bay Company's ship. In July, 1825, the party arrived at Fort Chipewyan. It is unnecessary to go over the ground and follow them in their northern journey ; suflBce it to say, they reached Great Bear Lake in safety, and erected a winter dwelling on its western shore, to which the name of Fort Franklin was given. To Back and Mr. Dease, an oiBcer in the .Hudson's Bay Company's service, was entrusted the arrangements for their winter quarters. From here a small party set out with Franklin down the Mackenzie to examine the state of the Polar Sea. On the 5th of September they got back to their companions, and prepared to pass the long winter of seven or eight months. On the 28th of June, 1826, the season being sufficiently advanced, and all their preparations completed, the whole party got away in four boats to descend the Mackenzie to the Polar Sea. Where the river branches off into several 'channels, the party separated on the 3rd of July, Captain Franklin and Lieutenant Back, with two boats and fourteen men, having with them the faithful Esquimaux interpreter, franklin's second expedition. 125 ' tlie ndof Cape y and *, and by the ;25, lie , The lanions ichard' a mate li Capt. p boats, n, were Augustus, who had been with them on the former expedi- tion, proceeded to the westward, while Dr. Bichardson and Mr. £endal in the other two boats, having ten men under their command, set out in an easterly direction to search the Coppermine rirer. Franklin arrived at the mouth of the Mackenzie on the 7th of July, where he encountered a large tribe of fierce Esquimaux, who pillaged his boats, and it was only by great caution, prudence, and forbearance, that the whole party were not massacred. After getting the boats afloat, and clear of these unpleasant visitors, Franklin pursued his survey, a most tedious and difficult one, for more than a month ; he was only able to reach a point in latitude 70° 24' N. longitude 149° 37' W., to which Back's name was given ; and here prudence obliged him to return, although, strangely enough, a boat from the Blossom was waiting not 160 miles west of his position to meet with him. The extent of coast surveyed was 374 miles. The return journey to Fort Franklin was safely accomplished, and they arrived at their house on the 21st of September, when they found Bichardson and Kendal had returned on the first of the month, having accomplished a voyage of about 500 miles, or 902 by the coast line, between the 4th of July and the 8th of August. They had pushed forward beyond the strait named after their boats the Dolphin and Union. In ascending the Coppermine, they had to abandon their boats and carry their provisions and baggage. Having passed another winter at Fort Franklin, as soon as the season broke up the Canadians were dismissed, and the party returned to England. The cold experienced in the last winter was intense, the thermometer standing at one time at 58° below zero, but having now plenty of food, a weather-tight dwelling, and good health, they passed it cheerfully. 126 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Dr. Eichardson gave a course of lectures on practical geology, and Mr. Drummond furnished information on natural history. During the winter, in a solitary hut on the Eocky Mountains, he managed to collect 200 specimens of birds, animals, &c., and more than 1500 of plants. When Captain Franklin left England to proceed on this expedition he had to undergo a severe struggle between the feelings of affection and a sense of duty. His wife (he has been married twice) was then lying at the point of death, and indeed died the day after he left England. But with heroic fortitude she urged his depar- ture at the very day appointed, entreating him, as he valued her peace and his own glory, not to delay a moment on her account. His feelings, therefore, may be inferred, but not described, when he had to elevate on Garry Island a silk flag which she had made and given him as a parting gift, with the instruction that he was only to hoist it on reaching the Polar Sea. Beechet's Voyage.— 1826-28. H.M. SLOOP Blossom, 26, Captain F. W. Beechey, sailed from Spithead on the 19th of May, 1825, and her ine^tructions directed her, after surveying some of the islands in the Pacific, to be in Behring's Straits by the summer or autumn of 1826, and contingently in that of 1827. It is foreign to my purpose here to allude to those parts of her voyage anterior to her arrival in the Straits. On the 28th of June the Blossom came to an anchor off the town of Petropolowski, where she fell in with the Bussian ship of war Modeste, under the command of Baron Wrangel, so well known for his enterprise in the hazardous expedition by sledges over the ice to the north- ward of Cape Shelatskoi, or Errinos. Captain Beechey here found despatches informing him of the return of Parry's expedition. Being beset by beechey's voyage. 127 ictical on on mt on simens B. »ed on ruggle duty. ^ing at he left depar- as lie ielay a may be ^ate on d given he was sailed ructions in the imer or to those Straits, chor off rith the aand of e in the e north- ling him eaet by currents and other difficulties, it was not till the 5th of July that the Blossom got clear of the harbour, and made the best of her way to £otzebue Sound, reaching the appointed rendezvous at Chamiso Island on the 25th. After landing and burying a barrel of flour upon Puffin Bock, the most unfrequented spot about the island, the Blossom occupied the time in surveying and examining the neighbouring coasts to the north east. On the 30th she took her departure from the island, erecting posts or land-marks, and burying despatches at Cape Krusenstem, near a cape which he named after Franklin, near Icy Cape. The ship returned to the rendezvous on the evening of the 28th of August. The barrel of flour had been dug up, and appropriated by the natives. On the first visit of one of these parties, they con- structed a chart of the coast upon the sand, of which, however. Captain Beechey at first took very little notice. "They, however, renewed their labour, and performed their work upon the sandy beach in a very ingenious and intelligible manner. The coast Une was first marked out with a stick, and the distances regulated by the day's joarney. The hills and ranges of mountains were next shown by elevations of sand or stone, and the islands represented by heaps of pebbles, their proportions being diUy attended to. As the work proceeded some of the bystanders occasionally suggested alterations, and Cap- tain Beechey moved one of the Diomede Islands, which was misplaced. This was at first objected to by the hydrographer, but one of the party recollecting that the islands were seen in one from Cape Prince of Wales, confirmed its new position and made the mistake quite evident to the others, who were much surprised that Captain Beechey should have any knowledge of the subject. When the mountains and islands were erected, the villages and fishing-stations were marked by a number 128 PROGKESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. of sticks placed upright, in imitation of those which are put up on the coast wherever these people fix their abode. In time, a complete hydrographical plan was drawn from Cape Derby to Cape Krusenstem. This ingenuity and accuracy of description on the part of the Esquimaux is worthy of particular remark, and has been verified by almost all the Arctic explorers. The barge which had been despatched to the eastward, under charge of Mr. Elson, reached to lat. 71° 23' 31" N., and long. 156° 21' 30" W., when she was stopped by the ice which was attached to the shore. The farthest tongue of land they reached, was named Point Barrow, and is about 126 miles north-east of Icy Cape, being only about 150 or 160 miles from Franklin's discoveries west of the Mackenzie river. The wind suddenly changing to south-west, the compact body of ice began to drift with the current to the north- east at the rate of 3^ miles an hour, and Mr. Elson, finding it difficult to avoid large floating masses of ice, was obliged to come to an anchor to prevent being driven back. "It was not long before he was so closely beset in the ice,thatno clear water could be seen in any direction from the hills, and the ice continuing to pressagainst the shore,his vesselwas driven upon the beach, and there left upon her broadside in a most helpless condition ; and to add to his cheerless pros- pect, the disposition of the natives, whom he found to increase in numbers as he advanced to the northward, was of a very doubtful character. At Point Barrow, where they were very numerous, their overbearing behaviour, and the thefts they openly practised, left no doubt of what would be the fate of his little crew, in the event of their falling into their power. They were in this dilemma several days, during which every endeavour was made to extricate the vessel but without efiect, and Mr. Elson con- templated sinking her secretly in a lake that was near, to beechey's voyage. 129 1 are )ode. from part Ihas jvrard, ." N., y the Dngue ind is about of the It was lO clear mdthe driven e in a s pros- ind to d, was where Aviour, >fwhat if their lemma lade to m con- ear, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Esquimaux, and then making his way along the coast in a baidar, which he had no doubt he should be able to purchase from the natives. At length, however, a change of wind loosened the ice, and after considerable labour and trial, in which the personal strength of the officers was united to that of the seamen, Mr. Elson, with his shipmates, fortunately succeeded in eifecting their escape. Captain Beechey was very anxious to remain in Kotzebue Sound until the end of October, the period named in his instructions, but the rapid approach of winter, the danger of being locked up, having only five weeks' provisions left, and the nearest point at which he could replenish being some 2000 ju "es distant, induced his officers to concur with him in the i. . ity of leaving at once. A barrel of flour and other b^i.«cieB were buried on the sandy point of Chamido, for Franklin, which it was hoped would escape the prying eyes of the natives. After a cruise to Califomia, the Sandwich Islands, Loo- choo, the Bonin Islands, &c., the Blossom returned to Ghamiso Island on the 5th of July, 1827. They found the flour and despatches they had left the previous year unmolested. Lieut. Belcher was despatched in the barge to explore the coast to the northward, and the ship fol- lowed her as soon as the wind permitted. On the 9th of September, when standing in for the northern shore of Kotzebue Sound, the ship drifting with the current took the ground on a sand-bank near Hotham Inlet, but the wind moderating, as the tide rose she went off the shoal apparently without injury. After this narrow escape from shipwreck they beat up to Chamiso Island, which they reached on the 10th of September. Not finding the barge returned as expected, the coast was scanned, and a signal of distress found flying on the soutb-west point of Choris Peninsula, and 130 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. two men waving a white cloth to attract notice. On land- ing, it was found that this party were the crew of the barge, which had been wrecked in £otzebue Sound, and three of the men were also lost. On the 29th a collision took place with the natives, which resulted in three of the seamen and four of the marines being wounded by arrows, and one of the natives killed by the return fire. After leaving advices for Franklin as before, the Blossom finally left Chamiso on the 6th of October. In a haze and strong wind she ran between the land and a shoal, and a passage had to be forced through breakers at the imminent danger of the ship's striking. The Blossom then made the best of her way home, reaching England in the first week of October, 1828. Paeey's Foueth, oe Polae Voyage, 1827. In 1826, Capt. Parry, who had only returned &om his last voyage in the close of the preceding year, was much struck by the suggestions of Mr. Scoresby, in a paper read before the Wemerian Society, in which he sketched out a plan for reaching the higher latitudes of the Polar Sea, north of Spitzbergen, by means of sledge boats drawn over the smooth fields of ice which were known to prevail in those regions. Col. Beaufoy, F.K.S., had also suggested this idea some years previously. Comparing these with a similar plan originally proposed by Capt. Franklin, and which was placed in his hands by Mr. Barrow, the Secre- tary of the Admiralty, Capt. Parry laid his modified views of the feasibility of the project, and his willingness to undertake it, before Lord Melville, the First Lord of the Admiralty, who after consulting with the President and Council of the Boyal Society, was pleased to sanction the attempt ; accordingly, his old ship, the Hecla, was fitted out for the voyage to Spitzbergen, the following officers (all parry's fourth voyaob. 131 of whom had been with Parry before,) and crew being appointed to her :— Secla, Captain — ^W. E. Parry. Lieutenants — J. 0. Boss, Henry Foster, E. J. Bird, P. E. M. Crozier. Purser — James Halse. Surgeon — C. J. Beverley. On the 4th of April, 1827, the outfit and preparations being completed, the Hecla left the Nore for the coast of Norway, touching at Hammerfest, to embark eight reindeer, and some mos& {Cenon^ce rangiferiha) sufficient for their support, the consumption being about 4 lbs. per day, but they can go without food several days. A tremendous gale of wind, experienced ofi* Hakluyt's Headland, and the quantity of ice with which the ship was in consequence beset, detained the voyagers for nearly a month, but on the 18th of June, a southerly wind dispersing the ice, they drt pped anchor in a cove, on the northern coast of Spitzbergen, which appeared to offer a secure haven, and to which the name of the ship was given. On the 20th, the boat«, which had been specially prepared in England for this kind of journey, were got out and made ready, and they left the ship on the 22nd of June. A description of these boats may not here be out of place. They were twenty feet long and seven broad, fiat floored, like ferry boats, strengthened and made elastic by sheets of felt between the planking, covered with waterproof canvass. A runner attached to each side of the keel, adapted them for easy draught on the ice after the manner of a sledge. They were also fitted with wheels, to be used if deemed expedient and useful. Two officers and twelve men were attached to each boat, and they were named the Enterprise and the Endeomour, The weight of each k2 132 PROGRESS OF ARCJTIC DISCOVERY. boat, including provisions and every requisite, was about 3780 lbs. Lieuts. Crozier and Foster were left on board, and Capt. Parry took with him in his boat Mr. Beverley, Surgeon, while Lieut, (now Capt. Sir James) Boss, and Lieut, (now Commander) Bird, had charge of the other. The reindeer and the wheels were given up as useless, owing to the rough nature of the ice. Provisions for 71 days were taken — the daily allowance per man on the journey being 10 ozs. biscuit, 9 ozs. pemmican, 1 oz. sweetened cocoa powder (being enough to make a pint), and one gill of rum ; but scanty provision in such a climate for men em- ployed on severe labour ; three ounces of tobacco were also served out to each per week. As Aiel was too bulky to transport, spirits of wine were consumed, which answered all the purposes required, a pint twice a day being foimd sufficient to warm each vessel, when applied to an iron boiler by a shallow lamp with seven wicks. After floating the boats for about eighty miles, they came to an unpleasant mixed surface of ice and water, here their toilsome journey commenced, the boats having to be laden and unladen several times accord- ing as they came to floes of ice or lanes of water, and they were drifted to the s6uthward by the ice at the rate of four or five miles a day. Parry foimd it more advantageous to travel by night, the snow being then harder, and the inconvenience of snow blindness being avoided, while the party enjoyed greater warmth during the period of rest, and had better opportunities of drying their clothes by the sun. I cannot do better than quote Parry's graphic descrip- tion of this novel course of proceeding : — " lYavelling by night, and sleeping by day, so completely inverted the natural order of things that it was difficult to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all furnished with pocket chronometers, could parry's fourth voyage. 133 me were not always bear in mind at what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never knew night from day during the whole excursion. " When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers, after which we took oft our fur sleeping- dosses and put on clothes for travelling; the x'.iuer being made of camlet lined with racoon skin, and the latter of strong blue cloth. We made a point of always putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they had been dried during the day or not, and I believe it was only in five or six instances at the most that they were not either still wet or hard firozen. This indeed was of no consequence, beyond the discomfort of first putting ' them on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey; while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being ' rigged' for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit, and after stowing the things in the boats, and on the sledges, so as to secure them as much as possible irom wet, we set off on our day's journey, and usually travelled four, five, or even six hours, according to cir- cumstancea." In five days, notwithstanding their perseverance and continued journeys, they found, by observation at noon, on the 30th, that they had only made eight miles of direct northing. At Walden Island, one of the Seven islands, and Little Table Island, reserve supplies of provisions were deposited to fall back upon in case of necessity. In halting early in the morning for the purposes of rest, the boats were hauled up on the largest piece of ice that offered the least chance of breaking through, or of coming in contact with other masses, the snow or wet 134 PBOaBESS OF ABCTIC DISCOVERY. waa cleaned out and tHe sails rigged as awnings. " Every man then immediately put on dry stockings and ftir boots, alter wluch we set about tbe necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes, and after serving the provisions for the succeeding day, we went to bupper. Most of the officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats and awnikigs very much, and usually raised the temperature of our lodgings 10^ or 15°. This part of the twenty-four hours was often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment t& us ; the men told their stories, and fought all their battles o*er again, and the labours of the day, unsuccessM as they too often were, were for- gotten. A regular watch was set during our resting time to look out for bears, or fbr the ice breaking up round us, as well as to attend to the drying of the clothes, each man alternately taking this duty for one hour. We then concluded our day with prayers, and having put on our Air dresses, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort which perhaps few persons would imagine possible under such circumstances, our chief inconvenience being, that we were somewhat pibched for room, and therefore obliged to stow rather closer than was quite agreeable." This close stowage may be imagined when it is remem- bered that thirteen persons had to sleep in a boat seven feet broad.' After sleeping about seven hours, they were roused from their slumbers by the sound of a bugle from the cook and watchman, which announced that their cocoa was smoking hot, and invited them to breakfast. Their progress was of the most tedious and toilsome character, heavy showers of rain rendering the ice on many occasions a mass of " slush ;** on others there was from six to eighteen inches of snow lying on the surface. Frequently the crew had to proceed on their hands and knees to secure a footing, and on one occasion they made such a mail-like progress that in two hours they only accom- FABRY S FOURTH VOTAQB. 135 plisHed 150 yards. On the 12th of July they had reached the latitude of 82'' 14' 28". After five hours' unceasing labour on the 14th, the progress was but a mile and a half due north, though from three to four miles had been trarersed, ai^d ten at least walked, haying made three journeys a great part of the way ; launched and hauled, up the boats four times, and dragged them over twenty* five separate pieces of ice. On the 18th, after eleven hours of actual labour, requiring for the most part the exertion of the whole strength of the party, they had travelled over a space not exceeding four miles, of which only two were made good. But on halting on the morning of the 20th, having by his reckoning accomplished six and a half miles in a N.N.W. direction, the distance traversed being ten miles and a half. Parry found to his mortification from observation at noon, that they were not^ve miles to the northward of their place at noon on the 17th, although they had certainly travelled twelve miles in that direction smce then. On the 21st a floe of ice on which they had lodged the boats and sledges, broke with their weight, and aU went through with several of the crew, who with the sledges were providentially saved. On the 23rd the farthest northerly point was reached^ which was about 82° 45'. At noon on the 26th, the weather being clear, the meridian altitude of the sun was obtained, " by which," says VMTjt " we found ourselves in latitude 82° 40' 23", so that since our last observation (at midnight on the 22nd) we had lost by drifb no less than thirteen and a half miles, for we were now more than three miles to the southward of that observation, though we had certainly travelled between ten and eleven due north in this interval I Again, we were but one mile to the north of 136 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. our place at noon on the 2l8t, though we had estimated our distance made good at twenty-three miles." After encountering every species of fatigue and disheartening obstacles, in peril of their lives almost every hour, Parry now became convinced that it was hopeless to pursue the journey any furtiber, and he could not even reach the eighty-third parallel; for afber thirty-five days of con- tinuous and most fatiguing drudgery, with half their , resources expended, and the middle of the season arrived, he found that the distance gained in their laborious travelling was lost by the drift and set of the ice with the southerly current, during the period of rest. After planting their ensigns and pennants on the 26th, and making it a day of rest, on the 27th the return to the southward was commenced. Nothing particular occurred. Lieutenant Boss managed to bring down with his gun a fat she bear, which came to have a look at the boats, and after gormandizing on its flesh, an excess which may be excused considering it was the first fresh meat they had tasted for many a day, some symptoms of indigestion manifested themselves among the party. On the outward journey very little of animal life was seen. A passing gull, a solitary rotge, two seals, and a couple of flies, were all that their eager eyes could detect. But on their return these became more numerous . On the 8th of August seven or eight narwhals were seen, and not less than 200 rotges, a flock of these little birds occurring in every hole of water. On the 11th, in latitude 8P 30', the sea was found crowded with shrimps and other sea insects, on which numerous birds were feeding. On this day they took their last meal on the ice, being fifty miles distant from Table Island, having accomplished in fifteen days what had taken them thirty-three to efiect on their outward journey. On the 12th they arrived at parry's fourth voyage. 137 this island. The bears had walked off with the relay of br^ad which had been deposited there. To an islet lying off Table Island, and the most northern known land upon the globe, Parry gave the name of Boss, for " no indiTidual," ke observes, "could have exerted himself more strenuously to rob it of this distinction." Putting to sea again, a storm obliged the boats to bear up for Walden Island. "Everything belonging to us (says Captain Parry) was now completely drenched by the. spray and snow ; we had been fifby-six hours without rest, and forty-eight at work in the boats, so that by the time they were unloaded we had barely strength left to haul them up on the rocks. However, by dint of great exer- tion, we managed to get the boats above the surf; after which a hot supper, a blazing fire of drift wood, and a few hours quiet rest, restored us." They finally reached the ship on the 2l8t of August, after sixty-one days' absence. " The distance traversed during this excursion was 569 geographical miles ; but allowing for the times we had to return for our baggage during ^the greater part of the journey over the ice, we estimated our actual travelling at 978 geographical, or 1127 statute miles. Considering our constant exposure to wet, cold, and fatigue, our stockings having generally been drenched in snow-water for twelve hours out of every twenty-four, I had great reason to be thankful for the excellent health in which, upon the whole, we reached the ship. There is little doubt that we had all become in a certain degree gradually lireaker for some time past ; but only three men of our party now required medical care — two of them with badly swelled legs and general debility, and the other from a bruise, but even these three returned to their duty in a short time." 138 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. In a letter from Sir W. E. Parry to Sir Jolm Barrow, dated November 26, 1845, he thus suggests some improve- ments on this old plan of proceedings : — ** It is evident (he sajs) that the causes of failure in our former attempt, in the year 1827, were principally two : first, and chiefly, the broken, rugged, and soft state of the ice over which we travelled ; and secondly, the drifting of the whole body of ice in a southerly direction. * " My amended plan is, to go out with a single ship to Spitzbergen, just as we did in the Seclay but not so early in the season ; the object for that year being merely to find secure winter quarters as far north as possible. For this purpose it would only be necessary to reach Hakluyt's Headland by the end of Jime, which would afibrd ample leisure for examining the more northern lands, especially about the Seven Islands, where, in all probability, a secure nook might be found for the ship, and a starting point for the proposed expedition, some forty or fifty miles in advance of the point where the Heela was before laid up. The winter might be usefully employed in various preparations for the journey, as well as in magnetic, astronomical, and meteorological observations, of high interest in that lati- tude. I propose that the expedition should leave the ship in the course of the month of April, when the ice would present one hard and unbroken surface, over which, as I confidently believe, it would not be difficult to make good thirty miles per day, without any exposure to wet, and probably without snow blindness. At this season, too, the ice would probably be stationary, and thus the two great difficulties which we formerly had to encounter would be entirely obviated. It might form a part of the plan to push out supplies previously, to the distance of 100 miles, to bo taken up on the way, so as to commence the journey comparatively light; and as the intention would be to complete the enterprise in the course of the PARRY S FOURTH VOYAGE. 139 moi^th of May, before any disruption of the ioe, or any material softening of tlie surface had taken place, similar supplies might be sent out to the same distance, to meet the party on their return." The late Sir John Barrow, in his last work, commenting on this, says, " With all deference to so distinguished a sea-officer, in possession of so much experience as Sir Edward Parry, there are others who express dislike of such a plan ; and it is not improbable that mauy wiU be disposed to come to the conclusion, that so long as the Greenland Seas are hampered with ice, so long as floe? , and hummocks, and heavy masses, continue to be formed, so long as a determined southerly current prevails, so long wiU any attempt to carry out the plan in question, in V:^ manner fail. No laborious drudgery will ever be able to conquer the opposing progress of the current and the ioe. Besides, it can hardly be doubted, this gallant officer will admit, on fuc;ther consideration, that this unusual kind of disgusting and unseamanlike labour, is not precisely such as would be relished by the men ; and it may be said, is not exactly fitted for a British man-of-war's-man ; more-- over, that it required his own all-powerful example to make it even tolerable." Sir John therefoi*e suggested a somewhat different fdan. He recommenJ'^I that two small ships should be sent in the early spring along the western coast of Spitzbergen, where usually no impedi- ment exists, as far up as 80^. They shoiilt^ tiike every oppor- tunity of proceeding directly to the north, wherein about 82° Parry has told us the large lioes had disaj^ared, and the sea was found to be loaded oidy with loose, discon- nected, small masses of ice, through which ships would find no difficulty in sailing, though totally unfit for boats draggmg ; and as this loose ice was drifting to the south- ward, he further says, that before the middle of August a ship might have sailed up to the latitude of 82°, almost. 140 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. without toucliing a piece of ice. It is not then unreason- able to expect that beyond that parallel, even as far as the Pole itself, the sea would be free of ice, during the six summer months of perpetual sun, through each of the twenty-four hours ; which, with the aid of the current, would, in all probabihty, destroy and dissipate the Polar ice. The distance from Hakluyt's Headland to the Pole, is 600 geographical miles. Granting the ships to make only twenty miles in twenty-four hours, (on the supposition of much sailing ice to go through,) even in that case it would require but a month to enable the explorer to put his foot on the pivot or point of the axis on which the globe of the earth turns, remain there a month, if necessary, to obtain the sought-for information, and then, with a southerly cur- rent, a fortnight, probably less, would bring him back to Spitzbergen. — Barrow* a Voyages of Discovery ^ p. 316. In a notice in the Quarterly Review of this, one of the most singular and perilous journeys of its kind ever under- taken, except perhaps that of Baron Wrangell upon a similar enterprise to the northward of Behring's Straits, it is observed, — " Let but any one conceive for a moment the situation of two open boats, laden with seventy days' provisions and clothing for twenty-eight men, in the midst of a sea covered nearly with detached masses and floes of ice, over which these boats were to be dragged, sometimes up one side of a rugged mass, and down the other, some- times across the Lies of water that separate them, fre- quently over a surface covered with deep snow, or through pools of water. Let him bear in mind, that the men had little or no chance of any other supply of provisions than that which they carried with t' ^m, calculated as just sufficient to sustain life, and consiaer what their situation would have been in the event, by no means an improbable one, of losing any part of their scanty stock. Let any one try PARRY S FOURTH VOYAGE. 141 to imagine to himself a situation of this kind, and he will still have but a faint idea of the exertions which the men under Capt. Parry had to make, and the sufferings and priyations they had to imdergo." Capt. Parry having thus completed his fifth voyage into the Arctic regions, in four of which he commanded, and was second in the other, it may here be desirable to give a recapitulation of his services. In 1818 he was appointed Lieutenant, commanding the Alexander^ hired ship, as second officer with his uncle. Commander John Boss. In 1819, still as Lieutenant, he was appointed to command the Hecla, and to take charge of the second Arctic expedition, on which service he was employed two years. On the 14th of November, 1820, he was promoted to the rank of Commander. On the 19th of December, 1820, the Bedfordean Gold Medal of the Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, was unanimously voted to him. On the 30th of December of that year, he was appointed to the Fwry, with orders to take command of the expedition to the Arctic Sea. With the sum of 600 guineas subscribed for the purpose, " the Explorer of the Polar Sea" was afterwards prei^onted with a silver vase, highly embellished with devices emble- matic of the Arctic voyages. And on the 24th of March, 1821, the city of Bath presented its freedom to Captain Parry, in a box of oak highly and appropriately orna- mented. On the 8th of November, 1821, he obtained his post-captain's rank. On the 22nd of November, 1823, he was presented with the freedom of the city of Winchester ; and, on the Ist of December, was appointed actiDg- hydrographer to the Admiralty in the place of Capt. Hind, deceased. In 1824 he was appointed to the Heclat tp proceed on another exploring voyage. On the 22nd of November, 1825, Capt. Parry was for- 142 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. mally appointed hydrographer to the Admiralty, which office he continued to hold until the 10th of November, 1826. In December, 1825, he was voted the freedom of the borough of Lynn, in testimony of the high sense enter- tained by the corporation of his meritorious and enter- prising conduct. In April, 1827, he once more took the command of his old ship, tibe Hecla, for another voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. On his return in the close of the year, having paid off the Hecla at Deptford, he re- sumed on the 2nd of November his duties as hydrographer to the Admiralty, which office he held until the 13th of May, 1829. Having received the honour of knighthood, he then resigned in favour of the present Admiral Beau- fort, and, obtaining permission from the Admiralty, pro- ceeded to New South Wales as Besident Commissioner to the Australian Agricultural Company, taking charge of their recently acquired large territory in the neighbour- hood of Port Stephen. He returned from Austraha in 1834. From the 7th of March, 1835, to the 3rd of Feb- ruary, 1836, he acted as Poor Law Commissioner in Nor- folk. Early in 1837, he was appointed to organize the Mail Packet Service then transferred to the Admiralty, and afterwards, in April, was appointed Comptroller of Steam Machinery to the Navy, which office he continro*'. to hold up to December, 1846. From that period to the present time he has filled the post of Captain Superin- tendent of the Boyal Naval Hospital at Haslar. Captain John Boss's Second Yoyaoe, 1829-33. In the year 1829, Capt. Ross, the pioneer of Arctic explora- tion in the 19th century, being anxious once more to display his zeal and enterprise as well as to retrieve his nautical repu- tation from those unfortunate blunders and mistakes which CAPTAIK 3iOSSS SECOND VOYAGE. 143 had. attached to his first Toyage, and thue remoye the cloud which had for nearly ten years hung over his prO' fessional character, endeavoured without effect to induce the Government to send him out to the Polar Seas in charge of another expedition. The Board of Admiralty of that day, in the spirit of retrenchment which pervaded their councils, were, however, not disposed to recommend any iurther grant for research, even the Board of Longitude was abolished, and the boon of 20,000/. offered by Act of Parliament for the promotion of Arctic discovery, also withdrawn by a repeal of the act. Captain Eoss, however, imdaunted by the chilling indif- ference thus manifested towards his proposals by the Ad- miralty, still persevered, having devoted 3000Z. out of his own funds towards the prosecution of the object he had in view. He was fortunate enough to meet with a pubhc-spirited and affluent coadjutor and supporter m the late Sir. Felix Booth, the eminent distiller, and that gentleman nobly contributed 17,000/. towards the expenses. Captain Eoss thereupon set to work, and purchased a small Liverpool steamer named the Victory t whose tonnage he increased to 150 tons. She was pro- visioned for three years. Capt. Boss chose for his second in command his nephew. Commander James Boss, who had been ynih. him on his first Arctic expedition, and had sub- sequently accompanied Parry in aU his voyages. The other officers of the vessel were — Mr. Wm. Thom, purser ; Mr. George M'Diarmid, surgeon ; Thomas Blanky, Thos. Abernethy, and George Taylor, as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd mates; Alexander Brunton and Allan Macinnes as 1st and 2nd engineers ; and nineteen petty officers and seamen ; nm.lfing a complement in all of 28 men. The Admiralty furnished towards the purposes of the expedition a decked boat of sixteen tons, called the Kru- tenstemt and two boats which had been used by Franklin with a stock of books and instruments. 144 PBOORESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. The vessel being reported ready for sea was visited and examined by the late King of the French, the Lords of the Admiralty, and other parties taking an interest in the expedition, and set sail from Woolwich on the 23rd of May, 1829. For all practical purposes the steam machinery, on which tjie commander had greatly relied, was found on trial utterly useless. Having received much damage to her spars, in a severe gale, the ship put in to the Danish settlement of Holstein- berg, on the Greenland coast, to refit, and sailed again to the northward on the 26th of June. They found a clear sea, and even in the middle of Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait perceived no traces of ice or snow, except what ap- peared on the lofty summits of some of the mountains. The thermometer stood at 40°, and the weather was so mild that the officers dined in the cabin without a fire, with the skylight partially open. On the 10th of August they passed Cape York, and thence crossed over into Ee- gent Lilet, making the western coast between Sepping's and Elwin Bay on the 16th. fr They here fell in with those formidable streams, packs, and floating bergs of ice which had offered such obstructions to Parry's ships. From their proxi- mity to the magnetic pole, their compasses became useless as they proceeded southward. On the 13th they reached the spot where the Fwry was abandoned, but no remnants of the vessel were to be seen. All her sails, stores, and provisions, on land, were, however, found ; the hermetically-sealed tin canisters having kept the provisions from the attacks of bears ; and the flour, bread, wine, spirits, sugar, &c., proved as good, after being here four years, as on the first day they were packed. This store formed c very seasonable addition, which was freely made available, and after increasing their stock to two years and ten months' supply, they still left CAPTAIN BOSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 145 I and ds of n the rd of inery, found levere Istein- to the ur sea, rrow's lat ap- atains. WBB so a fire, iugnst ito Be- iping's a large quantily for the wants of any future explorers. On the 15th, crossmg Cresswell Bay, they reached Cape Garry, the farthest point which had been seen by Parry. They were here much inconvenienced and delayed by fogs and floating ice. While mountains of ice were tossing around them on every side, they were often forced to seek safety by mooring themselves to these formidable masses, and drifting with them, sometimes forward, sometimes backward. In this manner on one occasion no less than nineteen miles were lost in a few hours ; at other times they underwent frequent and severe shocks, yet escaped any serious damage. Captain Boss draws a lively picture of what a vessel en- dures in sailing among these moving hiUs. He reminds the reader that ice is stone, as solid as if it were granite ; and he bids him ** imagine these mountains hurled through a narrow strait by a rapid tide, meeting with the noise of thunder, breaking from each other's precipices huge frag- ments, or rending each other asunder, till, losing their former equilibrium, they fall over headlong, lifting the sea around in breakers, and whirling it in eddies. There is not a moment in which it can be conjectured what will happen in the next ; there is not one which may not be the last. The attention is troubled to fix on anything amid su h conftision ; still must it be alive, that it may seize on the single moment of help or escape which may occur. Yet with all this, and it is the hardest task of all, there is nothing to be acted, — ^no effort to be made, — ^he must be patient, as if he were unconcerned or careless, waiting, as he best can, for the fate, be it what it may, which he cannot influence or avoid." Proceeding southward. Boss found Brentford Bay, about thirty miles beyond Cape Garry, to be of considerable extent, with some fine harboiura. Landing here* the British colours were unfurled, and the coast, named after ft UQ PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. the promoter of the expedition, was taken possession of in the name of the king. Extensive and commodious har- bours, named Ports Logan, Elizabeth, and Eclipse, were discovered, and a large bay, which was called Mary Jones Bay. By the end of September, the ship had examined 300 miles of undiscovered coast. The winter now set in with severity, huge masses of ice began to close around them, the thermometer sank many degrees below freezing point, and snow fell very thick. By sawing through the ice, the vessel was got into a secure position to pass the winter, in a station which is now named on the maps Felix Harbour. The machinery of the steam-engine was done away with, the vessel housed, and every measure that could add to the comfort of the crew adopted. They had abun- dance of fuel, and provisions that might easily be extended to three years. On the 9th of January, 1831, they were visited by a large tribe of Esquimaux, who were better dressed and cleaner than those more to the northward. They dis- played an intimate acquaintance with the situation and bearings of the countiy over which they had travelled, and two of them drew a very fair sketch of the neigh- bouring coasts, with which they were familiar; this was revised and corrected by a learned lady named Teriksin, — the females seeming, from this and former in- stances, to have a clear knowledge of the hydrography and geography of the continent, bays, straits, and rivers which they had once traversed. On the 6th of April, Commander Boss, with Mr. Blanky, the chief mate, and two Esquimaux guides, set out to ex- plore a strait which was reported as lying to the westward, and which it was hoped might lead to the western sea. After a tedious and arduous journey, they arrived, on the third day, at a bay facing to the westward, and discovered, further inland, an extensive lake, called by the natives CAPTAIN boss's SECOND VOYAGE. 147 Ler in- ^yand rivers lanky, to ex- rard, sea. in the rered, itives Nje-tyel-le, whence a broad river flowed into the bay. Their guides informed them, however, there was no prospect of a water communication south of their present position. Capt. Boss then traced the coast fifty or sixty miles further south. Several journeys were also made by Commander Boss, both inland and along the bays and inlets. On the 1st of May, from the top of a high hill, he observed a large inlet which seemed to lead to the western sea. In order to satisfy himself on this point, he set out again on the 17ili of May, with provisions for three weeks, eight dogs, and three companions. Having crossed the great middle lake of the isthmus, he reached his former station, and thence traced an inlet which was found to be the mouth of a river named by them Garry. From the high hill they observed a chain of lakes leading almost to Thom's Bay, the Victortfs station in Felix Harbour. Proceeding north- west along the coast, they crossed the frozen surface of the strait which has since been named after Sir James Boss, and came to a large island which was called Matty; keeping along its northern shore, and passing over a narrow strait, which they named after Wellington, they found themselves on what was considered to be the main- land, but which the more recent discoveries of Simpson have shown to be an island, and which now bears the name of King William's Land. Still journeying onward, with difficulties continually increasing, from heavy toil and severe priva- tion, the dogs became exhausted with fatigue, and a burden rather than an aid to the travellers. One of their greatest embarrassments was how to dis- tinguish between land and sea. " When all is ice, and all one dazzling mass of white — ^when the surface of the sea iwjelf is tossed up and fixed into rocks, while the land is on the contrary yery often flat, it is not always so easy a problem aB it might seem on a superficial view, to deter- l2 148 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. mine a fact which appears in words to be extremely simple." Although their provisions began to fall short, and the party were nearly worn out, Commander Boss was most desirous of making as much western discovery as possible ; therefore, depositing everything that «ould be dispensed with, he pushed on, on the 28th, with only four days' pro- visions, and reached Cape Felix, the most northern point of this island, on the following day. The coast here took a south-west direction, and there was an unbounded expanse of ocean in view. The next morning, after having travelled twenty miles farther, they reached a point, which Boss called Point Victory, situated in lat. 64° 46' 19", long. 98° 32' 49", while to the most distant one in view, estimated to be in long. 99° 17' 58", he gave the name of Cape Franklin. However loath to turn back, yet prudence com- pelled them to do so, for as they had only ten days' short allowance of food, and more than 200 miles to traverse, there could not be a moment's hesitation in adopting this step. A high cairn of stones was erected before leaving, in which was deposited a narrative of their proceedings. The party endured much fatigue and suffering on their return journey ; of the eight dogs only two survived, and the travellers in a most exhausted state arrived in the neigh- bourhood of the large lakes on the 8th of June, where they fortunately fell in with a tribe of natives, who received them hospitably, and supplied them plenti^y with fish, so that afber a day's rest they resumed their journey, and reached the ship on the 13th. Capt. Boss in the meanwhile had made a partifd survey of the Isthmus, and discovered another large lake, which he named after Lady Melville. After eleven months' imprisonment, their little ship once more floated buoyant on tiie waves, having been released from her icy barrier on the 17th of September, but for the next few days made but little progress, being CAPTAIN BOSS S SECOND VOYAGE. U9 beaten about among the icebergs, and driven hither and thither by the currents. A change in the weather, however, took place, and on the 23rd they were once more frozen in, the sea in a week after exhibiting one clear unbroken surface. All October was passed in cutting through the ice into a more secure locality, and another dreary winter having set in, it became necessary to reduce the allowance of provisions. This winter was one of unparalleled severity, the thermometer falling 92° below freezing point. During the ensuing spring a variety of exploratory journeys were carried on, and m one of these Commander Boss succeeded in planting the British flag on the North Magnetic Pole. The position which had been usually assigned to this interesting spot by the learned of Europe, was lat. 70° N., and long. 98° 30' W. ; but Boss, by careful observations, determined it to lie in lat. 70° 5' 17" N., and long. 96° 46' 45" W., to the southward of Cape Nikolai, on the western shore of Boothia. But it has since been found that the centre of magnetic intensity is a moveable point revolving within the frigid zone. " The place of the observatory," Boss remarks, " was as near to the magnetic pole as the limited means which I possessed enabled me to determine. The amount of the dip, as indicated by my dipping-needle, was 89° 59', being thus within one minute of the vertical ; while the prox- imity at least of this pole, if not its actual existence where we stood, was ftirther confirmed by the action, or rather by the total inaction, of the several horizontal needles then in my possession." Parry's observations placed it eleven minutes distant only &om the t^ite determined by Boss. " As soon," continues Boss, " as I had satisfied my own mind on the subject, I made known to the party thi» gratifying result of all our joint labours ; and it was then 150 PBOORESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. that, amidst mutual congratulations, we fixed the British flag on the spot, and took possession of the North Mag- netic Pole and its adjoining territory in the name of Great Britain and King William lY. We had abundance of materials for building in the fragments of limestone that covered the beach, and we therefore erected a cairn of some magnitude, under which we buried a canister con- taining a record of the interesting fact, only regretting that we had not the means of constructing a pyramid of more importance, and of strength sufficient to with- stand the assaults of time and of the Esquimaux. Had it been a pyramid as large as that of Cheops, I am not quite sure that it would have done more than satisfy our ambition under the feelings of that exciting day." On the 28th of August, 1831, they contrived to warp the Victory out into the open sea, and made sail on the following morning, but were soon beset with ice as on the former occasion, being once more completely frozen in by the 27th of September. On the previous occasion their navigation had been three miles; this year it extended to four. This pro- tracted detention in the ice made their present position one of great danger and peril. As there seemed no pro- spect of extricating their vessel, the resolution was come to of abandoning her, and making the best of their way up the inlet to Fury Beach, there to avail themselves of the boats, provisions, and stores, which would assist them in reaching Davis Straits, where they might expect to fall in with one of the whale ships. On the 23rd of April, 1832, having collected all that was useful and necessary, the expedition set out, drag- ging their provisions and boats over a vast expanse of rugged ice. " The loads being too heavy to be carried at once, made it necessary to go backward and forward twice, and even oftener, the same day. They had to encounter CAPTAIN boss's SECOND VOYAGE. 151 dreadful tempests of snow and drift, and to make several cir- cuitsin order toavoid impassable barriers. The general result was, that by the 12th of May they had travelled 329 miles to gain thirty in a direct line, having in this labour ex- pended a month." After this preliminary movement, they bade a farewell to their little vessel, nailing her colours to the mast. Capt. Eoss describes himself as deeply affected; this being the first vessel he had been obliged to abandon of thirty-six in which he had served during the course of forty-two years. On the 9th of June, Commander Eoss and two others, with a fortnight's provisions, left the main body, who were more heavily loaded, to ascertain the state of the boats and supplies at Fury Beach. Betuming they met their comrades on the 25th of June, re- porting that they had found three of the boats washed away, but enough still left for their purpose, and all the provisions were in good condition. The remainder of the journey was accomplished by the whole party in a week, and on the 1st of July they reared a canvas man- sion, to which they gave the name of Somerset House, and enjoyed a hearty meal. By the 1st of August the boats were rendered service- able, and a considerable extent of open sea being visible, they set out, and after much buffeting among the ice in their frail shallops, reached the mouth of the inlet by the end of August. After several fruitless attempts to run along Barrow's Strait, the obstructions of the ice obliged them to haul the boats on shore, and pitch their tents. Barrow's Strait was found, from repeated surveys, to be one impenetrable mass of ice. After lingering here till the third week in September, it was unanimously agreed that their only resource was to fall back again on the stores at Fury Beach, and there spend their fourth winter. They were only able to get half the distance in the boats, which were hauled on shore in Batty Bay on the 24th of U2 FBOQRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. September, and the rest of their journey continued on foot, the provisions being dragged on sledges. On the 7th of October they once more reached their home at the scene of the wreck. They now managed to shelter their canvas tent by a wall of snow, and, setting up an extra stove, made themselves tolerably comfortable until the increasing severity of the winter, and the rigour of the cold, added to the tempestuous weather, made them perfect prisoners, and sorely tried their patience. Scurvy now began to attack several of the party, and on the 16th of February, 1833, Thomas, the carpenter, fell a victim to it, and two others died. " Their situation was becoming truly awful, since if they were not liberated in the ensuing summer, little prospect appeared of their surviving another year. It was necessary to make a reduction in the allowance of preserved meats ; bread was somewhat deficient, and the stock of wine and spirits was entirely exhausted. However, as they had caught a few foxes, which were considered a delicacy, and there was plenty of flour, sugar, soups, and vegetables, a diet could be easily ar- ranged sufficient to support the party.'* While the ice remained firm, advantage was taken of the spring to carry forward a stock of provisions to Batty Bay, and this, though only thirty-two miles, occupied them a whole month, owing to their reduced numbers from sickness and heavy loads, with the joumeyings to and fro, having to go over the ground eight times. . On the 8th of July they finally abandoned this dep6t, and encamped on the 12th at their boat station in Batty Bay, where the aspect of the sea was watched with intense anxiety for more than a month. On the 15th of Aug., taking advantage of a lane of water which led to the northward, the party embarked, and on the following morning had got as far as the turning point of their last year's expedition. Making their way slowly among the CAPTAIN BOSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 153 masses of ice with wliich the inlet was encumbered, on * the 17th they found the wide expanse of Barrow's Strait open before them, and navigable, and reached to within twelve miles of Cape York. Pushing on with renewed spirits, alternately rowing and sailing, on the night of the 25th they rested in a good harbour on the eastern shore of Navy Board Inlet. At four on the following morning they were roused from their slumbers by the joyftd intelligence of a ship being in sight, and never did men more hurriedly and energetically set out ; but the elements conspiring against them, after being baffled by cahns and currents, they had the misery to see the ship leave them with a fair breeze, and found it impossible to overtake her, or make themselves seen. A few hours later, however, their despair was relieved by the sight of another vessel which was lying to in a calm. By dint of hard rowing they were this time more fortunate, and soon came up with her ; she proved to be the Isabella, of Hull, the very ship in which Eoss had made his first voyage to these seas. Captain Eoss was told circumstan- tially of his own death, &c., two years previously, and he had some difficulty in convincing them that it was really he and his party who now stood before them. So great was the joy with which they were received, that the Isabella manned her yards, and her former commander and his gallant band of adventurers were saluted with three hearty cheers. The scene on board can scarcely be described ; each of the crew vied with the other in assisting and comforting the party, and it cannot better be told than in Boss's own words : — "The ludicrous soon took place of all other feelings; in such a crowd, and such confusion, all serious thought was impossible, while the new buoyancy of our spirits made us abundantly willing to .be .amused by the scene which now opened. Every man was hungry, and was to 154 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. be fed ; all were ragged, and were to be clotted ; there was not one to whom washing was not indispensable, nor one whom his beard did not deprive of all human sem- blance. All, everything too, was to be done at once : it was washing, dressing, shaving, eating, all intermingled ; it was all the materials of each jumbled together, while in the midst of all there were interminable questions to be asked and answered on both sides ; the adventures of the Victory i our own escapes, the politics of England, r.nd the news which was now four years old. " But all subsided into peace at last. The sick were accommodated, the seamen disposed of, and all was done for us which care and kindness could perform. " Night at length brought quiet and serious thoughts, and T trust there was not a man among us .rho did not then express, where il was due, his gratitude for that interposition which had raised us all from a despair which none could now forget, and had brought us from the very borders of a most distant grave, to life and friends and civilization. Long accustomed, ho\vever, to a cold bed on the hard snow or the bare rock, few could sleep amid the comfort of our new accommodations. I was myself com- pelled to leave the bed which had been kindly assigned me, and take my abode in a chair for the night, nor did it fare much better with the rest. It was for time to reconcile us to this sudden and violent change, to break through what had become habit, and to inure us once more to the usages of our former days." The Isabella remained some time longer to prosecute the fishery, and left Davis Strait on her homeward passage on the dOth of September. On the 12th of October they made the Orkney Islands, and arrived at Hull on the 18th. The bold explorers, who had long been given up as lost, were looked 'ipon as men risen from the grave, and met and escorted by crowds of sympathizers. CAPTAIN boss's SECOND VOYAGE. 155 A public entertainment was given to them by tbe towns- people, at which the freedom of the town was presented to Captain Boss, and neid; day he left for London, to report his arrival to the Admiralty, and was honoured by a presentation to the king at Windsor. The Admiraliy liberally rewarded all the parties, except indeed Captain Boss. Commander J. C. Boss was appointed to the guardship at Portsmouth to complete his period of serv^ice, and then received his post rank. Mr. Thom, the purser, Mr. M'Diarmid, the surgeon, and the petty officers, were appointed to good situations in the navy. The seamen received the usual double pay given to Arctic explorers, up to the time of leaving their ship, and full pay from that date until their arrival in England. A committee of the House of Commons took up the case of Captain Boss early in the session of 1834, and on their recommendation 5000^. was granted him as a remuneration for his pecuniary outlay and privations. A baronetcy, on the recommendation of the same com- mittee, was also conferred by his Majesty William lY. on Mr. Felix Booth. In looking back on the results of this voyage, no impar- tial inquirer can deny to Captain Boss the merit of having effected much good by tracing and surveying the whole of the long western coast of Begent Inlet, proving Boothia to be a peninsula, and setting at rest the proba- bility of any navigable outlet being discovered from this inlet to the Polar Sea. The lakes, rivers, and islands which were examined, proved with sufficient accuracy the correctness of the information furnished to Parry by the Esquimaux. To Com^nander James Boss is due the credit of resolv- ing many important scientific questions, such as the combination of light with magnetism, fixing the exact position of the magnetio pole. He was also the only 156 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. \l II m person in the expedition competent to make observations in geology, natural History, and botany. Out of about 700 mUes of new land explored. Commander Eoss, in tlie expeditions which he planned and conducted, discovered nearly 500. He had up to this time passed fourteen summers and eight winters in these seas. The late Sir John Barrow, in his " Narrative of Voyages of Discovery and Research," p. 518, in opposition to Boss's opinion, asserted that Boothia was not joined to the Con- tinent, but that they were " completely divided by a navi- gable strait, ten miles wide and upwards, leading past Back's Estuary, and into the Gulf (of Boothia), of which the proper name is Akkolee, not Boothia ; and moreover, that the two seas flow as freely into each other, as Lancaster Sound does into the Polar Sea." This assumption has been since shown to be incorrect. Capt. Boss asserts there is a difference in the level of these two seas. I may here fitly take a review of Capt. Boss's services. He entered the navy in 1790 ; served fifteen years as a midshipman, seven as a Heutenant, and seven as a com- mander, and was posted on the 7th of December, 1818, and appointed to the command of the first Arctic expedi- tion of this century. On his return he received many marks of favour from continental sovereigns, was knighted, and made a Companion of the Bath on the 24th of Decem- ber, 1834 ; made a Commander of the Sword of Sweden, a Knight of the Second Class of St. Anne of Prussia (in diamonds) , Second Class of the Legion of Honour, and of the Bed Eagle of Prussia, and of Leopold of Belgium. Beceivcd the royal premium from the Geographical Society of London, in 1833, for his discoveries in the Arctic regions; also gold medals from the Geographical Society of Paris, and the Boyal Societies of Sweden, Austria, and Denmark. The freedom of the cities of London, Liverpool, and Bristol ; six gold snuff-boxes from Bussia, Holland, Don* CAPTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 157 ations about intlie >vered irteen oyages Boss's e Con- a navi- g past ' which reover, ncaster ion has bs there mark, Austria, London, and Baden ; a sword valued at 100 guineas from the Patriotic Fund, for his sufferings, having been wounded tWteen tiiaes in three different actions during the war ; and one of the value of 200^. from the King of Sweden, for service in the Baltic and the White Sea. On the 8th of March, 1839, he was appointed to the lucrative post of British consul at Stockhohn, which he held for six years. Captain Back's Land Jouenet, 1833 — 1835. FouE years having elapsed without any tidings being received of Capt. Boss and his crew, it began to be generally feared in England that they had been added to the number of former sufferers, in the prosecution of their arduous un- dertaking. Dr. Richardson, who had himself undergone such fright- ful perils in tl e Arctic regions with Franklin, was the first to call public attention to the subject, in a letter to the Geographical Society, in which he suggested r. .roject for relieving them, if still alive and to be found ; ?'r d at the same time volunteered his services to the CoIolu-I Sfev'te* tary of the day, to conduct an exploring party. Although the expedition of Captain Bops ia us not uuf'er- taken under the auspices of the Govemmriii, ir became a national concern to ascertain the ultimate i>' v oi it, and to make some effort for the relief of the party, whose home at that time might be the boisterous sea, or v Lose shelter the snow hut or the floating iceberg. Dr. Bichardsj^ proposed to proceed from Hudson's Bay, in a north- f- -t direction to Coronation Gulf, where he was to commence his search in an easterly direction. Passing to the north, along the eastern side of this gulf, he would arrive at Point Tumagain, the eastern point of his own former dis- covery. Having accomplished this, he would continue his search towards the eastward until he reached Melville 158 PBOOBESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Island, thus perfecting geographical discovery in that quarter, and a continued coast line might be laid down from the Fury ai i Hecla Strait to Beechey Point, leaying only the small space between Franklin's discovery and that of the Blossom unexplored. The proposal was favour- ably received; but owing to the political state of the country at that time, the offer was not accepted. A meeting was held in November, 1832, at the rooms of the Horticultural Society, in Eegent-street, to obtain funds, and arrange for fitting out a private relief expedition, as the Admiralty and the Government were unable to do this officially, in consequence of Capt. Boss's expedition not being a public one. Sir George Cockburn took the chair, and justly observed that those officers who devoted their time to the service of science, and braved in its pursuit the dangers of unknown and ungenial climates, demanded the sympathy and assistance of all. Great Britain had taken the lead in geographical discovery, and there was not one in this country who did not feel pride and honour in the fame she had attained by the expeditions of Parry and Franklin ; but if we wished to create future Parrys and Franklins, if we wished to encourage British enterprise and courage, we must prove that the officer who is out of sight of his countrymen is not forgotten; that there is consideration for his sufferings, and appreciation of his spirit. This reflection will cheer him in the hour of trial, and will permit him, when surrounded by dangers and pri- vations, to indulge in hope, the greatest blessing of man. Capt. George Back, R.N., who was in Italy when the sub- ject was first mooted, hastened to England, and offered to lead the party, and his services were accepted. A sub- scription was entered into to defray the necessary expenses, and upwards of 6000/. was raised ; of this sum, at the recom- xnendation of Lord Goderich, the then secretary of state, the Treasury contributed 2000/. CAPTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 159 lOins of L funds, , as tlie do this ion not e diair, }d their rsuit the ided tlie Bid taken 1 not one IT in the rry and Tys and iterprise out of [there is of his lof trial, md pri- lof man. ihe sub- fered to A sub- penses, recom- i state, After an interview with the king at Brighton, to which he \^as specially summoned, Capt. Back made preparations for his journey, and laid down his plan of operations. In order to facilitate his views, and to give him greater control over his men, special instructions and authority were issued by the Colonial Office, and the Hudson's Bay Company granted him a commission in their service, and placed every assistance at his disposal throughout their territory in North America. Everything being definitively arranged, Capt. Back, accompanied by Dr. Eichard King as surgeon and natu- ralist, with three men who had been on the expedition with Franklin, left Liverpool on the 17th of Feb. 1833, in one of the New York packet ships, and arrii cd in America after a stormy passage of thirty-five days. He proceeded on to Montreal, where he had great difficulty in prevent- ing two of the men from leaving him, as their hearts began to fail them at the prospect of the severe journey, with its attendant difficulties, which they had to encounter. Four volunteers from the Eoyal Artillery corps here joined him, and some voyageurs having been engaged, the party left, in two canoes, on the 25th of ApriJ. Two of his party desert* d from him in the Ottawa river. On the 28th of June, having obtained his complement of men, he may be said to have commenced his journey. They suffered dreadfully from myriads of sand-fiies and musquitoes, being so disfigured by their attacks that their features could be scarcely recognised. Horse-flies, appropriately styled "bull dogs," were another dreadful pest, which pertinaciously gorged themselves like the leech* until they seemeil ready to burst. "It is in vain to attempt to defend yourself against these puny bloodsucker ; though you crusli thousands of them, tons of thousande arise to revougo the death of their companions, and you very soon discover that the conflict 160 FBOQRESS OF ARCTIO DTSCOVERY. which you are waging is one in which you are sure to be defeated. So great at last are the pains and fatigue in buffeting away this attacking force, that in despair you throw yourself, half suffocated, in a blanket, vrith your face upon the ground, and snatch a few minutes of sleep- less rest." Captain Back adds that the vigorous and unin- termitting assaults of these tormenting pests conveyed the moral lesson of man's helplessness, since, with all our boasted strength, we are unable to repel these feeble atoms of creation. " How," he says, " can I possibly give an idea of the torment we endured from the sand-fiies P As we dived into the confined and suffocating chasms, or waded through the close swamps, they rose in clouds, actually darkening the p.'t; to see or to speak was equally difficult, for they rushed at every undefended part, and fixed their poisonous fangs in an instant. Our faces streamed with blood, as if leeches had been applied, and there was a burning and irritating pain, followed by immediate inflammation, and producing giddiness, which almost drove us mad, and caused us to moan with pain and agony." At the Vme portage Captain Back engaged the services of A. E. McLeod, in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Comy^any, and who had been fixed upon by Governor Siiapson, to aid the expedition. He was accompanied by his wife, three r^ildveri, and a servant ; and had just returned from the Mackenzie ^iver, with a large cargo of furs. The whole f^jnily were attached to the party, and after some detentions of a general and unimportant cha* racter, they arrived at Fort Chipewyan on the 29th of July. Fort Besolution, on Great Slave Lake, was reached on the 8th of August. The odd assemblage of goods and voyageurs in their en- campment are thus graphicaUy described by the traveller, as he glanced around him. " At my feet was a rolled bundle in oil-oloth, containing '■'Id CAPTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 161 some tliree blankets, called a bed ; near it a piece of dried buffalo, fancifully ornamented with long black hairs, which no art, alas ! can prevent from insinuating themselves be- tween the teeth, as you laboriously masticate the tough, hard flesh ; then a tolerably clean napkin, spread by way of table-cloth, on a red piece of canvas, and supporting a tea-pot, some biscuits, and a salt-cellar ; near this a tin plate, close by a square kind of box or safe of the same material, rich with a pale, greasy hair, the produce of the colony at Hed Kiver ; and the last the far-renowned ^em- mican, unquestionably the best food of the country for expeditions such as ours. Behind me were two boxes containing astronomical instruments, and a sextant lying on the ground, whilst the different comers of the tent were occupied by a washing apparatus, a gim, an Indian shot-pouch, bags, basins, and an unhappy-looking japanned pot, whose melancholy bumps and hollows seemed to reproach me for many a bruise endured upon the rocks and portages between Montreal and Lake Winnipeck. Nor were my crew less motley than the furniture of the tent. It consisted of an Englishman, a man from Stornaway, two Canadians, two Metifs or half-breds, and three Iro- quois Indians. Babel could not have produced a worse confusion of unharmonious sounds than was the co:aversa- tion they kept up." Having obtained at Fort Resolution all possible infor- mation, from the Indians and others, relative to the course of the northern rivers of which he was in search, he divided his crew into two parties, five of whom were left as an escort for Mr. J^cLeod, and four were to accompany himself in search of the Great Fish River, since appro- priately named after Back himself. On the 19th of August they began the ascent of the Hoar Frost River, whose course "was a series of the most fearful cagcades and rapids. The woods here were so thick as 162 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. B m (*■ if* -Mir- '■■i': to render them almoBt impervious, consisting chiefly of stunted firs, which occasioned infinite trouble to the party to force their way through ; added to which, they had to clamber over fallen trees, through rivulets, and over bogs and swamps, until the difficulties appeared so appalling as almost to dishearten the party from prosecuting their journey. The heart of Captain Back was, however, of too stem a cast to be dispirited by difficulties, at which less persevering explorers would have turned away discom- fited, and cheering on his men, like a bold and gallant leader, the first in the advance of danger, they arrived at length in an open space, where they rested for awhile to recruit their exhausted strength. The place was, indeed, one of barrenness and desolation ; crag was piled upon crag to the height of 2000 feet from the base, and the course of the river here, in a state of contraction, was marked by an uninterrupted line of foam. However great the beauty of the scenery may be, and however resolute may be the will, severe toil will at length relax the spirits, and bring a kind of despondency upon a heart naturally bold and undaunted. This was found particularly the case now with the interpreter, who became a dead weight upon the party. Eapid now succeeded rapid ; scarcely had they surmounted one fall than an- other presented itself, rising like an amphitheatre before them to the height of fifty feet. They, however, gained at length the ascent of this turbulent and unMendly river, the romantic beauty and wild scenery of which ^ere strikingly grand, and after passing successively a series of portages, rapids, falls, lakes, and rivers, on the 27th Back observed from the summit of a high hill a very large lake full of deep bays and islands, aud which has been named Aylmer Lake, after the Grovemor- General of Canada at that time. The boat was sent out with three men to search for the lake, or outlet of the p. CAPTAIN BACK*S LAND JOXTBNEY. 163 % of party bad to r bogs ling as I their , of too ch less liscom- gallant rived at rlule to indeed, )on crag ourse of 3d by an river, which they discovered on the second day, and Captain Back himself, durinur their absence, also accident- ally discovered its source in the Sand Hill Lake, not far from his encampment. Not prouder was Bruce when he stood on the green sod which covers the source of the Nile, than was Captain Back when he found that he was standing at the source of a river, the eidstence of which was known, but the course of which was a problem no traveller had yet ventured to solve. Yielding to that pleasurable emotion which discoverers, in the first bound of their transpovt, may be pardoned for indulging. Back tells us he threw himself down on the bank and drank a hearty draught of the limpid water. "For this occasion," he adds, "I had reserved a little grog, and need hardly say with what cheerfulness it was shared amongst the crew, whose welcome tidings had verified the notion of Dr. Bichardson and myself, and thus placed beyond doubt the existence of the Thlew-ee- choh, or Great Fish Biver." On the 30th of August they began to move towards the river, but on reaching Musk-ox Lake it was found impos- sible to stand the force of the rapids in their frail canoe, and as winter was approaching their return to the rendez- vous on Slave Lake was determined on. At Chnton Colden Lake, some Indians visited them from the Chief Akaitcho, who it will be remembered was the guide of Sir John Franklin. Two of these Lidians remembered Captain Back, one having accompanied him to the Coppermine River on Franklin's first expeditioix. At the Cat or Artillery Lake they had to abandon their canoe, and perform the rest of the journey on foot over precipitous rocks, through frightful gorges and ravines, heaped with masses of granite, and along narrow ledges, where a false step would have been fatal. At FortEeliance the party found Mr. McLeod had, during m2 164 PROOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. their absence, erected the frame-work of a comfortable residence for them, and all hands set to work to com- plete it. After many obstacles and difficulties^ it was finished. Dr. Xin^ joined them on the 16th of September with two laden bateaux. On the 5th of ISTovember they exchanged their cold tents for the new house, which was fifty feet long by thirty broad, and contained four rooms, besides a spacious hall in the centre, for the reception and accommodation of the Indians, to which a sort of rude kitchen was attached. As the winter advanced bands of starving Indians con- tinued to arrive, in the hope of obtaining some relief, as little or nothing was to be procured by hunting. They would stand around while the men were taking their meah, watching every mouthful with the most longing, imploring look, but yet never uttering a complaint. At other times they would, seated round the fire, occupy themselves in roasting and devouring small bits of their reindeer garments, which, even when entire, afibrded them a very insufficient protection against a temperature of 102° below freezing point. The sufferings of the poor Indians at this period are described as frightful. "Famine with her gaunt and bony arm," says Back, "pursued them at every turn, withered their energies, and strewed them lifeless on the cold bosom of the snow." It was impossible to afford relief out of their scanty store to all, but even small portions of the mouldy pemmican intended for the dogs, unpalatable as it was, was gladly received, and saved many from perishing. " Often," adds Back, " did I share my own plate with the children, whose helpless state and piteous cries were peculiarly distressing ; compassion for the lull grown may, or may not, be felt, but that heart must be Y. El comfortable ivork to com- ulties, it was eptember with red their cold feet long by jides a spacious iccommodation Le kitchen was ag Indians con- some relief, as hunting. They re taking their 5 most longing, omplaint. the fire, occupy all bits of their entire, afforded it a temperature this period are her gaunt and at every turn, tn lifeless on the 3ssible to afford but even small led for the dogs, and saved many i I share my own bate and piteous sicn for the full heart must be CAPTAIN back's LAND JOURNEY. 165 cased in steel which is insensible to the cry of a child for food.-" At this critical juncture, Akaitcho made his appearance with an opportune supply of a little meat, which in some measure enabled Captain Back to relieve the sufferers around him, many of whom, to his great delight, went away with Akaitcho. The stock of meat was soon exhausted, and they had to open their pemmican. The officers contented themselves with the ^ ort supply of half a poimd a day, but the labouring j. could not do with less than a pound and three quarters. The cold now set in with an intensity which Captain Back had never before experienced, — the thermometer on the 17th of January being 70° below zero. " Such indeed, (he says,) was the abstraction of heat, that with eight large logs of dry wood on the fire I could not get the thermometer higher than 12° below zero. Ink and paint froze. The sextant cases and boxes of seasoned wood, principally fir, all split. The skin of the hands became dry, cracked and opened into unsightly and smarting gashes, which we were obliged to anoint with grease. On one occasion, after washing my face within three feet of the fire, my hair was actually clotted with ice before I had time to dry it." The hunters suffered severely from the intensity of the cold, and compared the sensation of handling their guns to that of touchiag red-hot iron, and so excessive was the pain, that they were obliged to wrap thongs of leather round the triggers to keep their fingers from coming iato contact with the steel. The sufferings which the party now endured were great, and had it not been for the exemplary conduct of Akaitcho in procuring them game, it is to be doubted whether any would have survived to tell the misery they had en- dured. The sentiments of this worthy savage were nobly IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ??• -^ ^ 1.0 I.I £f U£ 12.0 u U^l 1.4 Photographic Sciences Corporation as ^mi MAIN STRUT WIMTM,N.>. 14SM (7U)t73-4S03 4p> 4^ ^ 166 PROOKESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. expressed — ** The great chief trusts in us, and it is better that ten Indians perish than that one white man should perish through our negligence and breach of faith." On the 14th of Febroary Mr. McLeod and his family removed to a place half-way between the fort and the Indians, in order to facilitate their own support, and assist in procuring food by hunting. His situation, however, became soon one of the greatest embarrassment, he and his fiunily being surrounded by difficulties, privations, and deaths. Six of the natives near him sank under the horrors of starvation, and Akaitcho and his hunters were twelve days* march distant. Towards the end of April Gapt. Back began to make arrangements for constructing boats for prosecuilug the expedition once more, and while so employed, on the 25th a messenger arrived witih the grati^fing intelligence that Capt. Soss had arrived safely in England, confirmation of which was afforded in extracts from the Times and Herald, and letters from tile long-lost adventurers themselves. Their feelings at these glad tidings are thus described :— " In the fulness of our heaarts we assembled together, and humbly offered up our thanks to that merciful Providence, who in the beautiftd language of scripture hath said, ' Mine own will I bring again, as I did sometime from the deeps of the sea.' The thought of so wonderfbl a preserva- tion overpowered for a time the common occurrences of life. We had just sat down to breakfast ; but our appetite was gone, and the day was passed in a feverish state of excitement. Seldom, indeed, did my friend Mr. King or I indulge in a libation, but on 1^ joyfiil occasion economy was forgotten ; a treat was given to the men, and for ourselves the social sympathies were quickened by a generous bowl of punch." Capt. Back's former inter- preter, Augustus, hearing that he was in the country, set out on foot fVom Hudson's Bay to join him, but getting CAPTAIN back's LAND JOUBNET. 16T separated from his two compaiik>nB, the f^allant little fellow wa&either exhausted by suffering and privations, or, caught in the midst of an open traverse in one of those terrible snow storms which maj be said to blow almost through the frame, he had sunk to rise no more, his bleached remains being discovered not far from the Eivi^re k Jean. " Such," says Capt. Back, " was the miserable end of poor Augustus, a faithful, disinterested, kind-hearted creature, who had won the regard, not of myself only, but I may add, of Sir J. Franklin and Dr. Bichardson also, by qualities which, wherever found, in the lowest as in the highest forms of social life, are the ornament and charm of humanity." On the 7th of Jime, all the preparations being com- pleted, McLeod having been previously sent on to hunt, and deposit casks of meat at various stages. Back set out with Mr. King, accompanied by four voyageurs and an Indian guide. The stores not required were buried, and the doors and windows of the house blocked up. At Artillery Lake, Back picked up the remainder of his party, with the carpenters who had been employed pre- paring boats. The lightest and best was chosen and placed on runners plated with iron, and in this manner she was drawn over the ice by two men and six fine dogs. The eastern shore of the lake was followed, as it was found less rocky and precipitous than the opposite one. The march was prosecuted by night, the air being more fresh and pleasant, and tiie party took rest in the day. The glare of the ice, the difficulty encountered in getting the boat along, the ice being so bad that the spikes of the runners out through instead of sliding over it, and the thick snow which fell in June, greatly increased the labour of getting along. The cold raw wind pierced through them in spite of cloaks and blankets. After being caulked, the boat was launched on the 14th of 168 PBOORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVEBr. June, the lake being sufficiently unobstructed to admit of her being towed along shore. The weather now became exceedingly unpleasant — ^hail, snow, and rain pelted them one after the other for some time without respite, and then only yielded to squalls that overturned the boat. With alternate spells and baitings to rest, they however gradually advanced on the traverse, and were really making consi- derable progress when pelting showers of sleet and drift so dimmed and conftised the sight, darkening the atmo- sphere, and limiting their view to only a few paces before them, as to render it an extremely perplexing task to keep their course. On the 23rd of June they fortunately fell in with a cache made for them by their avante-couriert Mr. McLeod, in which was a seasonable supply of deer and musk-ox flesh, the latter, however, so impregnated with the odour from which it takes its name, that the men declared they would rather starve three days than swallow a mouthful of it. To remove this unfavourable impression Capt. Back ordered the daily rations to be served from it for his own mess as well as theirs, taking occasion at the same time to impress on their minds the injurious consequences of voluntary abstinence, and the necessity of accommodating their tastes to such food as the country might supply. Soon after another cache was met with, thus making eleven animals in all that had been thus obtained and secured for them by the kind care of Mr. McLeod. On the 27th they reached Sand Hill Bay, where they found Mr. McLeod encamped. On the 28th the boat being too frail to be dragged over the portage, about a quarter of a mile in length, was carried bodily by the orew, and launched safely in the Thlew-ee-choh or Fish Biver. After crossing the portage beyond Musk-ox Bapid, about four miles in length, and having all his party together, Captain Back took a survey of his provisions for the three months CAPTAiy back's land journey. 169 mess as of operations, which he found to consist of two boxes of maccaroni, a case of cocoa, twenty-seven bags of pem- mican of about SOlbs. each, and a keg with two gallons of rum. This he considered an adequate supply if all turned out sound and good. The difficulty, however, of trans- porting a weight of 5000lbs. over ice and rocks by a cir- cuitous route of full 200 miles may be easily conceived, not to mention the pain endured in walking on some parts where the ice formed innumerable spikes that pierced like needles, and in other places where it was so black and decayed, that it threatened at every step to engulf the adventurous traveller. These and similar difficulties could only be overcome by the most steady perseverance, and the most determined resolution. Among the group of dark figures huddled together in the Indian encampment around them, Capt. Back found his old acquaintance, the Indian beauty of whom mention is made in Sir John Franklin's narrative under the name of Green Stockings. Although surrounded with a family, with one urchin in her cloak clinging to her back, and several other maternal accompaniments, Capt. Back imme- diately recognised her, and called her by her name, at which she laughed, and said she^Was an old woman now, and begged that she might be relieved by the ** medicine man," for she was very much out of health. However, notwithstanding all this, she was still the beauty of the tribe, and with that consciousness which belongs to all beUes, savage or polite, she seemed by no means displeased when Back sketched her portrait. — (p. ;^07.) Mr. McLeod was now sent back, taking with him ten persons and fourteen dogs. His instructions were to pro- ceed to Fort Resolution for the stores expected to be sent there by the Hudson's Bay Company, to build a house in Bome good locality, for a permanent fishing station, and to be again on the banks of the Fish Biver by the middle of 170 PROOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. '"l 1 September, to afford Back and his party any assistance or relief they might require. The old Indian chief Akaitcho, hearing from the inter- preter that Oapt. Back was in his immediate neighbourhood, said, " I have known the chief a long time, and I am afraid I shall never see him again ; I will go to him." On his arriyal he cautioned Back against the dangers of a river which he distinctly told him the present race of Indians knew nothing of. He also warned him against the treachery of the Esquimaux, which he said was alwaya masked under the guise of friendship, observing they would attack him when he least expected it. " I am afraid," continued the good old chief, " that I shall never see you again ; but should you escape from the great water, take care you are not caught by the winter, and thrown into a situation like that in which you were on your return from the Copper- mine, for you are alone, and the Indians cannot assist you." The carpenters, with an Iroquois, not being frirther required, were dismissed to join Mr. McLeod, and on the 8th of July they proceeded down the river. The boat was now launched and laden with her cargo, which, together with ten persons, she stowed well enough for a smooth river, but not for a lake or sea way. The weight was cal- culated at 3360 lbs., exclusive of the awning, poles, sails, &c., and the crew. Their progress to the sea was now one continued succes- sion of dangerous and formidable falls, rapids, and cataracts, which frequently made Back hold his breath, expecting to see the boat daahed to shivers against some protruding rocks amidst the foam and frury at the foot of a rapid. The only wonder is how in their fi^il leaky boat they ever shot one of the rapids. Bapid after rapid, and fall after fall, were passed, each accompanied with more or less danger ; and in one instance the boat was only saved by all hands jumping into the breakers, and keeping her stem up the CAPTAIN back's LAIO) JOUBNET. 171 stream, until she was cleared from a rock that had brought her up. They had hardly time to get into their places again, when they were carried with considerable Telocity past a river which joined from the westward. After pass- ing no less than fire rapids within the distance of three miles, they came to one long and appalling one, fuU of rocks and large boulders ; the sides hemmed in by a wall of ice, and the current flying with the velocity and force of a torrent. The boat was lightened of her cargo, and Capt. Back placed himself on a h^^h rock, with an anxious desire to see her run the rapid. He had every hope which con- fidence in the judgment and dexterity of his principal men could inspire, but it was impossible not to feel that one crash would be fatal to the expedition. Away they went with the speed of an arrow, and in a moment the foam and rocks hid them from view. Back at last heard what somided in his ear like a wild shriek, and he saw Dr. Xing, who was a himdred yards before him, make a sign with his gun, and then run forward. Back followed with an agitation which may easily be conceived, when to his inex- pressible joy he found that the shriek was the triumphant whoop of the crew, who had laaied safely in a small bay below. For nearly 100 miles of the distance they were impeded by these frightful whirlpools, and strong and heavy rapids. On opening one of their bags of pemmican, the ingenuity of the Indians at pilfering was discovered, successive layers of mixed sand, stones, and green meat having been artfully and cleverly substituted for the dry meat. Fearful that they might be carrying heaps of stone instead of pro- vision, Back had to examine carefiilly the remainder, which were all found sound and well-tasted. He began to fear, from the inclination of the river at one time towards the south, that it would be found to discharge itself in Ches- terfield Inlet, in Hudson's Bay, but subsequently, to his 172 PBOOBESS OF ABCTIC DISCOVERY. ^eat joj, it took a direct course towards tlie north, and his hopes of reaching the Polar Sea were revived. The river now led into several large lakes, some studded with islands, which were named successively after Sir H. Pelly, and Mr. Garry, of the Hudson's Bay Company ; two others were named Lake Macdougall and Lake Franklin. On the 28th of July they fell in with a tribe of about thirty-five very friendly Esquimaux, who aided them in transporting their boat over the last long and steep portage, to which his men were utterly unequal, and Back justly remarks, to their kind assistance he is mainly indebted for getting to the sea at all. It was late when they got away, and while threading their course between some sand-banks with a strong cur- rent, they first caught sight of a majestic headland in the extreme distance to the north, which had a coast-like appearance. This important promontory Back subsequently named after our gracious Queen, then Princess Victoria. " This then," observes Back, " may be considered as the .mouth of the Thlew-ee-choh, which after a violent and tortuous course of 530 geographical miles, running through an iron-ribbed country, without a jsingle tree on the whole line of its banks, expanding into five large lakes, with clear horizon, most embarrassing to the navigator, and broken into falls, cascades, and rapids, to the number of eighty- three in the whole, pours its water into the Polar Sea, in lat. 67° 11' N., and long. 94° dOf W., that is to say, about thirty-seven miles more south than the Coppermine Biver, and nineteen miles more south than that of Back's Biver (of Franklin) at the lower extremity of Bathurst's Inlet." (p. 390.) For several days Back was able to make but slow pro- gress along the eastern shore, in consequence of the solid body of drift-ice. A barren, rocky elevation of 800 feet :high was named Cape Beaufort, after the present hydro- CAPTAIN back's LAND JOUBNET. 173 'grapher to the Admiralty. A bluff point on the eastern side of'the estuary, which he considered to be the northern extreme, he named Cape Hay. Dean and Simpson, how- ever, in 1839, traced the shore much beyond this. The difficulties met with here began to dispirit the men. For a week or ten days they had a continuation of wet, chilly, foggy weather, and the only vegetation, fern and moss, was so wet that it would not burn ; being thus without fuel, during this time they had but one hot meal. Almost veithout water, without any means of warmth, or any kind of warm or comforting food, sinking knee-deep, as they proceeded on land, in the soft slush and snow, no wonder that some of the best men, benumbed in their limbs and dispirited by the dreary and unpromising pro- spect before them, broke out for a moment, in low mur- murings, that theirs was a hard and painful duty. Captain Back found it utterly impossible to proceed, as he had intended, to the Point Tumagain of Franklin, and after vainly essaying a land expedition by three of the best walkers, and these having returned, after making but fifteen miles' way, in consequence of the heavy rains and the swampy nature of the ground, he came to the resolu- tion of returning. Beflecting, he says, on the long and dangerous stream they had to ascend, combining all the bad features of the worst rivers in the country, the hazard of the falls and rapids, and the slender hope which re- mained of their attaining even a single mile further, he felt he had no choice. Assembling, therefore, the men around him, and unftirling the British flag, which was saluted with three cheers, he announced to them this determination. The latitude of this place was 68° 13' 57" N., and longitude, 94° 68' 1" W. The extreme point seen to the northward on the western side of the estuary, in lati- tude 68° 46' N., longitude 96° 20' W., Back named Cape Bichardson. The spirits of many of the men, whose health 174 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. had suffered greatly for want of warm and nourishing' food, now brightened, and they set to work with alacrity to prepare for their return journey. The boat being dragged across, was brought to the place of their former station, after which the crew went back four miles for their haggage. The whole was safely conveyed over before the evening, when the water-casks were broken up to make a fire to warm a kettle of cocoa, the second hot meal they had had for nine days. On the 16th of August, they managed to make their way about twenty miles, on their return to the southward, through a breach in the ice, till they came to open water. The difficulties of the river were doubled in the ascent, from having to proceed against the stream. All the ob- stacles of rocks, rapids, sandbanks, and long portages had to be faced. In some days as many as sixteen or twenty rapids were ascended. They found, as they proceeded, that many of the deposits of provisions, on which they relied, had been discovered aiid destroyed by wolves. On the 16th of September they met Mr. McLeod and his party, who had been several days at Sand Hill Bay, wait- ing for them. On the 24th they reached the Ah-hel-dessy, where they met with some Indians. They were ultimately stopped by one most formidable perpendicular fall, and as it was found impossible to convey the boat further over so rugged and mountainous a country, most of the declivities of which were coated with thin ice, and the whole hidden by snow, it was here abandoned, and the party proceeded the rest of the journey on foot, each laden with a pack of about 761bs. weight. Late on the 27th of September they arrived at their old habitation. Fort Beliance, after being absent nearly four months, wearied indeed, but " truly grateful for the mani- fold mercies they had experienced in the course of their long and perilous journey." Arrangements were now CAPTAIN back's LAND JOUBNET. 175 made to pass the winter as comfortablj as their means wotild permit, and as there was no probability that there would be sufficient food in the house for the consumption of the whole party, all except six were sent with Mr. McLeod to the fisheries. The Indians brought them pro- visions from time to time, and their friend Akaitcho, with his followers, though not very successful in hunting, was not wanting in his contributions. This old chieftain was, however, no longer the same active and important personage he had been in the days when he rendered such good service to Sir John Eranklin. Old age and infirmities were creeping on him and rendering him peevish and fickle. On the 2lst of March following, having left directions with Dr. Xing to proceed, at the proper season, to the Company's factory at Hudson's Bay, to embark for Eng- land in their spring ships. Captain Back set out on his return through Canada, calling at the Fisheries to bid farewell to his esteemed friend, Mr. McLeod, and arriving at Norway House on the 24th of June, where he settled and arranged the accounts due for stores, &c., to the Hudson's Bay Company. He proceeded thence to New York, embarked for England and arrived at Liverpool on the 8th of September, after an absence of two years and a half. Back was honoured with an audience of his Majesty, who expressed his approbation of his efforts — first in the cause of humanity, and next in that of geo- graphical and scientific research. He has since been knighted ; and in 1835, the Boyal Geographical Society awarded him their gold medal (the Boyal premium) for his discovery of the Great Fish Biver and navigating it to the sea on the Arctic coast. Dr. King, with the remainder of the party, (eight men,) reached England, in the Hudson's Bay Company's ship, in the following month, October. 176 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Of Captain Back's travels it has been justly observed tbat it is impossible to rise from the perusal of them without being struck with astonishment at the extent of sufferings which the human frame can endure, and at the same time the wondrous display of fortitude which was exhibited imder circumstances of so appalling a nature, as to invest the narrative with the character of a ro- mantic fiction, rather than an unexaggerated tale of actual reality. He, however, suffered not despair nor despon- dency to overcome him, but gallantly and undauntedly pursued his course, until he returned to his native land to add to the number of those noble spirits whose names will be carried to posterity as the brightest ornaments to the country which gave them birth. Captain Back's Yoyaoe of the Terror. In the year 1836 Captain Back, who had only returned the previous autumn, at the recommendation of the Geo- graphical Society, undertook a voyage in the Terror up Hudson's Strait. He was to reach Wager Biver, or Bepulse Bay, and to make an overland journey to examine the bottom of Prince Begent Inlet, sending other parties to the north and west to examine the Strait of the Fury and Hecla, and to reach, if possible, Franklin's Point Tumagain. ' Leaving England on the 14th of June, he arrived on the 14th of August, at Salisbury Island, and proceeded up the Frozen Strait ; off Cape Comfort the ship got frozen in, and on the breaking up of the ice by one of those frequent convulsions, the vessel was drifted right up the Frozen Channel, grinding large heaps that opposed her progress to powder. From December to March she was driven about by the fury of the storms and ice, all attempts to release her being utterly powerless. She thus floated till the 10th MESSRS. DEASE AND SIMPSON'S DISCOVERIES. 177 bserved f them stent of d at the lich wan b nature, )f a ro- of actual despon- auntedly .tive land 86 names unents to • returned the Geo- Terror up Ly, and to bottom of bhe north id Hecla, rain. rived on Iceededup [ot frozen I frequent le Frozen progress lut by the llease her the 10th of July, and for three days was on her beam-ends ; but on. the 14th suddenly righted. The crazy yessel with her gaping wounds was scarcely able to transport the crew across the stormy waters of the Atlantic, but the return voyage, which was rendered absolutely necessary, was fortunately accomplished safely. I shall now give a concise summary of Captain Sir George Back's Arctic services, so as to present it more readily to the reader. In 1818 he was Admiralty Mate on board the Trent, under Franklin. In 1819 he again accompanied him on his first overland journey, and was with him in all those perilous sufferings which are elsewhere narrated. He was also as a Lieutenant with Franklin on his second journey in 1825. Having been in the interval promoted to the rank of Commander, he proceeded, in 1833, accom- panied by Dr. Xing and a party, through Northern Ame- rica to the Polar Sea, in search of Captain John Soss. He was posted on the 30th of September, 1835, and appointed in the following year to the command of the TerroTf for a voyage of discovery in Hudson's Bay. Messrs. Dease and Simpson's Discoveries. In 1836 the Hudson's Bay Company resolved upon undertaking the completion of the survey of the northern coast of their territories, forming the shores of Arctic America, and small portions of which were left unde- termined between the discoveries of Captains Back and Franklin. They commissioned to this task two of their ofScers, Mr. Thomas Simpson and Mr. Peter Warren Dease, who were sent out with a party of twelve men from the company's chief fort, with proper aids and appliances. Descending the Mackenzie to the sea, they reached and surveyed in July, 1837, the remainder of the western N 178 PBOGRESS OF ABCTIO DISCOVERT. part of the coast left unexamined by Franklin in 1825, from his Return Beef to Cape Barrow, where the £los8om*shoatB turned back. Proceeding on from Betum Beef two new rivers were discovered — the Garry and the Colville ; the latter more than a thousand miles in length. Although it was the height of summer, the ground was found frozen several inches below the surface, the spray froze on the oars and rigging of their boats, and the ice lay smooth and solid in the bays, as in the depth of winter. On the 4th of August, having left the boats and pro- ceeded on by land, Mr. Simpson arrived at Elson Bay, which point Lieutenant Elson had reached in the Blossom's barge in 1826. The party now returned to winter at Fort Confidence, on Great Bear Lake, whence they were instructed to prosecute their search to the eastward next season, and to communicate if possible with Sir George Back's expe* dition. They left their winter quarters on the 6th of June, 1838, and descended Dease's Biver. They found the Copper- mine Biver much swollen by floods, and encumbered with masses of floating ice. The rapids they had to pass were very perilous, as may be inferred from the following graphic description : — " We had to pull for our lives to keep out of the suction of the precipices, along whose base^the breakers raged and foamed with overwhelming friry. Shortly before noon, we came in sight of Escape Bapid of Franklin ; and a glance at the overhanging difis told us that there was no alternative but to run down with full cargo. In an instant," continues Mr. Simpson, " we were in the vortex ; and before we were aware, my boat was borne towards an isolated rock, which the boiling surge almost concealed. To clear it on the outside was no longer posiible ; our only chanoe MESSRS. DBASE AND SIHPSON*S DISCOVERIES. 179 of safety was to nm between it and the lofby eastern cliff. The word was passed, and every breath was hushed. A stream which dashed down npon ns over the brow of the precipice more than 100 feet in height, mingled with the spray that whirled upwards from the rapid, forming a terrific shower-bath. The pass was about eight feet wide, and the error of a single foot on either side would have been instant destruction. As, guided by Sinclair's consummate skill, the boat shot safely through those jaws of death, an inyoluntary cheer arose. Our next impulse was to turn round to yiew the fate of our com- rades behind. They had profited by the peril we incurred, and kept without the treacherous rock in time." On the 1st of July they reached the sea, and encamped at the mouth of the river, where they waited for the opening of the ice till the 17th. They doubled Cape Barrow, one of the northern points of Bathurst's Inlet, on the 29th, but were prevented crossing the inlet by the continuity of the \ce, and obliged to make a circuit of nearly 150 miles by Arctic Sound. Some very pure specimens of copper ore were found on one of the Barry Islands. After doubling Cape Flinders on the 9th of August, the boats were arrested by the ice in a little bay to which the name of Boat-haven was given, situate about three miles from Franklin's farthest. Here the boats lingered for the best part of a month in utter hopelessness. Mr. Simpson pushed on therefore on the 20th, with an exploring party of seven men, provisioned for ten days. On the first day they passed Point Turn- again, the limit of Franklin's survey in 1821. On the 23rd they had reached an elevated cape, with land apparently closing all round to the northward, so that it was feared they had only been traversing the coast of a huge bay. But the perseverance of the adventurous explorer was fUlly rewarded. v9 180 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. (( 'With bitter disappointment/' writes Mr. Simpson, "I ascended the height, from whence a yast and splendid prospect burst suddenly npon me. The sea, as if trans- formed by enchantment, rolled its free waves at my feet, and beyond the reach of vision to the eastward. Islands of various shape and size overspread its surface ; and the northern land terminated to the eye in a bold and lofty cape, bearing east-north-east, thirty or forty miles distant, while the continental coast trended away south-east. I stood, in fact, on a remarkable headland, at the eastern outlet of an ice-obstructed strait. On zhe extensive land to the northward I bestowed the name of our most gracious sovereign Queen Victoria. Its eastern visible extremity I called Cape Felly, in compliment to the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company." Haying reached the limits which prudence dictated in the face of the long journey back to the boats, many of his men too being lame, Mr. Simpson retraced his steps, and the party reached Boat-haven on the 29th of August, haying traced nearly 140 miles of new coast. The boats were cut out of their icy prison, and commenced their re-ascent of the Coppermine on the 3rd of September. At its junction with tiie Kendal Biver they left their boats, and, shouldering their packs, traversed the Barren Grounds, and arrived at their residence on the lake by the 14th of September. The following season these persevering explorers com- menced their third voyage. They reached the Bloody Fall on the 22nd of June, 1839, and occupied themselves for a week in carefUly examining Bichardson's Biver, which was discovered in the previous year, and discharges itself in the head of Back's Inlet. On the 3rd of July they reached Cape Barrow, and from its rocky heights were surprised to observe Coronation Gulf almost clear MESSRS. DEASE AND SIMPSOX'S DISCOVERIES. 181 ^son, "I Splendid if trans- my feet, Islands ; and the and lofby !8 distant, l-east. I le eastern asiye land our most im visible nt to the dictated in ts, many of , bis steps, of August, The boats [need their ieptember. leir boats, le Barren le lake by of ice, while on their former visit it could have been crossed on foot. They were at Cape Franklin a month earlier than Mr; Simpson reached it on foot the previous year, and doubled Gape Alexander, the northernmost cape in this quarter, on the 28th of July, after encountering a violent gale. They coasted the huge bay extending for about nine degrees eastward from this point, being favoured with clear weather, and protected by the various islands they met from the crushing state of the ice drifted from seaward. On the 10th of August they opened a strait about ten miles wide at each extremity, but narrowing to four or five miles in the centre. This strait, which divides the main land from Boothia, has been called Simpson's Strait. On the 13th of August they had passed Richardson's Point and doubled Point Ogle, the furthest point of Back's journey in 1834. By the 16th they had reached Montreal Island in Back's Estuary, where they foui^d a deposit of provisions which Captain Back had left there that day five years. The pemmican was unfit for use, but out of several pounds of chocolate half decayed the men contrived to pick sufficient to make a kettleful of acceptable drink in honour of the occasion. There were also a tin case and a few fish-hooks, of which, observes Mr. Simpson, " Mr. Dease and I took possession, as memorials of our having break- fasted on the very spot where the tent of our gallant, though less successfril precursor stood that very day five ye«s before." By the 20th of August they had reached as far as Aber- deen Island to the eastward, from which they had a view of an apparently large gulf, corresponding with that which had been so correctly described to Parry by the intelligent Esquimaux female as Akkolee. 182 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. From a mountainous ridge about three miles inland a view of land in the north-east was obtained, supposed to be one of the southern promontories of Boothia. High and distant islands stretching from E. to E.1^.E. (probably some in Committee Bay) were seen, and two considerable ones were noted far out in the offing. B>emembermg the length and difficulty of their return route, the explorers now retraced their steps. On their return voyage they traced sixty miles of the south coast of Boothia, where at one time they were not more than ninety miles from the site of the magnetic pole, as deter- mined by Captain Sir James C. Boss. On the 25th of August they erected a high cairn at their farthest point, near Cape Herschel. About 150 miles of the high, bold shores of Victoria Land, as far as Cape Parry, were also examined ; Wel- lington, Cambridge, and Byron Bays being surveyed and accurately laid down. They then stretched across Coro- nation Gulf, and re-entered the Coppermine Biver on the 16th of September. Abandoning here one of their boats, with the remains of their useless stores and other articles not required, they ascended the river and reached Fort Confidence on the 24th of September, after one of the longest and most successful boat voyages ever performed on the Polar Sea, having traversed more than 1600 miles of sea. In 1838, before the intelligence of this last trip had been received, Mr. Simpson was presented by the Boyal Geographical Society of London with the Founder's Gold Medal, for discovering and tracing in 1837 and 1838 about 800 miles of the Arctic shores ; but the voyage which I have just recorded has added greatly to the laurels which he and his bold companions have achieved. 183 . Db. John Eab's Land Expedition, 1846 — ^1847. Although a little out of its chronological order, I give Dr. Bae*8 exploring trip before I proceed to notice Frank* lin's last voyage, and the different relief expeditions that have been sent out during the past two years. In 1846 the Hudson's Company despatched an expe- dition of thirteen persons, under the command of Dr. John Bae, for the purpose of surveying the unexplored portion of the Arctic coast at the north-eastern angle of the American continent between Dease and Simpson's farthest, and the Strait of the Fury and Heda. The expedition left Fort Churchill, in Hudson's Bay, on the 6th of July, 1846, and returned in safely to York Factory on the 6th of September in the following year, after having, by travelling over the ice and snow in the spring, traced the coast all the way from the Lord Mayor's Bay of Sir John Boss to within eight or ten miles of the Fury and Heda Strait, thus proving that eminent navi- gator to have been correct in stating Boothia to be a peninsula. On the 15th of July the boats first fell in with the ice, about ten miles north of Cape Fullerton, and it was 80 heavy and closely packed that they were obliged to take shelter in a deep and narrow inlet that opportunely presented itself, where they were closed up two days. On the 22nd the party reached the most southerly opening of Wager Biver or Bay, but were detained the whole day by the immense quantities of heavy ice driving in and out with the flood and ebb of the tide, which ran at the rate of eight miles an hour, forcing up the ice and grinding it against the rooks with a noise like thunder. On the night of the 24th the boats anchored at the head of Bepulse Bay. The following day they anchored in Gibson's Cove, on the banks of which they met with a 184 PBOGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVEBT. m small party of Esquimaux ; several of the women wore beads round their wrists, which they had obtained from Captain Parry's ships when at Igloolik and Winter Island. But they had neither heard nor seen anything of Sir John Fraqjidin. Learning from a chart drawn by one of the natives, that the isthmus of Melville Peninsula was only abotit forty miles across, and that of this, owing to a number of large lakes, but five miles of land woidd have to be passed over. Dr. Sac determined to make his way over this neck in preference to proceeding by Fox's Channel through the Fury and Hecla Strait. One boat was therefore laid up with her cargo in security, and with the other the party set out, assisted by three Esquimaux. After traversing several large lakes, and crossing over six " portages," on the 2nd of August they got into the salt water, in Committee Bay, but being able to make but little progress to the north-west, in consequence of heavy gales and closely packed ice, he returned to his starting point, and made preparations for wintering, it being found impossible to proceed with the survey at that time. The other boat was brought across the isthmus, and all hands were set to work in making preparations for a long and cold winter. As no wood was to be had, stones were collected to build a house, which was finished by the 2nd of September. Its dimensions were twenty feet by fourteen, and about eight feet high. The roof was formed of oil-cloths and morse-skin coverings, the masts and oars of the boats serving as rafters, while the door was made of parchment skins stretched over a wooden frame. The deer had already commenced migrating southward, but whenever he had leisure. Dr. Eae shouldered his rifle, and had frequently good success, shooting on one day seven deer within ^o miles of their encampment. DR. JOHN RA£*S LAND EXPEDITION. 185 n wore 3d from Winter nything natives, ly abotit unber of e to be Tray over Channel . security, by three kkes, and it they got Lg able to Lsequence led to his ;, it being |;hat time, and all [or a long lected to ;ptember. id about loths and the boats rchment luthward, his rifle, lone day On the 16th of October, the thermometer fell to zero, arid the greater part of the reindeer had passed ; but the party had by this time shot 130, and during the remainder of October, and in November, thirty-two more were killed,^ so that with 200 partridges and a few salmon, their snow- built larder was pretty well stocked. Sufficient fuel had been collected to last, with economy, for cooking, until the spring ; and a couple of seals which had been shot produced oil enough for their lamps. By nets set in the lakes under the ice, a few salmon were also caught. After passing a very stormy winter, with the temperature occasionally 47° below freezing point, and often an allow- ance of but one meal a day, towards the end of February preparations for resuming their surveys in the spring were made. Sleds, similar P) those used by the natives, were constructed. In the beginning of March the reindeer began to migrate northward, but were very shy. One was shot on the 11th. Dr. Bae set out on the 5th of April, in company with three men and two Esquimaux as interpreters, their provisions and bedding being drawn on sleds by four dogs. Nothing worthy of notice occurs in this exploratory trip, till on the 18th Bae came in sight of Lord Mayor's Bay, and the group of islands with which it is studded. The isthmus which connects the land to the northward with Boothia, he found to be only about a mile broad. On their return the party fortunately fell in with four Esquimaux, from whom they obtained a quantity of seal's blubber for fuel and dogs' food, and some of the flesh and blood for their own use, enough to maintain them for six days on half allowance. All the party were more or less affected with snow blindness, but arrived at their winter quarters in Bepulse Bay on the 5th of May, all safe and well, but as black as negroes, from the combined effects of frost-bites and oil 9moke. 186 PBOOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVEBT. . On the eyening of the 13th May, Dr. Eae again started with a chosen party of four men, to trace the west shore of Melville Peninsula. Each of the men carried about 70 lbs. weight. Being unable to obtain a drop of water of nature's thaw* ing, and fuel being rather a scarce article, they were obliged to take small kettles of snow under the blankets with them, to thaw by the heat of the body. Having reached to about 69° 42' N. kt., and 85° 8' long., and their provisions being nearly exhausted, they were obliged, much to their disappointment, to turn back, when only within a few miles of the Hecla and Fury Strait. Early on the morning of the 30th of May, the party arrived at their snow hut on Cape Thomas Simpson. The men tiiey had left there were well, but very thin, as they had neither caught nor shot an3rthing eatable, except two marmots, and they were preparing to cook a piece of parch* ment skin for their supper. " Our journey," says Dr. Eae, " hitherto had been the most fatiguing I had ever experienced ; the severe exercise, with a limited allowance of food, had reduced the whole party very much. However, we marched merrily on, tightening our belts, — ^mine came in six inches, — ^the men vowing that when they got on full allowance, they would make up for lost time." On the morning of the 9th of June, they arrived at their encampment in Bepulse Bay, after being absent twenty- seven days. The whole party then set actively to work procuring food, collecting fuel, and preparing the boats for sea ; and the ice in the bay having broken up on the 11th of August, on the 12th they left their dreary winter quarters, and after encountering head winds and stormy weather, reached Churchill Biver on the 81st of August. A gratuity of 4001. was awarded to Mr. Bae, by the Hudson's Bay Company, for the important services he had fhiu rendered to the cause of science. 187 'Captain Sib John Fbanklin's Last Expedition, 1846—1851. That Sir John Fraii]din,now nearly six years absent, is alive, we dare not afSrin; but that his ships shonld be so utterly annihilated that no trace of them can be discovered, or if they have been so entirely lost, that not a single life should have been saved to relate the disaster, and that no traces of the crew or vessels should have been met with by the Esquimaux, or the exploring parties who have visited and investigated those coasts, and bays, and inlets to so con- siderable an extent, is a most extraordinary circumstance. It is the general belief of those officers who have served in the former Arctic expeditions, that whatever accident may have befallen the Erehus and Terror^ they cannot wholly have disappeared from those seas, and that some traces of their fate, if not some living remnant of their crews, must eventually reward the search of the diligent investigator. It is possible that they may be found in quarters the least expected. There is still reason, then, for hope, and for the great and honourable exertions which that divine spark in the soul has prompted and still keeps alive. " There is something," says the Athenaeumt " intensely interesting in the picture of those dreaiy seas amid whose strange and unspeakable solitudes our lost countrymen are, or have been, somewhere imprisoned for so many years, swarming with the human life that is risked to set them free. No 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 companions 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 ada- mantine prison, wherever it may be, — chained up by the Polar Spirit whom they had dared, — ^lingering through 188 PBOOBESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. years of cold and darkness on the stinted ration that scarcely feeds the blood, and the feeble hope that scarcely sustains the heart, — and then imagine the rush of emo- tions to greet the first cry from that wild hunting-ground which should 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 reviyed with each returning season of comparative light, to die of its own baffled intensity as the long dark months once more settled down upon their dreary prisonhouse. — There is scarcely a doubt that the track being now struck, these long pining hearts may be traced to their lair. But what to the anxious questioning which has year by year gone forth in search of their fate, will be the answer now revealed? The trail is found, — ^but what of the weary feet that made itP We are not willing needlessly to alarm the public sympathies, which have been so gene- rously stirred on behalf of the missing men, — ^but we are bound to warn our readers against too sanguine an enter- tainment of the hope which the first tidings of the recent discovery is calculated to suggest. It is scarcely possible that the provisions which were sufficient for three years, and adaptable for four, can by any economy which im- plies less than starvation have been spread over five, — and scarcely probable that they can have been made to do so by the help of any accidents which the place of confine- ment supplied. We cannot hear of this sudden discovery of traces of the vanished crews as living men, without a wish which comes like a pang that it had been two years ago — or even last year. It makes the heart sore to think how close relief may have been to their hiding-place in former years — ^when it turned away. There is scarcely reason to doubt that had the present circumstances of the search occurred two years ago — ^last year perhaps— the wanderers would have been restored. Another year CAPT. SIB JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 189 n tliat carcely )f emo- ■ground ommers ling Bke ince lias liglit, to monthB house. — (v stmck, air. But r by year Bwer now he weary dlessly to i 80 gene- mt we are ) an enter- the recent ly possible ■ee years, which im- five,— and le to do so ►f confine- discovery without a two years •e to think tg-place in i8 scarcely Lces of tbe •haps— the (ther year makes a frightful difference in the odds: — and we do not tEink 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.* " In the prosecution of the noble enterprise on which all eyes are now turned, it is not merely scientific research and geographical discoyery that are at present occupying the attention of the commanders of vessels sent out ; the lives of human beings are at stake, and above all, the lives of men who have nobly perilled everything in the cause of national — ^nay, of universal progress and knowledge ; — of men who have evinced on this and other expeditions the most daimtless bravery that any men can evince. Who can think of the probable fate of these gaUant adventurers without a shudder P Alas! how truthfully has Montgomery depicted the fatal imprisonment of vessels in these regions : — There lies a vessel in that realm of frost, Not Mrrecked, not stranded, yet for ever lost; Its keel embedded in the solid mass ; Its glistening sails appear expanded glass ; The transverse ropes with pearls enormous strung. The yards with icicles grotesquely hung. Wrapt in the topmast shrouds there rests a boy. His old sea-faring father's only joy ; Sprung fh>m a race of rovers, ocean bom, Nursed at the helm, he trod dry land with scorn ; Through fourscore years from port to port he veer'd. Quicksand, nor rock, nor foe, nor tempest fear'd; Now cast ashore, though like a hulk he lie. His son at sea is ever in his eye. He ne'er shall know in his Northumbrian cot. How brief that son's career, how strange his lot ; Writhed round the mast, and sepulchred in air. Him shall no worm devour, no vulture tear, Congeal'd to adamant his frame shall last, Though empires change, till time and tide be past. 190 PBOGBESS OF ABCTIO DISOOVEBT. Mom shall retain, and noon, and ere, and night Meet here with interchanging shade and light ; * But from that barque no timber shall decay. Of these cold forms no fisature pass airay ; Perennial ice around th' encrusted bow. The peopled-deck, and Aill-rigg'd masts shall grow, Till from the sun himself the whole be hid. Or spied beneath a crystal pyramid ; As in pure amber with divergent lines, A rugged shell embossed with sea-weed, shines. From age to age increased with annual snow. This new Mont Blanc among the clouds may glow. Whose conic peak that earliest greets the dawn, And latest from the sun's shut eye withdrawn. Shall from the Zenith, through incumbent gloom, • Bum like a lamp upon this naval tomb. But when th' archangel's trumpet sounds on high. The pile shall burst to atoms through the sky. And leave its dead, upstarting at the call, Naked and pale, before the Judge of alL All wlio read these pages will, I am sure, feel the deepest sympathy and admiration of the zeal, perseverance, and conjugal affection displayed in the noble and untiring efforts of Lady Franklin to relieve or to discover the fate of her distinguished husband and the gallant party under his command, despite the difficulties, disappointments, and heart-sickening " hope deferred" with which these efforts have been attended. All men must feel a lively interest in the fate of these bold men, and be most desirous to con- tribute towards their restoration to their country and their homes. The name of the present Lady Franklin is as " familiar as a household word" in every bosom in England ; she is alike the object of our admiration, our sympathy, our hopes, and our prayers. Nay, her name and that of her husband is breathed in prayer in many lands — and, oh! how earnest, how zealous, how courageous, have been her efforts to fi&d and relieve her husband, for, like Des- demona, CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 191 le deepest knee} and untiring r the fate rfcy under lents, and )8e efforts nterest in IB to con- and their rlin is as [England; lympatliy, ^d tliat of ids — and) Lave been like Des- " She loved him for the dangers he had passed, * And he loved her that she did pity them.** How has she trarersed from port to port, bidding " God speed their mission " to each public and private ship going forth on the noble errand of mercy — ^how freely and promptly has she contributed to their comforts. How has she watched each arrival from the north, scanned each stray paragraph of news, hurried to the Admiralty on each rumour, and kept up with xmremitting labour a volumi- nous correspondence with all the quarters of the globe, fondly wishing that she had the wings of the dove, that she might flee away, and be with him from whom Heaven has seen fit to separate her so long. An American poet well depicts her sentiments in the following lines : — LADY FEANKLIN*S APPEAL TO THE NORTH. Oh, where, my long lost-one ! art thou, 'Mid Arctic seas and wintry skies ? Deep, Polar night is on fn« now. And Hope, long wrecked, but mocks my cries. I am like thee I from frozen plains In the drear zone and snnless air. My dying, lonely heart complains. And chills in sorrow and despair. Tell me, ye Northern winds ! that sweep Down from the rayless, dusky day — Where ye have borne, and where ye keep. My well-beloved within your sway ; Tell me, when next ye wildly bear The icy message in your breath. Of my beloved 1 Oh, tell me where Ye keep him on the shores of death. Tell me, ye Polar seas I that roll From ice-bound shore to sunny isle- Tell me, when next ye leave the Pole, Where ye have diained my lord the while I 192 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. On the bleak Northern cliff I wait With tear-pained eyes to see ye come I Will ye not tell me, ere too late? Or will yc mock while I am dumb ? Tell me, oh tell me, mountain waves I Whence have ye leaped and sprung to-day? Have ye passed o'er their sleeping graves That ye rush wildly on your way ? Will ye sweep on and bear me too Down to the caves within the deep ? Oh, bring some token to my view * That ye my loved one safe will keep ! Canst thou not tell me. Polar Star I Where in the frozen waste he kneels? And on the icy plains afar His love to God and me reveals? Wilt thou not send one brighter ray To my lone heart and aching eye ? Wilt thou not turn my night to day, And wake my spirit ere I die ? Tell me, oh dreary North 1 for now My soul is like thine Arctic zone ; Beneath the darkened skies I bow, Or ride the stormy sea alone I Tell me of my beloved I for I Know not a ray my lord without ! Oh, tell me, that I may not die A sorrower on the sea of doubt ! In the early part of 1849 Sir E. Parry stated, that in offering his opinions, he did so under a deep sense of the anxious and even painful responsibility, both as re- garded the risk of life, as well as the inferior consideration of expense involved in further attempts to rescue our gal- lant countrymen, or at least the surviving portion of them, from their perilous position. But it was his deliberate conviction that the time had not yet arrived when the attempt ought to be given up as hopeless: the f\irther efforts making might also be the CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 193 means of determimng their fate, and whether it pleased God to give success to those efforts or not, the Lords of the Admiralty, and the country at large, would hereafter be better satisfied to have followed up the noble attempts ab-eady made, so long as the most distant hope remains of ultimate success. In the absence of authentic information of the fate of the gallant band of adventurers, it has been well observed, the terra incognita of the northern coast of Arctic America will not only be traced, but minutely surveyed, and the solution of the problem of centuries will engage the marked attention of the House of Commons and the legislative assemblies of other parts of the world. The problem is very safe in their hands, so safe indeed that two years will not elapse before it is solved. The intense anxiety and apprehension now so generally entertamed for the safety of Sir John Franklin, and the crews of the Erehus and Terrwr under his command, who, if still in existence, are now passing through the severe ordeal of a fifth winter in those inclement regions, impe- ratively calls for every available effort to be made for their rescue from a position so perilous; and as long as one possible avenue to that position remains unsearched, the country will not feel satisfied that everything has been done which perseverance and experience can accomplish, to dispel the mystery which at present surrounds their fate. Capt. Sir James IU>ss having returned successful from his Antarctic expedition in the close of the preceding year, in the spring of 1846, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, upon the recommendation of Sir John Barrow, determined on sending out another expedition to the North Pole. Accordingly the command was given to Sir John Franklin, who re^commissioned the Erebus KnA Terror, the two vessels which had just returned from the South Polar o :i94 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. !?"""'. Seas. The expedition sailed from Sheemess on the 26th of May, 1845. The following are the officers belonging to these vessels, and for whose safety so deep an interest is now felt : — Erebus. Captain — Sir John Franklin, K.C.H. Commander — James Fitzjames (Capt.) Lieutenants — Graham Gore (Commander), Henry T. D. Le Yesconte, James William Fairholme. Mates — Chas. F. des Vaux (Lieut.), Eobert O'Sargent (Lieut.) Second Master — Henry F. Collins. Surgeon — Stephen S. Stanley. Assistant-Surgeon — Harry D. S. Goodsir (acting). Paymaster and Purser — Chas. H. Osmer. Ice-master — James Beid, acting. 68 Petty Officers, Seamen, &o. Full complement, 70. Terror, Captain — Fras. K. M. Crozier. Lieutenants— Edward Little (Commander), Geo. H. Hodgson, John Irving. Mates — Frederick J. Hornby (Lieut.), Eobert Thomas (Lieut.) Ice-master — T. Blanky (acting). Second Master — G. A. Maclean. Surgeon — John S. Peddie. Assistant-Surgeon — ^Alexander McDonald. Clerk in Charge — ^Edwin J. H. Helpman. 67 Petty Officers, Seamen, &c. Full complement, 68. Those officers whose rank is within parenthesis have been promoted during their absence. CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 195 lie 26tli iging to terest is r Sargent ttg)- The following is an outline of Capt. Franklin's services as r'ecorded in O'Byme's Naval Biography : — Sir John Franklin, Kt., K.E.G., K.C.H., D.C.L., F.R.S., was born in 1786 at Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, and is brother of the late Sir W. Franklin, Kt., Chief Justice of Madras. He entered the navy in October, 1800, as a boy on board the Polyphemus ^ 64, Captain John Lawford, under whom he served as midshipman in the action off Copenhagen, 2nd of April, 1801. He then sailed with Captain Flinders in H.M. sloop Investigator on a voyage of discovery to New Holland, joining there the armed store-ship Porpoise ; he was wrecked on a coral reef near Cato Bank on the 17th of August, 1803. I shall not follow him through all his subsequent period of active naval service, in which he displayed conspicuous zeal and activity. But we find him taking part at the battle of Trafalgar, on the 2l8t of October, 1805, on board the Bellerophon, where he was signal midshipman. He was confirmed as Lieutenant on board the Bedford, 74, 11th of February, 1808, and he then escorted the royal family of Portugal from Lisbon to South America. He was engaged in very arduous services during the expedition against New Orleans in the close of 1814, and was slightly wounded in boat service, and for his brilliant services on this occasion was warmly and officially recommended for promotion. On the 14th of January, 1818, he assumed command of the hired brig Trent, in which he accompanied Captain D. Buchan, of the Dorothea, on the perilous voyage of discovery to the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen, which I have fully recorded elsewhere. In April, 1819, having paid off* the Trent in the preceding November, he was invested with the conduct of an expedition destined to proceed overland from the shores of Hudson's Bay, for the purpose more particularly of ascertaining the actual position of the mouth of the Coppermine Kiver, and the o2 196 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. exact trending of tlie shores of the Polar Sea to the east- ward of that river. The details of this fearful undertaking, which endured until the summer of 1822, and in the course of which he reached as far as Point Turnagain, in latitude 68*^ 19' N. and longitude 109° 25' W., and effected a journey alto- gether of 5550 miles, Captain Franklin has ahlj set forth in his " Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819-22," and which I have abridged in preceding pages. He was promoted to the rank of Com- mander on the 1st of January, 1821, and reached his post rank on the 20th of November, 1822. On the 16th of February, 1825, this energetic officer again left England on another expedition to the Frozen Begions, having for its object a co-operation with Captains F. W. Beechey and W. £. Parry, in ascertaining from opposite quarters the existence of a north-west passage. The results of this mission will be found in detail in Captain Franklin's " Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1825-7." On his return to England, where he arrived on the 26th of Sept., 1827, Franklin was presented by the Geographical Society of Paris with a gold medal valued at 1200 francs, for having made the most important acquisitions to geo- graphical knowledge during the preceding year, and on the 29th of April, 1829, he received the honour of knight- hood, besides being awarded in July following the Oxford degree of a D.C.L. From 1830 to 1834 he was in active service in command of H.M.S. Rainbow on the Mediterranean station, and for his exertions during that period as connected with the troubles in Greece, was presented with the order of the Redeemer of Greece. Sir John was created a K.C.H. on the 25th of January, 1836, and was for some time Governor of Van Piemen's Land. He married, on the 16th of CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 197 August, 1823, Eleanor Anne, youngest daughter of W. Ford'en, Esq., architect, of Bemers Street, London, and secondly, on the 5th of Novemher, 1828, Jane, second daughter of John Griffin, Esq., of Bedford Place. Captain Crozier was in all Parry's expeditions, having been midshipman in the Fury in 1821, in the Secla in 1824, went out as a Lieutenant in the Secla with Parry on his boat expedition to the Pole in 1827, volunteered in 1836 to go out in search of the missing whalers and their crews to Davis Straits, was made a Captain in 1841, and was second in command of the Antarctic expedition under Sir James Boss, and on his return appointed to the Terrwr as second in command under Franklin. Lieutenant Gore served as a mate in the last fearful voyage of the Terror, under Back, and was also with Eoss in the Antarctic expedition. He has attained his commander's rank during his absenceK Lieutenant Fairhohne was in the Niger expedition. Lieutenant Little has also been promoted during his absence, and so have all the mates. Commander Fitzjames is a brave and gallant officer who has seen much service in the East, and has attained to his post rank since his departure. The Terror, it may be remembered, is the vessel in which Captain Sir G. Back made his perilous attempt to reach Eepulse Bay in 1836. The Erebus and Terror were not expected home unless success had early rewarded their efforts, or some casualty hastened their return, before the close of 1847, nor were any tidings anticipated from them in the interval ; but when the autumn of 1847 arrived without any intelligence of the ships, the attention of H.M. Gt}vemment was directed to the ne- cessity of searching for, and conveying relief to them, in case of their being imprisoned in the ice, or wrecked, and in want of provisions and means of transport. 198 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. For this purpose a searching expedition in three divisions was fitted out by the Government in the early part of 1848. The investigation was directed to three different quarters simultaneously, viz. : 1st, to that by which in case of success the ships would come out of the Polar Sea, to the westward, or Behring's Strait. This consisted of a single ship, the Plover^ commanded by Captain Moore, which left England in the latter end of January for the purpose of entering Behring's Strait. It was intended that she should arrive there in the month of July, and having looked out for a winter harbour, she might send out her boats northward and eastward, in which directions the discovery ships, if successful, would be met with. The Plover^ however, in her first season, never even approached the place of her destination, owing to her setting off too late, and to her bad sailing properties. Her subsequent proceedings, and those of her boats along the coast, will be found narrated in after pages. The second division of the expedition was one of boats, to explore the coast of the Arctic Sea between the Mac- kenzie and Coppermine Eivers, or from the 135th to the 115th degree of W. longitude, together vtdth the south coast of Wollaston Land, it being supposed, that if Sir John Franklin's party had been compelled to leave the ships and take to their boats, they would make for this coast, whence they could reach the Hudson's Bay Com- pany's posts. This party was placed under the command of the faithful friend of Franklin and the companion of his former travels, Dr. Sir John Eichardson, who landed at New York in April, 1848, and hastened to join his men and boats, which were already in advance towards the Arctic shore. He was, however, unsuccessful in his search. The remaining and most important portion of this searching expedition consisted of two ships under the CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 19^ command of Sir James Eoss, which sailed in May, 1848, for the locality in which Franklin's ships entered on their course of discovery, viz., the eastern side of Davis Straits. These did not, however, succeed, owing to the state of the ice, in getting into Lancaster Sound until the season for operations had nearly closed. These ships wintered in the neighbourhood of Leopold Island, Begent Inlet, and missing the store-ship sent out with provisions and fiiel, to enable them to stop out another year, were driven out through the Strait by the pack of ice, and returned home unsuccessful. The subsequent expeditions conse- quent upon the failure of the foregoing will be found fully detailed and narrated in their proper order. Among the number of volunteers for the service of ex- ploration, in the different searching expeditions, were the following : — Mr. Chas. Beid, lately commanding the whal- ing ship Pacific, and brother to the ice-master on board the Erebus, a man of great experience and respectability. The Bev. Joseph "Wolff, who went to Bokhara in search of Capt. Conolly and Col. Stoddart. Mr. John McLean, who had passed twenly-five years as an officer and partner of the Hudson's Bay Company, and who has recently published an interesting narrative of his experience in the north-west regions. Dr. Bichard King, who accompanied Capt. Back in his land journey to the mouth of the Great Fish Biver. Lieut. Sherard Osborn, B.N., who has recently gone out in the Pioneer^ tender to the Resolute. Commander Forsyth, B.N., who volunteered for all the expeditions, and was at last sent out by Lady Franklin in the Prince Albert. Dr. McCormick, B.N., who served under Capt. Sir E. Parry, in the attempt to reach the North Pole, in 1827, who twice previously volunteered his services in 1847. Capt. Sir John Boss, ^rho has gone out in the Felix^ 200 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. fitted out by the Hudson's Bay Company, and by private subscriptions ; and many others. Up to the present time no intelligence of any kind has been received respecting the expedition^ audits fate is now exciting the most intense anxiety, not only on the part of the British government and public, but of the whole civilized world. The maritime powers of Europe and the United States are vying with each other as to who shall be the first to discover some trace of the missing navigators, and if they be still alive, to render them assist- ance. The Hudson's Bay Company have, with a noble liberality, placed all their available resources of men, pro- visions, and the services of their chief and most experienced traders, at the disposal of Government. The Eussian autho- rities have also given every facility for diffusing informa- tion and affording assistance in their territories. In a letter from Sir John Franklin to Col. Sabine, dated from the Whale-Fish Islands, 9th of July, 1845, after noticing that, including what they had received from the transport, which had accompanied them so far, the Erebus and Terror had on board provisions, fuel, clothing, and stores, for three years coibplete from that date, t . e, to July, 1848 ; he continues as follows : — " I hope my dear wife and daughter will not be over-anxious if we should not return by the time they have fixed upon ; and I must beg of you to give them the benefit of your advice and ex- perience when that arrives, for you know well, that even after the second winter, without success in our object, we should wish to try some other channel, if the state of our provisions, and the health of the crews, justify it." Capt. Dannett, of the whaler. Prince of Wales, whilst in Melville Bay, last saw the vessels of the expedition, moored to an iceberg, on the 26th of July, in lat. 74° 48' N., long. 66° 13' W., waiting for a favourable opening through the middle ice from Baffin's Bay to Lancaster Sound. Capt. Dannett states that during three weeks, after parting com- CAPT. SIB JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 201 ;>riyate md has is now lie part > whole ind the to who missing 1 assist- a noble en, pro- erienced n autho- informa- iBt dated &, after rom the ) Erebus ig, and L ». e, to Imy dear should I must and ex- lat even ^ject, we of our whilst in moored [., long. Liigh the Capt. com- pany with the ships, he experienced very fine weather, and thinks they would have made good progress. Lieut. Griffith, in command of the transport which ac- companied them out with provisions to Baffin's Bay, reports that he left all hands well and in high spirits. They were then Aimished, he adds, with every species of provisions for three entire years, independently of five bullocks, and stores of every description for the same period, with abund- ance of fuel. The following is Sir John Franklin's official letter sent home by the transport : — (( Her Majesty's Ship * Erebus,* " Whale-Fish Islands, 12th of July, 1845. " I have the honour to acquaint you, for the informa- tion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror, with the transport, arrived at this anchorage on the 4th instant, having had a passage of one month from Stromness : the transport was immediately taken alongside this ship, that she might be the more readily cleared ; and we have been constantly employed at that operation tiU last evening, the delay having been caused not so much in getting the stores transferred to either of the ships, as u making the best stowage of them below, as well as on the upper deck : the ships are now complete with supplies of every kind for three years ; they are therefore very deep ; but, happily, we have no reason to expect much sea as we proceed farther. " The magnetic instruments were landed the same morn- ing ; so also were the other instruments requisite for as- certaining the position of the observatory ; and it is satis- factory to find that the results of the observations for latitude and longitude accord very nearly with those assigned to the same place by Sir Edward Parry : those for the dip and variation are equally satisfactory, which 202 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. r!'* were made by Captain Crozier with the instruments belonging to the Terror, and by Commander Fitzjames with those of the Erehus. " The ships are now being swung, for the purpose of ascertaining the dip and deviation of the needle on board, as was done at Greenhithe, which, I trust, wiU be com- pleted this afternoon, and I hope to be able to sail in the night. " The governor and principal persons are at this time absent from Disco, so that I have not been able to receive any communication from head quarters as to the state of the ice to the north ; I have, however, learnt from a Danish carpenter in charge of the Esquimaux at these islands, that though the winter was severe, the spring was not later than usual, nor was the ice later in breaking away hereabout ; he supposes also that it is now loose as far as 74° latitude, and that our prospect is favourable of getting across the barrier, and as far as Lancaster Sound, without much obstruction. " The transport will sail for England this day. I shall instruct the agent, Lieutenant Griffiths, to proceed to Deptford, and report his arrival to the Secretary of the Admiralty. I have much satisfaction in bearing my testi- mony to the careful and zealous manner in which Lieut. Griffiths has performed the service entrusted to him, and would beg to recommend him, as an officer who appears to have seen much service, to the favourable consideration of their lordships. " It is unnecessary for me to assure their lordships of the energy and zeal of Captain Crozier, Commander Fitz- James, and of the officers and men with whom I have the happiness of being employed on this service. " I have, &c., (Signed) "John Franklin, Captain. The Right Hon. H. L. Corry, M.P." $t CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 203 It has often been a matter of surprise that but one of the copper cylinders which Sir John Franklin was in- structed to throw overboard at stated intervals, to record his progress, has ever come to hand, but a recent sight of the solitary one which has been received proves to me that they are utterly useless for the purpose. A small tube, about the size of an ordinary rocket-case, is hardly ever likely to be observed among huge masses of ice, and the waves of the Atlantic and Pacific, unless drifted by accident on shore, or near some boat. The Admiralty have wisely ordered them to be rendered more conspicuous by being headed up in some cask or barrel, instructions being issued to Captain Collinson and other officers of the different ex- peditions to that effect. According to Sir John Bichardson, who was on intimate terms with Sir John Franklin, his plans were to shape his course in the first instance for the neighbourhood of Cape Walker, and to push to the westward in that parallel, or, if that could not be accomplished, to make his way south- wards, to the channel discovered on the north coast of the continent, and so on to Behring's Straits ; failing success in that quarter, he meant to retrace his course to Wel- lington Sound, and attempt a passage northwards of Parry's Islands, and if foiled there also, to descend Eegent Inlet, and seek the passage along the coast dis- covered by Messrs. Dease and Simpson. Captain Fitzjames, the second in command under Sir John Franklin, was much inclined to try the passage northward of Parry's Islands, and he would no doubt en- deavour to persuade Sir John to pursue this course if they failed to the southward. In a private letter of Captain Fitzjames to Sir John Barrow, dated January, 1845, he writes as follows : — " It does not appear clear to me what led Parry down Prince Begent Inlet, after having got as far as Melville 20i PROOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Island before. The north-west passage is certainly to bo gone through by Barrow's Strait, but whether south or north of Parry's Group, remains to be proved. I am for going north, edging north-west till in longitude 140°, if possible." I shall now proceed to trace, in chronological order and succession, the opinions and proceedings of the chief Arctic explorers and public authorities, with the private suggestions offered, and notice in detail the relief expe- ditions resulting therefrom. In February, 1847, the Lords of the Admiralty state, that having unlimited confidence in the skill and resources of Sir John Franklin, they " have as yet felt no apprehen- sions about his safety ; but on the other hand, it is obvious, that if no accounts of him should arrive by the end of this year, or, as Sir John Eoss expects, at an earlier period, active steps must then be taken." Captain Sir Edward Parry fully concurred in these views, observing, " Former experience has clearly shown, that with the resources taken from this country, two winters may be passed in the Polar regions, not only in safety, but with comfort; and if any inference can be drawn from the absence of all intelligence of the expedi- tion up to this time, I am disposed to consider it rather in favour than otherwise of the success which has attended their efforts." Captain Sir G. Back, in a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, under date 27th of January, 1848, says, " I cannot bring myself to entertain more than ordinary anxiety for the safety and return of Sir John Franklin and his gallant companions." Captain Sir John Boss records, in February, 1847, his opinion that the expedition was frozen up beyond Mel- ville Island, from the known intentions of Sir John Franklin to put his ships into the drift ice at the western CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 205 to be ith or am for L40°,if ler and ) chief private f expe- ;y state, Bsources )prelieii- obvious, d of this r period, in these y shown, try, two ^t only in can be e expedi- Irather in attended of the I says, "I I ordinary Franklin Il847, his )nd Mel- Jir John western end of MelyUle Island, a risk which was deemed in the higliest degree imprudent by Lieutenant Parry and the officers of the expedition of 1819-20, with ships of a less draught of water, and in every respect better calculated to sustain the pressure of the ice, and other dangers to which they must be exposed ; and as it is now well known that the expedition has not succeeded in passing Behring's Strait, and if not totally lost, must have been carried by the ice that is known to drift to the southward on land seen at a great distance in that direction, and from which the accumulation of ice behind them will, as in Boss's own case, for ever prevent the return of the ships ; conse- quently they must be abandoned. When we remember with what extreme difficulty Boss's party travelled 300 miles over much smoother ice after they abandoned their vessel, it appears very doubtful whether Franklin and his men, 138 in number, could possibly travel 600 miles. In the contingency of the ships having penetrated some considerable distance to the south-west of Cape Walker, and having been hampered and crushed in the narrow channels of the Archipelago, which there are reasons for believing occupies the space between Victoria, Wollaston, and Banks' Lands, it is well remarked by Sir John Bichard- son, that such accidents among ice are seldom so sudden hut that the boats of one or of both ships, with provisions, can be saved ; and in such an event the survivors would either return to Lancaster Strait, or make for the con- tinent, according to their nearness. Colonel Sabine remarks, in a letter dated Woolwich, 5th of May, 1847, — " It was Sir John Franklin's intention, if foiled at one point, to try in succession all the probable openings into a more navigable part of the Polar Sea : the range of coast is considerable in which memorials of the ships' progress would have to be sought for, extending from Melville Island, in the west, to the great Sound at the head of Baffin's Bay, in the east." 206 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Sir John Eichardson, when appealed to by the Admiralty in the spring of 1847, as regarded the very strong appre- hensions expressed at that time for the safety of the expedition, considered they were premature, as the ships were specially equipped to pass two winters in the Arctic Sea, and until the close of that year he saw no well- grounded cause for more anxiety than was naturally felt when the expedition sailed from this country on an enter- prise of peril, though not greater than that which had repeatedly been encountered by others, and on one occasion by Sir John Ross for two winters also, but who returned in safety. Captain Sir James C. Eoss, in March, 1847, writes, " I do not think there is the smallest reason for apprehension or anxiety for the safety and success of the expedition ; no one acquainted with the nature of the navigation of the Polar Sea would have expected they would have been able to get through to Behring's Strait without spending at least two winters in those regions, except under unusually favourable circumstances, which all the accounts from the M halers concur in proving they have not experienced, and I am quite sure neither Sir John Franklin nor Captain Crozier expected to do so. " Their last letters to me from Whale-Fish Islands, the day previous to their departure from them, inform me that they had taken on board provisions for three years on full allowance, which they could extend to four years without any serious inconvenience ; so that we may feel assured they cannot want from that cause until after the middle of July, 1849 ; it therefore does not appear to me at all desirable to send after them until the spring of the next year" (1848). In the plan submitted by Captain F. W. Beeohey, B.N., in April, 1847, after premising " that there does not at present appear to be any reasonable apprehension for the CAPT. SIR JOHN franklin's LAST EXPEDITION. 207 dmiralty g appre- y of the the ships he Arctic no well- orally felt an enter- nrhich had Lc occasion ) returned writes, " I prehension expedition ; ition of the have been it spending ir unusually ts from the ienced, and lor Captain [slands, the inform me [three years four years je may feel iil alter the j>pear to me [ring of the pheyi B.N., loes not at sion for the safety of the expedition," he suggested that it would perhaps be prudent that a relief expedition should be sent out that season to Cape Walker, where information of an important nature would most likely be found. From this yicinity one vessel could proceed to examine the various points and headlands in Begent Inlet, and also those to the northward, while the other watched the passage, so that Franklin and his party might not pass unseen, should he be on his return. At the end of the season the ships could winter at Fort Bowen, or any other port in the ricinity of Leopold Island. " In the spring of 1848," he adds, " a party should be directed to explore the coast, down to Hecla and Fury Strait, and to endeavour to communicate with the party despatched by the Hudson's Bay Company in that direc- tion ; and in connexion with this part of the arrangement, it would render the plan complete if a boat could be sent down Back's Biver to range the coast to the east- ward of its mouth, to meet the above-mentioned party ; and thus, whilst it would complete the geography of that part of the American coast, it would at the same time complete the hue of information as to the extensive mea- sures of relief which their lordships have set on foot, and the precise spot where assistance and dep6ts of provisions are to be found. This part of the plan has suggested itself to me from a conversation I had with Sir John Franklin as to his first effort being made to the westward and south-westward of Cape Walker. 7t is possible that, after passing the Cape, he may have been successful in getting down upon Yiotoria Land, and have passed his first winter (1845) thereabout, and that he may have spent his second winter at a still more advanced station, and even endured a third, without either a prospect of success, or of an extrication of his vessels within a given period of time. " If, in this condition, which I trust may not be the 208 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. J' '1 %!l ¥■0 case, Sir John Franklin should resolve upon taking to his boats, he would prefer attempting a boat navigation through Sir James Boss's Strait, and up Begent Inlet, to a long land journey acaross the continent to the Hudson's Bay Settlements, to which the greater part of his crew would be wholly imequal." Sir John Bichardson remarks upon the above sugges- tions, on the 6th of May, 1847,-^" With respect to a party to be sent down Back's Biver to the bottom of Begent Inlet, its size and outfit would require to be equal with that of the one now preparing to descend the Mackenzie Biver, and it could scarcely with the utmost exertions be organized so as to start this summer. The present scarcity of provisions in the Hudson's Bay country precludes the hope of assistance from ike Company's southern posts, and it is now too late to provide the means of transport through the interior of supplies from this country, which require to be embarked on board the Hudson's Bay ships by the 2nd of June at the latest. " Moreover there is no Company's post on the line of Back's Biver nearer than the junction of Slave Biver with Great Slave Lake, and I do not think that under any circumstances Sir John Franklin would attempt that route. " In the summer of 1849, if the resources of the party I am to conduct remain unimpaired, as I have every reason to believe they will, much of what Captain Beechey sug* gests in regard to exploring Victoria Land may be done by it, and indeed forms part of the original scheme. The extent of the examination of any part of the coast in 1848 depends, as I formerly stated, very much on the seasons of this autumn and next spring, which influence the advance of the boats through a long course of river navigation. As Governor Simpson will most likely succeed in procuring an Esquimaux to accompany my party, I OPINIONS AND BUGOESTIONB. 209 :ing to liis m through to a long [son's Bay rew would >ve sugges- ; to a party L of Begent equal with Mackenzie exertions be it scarcity of des the hope sts, and it is ►ort through hich require ships by the hope by his means to obtain such information from parties of that nation as may greatly facilitate our finding the ships, should they be detained in that quarter. " Were Sir John Franklin thrown upon the north coast of the continent with his boats, and all his crew, I do not think that he would attempt the ascent of any river, except the Mackenzie. It is navigable for boats of large draught, without a portage, for 1800 miles from the sea, or within forty mUes of Fort Chipewyan, one of the Company's principal dep6ts, and there are five other posts in that distance. Though these posts could not fmmish provisions to such a party, they could, by providing them with nets, and distributing the men to various fishing stations, do much towards procuring food for them. " I concur generally in what Captain Beechey has said with regard to Behring's Straits, a locality with which he is so intimately acquainted, but beg leave to add one remark, viz., that in high northern latitudes the ordinaiy allowance of animal food is insufficient in the winter season to maintain a labouring man in health ; and as Sir John Franklin would deem it prudent when detained a second winter to shorten the allowance, symptoms of scurvy may show themselves among the men^ as was the case when Sir Edward Parry wintered two years in Fox's Channel. " A vessel, therefore, meeting the JErebus and Torror this season in Behring's Straits, might render great ler' vice."— Par/. Paper, No, 264, Septum 1848. The late Sir John Barrow, Bart., in a memorandum dated July, 1847, says :-* " The anxiety that prevails regarding Sir John Franklin, and the brave fellows who compose the orewi of the two ships, is very natural, but somewhat premature ; it arises chiefly from nothing having been reeeived ftom them since fixed in the ioe of Baffin's Bay, where the last whaling 210 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. ship of the season of 1845 left them, opposite to the opening into Lancaster Sound. Hitherto no difficulty has been found to the entrance into that Sound. If dis- appointed, rather than return to the southward, with the Tiew of wintering at or about Disco, I should be incUned to tibink that they would endeavour to enter Smith's Sound, so highly spoken of by Baffin, and which just now that gidlant and adyenturous Bussian, Admiral Count Wrangel, has pointed out in a paper addressed to the Geographical Society as the starting place for an attempt to reach the J^orth Pole ; it would appear to be an inlet that runs up high to the northward, as an officer in one of Parry's ships states that he saw in the line of direction along that inlet, the sun at midnight skimming the horizon. " From Lancaster Sound Franklin's instructions directed him to proceed through Barrow's Strait, as far as the islands on its southern side extended, which is short of Melville Island, which was to be avoided,' not only on account of its dangerous coast, but also as being out of the direction of the course to the intended object. Having, therefore, reached the last known land on the p.r ithem side of Barrow's Strait, they were to shape a direct course to Behring's Strait, witiiout any deviation, ' except what obstruction might be met with from ice, or from islands, in the midst of the Polar Sea, of which no knowledge had at that time been procured ; but if any such existed, it would of course be left to their judgment, on the spot, how to get rid of such obstructions, by taking a northerly or a southerly course. • • # • • " The only chance of bringing them upon this (the Ameri- can) coast is the possibility of some obstruction having tempted them to explore an immense inlet on the northern ■hore of Barrow's Strait (short of Melville Island), called OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 211 Wellington Chanr el, wbioli Parry felt an inclination to ex- plore; and morethan oneof the presentpartybetrayed to me a similar inclination, which I discouraged, no one venturing to conjecture even to what extent it might go, or into what ^fficulties it might lead. ** Under all these circumstances, it would be an act of foUy to pronounce any opinion of the state, condition, or position of those two ships ; they are well suited for their purpose, and the only doubt I have is that of their being hampered by the screws among the ice." Sir James C. Eoss, in his outline of a plan for affording relief, submitted to the Admiralty in December, 1847, suggested that two ships should be sent out to examine Wellington Channel, alluded to in the foregoing me- morandum of Sir John Barrow, and the coast between Capes Clarence and Walker. A convenient winter harbour might be found for one of the ships near Gamier Bay or Cape Eennell. From this position the coast line could be explored as far as it extended to the westward, by detached parties, early in the spring, as well as the western coast of Boothia, a considerable distance to the southward ; and at a more advanced period of the season the whole distance to Cape Nicolai might be completed. The other ship should then proceed alone to the west- ward, endeavouring to reach Winter Harbour, in Melville Island, or some convenient port in Banks' Land, in which to pass the winter. From these points parties might be sent out early in the spring. The first party should be directed to trace the western coast of Banks' Land, and proceed direct to Cape Bathurst or Cape Parry, on each of which Sir John Bichardson proposes to leave dep6ts of provisions for its use, and then to reach the Hudson's Bay Company's settlement at Fort p2 212 PRQOBE8S OF ABCTIC DISCOYERT. Qood Hope, on the Mackenzie, whence they might travel by the usual route of the traders to the principal settle- ment, and thenoe to England. The second party should explore the eastern shore of Banks' Land, and make for Cape Krusenstern, where, or at Gape Heame, they will find a cacAS of proyision left by Sir John Kichardson, with whom this party may communicate, and whom it may assist in completing the examination of WoUaston and Victoria Lands, or return to England by the route he shall deem most advisable. Sir James Boss was entrusted with the carrying out of this search, in tiie Enterprise and InvesUgtxtor, and an account of tiie voyage and proceedings of these vessels will be found recorded in its chronological order. The following letter from Dr. Bichard Eiing to the Lords of the Admiralty contains some useful suggestions, although it is mixed up with a good deal of egotistical remark : — " 17, SavilU Bow, Fehmwry, 1848. « * The old route of Parry, through Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait, as far as to the last land on its southern shore, and thence in a direct line to Behring's Straits, is the route ordered to be pursued by Franklin.' (Barrow's Arctic Voyages, p. 11.) " The gallant o£Scer has thus been despatched to push his adventurous way between Melville Island and Banks' Land, which Sir E. Parry attempted for two years unsuc- cessfully. 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 indelible characters these impressive thoughts: ' We have been lying near our present station, with an easterly wind blowing fresh, for thirty-six hours together, and although this was consider- ably off the land, the ice had not during the whole of tbat time moved a single yard firom the shore, affording a proof OPINIONS AND SUQOESnONS. 213 rht travel )al settle- L shore of where, or provision jarty may ►leting the or return risable. ring out of 09*, and an 980 vessels p. that, there was no space in which the ice was at 11 >erty to move to the westward. The navigation of this part of the Polar Sea is only to be performed by watching the occasional opening between the ice and the shore, and therefore, a continuity of land is essential for this purpose; such a continuity of land, which was here about to faU, as must necessarily be furnished by the northern coast of America* in whatsoever latitude it may be found.' As- suming, therefore, Sir John Franklin has been arrested between Melville Island and Banks' Land, where Sir E. Parry was arrested by difficulties which he considered in- surmountable, and he has followed the advice of that gal- lant officer, and made for the continuity of America^ he will have turned the prows of his vessels south and west, according as Banks' Land tends for Victoria or Wollaston Lands. It is here, therefore, that we may expect to find the expedition wrecked, whence they wiU mako 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 midertake the boldest journey that has evor been attempted m the northern regions of America, one which was justifi* able only from the circumstances. I propose to attempt to reach the western land of North Somerset, or the eastern portion of Victoria Land, as may be deemed ad- yisable, 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 performance of this Herculean task upon the fact that I possess an intimate knowledge of the country and the people tidrough which I shall have to pass, the health to stand the rigour of the climate, and the strength to imdergo the fatigue of mind and body to which I must be lubjeoted. A glanoe at the 214 PB0OBE88 OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. map of North America, directed to Behring's Strait in the Faoifict Barrow's Strait in the Atlantic, and the land of North Somerset between them, wiQ 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 of by-gone days ; while that by the Atlantic is so doubtfol of success, that it is merely neces- sary, to put this assistance aside as far from certain, to mention that Sir John Boss found Barrow's 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 sea expedi- tion would be tile rule itself. To the western land of North Somerset, where Sir John Franklin is likely to be found, the Great Fish Biver 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 provisions, it may be made the medium of communication between the lost expedition and the civilized world, and guides be thus placed at their disposal to convey them to the hunting grounds of the Indians. Without such guides it is impossible that they can reach these hunting grounds. It was by the Great Fish Biver that I reached the Polar Sea while acting as second officer in search of Sir Jolrn Boss. I feel it my duty, therefore, as one of two officers so peculiarly circumstanced, at the present moment to place my views on record as an earnest of my sincerity. Even if it should be determined to try and force provision vessels through Barrow's Strait, and scour the vicinity in boats for the lost expedition, and should it succeed, it will be satisfactory to know that such a mission as I have pro- posed should be adopted ; while, if these attempts should iail, and the seryice uf'^*^* consideration be put aside, it will be a source of regret that not only the natioii at large OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 215 aitintiie le land of rent that, )ast, there e two sea* >ut of tlie bat by the rely neces- certain, to trait closed m, alone we id journey sea expedi- 3m land of likely to he only route ; counti^ too transport of amunication world, and rey them to such guides ing grounds. )d the Polar )f Sir John two officew moment to ly sincerity. •ce provision |e vicinity in ;eed» it will I have pro- opts should ^ut aside, it Ltiou at large will feel, but the whole civilized 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. ** The fact that all lands which have a western aspect me 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, 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 Bchring's Strait and Banks' Land is praise- worthy in attempt, but forlorn in hope. Li the former effort, it is assumed that Sir John Franklin has made the passage, and that his arrest is between the Mackenzie Biver and Icy Cape ; in the latter, that Sir James Boss will reach Banks' Land, and trace its continuity to Vic- toria and WoUaston Land, and thus make the ' passage.' First, We have no reason to believe that Sir John Franklin and Sir James Eoss will be more fortunate than their pre- decessors, and we cannot trust to their success. Secondly, We are unable to assume that Sir James Boss will reach Banks' Land ; Sir E. Parry was imable to reach it, and only viewed it from a distance ; much less are we able to assume that the gallant officer will find a high road to Victoria Land, which is altogether a terra incognita, " Mr. T. Simpson, who surveyed the Arctic coast com- prised between the Coppermine and Castor and Pollux Sivers, has set that question at rest, and is the only autho- rity 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 Grert Bear Lake, 216 PHOOBESS OF ABCTIC DISCOVERT. and Great Bear Lake is to bi the retreat of Sir John ItiohardBOii. "What retreat could Mr. Simpson have meant but Great Slave Lake, the retreat of the land party in search of Sir John Boss P and what other road to the unexplored ground, the western land of IS'orth Somerset, could that traveller have meant than Great Fish Biver, that stream which I haye pointed out as the ice-free and high road to the land where tiie lost expedition is likely to be found, — to be the boundary of that passage which for three-and-a-half centuries we have been in vain endearouring to reach in shipeP" Captain Sii W. E. Parry, to whom Dr. King's proposal was submitted by the Admiralty, thus comments on it:— " My former opinion,^ quoted by Dr. King, as to the difficulty of ships penetrating to the westward beyond Gape Dundas (the south-^ western extremity of Melville Island), remains unaltered ; and I should expect that Sir John fVanklin, being aware of this difficulty, would use his utmost effiarts to get to the southward and westward before he approached that point, that is, between the 100th and 110th degree of longitude. The more I have con- sidered Hiia subject (which has naturally occupied much of my attention lately), the more difficult I find it to conjee- tore where the- expedition may have stopped, either with or withoui any serious accident to the ships ; but as no information has reached us up to this time, I conceive that tiiere is some considerable probabiUty of their being situated somewhere between the longitude I have just named; kow far th^ may have penetrated to the southward, between those meridians, must be a matter of speculation, depending on the state of the ice, and the existence of land in a space hitherto blank on our maps. " Be this as it may, I consider it not improbable, as suggested by Dr. King, that an attempt will be made by OPINIONS AND BUGOEBTIONS. 217 them to fall back on the western coast of North Somerset, wherever that may be found, as being the nearest point affording a hope of communication, either with whalers or with ships sent expressly in search of the expedition. " Agreeing thus far with Dr. £ing, I am compelled to differ with him entirely as to the readiest mode of reaching that coast, because I feel satisfied that, with the resources of the expedition now equipping under Sir James Boss, the energy, skill, and intelligence of that officer will render it a matter of no very difficult enterprise to examine the coast in question, either with his ships, boats, or travelling parties ; whereas an attempt to reach that coast by an expedition from the continent of America must, as it appears to me, be extremely hazardous and uncertain. And as I understand it to be their lordships' intention to direct Sir James Boss to station one of his ships somewhere about Cape Walker, while the other pro- ceeds on the search, and likewise to equip his boats spe- cially for the purpose of examining the various coasts and inlets, I am decidedly of opinion, that, as regards the western coast of North Somerset, this plan will be much more likely to answer the proposed object, than any over- land expedition. This object will, of course, be the more easily accomplished in case of Sir James Boss finding the western coast of North Somerset navigable for his ships. ** In regard to Dr. !Eing's suggestion respecting Vic- toria Land and Wollaston Land, supposing Sir John Franklin's ships to have been arrested between the meri- dians to which I hav« already alluded, it does seem, by an inspection of the map, not improbable that parties may attempt to penetrate to the continent in that direction ; but not being well acquainted with the facilities for reach- ing the coast of America opposite those lands in the manner proposed by Dr/King, I am not competent to judge of its praoticabilily." 218 PBOOBESS OF AROTIC DISCOVERT. Nearlj the whole of the west coast of North Somerset and Boothia was (it will be found hereafter) explored by parties in boats detached from Sir James Boss's ships in 1849. I append, also, the most important portions of Sir James Boss's remarks on Dr. iKin^'s plan. " Dr. King begins by assuming that Sir John Franklin has attempted to push the ships through to the westward, between Melyille Island and Bai)ks' Land (although directly contrary to his instructions); that having been arrested by insurmountable difficulties, he would have * turned the prows of his vessels to the south and west, according as Banks' Land tends for Victoria or WoUaston Land;' and having been wrecked, or from any other cause obliged to abandon their ships, their crews would take to the boats, and make for the west coast of IS'orth Somerset. " K the expedition had failed to penetrate to the we8t« ward between Banks' Land and Melville Island, it is very probable it would have next attempted to gain the con- tinent by a more southerly course; and supposing that, after making only small progress (say 100 miles) to the S. W., iv should have been then finaUy stopped or wrecked, the calamity will have occurred in about latitude 72^° N. and longitude 115° W. This point is only 280 miles from the Coppermine Biver, and 420 miles from the Mackenzie, either of which would, therefore, be easily attainable, and at each of which abundance of provision might be procured by them, and their return to England a measure of no great difficulty. ** At the point above mentioned, the distance from the west coast of North Somerset is probably about 360 miles, and the mouth of the Great Fish Biver fuU 500 ; at neither of these places could they hope to obtain a single day's provisions for so large a party ; and Sir John Franklin's OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 219 intipiate knowledge of the impoBsibility of ascending that riyer, or obtaining any food for his party in passing through the Barren grounds, would concur in deterring him from attempting to gain either of these points. " I think it most probable that, from the situation pointed out, he would, when compelled to abandon his ships, endeavour in the boats to retrace his steps, and passing through the channel by which he had advanced, and which we have always found of easy navigation, seek the whale ships which annually visit the west coast of Baffin's Bay. " It is far more probable, however, that Sir John Frank- lin, in obedience to his instructions, would endeavour to push the ships to the south and west as soon as they passed Gape Walker, and the consequence of such a measure, owing to the known prevalence of westerly wind, and the drift of the main body of the ice, would be (in my opinion) their inevitable embarrassment, and if he persevered in that direction, which he probably would do, I have no hesitation in stating my conviction he would never be able to extricate his ships, and would ultimately be obliged to abandon them. It is therefore in latitude 73° N. and longitude 105° W. that we may expect to find them involved in the ice, or shut up in some harbour. This is almost the only point in which it is likely they would be detained, or from which it would not be possible to convey information of their situation to the Hudson's Bay Settle- ments. "If, then, we suppose the crews of the ships should be compelled, either this autumn or next spring, to abandon their vessels at or near this point, they would most assuredly endeavour, in their boats, to reach Lancaster Sound ; but I cannot conceive any position in which they could be placed from which they would make for the Great Fish Biver, or at which any party descending that 220 PBOORBSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. river would be likely to overtake them ; and even if it did, of what advantage could it be to them P " If Dr. King and his party, in their single canoe, did fall in with Sir John Franklin and his party on the west coast of North Somerset, how does he propose to assist them P he would barely have sufScient provision for his own party, and would more probably be in a condition to require rather than afiford relief. He could only tell them what Sir John Franklin already knows, from former experiencoj far better than Dr. King, that it would be impossible for so large a party, or indeed any party not previously provided, to travel across the Barren grounds to any of the Hudson's Bay Settlements." " AU that has been done by the way of search since February, 1848, tends," persists Dr. King, "to draw attention closer and closer to the western land of North Somerset, as the position of Sir John Franklin, and to the Great Fish (or Back) Biver, as the high road to reach it." Dr. King has twice proposed to the Admiralty to proceed on the search by this route. " It would," he states, " be the happiest moment of my life (and my delight at being- selected from a long list of volunteers, for the relief of Sir John Boss, was very great) if their lordships would allow me to go by my old route, the Great Fish Biver, to attempt to save human life a second time on the shores of the Polar Sea. What I did in search of Sir John Boss is the best earnest of what I could do in search of Sir John Franklin." A meeting of those officers and gentlemen most con> versant with Arctic voyages was convened by tiie Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the 17th of January, 1840, at which the following were present :— Bear- Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, K.C.B., Captain Sir W. E. Parry, B.N., Captain Sir George Back, B^., Captab Sir B. \ OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 221 n if it oe, did ie west > assist for his ition to 11 them former ould be rty not )undB to oh since bo draw >f North id to the to reach proceed [tea, " be at beiD(^' [relief of 18 would iver, to le shores ir John learch of lost con* ^e Lords Fanuary, [Admiral 1. Parry, SirB. Belcher, B.N., Colonel Sabine, TL.A.., and the Bev. Dr. Scoresbj. A yery pretty painting, containing portraits of all the principal Arctic voyagers in consultation on these momen- tous matters, has been made by Mr. Pearse, artist, of 53, Bemers Street, Oxford Street, which is well worthy of a visit. The beautiful Arctic Panorama of Mr. Burford, in Leicester Square, will also give a graphic idea of the scenery and appearance of the icy regions ; the whole being designed from authentic sketches by Lieut. Browne, now of the JResoluiet and who was out in the Enterprise in her trip in 1848, and also with Sir James Boss in his Antarctic voyage. The expedition imder Sir James Boss having returned unsuccessful, other measures of relief were now deter- mined on, and the opinions of the leading officers again taken. Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, in his report to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, on November 24, 1849, observes : — " There are four ways only in which it is likely that the Erebus and Terror would have been lost — ^by fire, by sunken rocks, by storm, or by being crushed between two fields of ice. Both vessels would scarcely have taken fire together ; if one of them had struck on a rock, the other would have avoided the danger. Storms in those narrow BOBS, encumbered with ice, raise no swell, and could pro- dace no such disaster ; and, therefore, by the fourth cause alone could the two vessels have been at once destroyed ; and even in ihAt case the crews would have escaped upon the ice (as happens every year to the whalers) ; they would have saved their loose boats, and reached some part of the American shores. As no traces of any such eyent have been found on any part of those shores, it may therefore be safely affirmed that one ship at least, and / 222 PBOOBESS OF ABOTIO DISCOVERf. both the crews, are still in existence ; and therefore the point where they now are is the great matter for con- sideration. " Their orders wonld have carried them towards Mel- ville Island, and then out to the westward, where it ig therefore probable that they are entangled amongst islands and ice. For should they have been arrested at some intermediate place, for instance. Cape Walker, or at one of the northern chain of islands, they would imdoubtedly, in the course of the three following years, have contrived some method of sending notices of their position to the shores of North Somerset or to Barrow's Strait. " If they had reached much to the southward of Banks' Land, they would surely have conmiunicated with the tribes on Mackenzie Biver : and if, failing to get to the westward or southward, they had returned with the inten- tion of penetrating through Wellington Channel, they would have detached parties on the ice towards Barrow'8 Strait, in order to have deposited statements of their intentions. " The general conclusion, therefore, remains, that they are still locked up in the Archipelago to the westward of Melville Island. Now, it is well known that the state of the weather alternates between the opposite sides of Northern America, being mild on the one when rigoroui on the other ; and accordingly, during the two last years, which have been unusually severe in BaMn's Bay, the United States whalers were successfully traversing the Polar Sea to the northward of Behring's Straits. The same severe weather may possibly prevail on the eastern side during the summer of 1860, and if so, it it obvious that an attempt should be now made by the western opening, and not merely to receive the two ships, if they should be met coming out (as formerly), but to advance in the direction of Melville Island, resolutely entering the OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 223 )foTe lihe for con- irdsMel* lere it is at islands at some ^r at one Loubtedly, contrived Lon to the of Banks' with the get to the itheinton- iimel} th^ t Barrow's of their , that they restward of ;lie state of sides of m, rigorous last years, [s Bay, the ersing the lits. The Lo eastern ii obviotiB le western jips, if they advance in Ltering refore every effort should be now made to despatch - ^ from England before Christ- mas. They might water at the Falkland Islands, and again at the Sandwich Islands, where they would be ready to receive additional instructions vid Panama, by one of the Pacific steamers, and by which vessel they might be pushed on some little distance to the northward. " It seems to me likely that the ships have been pushing on, summer after sununer, in the direction of Behring's Strait, and are detained somewhere in the space south- westward of Banks' Land. On the other hand, should they, after the first or second summer, have been unsuc- cessful in that direction, they may have attempted to proceed to the northward, either throagh WeUington Channel, or through some other of the openings among the same group of islands. I do not myself attach any superior importance to Wellington Channel as regards the north-west passage, but I understand that Sir John Franklin did, and that he strongly expressed to Lord Haddington his intention of attempting that route, if he ihould fail in effecting the more direct passage to the westward. 224 PBOQSESS OF ABOnC BISCOVEBT. (( The ships having been fully yiotualled for three years, the resources may, by due precautions, have been extended to four years for the whole crews ; but it has occurred to me, since I had the honour of conferring with their lordships, that, if their numbers have been gradually diminished to any considerable extent by death (a con- tingency which is but too probable, considering their unparalleled detention in the ice), the resources would be proportionably extended for the survivors, whom it might, therefore, be found expedient to transfer to one of the ships, with all the remaining stores, and with that one ship to continue the endeavour to push westward, or to return to the eastward, as circumstances might render expedient ; in that case, the necessity for quitting both the ships in the past summer might not improbably have been obviated. ** Under these circumstances, which, it must be admitted, amount to no more than mere conjecture, it seems to me expedient still to prosecute the search in both directions ; namely, by way of Behring's Strait (to which I look with the strongest hope), and also by that of Barrow's Strait. In the latter direction, it ought, I think, to be borne in mind, that the more than usual difficulties with which Sir James Boss had to contend have, in reality, left us with very little more information than before Jie left England, and I cannot contemplate, without serious apprehension, leaving that opening without still further search in the ensuing spring, in case of the missing crews having fallen back to the eastern coast of North Somerset, where they would naturally look for supplies to be deposited for them, in addition to the chance of finding some of those left by the Fwy. For the purpose of further pursuing the search by way of Barrow's Strait, perhaps two small vessels of 160 or 200 tons might suffice, but they must be square rigged for the navigation among the ice. Of course the OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 225 upr their rould be itmiglit, le of the that one urd, or to it render ting both ably have objeQ;t of such vessels would be nearly that which Sir James Boss's endeavours have failed to accomplish ; and the provisions, &c., left by that officer at Whaler Point, as well as any which may be deposited in that neighbour- hood by the North Star, would greatly add to the resources, facilitate the operations, and lessen the risk of any attempt made in that direction. " If, however, there be time to get ships to Behring's Strait by the first week in August, 1850, which would perhaps require the aid of steam-vessels to accomplish with any degree of certainty, I recommend that the Enterprise and Investigator be forthwith equipped and despatched there, with instructions to push through the ice to the E.N.E. as far as possible in the ensuing season, with the hope of meeting with at least one of the ships, or any of the parties which may have been detached from them. This attempt has never yet been made by any ships, and I cling very strongly to the belief that such an efifort might be attended with success m rescuing at least a portion of our people. « My reason for urging this upon their Lordships is, that the admirable instructions under which the Plover, assisted by the Herald, is acting, embraces only the search of the coast line eastward from Icy Cape; since the boats and baidars cannot effect anything except by creep- ing along, as opportunities offer, between the ice and the land, so that this plan of operations meets only the con- tingency of parties reaching, or nearly reaching, the land; whereas the chance of rescue would, as it appears to me, be immensely increased by ships pushing on, clear of the coast, towards Banks' Land and Melville Island, as far at least as might be practicable in the best five or six weeks ofthe season of 1860." Captain Parry says — " Although this is the first attempt ever made to enter the ice in this direction, with ships 226 PROGBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. properly equipped for the purpose, there is no reason to anticipate any greater difficulties in this navif^ation than those encountered in other parts of the North Polar Sea; and, even in the event of not succeeding in reaching Banks' Land in the summer of the present year, it may be pos- sible to make such progress as to afford a reasonable hope of effecting that object in the following season (1851). Indeed it is possible that, from the well-known fact of the climate being more temperate in a given parallel of lati- tude, in going westward from the Mackenzie Biver, some comparative advantage may be derived in the navigation of this part of the Polar Sea. " It is of importance to the security of the ships and of their crews that they should winter in some harbour or bay not at a distance from land, where the ice might be in motion during the winter ; and it will be desirable, should no land be discovered fit for this purpose, in the space at present unexplored between Point Barrow and Banks' Land, that endeavours should be made to reach the conti- nent about the mouth of the Mackenzie Biver, or further eastward, towards Liverpool Bay, where there is reason to suppose sufficient shelter may be found, and in which neighbourhood, it appears, there is generally no ice to be seen from the shore for about six weeks in the months of August and September. Sir John Franklin's Narrative of his Second Journey, that of Messrs. Dease and Simpson, and the Admiralty Charts, will furnish the requisite hydro- graphical information relative to this line of coast, so far as it has been attained. " The utmost economy should be exercised in the use of provisions and fuel during the time the ships are in winter quarters ; and if they should winter on or near the conti- nent, there would probably be an opportunity of increasing their stock of provisions by means of game or fish, and likewise of fuel, by drift or other wood, to some consider- able amount. OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 227 reason to ktion tlian •olar Sea; ng Banks' ay be pos^ lable hope on (1851). fact of the llel of lati. iver, some iliips and of harbour or might be in able, should the space at and Banks' h. the conti- f, or further I is reason to td in which no ice to he e months of Narrative of ttd Simpson, lisite hydro- coast, so far in the use of ire in winter the conti" ►f increasing or fish, and te consider* " Prince Ee* covery from jrse easterly, in into three m men. Let the way, fol- the third at e pioneers, at rks to denote r of the other fall into their ;achment8,let [brwarded by left at Ches- ich such an |ished by the le forwarded jk,intheca»e detachments, »ns, and upon ,d to form plans for uniting with the central party, and ascertaining the results already obtained by each by sending parties in that direction. Also, let a chosen number be sent out from each detachment as exploring parties, wherever deemed requisite ; and let no effort be wanted to make a search in every direction where there is a possibility of its proving successful. " If a public and more extensive expedition be set on foot, I woidd most respectfully draw attention to the fol- lowing suggestions : — ^Let a Land Expedition be formed upon a similar plan, and with the same number of men, say 300 or more, as those fitted out for sea. Let this ex- pedition be formed into three great divisions: the one proceeding by the Athabasca to the Great Slave Lake, and following out Captain Back's discoveries ; the second, through the Churchill district ; or, with the third, accord- ing to the plan laid out for a private expedition alone ; only keeping the whole of their forces as much as possible bearing upon the points where success may be most likely attainable. " Each of these three great divisions to be subdivided and arranged also as in the former case. The expense ot an expedition of this kind, with all the necessary outlay for provisions, &c., !^ do not think would be more than half what the same would cost if sent by sea ; but of this I am not a competent judge, having no definite means to make a comparison. But there is yet another, and, I cannot help conceiving, a more easy way of obviating all difficulty on this point, and of reducing the expense con- siderably. " It must be evident that the present position of the Arctic voyagers is not very accessible, either by land or Bea, else the distinguished leader at the head of the expe- dition would long ere this have tracked a route whereby the whole party, or at least some of them, could return. 240 PROOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. " In such a case, therefore, the only way to reach them is by, if I may use the expression, forcmg an expedition on towards them; I mean, by keeping it constantly upheld and pushing onward. There may be, and indeed there are, very great difficulties, and difficulties of such a nature that, I believe, they would themselves cause another great difficulty in the procuring of men. But, if I might make another bold suggestion, I would respectfully ask our government at home, why not employ picked men from convicted criminals, as is done in exploring expeditions in Australia P Inducements might be held out to them; and by proper care they would be made most serviceable auxiliaries. Generally speaking, men convicted of offences are men possessed of almost inexhaustible mental resources; and such men are the men who, with physical powers of endurance, are precisely those required. But this I speak of, merely, if sufficient free men could not be found, and if economy is studied." Mr. John McLean, who has been twenty-five years a partner and officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, and has published an interesting narrative of his adventures and experience, writing to Lady Franklin from Canada West, in January, 1850, suggests tiie following very excellent plan as likely to produce some intelligence, if not to lead to a discovery of the party. " Let a small schooner of some thirty or forty tons bur* den, built with a view to draw as little water as possible, and as strong as wood and iron could make her, be de* spatched from England in company with the Hudson's Bay ships. This vessel would, immediately on arriving at York Factory, proceed to the Strait termed Sir Thoman Boe's Welcome, which divides Southampton Island from the mainland ; then direct her course to Wager Eiver, and proceed onward imtil interrupted by insurmountable obstacles. The party being safely landed, I would recom* mend their remaining stationary until winter travelling OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 241 tell them spedition ly upheld ied there L a nature ^er great ght make f ask our men from editions in to them; serviceable of offences I resources; [ powers of ihis I speak >und) and if Lve years a ny, and has intures and aada West, cellentplan lead to a |;y tons bur- las possible, |her, be de- Hudson's arriving at ISir ThomM [sland from lager Biver, lountable [)uld recom* travelling became practicable, when they should set out for the shores of the Arctic Sea, which by a reference to Arrow- smith's map appears to be only some sixty or seventy miles distant ; then dividing in two parties or divisions, the one would proceed east, the other west; and I think means could be devised of exploring 250 or 300 miles in either direction; and here a very important question presents itself, — ^how and by what means is this enterprise to be accomplished? " In the first place, the services of Equimaux would be indispensable, for the twofold reason, that no reliable information can be obtained from the natives without their aid, and that they alone properly understand the art of preparing snow-houses, or * igloes,' for winter encamp- ment, the only lodging which the desolate wastes of the Arctic regions afford. Esquimaux understanding the Eng- lish language su£Qiciently well to answer our purpose, fre- quent the Hudson's Bay Company's post in Labrador, some of whom might be induced (I should fain hope) to engage for the expedition; or probably the ' half-breed' natives might do so more readily than the aborigines. They should, if possible, be strong, active men, and good marksmen, and not less than four in number. Failing in the attempt to procure the natives of Labrador, then I should think Esquimaux might be obtained at Churchill, in Hudson's Bay; the two who accompanied Sir John in his first land expedition were from this quarter." An expedition of this kind is to be sent out by Lady Frank- lin this spring under the charge of Mr. Kennedy. There are various ways of accomplishing this object, the choice of which must mainly dependon theviews and wishes of the officerwho may undertake *he command. Besides the northern route,; or that by Begent Lilet, it is possible to reach Sir Jamesi Soss and Simpson's Straits from the south, entering Hud- son's Bay, and passing up the Welcome to Bae Isthmus, 242 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. or again by entering Chesterfield or Wager Inlet, and gaining the coast bj Back's or the Great Fish Biver. By either of these routes a great part of the exploration must be made in boats or on foot. In every case the main points to be searched are James Boss's Strait and Simp- son's Strait, if indeed there be a passage in that direction, as laid down in Sir John Franklin's charts, though contra- dicted by Mr. Bae, and considered still doubtful by some Arctic navigators. The following extract from the Oeographical Journal shows the opinion of Franklin upon the search of this quarter. Dr. Bichardson says {Journal of Oeographical Society, vol. vi. p. 40), — "No better plan can be proposed than the one suggested by Sir John Franklin, of sending a vessel to Wager Biver, and carrying on the survey from thence in boats." Sir John Franklin observes {ibid. p. 43), — " The Doctor alludes in his letter to some propositions which he knew I had made in the year 1828, at the command of his present Majesly (William lY.) on the same subject, and particu- larly to the suggestion as to proceeding from Bepulse or Wager Bay. • * • A recent careful reading of all the narratives connected with the surveys of the Wager and Bepulse Bays, and of Sir Edward Parry's Voyage, together with the information obtained fr^m the Esquimaux by Sir Edward Parry, Sir John Boss, and Captain Back, confirm me in the opinion that a successfrd delineation of the coast •east of Point Tumagain to the Strait of the Fury and fiecla, would be best attained by an expedition proceeding ^m Wager Bay, the northern parts of which cannot, I think, be farther distant than forty miles from the sea, if | the information received by the above-mentioned officers can be depended on." Dr. McCormick particularly draws attention to Jones' i OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 243 [nlet, and iver. xploration e tbe main and Simp- b direction, igli contra- yX by some ^al Jonmal trcb of tliis ■eographical be proposed ,, of sending survey from ' The Boctor ph be Imew I )f bis present and particn- a Eep^lseor g of all the e "Wager and •age, together Limaax by Sir Jack, confirm In of the coast ae Fury and ►n proceeding ich cannot,! >intbe sea, if I ioned officers and Smith'H Sounds, recommending a careM examination of these to their probable termination in the Polar Sea : — " Jones' Sound, with the Wellington Channel on the west, may be found to form an island of the land called * North Devon.' All prominent positions on both sides of these Sounds should be searched for flag staves and piles of stones, under which copper cylinders or bottles may have been deposited, containing accounts of the proceed- ings of the missing expedition; and if successful in getting upon its track, a clue would be obtained to the fate of our gallant countrymen." The Wellington Channel he considers affords one of the best chances of crossing the track of the missing expedi- tion. To carry out this plan efficiently, he recommended that a boat should be dropped, by the ship conveying the search- ing party out, at the entrance to the Wellington Channel in Barrow's Strait ; from this point one or both sides of that channel and the northern shores of the Parry Islands might be explored as far west as the season would permit of. But should the ship be enabled to look into Jones' Sound, on her way to Lancaster Sound, and find that opening free from ice, an attempt might be made by the Boat Expedition to push through it into the Wellington Channel. In the event, however, of its proving to be merely an inlet, which a short delay would be sufficient to decide, the ship might perhaps be in readiness to pick up the boat on its return, for conveyance to its ultimate des- tmation through Lancaster Sound; or as a precp.ution against any imforeseen separation from the ship, a dep6t of provisions should be left at the entrance to Jones' Sound for the boat to complete its supplies from, after accom- plishing the exploration of this inlet, and to afford the means, if compelled from an advanced period of the season b2 244 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. or other adverse circumstances, of reaclimg some place of refuge, either on board a whaler or some one of the dep6t8 of provisions on the southern shores of Barrow's Strait. Mr. Penny, in charge of the Lad/y Franklinj before sailing, observed : — "If an early passage be obtained, I would examino Jones' Sound, as I have generally found in all my early voyages clear water at the mouth of that sound, and there is a probability that an earlier passage by this route might be found into Wellington Strait, which outlet ought by all means tobe thoroughly examined at the earliest opportunity, since, if Sir J. Franklin has taken that route, with the hope of finding a passage westward, to the north of the Parry and Melville Islands, he may be beyond the power of helping himself. No trace of the expedition, or practical communication with Wellington Strait, being obtained in this quarter, I would proceed in time to take advantage of the first opening of the ice in Lancaster Sound, with the view of proceeding to the west and entering Wellington Strait, or, if this should not be practicable, of proceeding farther westward to Cape Walker, and beyond, on one or other of which places Sir John Franklin will probably have left some notices of his course." The Government has seen the urgent necessity of causing the Wellington Channel to be carefully examined; imperative orders were sent to Sir James Soss to search it, but he was drifted out of Barrow's Strait against his will, before he received those orders by the North Star. I have already stated that Sir John Franklin's instructions directed him to try the first favourable opening to the south-west after passing Cape Walker ; and failing in that, to try the Wellington Channel. Every officer in the British service, as a matter of course, follows his instruc- tions, as far as they are compatible with the exigencied of the case, be it what it may, nor ever deviates from them OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 245 e place of bhe dep6t8 , Strait. liut before d examine I my early , and there >oute miglit •ught by all ipportunity, th the hope )f the Parry le power of or practical • obtained in advantage of id, with the ; Wellington f proceeding id, on one or •obablyhave withcut good and justifiable cause. If, then, Sir John Franklin failed in finding an opening to the south-west of Gape Walker, it is reasonable to suppose he obeyed his instructions, and tried the Wellington Channel. The second probabiUty in favour of this locality is, that Sir John Franklin expressed to many of his friends a favour- able opinion of the Wellington Channel, and, which is of far more consequence, intimated his opinion officially, and before the expedition was determined upon, that this strait seemed to ofier the best chance of success. Moreover, Capt. Fitzjames, his immediate second in command in the Erebust was strongly in favour of the Wellington Channel, and always so expressed himself.— See his letter, before quoted, to Sir John Barrow, p. 203. Who can doubt that the opinion of Capt. Fitzjames, a man of superior mind, beloved by all who knew him, and in the service '* the observed of all observers," would have great weight with Sir John Franklin, even if Sir John had not been himself predisposed to hsten to him. What adds confirmation to these views is, that in 1840, a few years prior to the starting of the expedition, Col. Sabine pub- lished the deeply interesting " Narrative of Baron Wran* gel's Expedition to the Polar Sea, undertaken between the years 1820 and 1823," and that in his preface the translator points to the Wellington Channel as the most likely course for the successful accomplishment of the north-west pas- sage. "Setting aside," he says, *'the possibility of the existence of unknown land, the probabiHty of an open sea existing to the north of the Parry Islands, and communi- cating with Behring Strait, appears to rest on strict analogical reasoning." And again he adds, "aU the attempts to efiect the north-west passage, since Barrow's Strait was first passed in 1819, have consisted in an endeavour to force a vessel by one route or another through this land- locked and ice-encumbered portion of the Polar Ocean." 24e PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. No examination lias made known what may be the state of the sea to the north of the Parry Islands ; whether similar impediments may there present themselves to navigation, or whether a sea may not there exist offering no difficulties whatever of the Idnd, as M. Yon Wrangel has shown to be the case to the north of the Siberian Islands, and as by strict analogy we should be justified in expecting. Colonel Sabine is an officer of great scientific experience, and from having made several Polar voyages, he has devoted great attention to all that relates to that quarter. He was in constant communication with Sir John Frank- lin when the expedition was fitting out, and it is but reasonable to suppose that he would be somewhat guided by his opinion. We have then the opinions of Franklin himself, Colonel Sabine, and Captain Fitzjames, all bearing on this point, and we must remember that Parry, who discovered and named this channel, saw nothing when passing and re- passing it, but a clear open sea to the northward. - Lieut. S. Osbom, in a paper dated the 4th of January, 1850, makes the following suggestions : — ** General opinion places the lost expedition to the west of Cape Walker, and south of the latitude of Melville Island. The distance from Cape Bathurst to Banks' Land is only 301 miles, and on reference to a chart it will be seen that nowhere else does the American continent approach so near to the supposed position of Franklin's expedition. "Banks' Land bears from Cape Bathurst N. 41° 49' E. 302 miles, aiid there is reason to believe that in the summer season a portion of this distance may be tra- versed in boats. * " Dr. Kichardson confirms previous reports of the ice being light on the coast east of the Mackenzie Eiver to PUBLIC AND PRIVATE KEWABDS OFFEBED. 247 Cape BathuTst, and informs ns that the Esqiumaux had seen * no ice to seaward for two moons.' " Every mile traversed northward by a pariy from Cape Bathurst -^^ ild be over that unknown space in which traces of Franklin may be expected. It is advisable that such a second party be despatched from Cape Bathurst, in order that the prosecution of Dr. Bae's examination of the sup- posed channel between WoUaston and Victoria Lands may in no way be interfered with, by his attention being called to the westward." In March, 1848, the Admiralty announced their intention of rewarding the crews of any whaling ships that brought accurate information of the missing eicpedition, with the sum of 100 guineas or more, according to circumstances. Lady Franklin also about the same time offered rewards of 2000/. and 3000/., to be distributed among the owner, officers, and crew discovering and affording relief to her hnsband, or making extraordinary exertions for the above object, and, if required, bringing Sir John Franklin and his party to England. In March, 1850, the following further rewards were offered by the British Government to persons of any country: — 1st. To any party or person who, in the judgment of the Board of Admiralty, shall discover and effectually relieve the crews of H.M. ships Erebus and Terror, the sum of 20,000/., or, 2nd. To any party, or parties, &c., who shall discover and effectually relieve any portion of the crews, or shall convey such intelligence as shall lead to the relief of any of the crew, the sum of 10,000/. 3rd. To any party or parties who shall by virtue of his or their efforts, first succeed in ascertaining their fate, 10,000/. In a despatch from Sir George Simpson to Mr. Eae, dated LachiuA; the 21st of January, 1850, he says :— 248 PBOORESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. (( If thej be still alive, I feel satisfied that every effort it may be in the power of man to make to succour them will be exerted by yourself and the Company's ofiBcers in Mackenzie Kiver ; but should your late search have unfor- tunately ended in disappointment, it is the desire of the Company that you renew your explorations next summer, if possible. " By the annexed correspondence you will observe that the opinion in England appears to be that our explorations ought to be more particularly directed to that portion of the Northern Sea lying between Cape Walker on the east, Melville Island and Banks' Land to the north, and the continental shore or the Victoria Islands to the south. " As these limits are believed to embrace the courst. that would have been pursued by Sir John Franklic, Cape Walker being one of the points he was particularly instructed to make for, you will therefore be pleased, immediately on the receipt of this letter, to fit out another exploring party to proceed in the direction above indicated, but varying the route that may have beCii followed last summer, which party, besides their own examination of the c ast and islands, should be instructed to offer liberal rewards to the Esquimaux to search for some vestiges of the missing expedition, and similar rewards should he offered to the Indians inhabiting near the coast and Feel's Kiver, and the half-bred hunters of Mackenzie Biver, the latter being, perhaps, more energetic than the former; assuring them that whoever may procure authentic intel- ligence will be largely rewarded. " Simultaneously with the expedition to proceed towards Cape Walker, one or two small parties should be despatched to the westward of the Mackenzie, in the direction of Point Barrow, one of which might pass jver to the Youcon Biver, and descending that stream to the eea, carry on •their explorations in that quarter, while the other going OPINIONS AND suggestions: 249 down, the Mackenzie miglit trace the coast thence towards the Youcon. And these parties must also be instructed to offer rewards to the natives to prosecute the search in all directions. " By these means there is reason to believe that in the course of one year so minute a search may be made of the coast and the islands, that in the event of the expedition having pcir^ed in that direction, some trace of their pro- grass would certainly be discovered. " From your experience in Arctic discovery, and peculiar qualifications for such an undertaking, I am in hopes you maybe ei\abled yourself to assume the command of the party to proceed to the northward ; and, as leaders of the two parties to explore the coast to the westward of the Macken- zie, you will have to select such officers of the Company's service within the district as may appear best qualified for the duty : Mr. Murray, I think, would be a very fit man fQr one of the leaders, and if one party be sent by way of the Youcon, he might take charge of it. In the event of your going on this expedition, you will be pleased to make over the charge of the district to Chief Trader Bell during your absence. " In case you may be short-handed, I have by this con- veyance instructed Chief Factor Ballenden to engage in Red River ten choice men, accustomed to boating, and well fitted for such a duty as will be required of them ; and if there be a chance of their reaching Mackenzie Biver, or even Athabasca, before the breaking up of the ice, to forward them immediately. " Should the season, however, be too far advanced to enable them to aocomplit!ih the journey by winter traTel- ling, Mr. Ballenden is alreoted to increase the party to fourteen men, with a guide to be despatched fron\ Bed Biver immediately after the opening of the navigation, in two boats, laden with provisions and flour, and a few II I 250 PBOGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. bales of clothing, in order to meet, in some degree, the heavy drain that will be occasioned on our resources in provisions and necessary supplies in Mackenzie Biver. The leader of this party from Eed River may, perhaps, be qualified to act as the conductor of one of the parties to examine the coast to the westward." On the 5th of February, 1850, another consultation took place at the Admiralty among those officers most ex- perienced in these matters, and their opinions in writing were solicited. It is important, therefore, to submit these as fully as possible to the consideration of the reader. The first is the report of the hydrographer of the Admiralty, dated the 29th of January, 1850 : — ** Memorandum hy Rear- Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, K,C.B. "The Behring's Strait expedition being at length fairly ofif, it appears to me to be a duty to submit to their Lordships that no time should now be lost in equipping another set of vessels to renew the search on the opposite side, through Baffin's Bay; and this being the fifth year that the Erehus and Terror have been absent, and pro- bably reduced to only casual sapphes of food and fuel, it may be assumed that this search should be so complete and effectual as to leave unexamined no place in which, by any of the suppositions that have been put forward, it is at all likely they may be found. " Sir John Franklin is not a man to treat his orders with levity, and therefore his first attempt was undoubt- edly made in the direction of Melville Island, and not to the westward. If foiled in that attempt, he naturally hauled to the southward, and using Banks' Land as a barrier against the northern ice, he would try to make westing under its lee. Thirdly, if both of these roads were found closed against his advance, he perhaps availed OFFICIAL REPORT OF ADMIRAL BEAUFORT. 25t sultatiou most ex- 1 writing Qttit these ader. )T of the it length it to their equipping e opposite fifth year and pro- id fuel, it complete which, by word, it is HI himself of one of the four passages between the Parry Islands, including the Wellingii*9n Chanael. Or, lastly, he may have returned to Baffin's Bay, and taken the inviting opening of Jones' Sound. " All those four tracks must therefore be diligently ex- amined before the search can be called complete, and the only method of rendering that examination prompt and efficient will be through the medium of steam ; while only useless expense and reiterated disappointment will attend the best efforts of sailing vessels, leaving the lingering survivors of the lost ships, as well as their relatives in England, in equal despair. Had Sir James Boss been in a steam vessel, he would not have been surrounded by ice and swept out of the Strait, but by shooting under the protection of Leopold Island, he would have waited there till that fatal field had pa:jsed to the eastward, and he then would have found a perfectly open sea up to Melville Island. "The best application of steam to ice-going vessels would be Ericson's screw ; but the screw or paddles of any of our moderate-sized vessels might be made to elevate with faciUty. Vessels so fitted would not require to be fortific i in an extraordinary degree, not more than common whale v^. From the log-like quiescence with which a sailing vesbf^l must await the crush of two approaching floes, they must be as strong as wood and iron can make them ; but the steamer slips out of the reach of the collision, waits till the shock is past, and then profiting by their mutual recoil, iarts at once through the transient opening. " Two such vessels, and each of them attended by two tenders laden with coals and provisions, would be sufficient for the maia lines of search. Every prominent point of laud where notices might have been lefb would be visited, details of their own proceedings would be deposited, and each of the tenders would be left in proper positions as points of rendezvous on which to fall back. :m<^ 252 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. " Besides these two brancbes of tbe expeditioTi. it would be well to allow tbe whaling captain (Fenny) to carry out his proposed undertaking. His local knowledge, his thorough acquaintance with all the mysteries of the ice navigation, and his weU-known skill and resources, seem to point him out as a most valuable auxiliary. " But whatever vessels may be chosen for this service, I would beseech their lordships to expedite them ; all our attempts have been deferred too long ; and there is now reason to believe that very early in the season, in May or even in April, Baffin's Bay may be crossed before the accu- mulated ice of winter spreads over its surface. If they arrive rather too soon, they may very advantageously await the proper moment in some of the Greenland har- bours, preparing themselves for the coming efibris and struggles, and procuring Esquimaux interpreters. " In order to press every resource into the service of this noble enterprise, the vessels shoUd be extensively furnished with means for blasting and splitting the ice ; perhaps circular saws might be adapted to the steamers, a launch to each party, with a small rotary engine, sledges for the shore, and light boats with sledge bearings for broken ice fields ; balloons for the distribution of adver- tisements, and kites for the explosion of lofby fire-balla. And, lastly, they should have vigorous and numerous crews, so that when detachments are away, other opera- tions should not be intermitted for want of physical strength. " As the council of the Eoyal Society, some time ago, thought proper to remind their lordships of the propriety of instituting this search, it would be fair now to call on that learned body for all the advice and suggestions that science and philosophy can contribute towards tl^e accom* plishment of the great object on which the eyes of all England, and indeed of all the world, are now entirely fixed." OPINIONS OP ARCTIC VOYAGERS. 253 \ service, l; all out sre is now n May or the accu- . If they itageously oland har- iffori'S and rs. service of jxtenaively ag the ice ; iteamers, a te, sledges tarings for In of adver- fire-halls. numerous ;her opera* ,f physical Captain Beechey, writing to the Secretary of the Admi- ralty, 7th of February, 1850, says : — " The urgent nature of the case alone can justify the use of ordinary steamers in an icy sea, and great prudence and judgment will be required on the part of their com- . manders, to avoid being disabled by collision and pressure. " I would also add, as an exception, that I think Leopold Island and Cape Walker, if possible, should both be exa- mined prior to any attempt being made to penetrate in other directions from Barrow's Strait, and that the bottom of Eegent Inlet, about the Pelly Islands, should not be left unexamined. In the memorandum submitted to their lordships on 17th January, 1849, this quarter was con- sidered of importance ; and I am stiU of opinion, that, had Sir John Franklin abandoned his vessels near the coast of America, and much short of the Mackenzie Eiver, he would have preferred the probability of retaining the use of his boats until he found relief in Barrow's Strait, to risking an overland journey vid the before-mentioned river; it must be remembered, that at the time ho sailed, Sir George Back's discovery had rendered it very probable that Boothia was an island, " An objection to the necessity of this search seems to be, that had Sir John Franklin taken that route, he would have reached Fury Beach already. However, I cannot but think there will yet be found some good grounds for the Esquimaux sketch, and that their meaning has been misunderstood ; and as Mr. M'Cormick is an eiiterprising person, whose name has already been before their lord- ships, I would submit whetiier a boat expedition from Leopold Dep6t, under his direction, would not satisfac- torily set at rest all inquiry upoii this, now the only quarter unprovided for." Captain Sir W. E. Parry states: — " I am decidedly of opimon that the main search should fiHi ^54: PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. be renewed in the direction of Melville Island and Banks' Land, including as a part of the plan the thorough exami* nation of Wellington Strait and of the other similar open- ings between the islands of the group bearing my name. I entertain a growing conviction of the probability of the missing ships, or at least a considerable portion of the crews, being shut up at Melville Island, Banks' Land, or in that m iglibourhood, agreeing as I do with Rear- Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, in his report read yesterday to the Board, tiat * Sir John Franklin is not a man to treat his . omors with levity,' which he would be justly chargeable with ioiii^ if he attached greater weight to any notions .'lO initi'i^ personally entertain than to the Admiralty inatruotiOJiS, which he well knew to he founded on the experience of former attempts, and on the best information which could then be obtained on the subject. For these reasons I can scarcely doubt that he would employ at least two seasons, those of 1845 and 1846, in an unremitting attempt to penetrate directly westward or south-westward towards Behring's Strait. " Supposing this conjecture to be correct, nothing can be more likely than tiiat Sir John Franklin's ships, having penetrated in seari^ns of ordinary temperature a corsidei- able distance v. that direction, have been locked up by successive seasons of extraordinary rigour, thus baffling the efforts ol their weakened i rcwB to escape from the ice in cKlier of the two directions by Behriu^/s or Barrow's Straits. *' And here I cannot but add, that my own conviction of this probability— for it is only with probabiHties that we have to deal — has been greatly strengthened by a letter I hav^ lately received from Colonel Sabine, of the Eoyal Artillery, of which I had the honour to submit a 3opy to Sir Francis Baring. Colonel Sabine having accompanied two successive expeditions to Baffin's Bay, including that OPINIONS OP ARCTIC VOYAGERS. 255 d Banks' [h exami- ilar open- oay name. ity of the Dii of tlie ' Land, or r-Adrairal Jay to the 3 treat Ms cjliargeable ay notions Admiralty led on the uformation For these >loy at least mremitting li-westward undei* my command whicli readied Melville Island, I con- sider his views to be well worthy of their lordships' atten- tion on this part of the subject. " It must be admitted, however, that considerable weight is due to the conjecture which has been offered by persons capable of forming a sound judgment, that having failed, as I did, in the attempt to penetrate westward, Sir John Franklin might deem it prudent to retrace his steps, and \ras enabled to do so, in order to try a more northern route, either through Wellington Strait or some other ot those openings between the Parry Islands to which I have already referred. And this idea receives no small import- ance from the fact (said to be beyond a doubt) of Sir John Franklin having before his departure expressed such an intention in case of failing to the westward. " I cannot, therefore, consider the intended search to be complete without making the examination of Welling- ton Strait and its adjacent openings a distinct part of the plan, to be performed by one portion of the vessels which I shall presently propose for the main expedition. " Much stress has likewise been laid, and I think not altogether without reason, on the propriety of searching Jones' and Smith's Sounds in the north-western part of Baffin's Bay. Considerable interest has lately been attached to Jones' Sound, from the fact of its having been recently navigated by at least one enterprising whaler, and found to be of great width, free from ice, with a swell from the westward, and having no land visible from the mast-head in that direction. It seems more than probable, therefore, that it may be found to communicate with Wel- lington Strait ; so that if Sir John Franklin's ships havo been detained anynrhete to the northward of the Parry Islands, it would be by Jones' Sound that he would pro- bably endeavour to effect his escape, rather than by the Je«8 direct route of Barrow's Strait. I do not myself 256 PAOOBESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Attach much importance to the idea of Sir John Franklin having so far retraced his steps as to come back through Lancaster Sound, and recommence his enterprise by enter- ing Jones' Sound ; but the possibihty of his attempting his escape through this fine opening, and the report (though somewhat vague) of a cairn of stones seen by one of th^ whalers on a headland within it, seems to me to render it highly expedient to set this question at rest by a search in this direction, including the examination of Smith's Sound also." I beg to cite next an extract from the letter of Dr. Sir John Hichardson to the Secretary of the Admiralty : — ** Haslar Hospital, Gosport, 7th ofFehruary, 1850. " With respect to the direction in which a successful search may be predicated with the most confidence, very various opinions have been put forth j some have supposed either that the ships were lost before reaching Lancaster Sound, or that Sir John Franklin, finding an impassable barrier of ice in the entrance of Lancaster Sound, may have sought for a passage through Jones' Sound. I do not feel inclined to give much weight to either coi^jecture. When we consider the strength <^ the Erebus and Terrw, calculated to resist the strongest pressure to which ships navigating Baffin's Bay have been known to be subject, in conjunction with the fact that, of the many whalers which have been crushed or abandoned since the commencement of the fishery, the crews, or at least the greater part of them, have, in almost every case^ succeeded in reaching other ships, or the Danish settlements, we cannot believe that the two discovery ships, which were seen on the edge of the middle ice so early as the 26th of July, can have been so suddenly und totally overwhelmed as to preclude some one of the intelligent officers, whose minds were pre* OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 257 pared, for every emergency, with their select crews of men, experienced in the ice, from placing a boat on the ice or water, and thus carrying intelligence of the disaster to one of the many whalers which remained for two months after that date in those seas, and this in the absence of any imusual catastrophe among the fishing vessels that season. " With respect to Jones' Sound, it is admitted by all who are intimately acquainted with Sir John Franklin, that his first endeavour would be to act up to the letter of his instructions, and that therefore he would not lightly abandon the attempt to pass Lancaster Sound. From the logs of the whalers year after year, we learn ths.t when once they have succeeded in rounding the middle ice, they enter Lancaster Sound with facility: had Sir John Franklin, then, gained that Sound, and from the premises we appear to be fully justified in concluding that he did so, and had he afterwards encountered a compact field of ice, barring Barrow's Strait and Wellington Sound, he would then, after being convinced that he would lose the season in attempting to bore through it, have borne up for Jones' Sound, but not until he had erected a conspicuous landmark, and lodged a memorandum of his reason for deviating from his instructions. " The absence of such a signal-post in Lancaster Sound is an argument against the expedition having turned back from thence, and is, on the other hand, a strong support to the supposition that Barrow's Strait was as open in 1845 as when Sir W. E. Parry first passed it in 1819 ; that, such being the case. Sir John Franklin, without delay and without landing, pushed on to Cape Walker, and that, subsequently, in endeavouring to penetrate to the south- west, he became involved in the drift ice, which, there is reason to believe, urged by the prevailing winds and the set of the flood tides, is carried towards Coronation Gulf, 258 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. througli channels more or less intricate. Should he have found no opening at Cape Walker, he would, of course, have sought one further to the west; or, finding the southerly and westerly opening blocked by ice, he might have tried a northern passage. " In either case, the plan of search propounded by Sir Francis Beaufort seems to provide against every contin- gency, especially when taken in conjunction with Captain CoUinson's expedition, viA Behring's Strait, and the boat pai^ties from the Mackenzie. " I do not venture to oflfer an opinion on the strength or equipment of the vessels to be employed, or other merely nautical questions, further than by remarking, that the use of the small vessels, which forms part of Sir Prancis Beaufort's scheme, is supported by the success of the early navigators with their very small crafb, and the late gallant exploit of Mr. Shedden, in rounding Icy Cape and Point Barrow, in the Nartc^/ Dawson yacht. " And further, with respect to the comparative merits of the paddles and screw in the Arctic seas, I beg leave merely to observe, that as long as the screw is immersed in water it will continue to act, irrespective of the tempe- rature of the air ; but when, as occurs late in the autumn, the atmosphere is suddenly cooled below the freezing point of sea water, by a northerly gale, while the sea itself remains warmer, the paddles will be speedily clogged by ice accumulating on the floats as they rise through the air in every revolution. An incident recorded by Sir James C. Eoss furnishes a striking illustration of the powerful action of a cold wind ; I allude to a fish having been thrown up by the spray against the bows of the TerroTy and firmly frozen there, during a gale in a high southerly latitude. Moreover, even with the aid of a ready contrivance for topping the paddles, the flatness or hoUowness of the sides of a paddle steamer renders her OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 259 heliave ' course, ling tlie le miglit d by Sir J contin- L Captain the boat trengthor er merely , that tbe iir Francis 388 of tlie ad the late J Cape and iive merits ; beg leave inimersed the tempe- le autumn, freezing lie the sea ily clogged hrough the ed by Sir ion of the ih having »w8 of the in a high aid of a flatness or 'enders hei less fit for sustaining pressure ; the machinery is more in the way of oblique beams for strengthening, and she is less efficient as a sailing vessel when the steam is let off." Memorandum enclosed in Dr. M^Cormich^s Letter of the \st of January f 1850. " In the month of April last, I laid before my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty a plan of search foi ' e missing expedition under the command of Captaii jir John Franklin, by means of a boat expedition up Jones' and Smith's Sounds, volunteering myself to conduct it. " In that plan I stated the reasons which had induced me to direct my attention more especially to the openings at the head of Baffin's Bay, which at the time were not included within the general scheme of search. " Wellington Channel, however, of all the probable open- ings into the Polar Sea, possesses the highest degree of in- terest, and the exploration of it is of such paramount import- ance, that I should most unquestionably have comprised it within my plan of search, had not Her Majesty's ships Enterprise and Investigtor been employed at the time in Barrow's Strait for the express purpose of examining this inlet and Cape Walker, two of the most essential points of search in the whole track of the JErebus and Terror to the westward; being those points at the very threshold of his enterprise, from which Sir John Franklin would take his departure from the known to the unknown, whether he shaped a south-westerly course from the latter, or attempted the passage in a higher latitude from the former point. " The return of the sea expedition from Port Leopold, and the overland one from the Mackenzie Eiver, both aUke unsuccessful in their search, leaves the fate of the gallant Franklin and his companions as problematical as ever; in fact, the case stands precisely as it did two years 82 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I^B^ 1^ 1 1.1 l.-^isa V PhotogFaiJiic Sciences (Jorporation as WIST MAIN WliSTIR.N.V. STRUT 14SM (71«) •71-4S03 ;\ 260 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. ago ; the work is yet to be begun ; everything remains to be accomplished. ** In renewal of the search in the ensuing sprmg, more would be accomplished in boats than in any other way, not only by Behring's Strait, but from the eastward. For the difficulties attendant on icy navigation, which form so insuperable a barrier to the progress of ships, would be readily surmoimted by boats; by means of which the coast line may be closely examined for cairns of stones, under which Sir John Franklin would most indu- bitably deposit memorials of his progress in all prominent positions, as opportunities might offer. " The discovery of one of these mementos would, in all probability, afford a clue that might lead to the rescue of our enterprising countrymen, ere another and sixth winter close in upon them, should they be still in existence ; and the time has not yet arrived for abandoning hope. " In renewing once more the offer of my services, which I do most cheerfully, I see no reason for changing the opinions I entertained last spring; subsequent events have only tended to confirm them. I then believed, and I do so still, after a long and mature consideration of the subject, that Sir John Franklin's ships have been arrested in a high latitude, and beset in the heavy polar ice north* ward of the Parry Islands, and that their probable course thither has been through the Wellington Channel, or one of the Sounds at the northern extremity of Baffin's Bay. " This appears to me to be the only view of the case that can in any way account for the entire absence of all tidings of them throughout so protracted a period of time (unless all have perished by some sudden and overwhelm- ing catastrophe). *' Isolated as their position would be under such cir- cumstances, any attempt to reach the continent of America at such a distance would be hopeless in the OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 261 ;mams to ing, more ther way, eastward, on, wliichi J of ships, means of >r cairns of nost indu- promuient I would, in ► the rescue r and sixth n existence; n^ hope. ices, which AUging the jent events lelieved, and -ation of the |een arrested ice north- Ibable course mnel, or one |BaflRn's Bay. of the case Absence of all iriod of time overwheb> extreme: and the mere chance of any party from the ships reaching the top of Baffin's Bay at the very moment of a whaler's brief and uncertain visit would be attended with by far too great a risk to justify the attempt, for failure would ensure inevitable destruction to the whole party ; therefore their only alternative would be to keep together in their ships, should no disaster have happened to them, and by husbanding their remaining resources, eke them out with whatever wild animals may come within their reach. " Had Sir John Franklin been able to shape a south- westerly course from Cape Walker, as directed by his instructions, the probability is, some intelligence of him would have reached this country ere this (nearly five years having already elapsed since his departure from it). Parties would have been sent out from his ships, either in the direction of the coast of America or Barrow's Strait, whichever happened to be the most accessible. Esquimaux would have been fallen in with, and tidings of the long-absent expedition have been obtained. " Failing in penetrating beyond Cape Walker, Sir John Franklin would have left some notice of his future inten- tions on that spot, or the nearest accessible one to it ; and should he then retrace his course for the Wellington Channel, the most probable conjecture, he would not pass up that inlet without depositing a further account of his proceedings, either on the western or eastern point of the entrance to it. " Therefore, should my proposal meet with their Lord- ships' approbation, I would most respectfully submit, that the party I have volunteered to conduct should be landed at ^e entrance to the Wellington Channel, or the nearest point attainable by any ship that their Lordships may deem fit to employ in a future search, consistently with any other services that ship may have to perform ; and 262 PROORESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. should a landing be effected on tlie eastern side, I would propose commencing the search from Cape Siley or Beechej Island in a northerly direction, carefully ex- amining every remarkable headland and indentation of the western coast of North Devon for memorials of the missing expedition ; I would then cross over the Welling- ton Channel, and continue the search along the northern shore of Comwtdlis Island, extending the exploration to the westward as far as the remaining portion of the season would permit, so as to secure the retreat of the party before the winter set in, returning either by the eastern or western side of ComwaUis Island, as circumstances might indicate to be the most desirable at the time, after ascertaining the general extent and trending of the shores of that island. " As, however, it would be highly desirable that Jones' Sound should not be omitted in the search, more especially as a whaler, last season, reached its entrance and reported it open, I would further propose, that the ship conveying the exploring party out should look into this opening on her way to Lancaster Sound, if circumstances permitted of her doing so early in the season; and, if found to be free from ice, the attempt might be made by the boat expedition to push through it to the westward in this latitude; and should it prove to be an opening into the Polar Sea, of which I think there can be little doubt, a great saving of time and distance would be accomplished. Failing in this, the ship should be secured in some central position in the vicinity of the Wellington Channel, as a point (Tappui to fall back upon in the search from that quarter. (Signed) B. M'Cobmick, B.N. " Twickenham, 1st qf January, 1850." OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 263 I would liley or iilly ex- baiiou of Is of the Welling- northern >ration to he season jhe party e eastern Linstances Lme, after ^e shores bat Jones' especially d reported conveying pening on permitted »and to be the boat rd in this into the doubt, a ^mplished. e central inelf as a from that Outline of a Plan of an Overland Journey to the Polar Sea, hy the Way qf the Coppermine River, in Search of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, suggested in 1847. " If Sir John Franklin, §^ded by his instructions, has passed through Barrow's Strait, and shaped a south- westerly course, from the meridian of Cape Walker, with the intention of gaining the northern coast of the con- tinent of America, and so passing through the Dolphin and Union Strait, along the shore of that continent, to Behring's Strait; " His greatest risk of detention by the ice throughout this course would be found between the parallels of 74° and 69° north latitude, and the meridians of 100° and 110° west longitude, or, in other words, that portion of the north-west passage which yet remains unexplored, occupy- ing the space between the western coast of Boothia on the one side, and the island or islands forming Banks' and Victoria Lands on the other. " Should the Erebus and Terror have been beset in the heavy drift ice, or wrecked amongst it and the broken land, .which in all probability exists there, whilst contend* ing with the prevalent westerly winds in this quarter ; " The Coppermine Eiver would decidedly offer the most direct route and nearest approach to that portion of the Polar Sea, and, after crossing Coronation Gulf, the average breadth of the Strait between the Continent and Victoria Land is only about twenty-two miles. " From this point a careful search should be commenced in the direction of Banks' Land; the intervening space between it and Victoria Land, occupying about five degrees, or little more than 800 miles, could, I think, be accom- plished in one season, and a retreat to winter quarters effected before the winter set in. As the ice in the Cop- permine Biver breaks up in June, the searching party ought to reach the sea by the beginning of August, which 264 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. would leave two of the best months of the year for exploring the Polar Sea, viz., August and September. " As it would be highly desirable that every available day, to the latest period of the season, should be devoted to the search, I should propose wintering on the coast in the vicinity of the mouth of the Coppermine Biver, which would also afford a favourable position from which to re- commence the search in the following spring, should the first season prove xmsuccessftd. ** Of course the object of such an expedition as I have proposed is not with the view of taking supplies to such a numerous party as Sir John Franklin has under his command; but to find out his position, and acquaint him where a dep6t of provisions would be stored up for himself and crews at my proposed winter quarters, where a party shoiQd be left to build a house, establish a fishery, and hunt for game, during the absence of the searching party. " To carry out this plan efficiently, the Hudson's Bay Company should be requested to lend their powerful co-operation in furnishing guides, supplies of pemmican, &c., for the party on their route and at winter quarters. Without entering into details here, I may observe, that I should consider one boat, combining the necessary requi- sites in her construction to fit her for either the river navigation or that of the shores of the Polar Sea, would be quite sufficient, with a crew one-half sailors, and the other half Canadian boatmen; the latter to be engaged at Montreal, for which place I would propose leaving Eng- land in the month of February. " Should such an expedition even fail in its main object —the discovery of the position of the missing ships and their crews, the long-sought-for Polar passage may be accomplished. (Signed) B. M'Cobmiok, B.N. " ITooftwcA, 1847." OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 265 year for iber. available 9 devoted e coast in rer, whicli dell to re- ihould tlie as I have les to such under his [aaint bim ed up for bers, where ha fishery, e searching dson's Bay powerful pemmican, jr quarters. ?rve, that I sary reqni- r the river Sea, would •9, and the engaged at Lving Eng- Copy of a letter from Lieutenant Sherard Oshom to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. " Ealing, Middlesex, Mh January, 1850. "My Lobds, — A second attempt to reach Sir John Franklin's expedition being about to be tried during the present year, I take the liberty of calling your attention to the enclosed proposition for an overland party to be des- patched to the shores of the Polar Sea, with a view to their traversing the short distance between Cape Bathurst and Banks' Land. My reasons for thus trespassing on your attention are as follows : ** 1st. General opinion places the lost expedition to the west of Cape Walker, and south of the latitude of Melville Island. " The distance from Cape Bathurst to Banks' Land is only 301 miles, and on reference to a chart it will be seen that nowhere else does the American continent approach so near to the supposed position of Franklin's expedition. " 2nd. As a starting point, Cape Bathurst offers great advantages ; the arrival cf a party sent there from England may be calculated upon to a day ; whereas the arrival of Captain Collinson in the longitude of Cape Barrow, or that of an eastern expedition in Lancaster Sound, will depend upon many uncontroUable contingencies. The distance to be performed is comparatively little, and the certainty of being able to fall back upon supplies offers great advantages. Captain Collinson will have 680 miles of longitude to traverse between Cape Barrow and Banks* Land. An Eastern Expedition, if opposed by the ice (as Sir James Boss has been), and unable to proceed in their vessels farther than Leopold Harbour, will have to journey on foot 330 miles to reach the longitude of Banks' Land, and if any accident occur to their vessels they will be in as critical a position as those they go to seek. 266 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. " 3rd. Banks' Land bears from Cape Bathurst N. 41" 49' E. 302 miles, and there is reason to believe that in the summer season a portion of this distance may be traversed in boats. "4th and 5th. Dr. Bichardson confirms previous re- ports of the ice being light on the coast east of the Mac- kenzie Biver to Gape Bathurst, and informs us that the Esquimaux had seen no ice to seaward for two moons. "6th. Every mile traversed northward by a party from Cape Bathurst would be over that unknown space in which traces of Franklin may be expected. " 7th. It is advisable that such a second party be des- patched from Cape Bathurst, in order that the prosecution of Dr. Bae's examination of the supposed channel between Wollaston and Victoria Lands may in no way be inter- fered with by his attention being called to the westward. " 8th. The caches of provisions made at different points of the Mackenzie and at Cape Bathurst, would enable a party to push down to their starting point with great cele- rity directly the Biver Mackenzie opens, which may be as early as May. " I would also remind your Lordships that the proposed expedition would carry into execution a very important clause in the instructions given to Sir James Boss ; viz., that of sending exploring parties from Banks' Land in a south-westerly direction towards Cape Bathurst or Cape Parry. "In conclusion, I beg to offer my willing services towards the execution of the proposed plan ; and seeking it from no selfish motives, but thoroughly impressed with its feasibility, you may rest assured, my lords, should I have the honour of being sent upon this service, that I shall not disappoint your expectations. " I have, &c., (Signed) " Shebabd Osbobn, lieut., E.K." { OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 267 r. 41" 49' it in tlie traversed jviouB re- tlie Mac- 8 that the aoons. jarty froni e in •which rty be dea- prosecution lel between y be inter- westward, erent points id enable a crreat cele- [h may be as ic proposed important Boss; viz., Land in a lurst or Cape services and seeking pressed with I rds, should I arvice, thatl llAeut.|B.N. Copy of a letter from Colonel Sabine, S.A., to Captain Sir W. Edward Pamry. " Castle-down Terrace, Hastings, " Ibth of January, 1850. " There can be little doubt, I imagine, in the mind of any one who has read attentively Franklin's instructions, and (in reference to them) your description of the state of the ice and of the navigable water in 1819 and 1820, in the route which he was ordered to pursue ; still less, I think, can there be a doubt in the mind of any one who had the advantage of being with you in those years, that Franklin (always supposing no previous disaster) must have made his way to the south-west part of Melville Island either in 1845 or 1846. It haa been said that 1845 was an unfavour- able season, and as the navigation of Davis' Strait and BafiBn's Bay was new to Franklin, we may regard it as more probable that it may have taken him two seasons to accomplish what we accomplished in one. So far, I think, guided by his instructions and by the experience gained in 1819 and 1820, we may reckon pretty confidently on the first stage of his proceedings, and, doubtless, in his pro- gress he would have left memorials in the usual manner at places where he may have landed, some of which would be likely to fall in the way of a vessel foUowing in his track. From the west end of Melville Island our inferences as to his further proceedings must become more conjectural, being contingent on the state of the ice and the existence of navigable water in the particular season. If he found I the ocean, as we did, covered to the west and south, as far as the eye oould reach from the summit of the highest hills, with ice of a thickness unparalleled in any other part lof the Polar Sea, he would, after probably waiting through [one whole season in the hope of some favourable change, i?e retraced his steps, in obedience to the second part of. 268 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. his instructions, in order to seek an opening to tlie north which might conduct to a more open sea. In this case some memorial of the season passed by him at the south- west end of Melville Island, and also of his purpose of retracing his steps, would doubtless have been left by him; and should he subsequently have found an opening to the north, presenting a favourable appearance, there also, should circumstances have permitted, would a memorial have been left. " He may, however, have found a more favourable state of things at the south-west end of Melville Island than we did, and may have been led thereby to attempt to force a passage for his ships in the direct line of Behring's Strait, or perhaps, in the first instance, to the south of that direc- tion, namely, to Banks' Land. In such case two contin- gencies present themselves : first, that in the season of navigation of 1847 he may have made so much progress, that in 1848 he may have preferred the endeavour to push through to Behring's Strait, or to some western part of the continent, to an attempt to return by the way of Bar- row Strait ; the mission of the Plover, the JSnterprise, and the ImvesUgator, together with Dr. Bae's expedition, supply, I presume (for I am but partially acquainted with their instructions), the most judicious means of ajSbrding relief in this direction. There is, however, a second con- tingency ; and it is the one which the impression left on my mind by the nature and general aspect of the ice in the twelve months which we ourselves passed at the south- west end of Melville Island, compels me, in spite of my wishes, to regard as the more probable, viz., that his advance from Melville Island in the season of 1847 may have been limited to a distance of 50, or perhaps 100 miles at farthest, and that in 1848 he may have endeavoured to retrace his steps, but only with partial success. It is, I apprehend, quite a conceivable case, that under these cir* cmn ice, 1 then becai food, wher from seek 1 the c have 1 April «T! may I relieve finding retreat the vie we suj 1849 to and fue retreat ] at vrhic. "Wi made ii which s( Admiral that the taken by west poii and, if n or Kay back) lesj joorney. "Hear after he g( OPIKIOKS AND SUOOESTIONS. 26d I nortli IS case BOUtll- pose of )y him; to the re also, Lemorial [)le state tban we ) force a 's Strait, lat direc- ro contiii' season of progress, topusli part of ly of Bar- Enterprise, :pedition, ited with affording icond con- ion left on ice in the tc south- >ite of my that bis 1847 may 100 miles vonred to ctrmstances, incapable of extricating the ships from the ice, the crews may have been, at length, obliged to quit them, and attempt a retreat, not towards the continent, because too distant, but to Melville Island, where certainly food, and probably fuel (seals), might be obtained, and where they would naturally suppose that vessels despatched from England for their relief would, in the first instance, seek them. It is quite conceivable also, I apprehend, that the circumstances might be such that their retreat may have been made without their boats, and probably in the April or May of 1849. " Where the Esquimaux have lived, there Englishmen may live, and no valid argument against the attempt to relieve can, I think, be founded on the improbability of finding Englishmen alive in 1850, who may have made a retreat to Melville Island in the spring of 1849 ; nor would the view of the case be altered in any material degree, if we suppose their Vetreat to have been made in 1848 or 1849 to Banks' Land, which may afford facilities of food and fuel equal or superior to Melville Island, and a further retreat in the following year to the latter island as the point at which they would more probably look out for succour. " Without disparagement, therefore, to the attempts made in other directions, I retain my original opinion, which seems also to have been the opinion of the Board of Admiralty, by which Boss's Instructions were drawn up, that the most promising direction for research would be taken by a vessel which should follow them to the south- west point of MelvUle Island, be prepared to winter there, and, if necessary, to send a party across the ice in April or May to examine Banks' Land, a distance (there and back) less than recently accomplished by Boss in his land journey. " I learn from Boss's despatches, that almost immediately after he got out of Fort Leopold (1849), he was entangled in 270 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. apparently interminable fields and floes of ice, with which, in the course of the summer, he was drifted down through Barrow Strait and Baffin's Bay nearly to Dayis' Strait. It is reasonable to presume, therefore, that the localities from whence this ice drifted are likely to be less encum- bered than usual by accumulated ice in 1850. It is, of course, of the highest importance to reach Barrow Strait at the earliesc possible period of the season ; and, connected with this point, I learnt from Captain Bird, whom I had the pleasure of seeing here a few days ago, a very remark- able fact, that the ice which prevented their crossing Ba£5n's Bay in 72° or 73° of ktitude (as we did in 1819, arriving in Barrow Strait a month earlier than we had done the preceding year, when we went round by Mel- ville Bay, and nearly a month earlier than Boss did last year) was young ice, which had formed in the remark- ably calm summer of last year, and which the absence of wind prevented their forcing a passage through, on the one hand, whilst, on the other, the ice was not heavy enough for ice anchors. It was, he said, not more than two or two-and-a-half feet thick, and obviously of very recent formation. There must, therefore, have been an earlier period of the season when this part of the sea must have been free from ice; and this comes in confirmation of a circumstance of which I was informed by Mr. Petersen (a Danish gentleman sent to England some months ago by the Northern Society of Antiquaries of Copenhagen, to make extracts from books and manuscripts in the British Museum), that the Northmen, who had settlements some centuries ago on the west coast of Greenland, were in the habit of crossing BafiSn's Bay in the latitude of Upemavic in the spring of the year, for the purpose of fishing in Barrow Strait, from whence they returned in August; and that in the early months they generally found the passage across free from ice. ** In the preceding remarks, I have left one contingency OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 271 h wHcli, tbrough i' Strait, localities IS encum- It is, of •ow Strait connected lom 1 liad ^ remark- r crossing id in 1819, aa we liad id by Mel- L Boss did the remark- ) absence of agh, on the not heavy more than jly of very Lve been an te sea must tation of .. Petersen tttonths ago >enhagen,to the BritiBk [ments some were in the if Upemavic >f fishing in in AnguBt} \y found the 1 contingency unconsidered; it is that which would have followed in pursuance of his instructions, if Franklin should have found the aspect of the ice too unfaTOurable to the west and south of Melville Island to attempt to force a passage through it, and should have retraced his steps in hopes of finding a more open sea to the northward, either in Wei* lington Strait or elsewhere. It is quite conceivable that here also the expedition maj have encountered, at no very great distance, insuperable difficulties to their advance, and may have failed in accomplishing a return with their ships. In this case, the retreat of tbe crews, supposing it to have been made across land or ice, would most probably he directed to some part of the coast on the route to Mel- Tille Island, on which route they would, without doubt, expect that succour would be attempted." Mr. Bobert A. Groodsir, a brother of Mr. H. D. Groodsir the assistant-surgeon of Sir John Franklin's ship, the Erebus, left Stromness, as surgeon of the Advice, whaler, Capt. Fenny, on the 17th of March, 1849, in the hopes of gaining some tidings of his brother ; but returned unsuc- cessful after an eight months' voyage. He has, however, published a very interesting little narrative of the icy regions and of his Arctic voyage. In a letter to Lady Frai^din, dated Edinburgh, 18th of January, 1850, he says : — " I trust you are not allowing yourself to become over-anxious. I know that, although there is much cause to be so, there is still not the slightest reason that we should despair. It may be presumptuous in me to say so, but I have never for a moment doubted as to their ultimate safe return, having always had a sort I of presentiment that I would meet my brother and his companions somewhere in the regions in which their adven- tures are taking place. This hope I have not yet given np, and I trust that by next summer it may be fulfilled, when an end will be put to the suspense which has lasted Ibo long, and which must have tried you so much." ^72 PBOORESS OF AHCTIC DISCOVERT. The Arctic regions, far from being so destitute of animal life as might be supposed from the bleak and inhospitable character of the climate, are proverbial for the boundless profusion of various species of the animal kingdom, which are to be met with in different localities during a great part of the year. The air is often darkened by innumerable flocks of Arctic and blue gulls {Leatris Parasiticus, and Zarus glaucus), the ivory gull or snow bird {Lartis ehwmeus), the kittiwake, the fulmar or petrel, snow geese, terns, loons, dovekies, &c. The cei^aceous animals comprise the great Greenland whale {Baltsna mysticetus), the sea imicom, or narwhal {Mbnodon monoceros), the white whale or beluga {Delphintts leucos), the morse or walrus {Tricheeus ros- marus), and the seal. There are also plenty of porpoises occasionally to be met with, and although these animals may not be the best of food, yet they can be eaten. Of the land animals I may instance the Polar bear, the musk- ox, the reindeer, the Arctic fox, and wolves. Parry obtained nearly 4000lbs. weight of animal food during his winter residence at Melville Island; Boss nearly the same quantity from birds alone, when wintering at Port Leopold. In 1719, the crews of two Hudson's Bay vessels, the Albany and Discovery, a ship and sloop, under the com- mand of Mr. Barlow and Mr. Knight, were cast on shore on Marble Island, and it was subsequently ascertained that some of the party supported life for nearly three years. Mr. Heame learnt the particulars from some of the Esquimaux in 1729. The ship it appeared went on shore in the fall of 1719 ; the party, being then iii number about fifty, began to build their house for the winter. J soon as the ice permitted in the following summer the Es* i quimaux paid them another visit, and found the number j of sailors much reduced, and very unhealthy. i^ic thatl reduc abode and 8 in the The and on five of lavenoi fieshra soinjui a few manage< ezistenc "The; tothetc south an to their time, ant together died, anc iefeUdJ ^ compi two menf Sir Jo| beobt the ice ii™ ^ollasto] ^ese la Wow geeJ 'opply oj iQonths o] rous in tl daring thj nimal dtable ndless ■wHcli ^ great I )ck8 of Lams us)y tlie I, loons, le great com, or f beluga ecus ros- jorpoises Lten. Of he must- imal food Ld; Itoss interiiig iter. Afl lertlieEs- le number I ABUNDANCE OF ANIMAL FOOD MET WITH. 273 (Sickness and famine occasioned snoh Havoc among them* that by the setting in of the second winter, their number was reduced to twenty. Some of the Esquimaux took up their abode at this period on the opposite side of the harbour, and supplied tiiem with what provisions they could spare in the shape of blubber, seal's flesh, and train oil. The Esquimaux left for their wanderings in the spring, and on revisiting the island in the summer of 1721, only five of the crews were foimd alive, and these were so ravenous for food, that they devoured the blubber and seal's flesh raw as they purchased it of the natives, which proved BO injurious in tiieir weak state that three of them died in a few days. The two survivors, though very weak, managed to bury their comrades, and protracted their existence for some days longer. " They frequently," in the words of the narrative, " went to the top of an adjacent rock, and earnestly looked to the south and east, as if in expectation of some vessels coming to their relief. After continuing there a considerable time, and nothing appearing in sight, they sat down close together and wept bitterly. At length one of the two died, and the other's strength was so far exhausted, that he fell down and died also in attempting to dig a grave for his companion. The skulls and other large bones of thebd two men are now lying above ground close to the house." Sir John Bichardson, speaking of the amount of food to be obtained in the Polar region, says, " Deer migrate over the ice in the spring from the main shore to Victoria and Wollaston Lands in large herds, and return in the autumn. These lands are also the breeding places of vast flocks of BQow geese ; so that with ordinary skill in hunting, a large supply of food might be procured on their shores, in the months of June, July, and August. Seals are also nume- rous in those seas, and are easily shot, their curiosity ren- dering them a ready prey to a boat party." In these ways T i 274 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. and by fishing, the stock of provisions might be greatly augmented — and we have the recent example of Mr. Bae, who passed a severe winter on the very barren shores of Bepulse Bay, with no other fuel than the withered tufts of a herbaceous andromada, and maintained a numerous party on the spoils of the chase alone for a whole year. Such instances forbid us to lose hope. Should Sir John Franklin's provisions become so far inadequate to a win- ter's consumption, it is not Ukely that he would remain longer by his ships, but rather that in one body, or in several, the officers and crews, with boats cut down so as to be light enough to drag over the ice, or built expressly for that purpose, would endeavour to make their way east- ward to Lancaster Sound, or southward to the main land, according to the longitude in which the ships were ar- rested. We ought not to judge of the supplies of food that can be procured in the Arctic regions by diligent hunting, from the quantities that have been actually obtained on the several expeditions that have returned, and conse- quently of the means of preserving life there. When there was abundance in the ships, the address and energy of the hunting parties was not likely to be called forth, as they would inevitably be when the existence of the crews depended solely on their personal efibrts, and formed their chief or only object in their march towards quarters where relief might be looked for. This remark has reference to the supposition that on the failure of the stock of provisions in the ships, the crews would in separate parties under their officers seek for succour in several directions. With an empty stomach the power of resisting external cold is greatly impaired; but when the process of digestion is going on vigorously, even with comparatively scanty clothing, the heat of the body is preserved. There is in the winter time, in high latitudes, a craving for fat or wahrui tainC article and fi weathf Mr. for Ma "Ab doveky daily si them, i an offici where t] on Satu] a much J doveky, successfij received "The number ( and yieic was obta ment, an( Mr. G( her voya^ speaking the west about hal hours of the oocup Bouthwarc single pai vociferous ABUl^DAKCE OF ANIMAL FOOD MET WITH. 275 reatly , Bae, res of iftBOf lerons > year, p Jobn a win- remain , or in n 60 as Tpressly a,y east- inland, rere ar- that can iiunting, kined on I conse- "When I energy forth, as e crewB formed uarters ark has of the separate several external ligestion scanty lere is in >r fat or oleaginous food, and for such occasions the flesh of seals, wahrusses, or bears, forms a useful article of diet. Cap- tain Cook says that the walrus is a sweet and wholesome article of food. Whales and seals would also furnish light and fuel. The necessity for increased food in yery cold weather, is not so great when the people do not work. Mr. Gilpin, in his Narrative in the Nautical Magazine for March, 1850, writes thus : — " About the 20th of June a small water bird, called the doveky, had become so numerous, and so many were daily shot by those who troubled themselves to go after them, that shooting parties from each ship, consisting of an officer and marine, were established at Whaler Point, where they remained the whole week, returning on board on Saturday night. In a week or so after this the coon, a much heavier bird, became more plentiful than the little doveky, and from this time to the middle of August, so successful and untiring were our sportsmen, that the crew received each a bird per man a day. " The account kept on board the Investigator showed the number of birds killed to have amounted to about 4000, and yielding near 2500lbs. of meat. But more than this vvas obtained, as many were shot by individuals for amuse- ment, and not always noted." Mr. Goodsir, surgeon, when in the Advice whaler, on her voyage up Lancaster Sound, in the summer of 1849, speaking of landing on one of the Wollaston Islands, on the west side of Navy Board Inlet, says he disturbed about half a dozen pairs of the eider duck (Somateria mllissima). Their eggs he found to be within a few hours of maturity. There were besides numerous nests, the occupants of which had probably winged their way southwards. Two brent geese (Anser bemicla), and a single pair of arctic terns {Stenui arctica), were most vociferous and courageous in defence of their downy t2 276 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. offspring wherever he approached. These were the only birds he saw, with the exception of a solitary raven {Corvu8 corax) not very high overhead, whose sharp and yet mnsically bell-like croak came startling upon the ear* Mr. Snow, in his account of the voyage of the Prince Albert, p. 162, says (speaking of Melville Bay, at the northern head of Baffin's Bay), " Innumerable quantities of birds, especially the little auk (Alca alle) and the doveky {Coh/mhua grylle), were now seen (August 6th) in every direction. They were to be observed in thousands, on the wing and in the water, and often on pieces of ice, where they were clustered together so thick that scores might have been shot at a time by two or three fowling pieces.** In passing up Lancaster Soimd a fortnight later several shoals of eider ducks and large quantities of other birds were also seen. See ante, p. 70, et teq. A BALLAD OF SIB JOHN FRANKLIN. ** The ice wu here, the ice was there, The ice was ell tLXoxuid,**—Coleridg», WmTHEB sail yon. Sir John Franklin ? Cried a whaler in BaflBn's Bay ; To know if between the land and the Pole, I may find a broad tea way. I charge yon back, Sir John Franklin, Ai you would lire and thrive, For between the land and the frozen Pole No man may sail alive. But lightly laughed the stout Sir John, And spoke unto his men ;— Half England is wrong, if he is right t Bear ott to westward then. 0, whither sail you, brave Englishman f Cried the little Esquimaux. Between your land and the polar star My foodljr veneb ga A BALLAD OF SIB JOHN FRANKLIN. 277 Come down, if 70a would Journey there* The UtUe Indian said; And ohange your doth for Air clothing. Your Teasel for a sled. But lightly laughed the stout Sir John, And the crew laughed with him too; A sailor to change from ship to sled, I ween, were something newl All through the long, long polar day. The ressels westward sped ; And wherever the sail of Sir John was blown. The ice gave way and fled. CkiTe way with many a hollow groan, And with many a surly roar; But it murmured and threatened on every edde. And closed where he safled before. Ho! see ye not, n^ merry men, The broad and open sea? Bethink ye what the whalw said. Bethink ye of the littte Indian's ded t The crew laughed out in glee. Sir John, Sir John, tis bitter cold, The scud drives on the breeze. The ice comes looming from the KiMrth, The very sunbeams freeze. Bright Summer goes, dark Winter comes— We cannot rule the year; But long ere Summer's sun goes down. On yonder sea we'll steer. The dripping icebergs dipped and rose, And floundered down the gale ; The ships were staid, the yards were manned. And fhrled the useless sail. The Snmmei's gone, the Winter's come, We sail not on yonder sea ; Why sail we not. Sir John Franklin? —A iQent man was he. The Winter goes, the Summer comes. We cannot rule the year ; I ween, we cannot rule the ways, Sir John, wherein we'd jteer m PBOORBdS OF ABCmC DISCOVBBT. The ornel loe came floating on. And doaed beneath the lee, Till the thickening waters dashed to more *Twas ice around, beliind, b6ft><«^ MyGodI thoeisnoseal What think yon of the whaler now t What of the tJsqnimaaz? A sled were bettelr than a ship. To cmise tltfoagfa ice and taow* Down sank the baleflil crimson sun ; ^e northern-light came out. And glared upon the ice-bound sliips. And shook its spean about. The snow came down, storm breeding storm. And on the deeks was laidt Till the weary saQor, sick at heart. Sank down bedde his spade. Sir Jolm, the night is Uaek and long. The hissing wtaid is bleakt The hard, green, ice is strong as death :— I prithee, captain, q^ak. The night Is neither bright nor short, The singing breese is cdd, The ice Is not so strong as hc^ie. The heart of man Is bddt What hope can scale this iojr wall. High o?er the main flag«stair? Above the ridges the wolf and bear Look down with a patient, settled stare- Look down on ns and laugh. The Summer went, the Winter came>^ We could not rule the year ; But Summer will melt the ice again, And open a path to the sunny main* Whereon our ships shall ateer. The Winter went, the Summer went. The Winter came around « But the hard, green ice was strong m death, And the Tolce of hope sank to a breath, Tat oaught at tTtij iouiC ▲ BALLAD OF SIB JOHN FBANKLIK. 279 Hark ! heard yon not the sound of gmu ? And there^ and there again? *TiB some nneasy ieehcrg*s roar. As he turns in the flroaen main. Hvrral huiral the Esquimaux Across the ice-flelds steal : God give them grace for thdr charitjr I Te pray for the silly seal. Sir John, where are the English fields, And where the English trees, And where are the little English flowers. That open in the breexe ? Be still, be still, my brave sail(Hrs ! Ton shall see the fields again. And smell the scent of the opoiing fiowers. The grass, and the waving gndn. Oh t when shall I see my orphan child f My Mary waits ft>r me; Oh! when shall I see my <4d mother, And pray at her trembling knee ? Be still, be stiOl, my brave sailors ! Think not such thoughts again 1 But a tear ftoze slowly on his cheek- He thought of Lady Jane. Ah ! bitter, bitter grows the cold. The ice grows more and more ; More settled stare the wf Cape .ew, and d Gape enortib SB tells ring con* grimed more than half our proyisions, and the strength of the party being much reduced, I. was reluctantly com- pelled to abandon further operations, as it was, moreover, necessary to give the men a day of rest. But that the time might not be wholly lost, I proceeded with two hands to the extreme south point in sight from our encampment, distant about eight or nine miles." This extreme point is situate in lat. 72° 38 N., and long. 95° 4/(y W., and is the west face of a syiall high peninsula. The state of the atmosphere being at the time peculiarly favourable for distinctness of vision, land of any great elevation might have been seen at the distance of 100 miles. The highest cape of the coast was not more than fifty miles distant, bearing nearly due south. A very narrow isthmus was found to separate Prince Begent Inlet from the western sea at Cresswell and Brentford Bays. The ice in this quarter proved to be eight feet thick. A large cairn of stones was erected, and on the 6th of June, the return journey was commenced. After encountering a variety of difficulties they reached the ships on the 23rd, so completely worn out by fatigue, that every man was, from some cause or other, in the doctor's hands for two or three weeks. During their absence Mr. Matthias, the assistant-surgeon of the Enterprise, had died of consumption. Several of the crews of both ships were in a declining state, and the general report of health was by no means cheering. Whilst Captain Boss was away, Commander Bird had despatched other surveying parties in different directions. One, uiider the command of Lieutenant Barnard, to the northern shore of Barrow's Strait, crossing the ice to Cape Hind ; a second, commanded by Lieutenant Browne, to the eastern shore of Eegent Lilet ; and a third party of six men, conducted by Lieutenant Eobinson, along the western shore of the Inlet. The latter officer extended 286 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. his examination of the coast as far as Cresswell Bay, several miles to the southward of Fury Beach. He found the house still standing in which Sir John Boss passed the winters of 1832-1833, together with a quantity of the stores and provisions of the Fury^ lost there in 1827. On opening some of the packages containing flour, sugar, and peas, they were all found to be in excellent preservation, and the preserved soup as good as when manufactured. The labcurs of these searching parties were, however, of comparatively short duration, as they all suffered from snow-blindness, sprained ancles, and debility. As it was now but too evident, from no traces of the absent expedition having been met with by any of these parties, that the ships could not have been detained any- where in this part of the Arctic regions. Captain Boss considered it most desirable to push forward to the west- ward as soon as his ships should be liberated. His chief hopes now centred in the efforts of Sir John Bichardson's party; but he felt persuaded that Sir John Franklin's ships must have penetrated so far beyond Melville Island as to induce him to prefer making for the continent of America rather than seeking assistance from the whale ships in Baffin's Bay. The crews, weakened by incessant exertion, were now in a very unfit state to undertake the heavy laboui. which they had yet to accomplish, but all hands that were able were set to work with saws to cut a channel towards the point of the harbour, a distance of rather more than two miles, and on the 28th of August the ships got clear. Before quitting the port, a house was built of the spare spars of both ships, and covered with such of the housing cloths as could be dispensed with. Twelve months' provisions, fuel, and other necessaries were also left behind, together with the steam launch be- longing to the Investigator, which having been purposely lengthened seven feet, now formed a fine vessel, capable of VOTAOE OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 287 ►f the these I any- Hoss west- s chief dson's aklin's Island lent of whale ;essant ke the but all Q cut a ince of ust the se was jd with d with. )gsarie8 ich be- (osely lable of conyeying the whole of Sir John Franklin's party to the whale ships, if necessary. The Investigator and Mnterprise now proceeded towards the northern shore of Barrow's Strait^ for the purpose oi examining Wellington Channel, and, if possible, pene- trating as far as Melville Island, but when about twelve miles from the shore, the ships came to the fixed land ice, and found it impossible to proceed. On the 1st of September a strong wind suddenly arising, brought the loose pack through which they had been struggling down upon the ships, which were closely beset. At times, during two or three days, they sustained severe pressure, and ridges of hummocks were thrown up all around; but after that time the temperature falling to near zero, it formed the whole body of ice into one solid mass. The remainder of the narrative, as related by the Commander of the expedition in his official despatch, will not bear abridgment. " We were so circumstanced that for some days we could not unship the rudder, and when, by the laborious operation of sawing and removing the hummocks from under the stern, we were able to do so, we found it twisted and damaged ; and the ship was so much strained, as to increase the leakage from three inches in a fortnight to fourteen inches daily. The ice was stationary for a few days ; the pressure had so folded the lighter pieces over each other and they were so interlaced, as to form one entire sheet, extending from shore to shore of Barrow's Strait, and as far to the east and west as the eye could discern from the mast-head, whilst the extreme severity of the temperature had cemented the whole so firmly together that it appeared highly improbable that it could break up again this season. In the space which had been cleared away for unshipping the rudder, the newly -formed ioe wai 288 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. fifteen inches thick, and in some places along the ship's side the thirteen-feet screws were too short to work. We had now folly made up our minds that the ships were fixed for the winter, and- dismal as the prospect appeared^ it was far preferable to being carried along the west coast of Baffin's Bay, where the grounded bergs are in such num- bers upon the shallow banks off that shore, as to render it next to impossible for ships involved in a pack to escape destruction. It was, therefore, with a mixture of hope and anxiety that, on the wind shifting to the westward, we perceived the whole body of ice begin to drive to the eastward, at the rate of eight to ten miles daily. Every effort on our part was totally unavailing, for no human power could have moved either of the ships a single inch ; they were thus completely taken out of our hands, and in the centre of a field of ice more than fifty miles in circum- ference, were carried along the southern shore of Lan- caster Sound. " After passing its entrance, the ice drifted in a more southerly direction, along the western shore of Baffin's Bay, until we were abreast of Pond's Bay, to the south- ward of which we observed a great number of icebergs stretching across our path, and presenting the fearful prospect of our worst anticipations. But when least ex- pected by us, our release was almost miraculously brought about. The great field of ice was rent into innumerable fragments, as if by some unseen power." By energetic exertion, warping, and sailing, the ships got clear of the pack, and reached an open space of water on the 26th of September. " It is impossible," says Captain Boss, in his concluding observations, " to convey any idea of the sensation we ex- perienced when we found ourselves once more at liberty, whilst many a grateful heart poured forth its praises and thanksgivings to Almighty God for this unlooked-for deliverance." YOTAGE OF ENTEBPBISE AND mVESTIOATOB. ' 289 " The advance of winter had now dosed all the harbours against us ; and as it was impossible to penetrate to the westward through the pack from which we had just been liberated, I made Hie signal to the Investigator of mj intention to return to England." After a favourable passage, the ships arrived home earlj in November, Captain Sir J. C. Boss reporting himself at the Admiralty on the 5th of November. As this is the last Arctic voyage of Sir James C. Eoss, it is a fitting place for some record of his arduous services. Captain Sir James Clarke Aoss entered the navy in 1812, and served as volunteer of the first class, midship- man and mate until 1817, with his uncle Commander Boss. In 1818 he was appointed Admiralty midshipman in the Isahella, on Commander Boss's first voyage of discovery to the Arctic seas. He was then midshipman in the two following years with Captain Parry, in the Heola; fol- lowed him again in the Fwry in his second voyage, and was promoted on the 26th of December, 1822. In 1824 and 1825, he was lieutenant in the Fim/, imder Captain Hoppner, on Parry's third voyage. In 1827 he was appointed first lieutenant of the Secla, under Parry, and accompanied him in command of the second boat in his attempt to reach the North Pole. On his return he received his promotion to the rank of commander, the 8th of November, 1827. From 1829 to 1833, he was employed with his uncle as second in command in the Vtotory on the private expedition sent out by Mr. Felix Booth. During this period he planted, on the 1st of June, 1831, the British flag on the North Magnetic Pole. For this, on his return, he was presented by the Herald's College with an addition to his family arms of an especial crest, representing a flag- 8ta£P erect on a rock, with the union jack hoisted thereon, inscribed with the date " 1 June, 1831." On the 23rd of October, 1834, he was promoted to the rank of captain, 290 FBOORESS OF ABCnC DISCOVERT. and in the following year employed in making magnetic observations, preparatory to the general magnetic survey of England. In the close of 1836, it having been repre- sented to the Admiralty, from Hull, that eleven whale ships, having on board 600 men, were left in the ice in Davis's Strait, and in imminent danger of perishing, unless relief were forwarded to them, the Lords Commissioners resolved upon sending out a ship to search for them. Captain Boss, with that promptitude and humanity which has always characterized him, volunteered to go out in the depth of winter, and the Lieutenants F. B. M. Crozier, Liman, and Ommaney, with the three mates, Jesse, Buchan, and John Smith, and Mr. Hallett, clerk in charge, joined him. They sailed from England on the 2l8t of December, and on arrival in Davis's Strait, after a stormy passage, found that nine of the missing ships were by that time in England, that the tenth was released on her passage, and that the other was in all probability lost, as some of her water-casks had been picked up at sea. From 1837 to 1838, Captain Boss was employed in determining the variation of the compass on all parts of the coast of Great Britain; and from 1839 to 1843 as captain of the Erebus, in command of the Antarctic expedition. In 1841 he was pre- sented with the founder's medal of the Boyal Geographical Society of London, for his discoveries towards the South Pole; and he has also received the gold medal of the Geographical Society of Paris. On the 13th of March, 1844, he received the honour of knighthood from the Queen, and in June of the same year the University of Oxford bestowed on him their honorary degree of D.C.L. In 1848, he went out, as we have just seen, in the Enterprise, in command of one of the searching expeditions sent to seek for Franklin. " Sir,- 18th ult., detailing which le whaler, proceedin to state, owing to render it " On tl progress, VOYAGE OF THE NOBTH STAB. 291 VOYAOB OF H.M.S. " NOBTH StAB." Thb N(yrth Star, of 600 tons, was fitted out in the spring of 1849, under the command of Mr. J. Saunders, who had been acting master with Captain Back, in the Terror, in her perilous voyage to the Frozen Strait, in 1836. The following were the officers of the ship: — Master Commanding — J. Saunders. Second Masters — John Way, M. Korman, H. B* Gawler. Acting Ice-masters — J. Leach and G. Sabestor. Assistant Surgeon — James Bac, M.D. Clerk in Charge — Jasper Butter. The North Star sailed from the river Thames, on the 26th of May, 1849, freighted with provisions for the miss- ing expedition, and with orders and supplies for the Enter' prise and Investigator, The following is one of the early despatches from the commander : — " To the Secretary of the Admiralty, " KM.S, Nwth Star, July 19, 1849, Ut, 74° 3' N., long, 59° 40' W, " Sir, — I addressed a letter to their Lordships on the 18th ult., when in lat. 73° 30' N., and long. 56° 53' W., detailing the particulars of my proceedings up to that date, which letter was sent by a boat from the Lady Jane, whaler, which vessel was wrecked, and whose boats were proceeding to the Danish settlements. Since then, I regret to state, our progress has been almost entirely stopped, owing to the ice being so placed across Melville Bay as to render it perfectly impassable. " On the 6th inst., finding it impossible to make any progress, I deemed it advisable to run as far S. ai 72?, v2 292 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. examining the pack as we went along. At 72° 22' the pack appeared slacker, and we entered it, and, after pro- ceeding about twelve miles, found ourselves completely stopped bj large floes of ice. We accordingly put back, and steered again for the northward. " Having this day reached the latitude of 74° 3' N., and long. 59° 40^ W., the ice appeared more open, and we stood in towards the land, when we observed two boats approaching, and which afterwards, on coming alongside, were found to belong- to the Prifice qf Wales j whaler, which vessel was nipped by the ice on the 12th inst., in Melville Bay. " By the captain of the Prince qf Wales I forward this letter to their Lordships, he intending to proceed in his boats to the Danish settlements. " I have the honour to be, &c. " J. Saundbbs, Master and Commander. " P.S.— Crew all well on board." On the 29th of July, having reached the vicinity of the Devil's Thumb and Melville Bay, in the nortiierly part of Baffin's Bay, she was beset in an ice-field, witii which she drifted helplessly about as the tide or wind impelled her, until the 16th of August, when, a slight opening in the ice appearing, an e£fort was made to heave through into clear water. This proved labour in vain, and no further move was made until the 21st of September, except as she drifted in the ice floe in which she was flxed. On the day last named she was driving before a hard gale from the S.S.W., directly down upon an enormous iceberg J in Melville Sound, upon which U* she had struck in the then prevailing weather her total destruction would have been inevitable. Providentially a comer of the ice field in which she was being carried ftiriously along came into .violent collision with tibe berg, a large section was carried TOTAOE OF THE KORTH STAR. 29a away, and she escaped. On the 29th of September, 1849> having been sixty-two days in the ice, she took up her winter quarters in North Star Bay, so called after herself, a small bay in Wolstenholme Soimd, lying in 76° 33' north latitude, and 68° 66' west longitude; the farthest point to the north at which a British ship ever wintered. The ship was fixed about half » mile from the shore, and made snug for the winter, sails were unbent, the masts struck, and the ship housed over and made as warm and comfortable as circumstances would permit. The ice soon after took across the Sound, so that the crew could have walked on shore. The cold was intense; but two or three stdves warmed the ship, and the crews were cheered up and encouraged with all sorts of games and amusements, occasionally visiting the shore for the purpose of skylark- ing: There was, unfortunately, but little game to shoot. Former accounts gave this place a high character for deer and other animals ; but the crew of the North Star never saw a single head of deer, and other animals were scarce ; about fifty hares were killed. Foxes were numerous, and a number shot, but none taken alive. A few Esquimaux families occasionally visited the ship, and one poor man was brought on board with his feet so frozen that tiiey dropped. He was placed under the care of the assistant-surgeon. Dr. Bae, who paid him much attention, and his legs were nearly cured; but he died from a pulmonary disorder after having been on board some six weeks. The North Star was not able to leave this retreat until the 1st of August, 1850, and got into clear water on the third of that month. On the 21st of August she spoke the Lad^f Franklin, Captain Penny, and her consort the Sophia, and the fol- lowing day the Felix, Sir John Boss, in Lancaster Sound. Captain Fenny reported that he had left Captain Austin all well on the 17th of August. On the 23rd of August the North Star bsgan landing the provisions she had 294 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. earned out in Navy Board Inlet ; 73° 44' N. latitude, 80° 56' W. longitade. She remained five days there, and was occupied four and a half in landing the stores, which were deposited in a ravine a short distance from the beach of Supply Bay, the bight in l^Tavy Board Inlet, which the commander of the JSorth Star so named. The position of the stores was indicated by a flag-staff, with a black ball, and a letter placed beneath a cairn of stones. They had previously tried to deposit the stores at Port Bowen and Port Neale, but were prevented approaching them by the ice. On the 30th of August the North Star saw and spoke the schooner Prifice Albert^ Commander Forsjrth, in Possession Bay. On the 31st a boat was sent to the JPrince Albert, when Commander Forsyth came on board and reported that he had also been to Port Neale, but had not been able to enter for the ice, and had found one of the American ships sent out to search for Sir John Franklin ashore in Barrow's Strait, that he had tendered assistance, which had been declined by the American com- mander, as, his ship being uninjured, he believed his own crew competent to get her off. Commander Forsyth reported that Captain Austin had proceeded to Pond's Bay in the Intrepid, tender to the Assistance, to land letters. The North Star went on to Pond's Bay, but could not find any indication of Captain Austin's having been there. It is conjectured that he had passed the appointed spot in a fog. The North Star's people suffered much from the intense cold, but only lost five hands during her perilous trip and Arctic winter quar- ters. She left there on September 9th, and reached Spithead on the 28th of September, 1850. Since his return Mr. Saunders has been appointed Master Attendant of the Dockyard at Malta. The Admiralty have received despatches from Captain Sir J. Boss, Captain Penny, and Captain Ommaney. Captain Ommaney, in the Assistance, SECOND TBIP OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 295 dating from off Lancaster Sound, latitude 75° 46' "N,, longitude 75° 49' W., states that some Esquimaux had described to him a ship being hauled in during the last winter, and, on going to the spot, he found, from some papers left, that it was the North Star. He was proceed- ing to search in Lancaster Sound. Captain Penny, of the Zacfy Franklin, writing from Lancaster Soimd, August 21, states, that having heard on the 18th from Captain Austin of a report from the Esquimaux, that Sir John Franklin's ships had been lost forty miles north, and the crews murdered, he went with an interpreter, but could find no evidence for the rumour, and came to the condu- sion that the whole story had been founded on the North Star wintering there. He considered that his interpreter, M. Petersen, had done much good by exposing the fallacy of the story of Sir J. Boss's Esquimaux. Her Majesty's Ships "Enterprise" and "Inyesti- OATOR," UNDER CaPTAIK CoLLINSON. The Enterprise and Investigator were fitted out again, immediately on their return home, and placed under the charge of Captain B. Collinson, C.B., with the following officers attached, to proceed to Behring's Strait, to resume the search in that direction : — Enterprise, 340 tons. Captain — ^B. Collinson. Lieutenants — G. A. Phayre,* J. J. Barnard,* and C. T. Jago. Master^B. T. G. Legg. Second Master — ^Francis Skead. Mate— M. T. Parks. Surgeon— Bobert Anderson.* Assistant Surgeon— Edwardi Adams.* Clerk in Charge — ^Edward Whitehead.* Total complement, 66. 296 PROOBESS OF ABCnO DISCOVERT. Investigator, Conmumder-— B. J. McClnre.* lieutenants — ^W. H. Haswell, and S. G. Cresswell.* Mates — H. H. Saintsbiiij, and E. J. Wyniatt. Second Master — Stephen Court.* Surgeon — ^Alexander Armstrong, M.D. Assistant Surgeon-— Hj^ Fiers. Clerk in Charge — Joseph C. Paine. Total complement, 65. Those officers marked with a star had been with the ships in their last voyage. These vessels sailed firom Plymouth on the 20th of January, 1850. A Mr. Miertsching, a Moravian mi8> sionary, was appointed to the Enterprise, as interpreter. This gentleman is in the prime of life, of robust health, inured, by a service of five years in Labrador, to 'he hard- ships and privations of the Arctic regions, and su^ciently acquainted with the language and manners of the Esqui- maux to be able to hold friendly and imreserved inter- course with them. The Investigator and the Enterprise were at the Sand- wich Islands on June 29th. Captain CoUinson purposed sailing in a few days, and expected to reach the ice about the 8th of July. Prior to his arrival, numerous whalers had eitiirted for the Strait, one in particular, under the com- mand of a Captain Eoys, with the expressed intention of endeavouring to earn the Franklin reward. These vessels are intended to penetrate, if possible, to the western extremity of Melville Island, there to winter, and make further search, in the spring of 1851, for the crews of the lost ships. In a letter from Captain Collinson to Commander McClure, dated Oahu, June 29, 1860, with a sight of SECOND TRIP OF ENTEBPRISE AND INYESTIOATOB. 297 which^ I have been fayoured at the Admiralty, he thus describes his intentions—" I intend making the pack dose to the American shore, and availing myself of the first favourable opening west of the coast stream; pressing forward towards Melville Island. In the event of meeting land, it is most probable that I would pursue the southern shore." The latest letter received from Commander McClure is dated Xotzebue Sound, July 27, 1850, and the following is an extract :— " You will be glad to learn that to this we have been Hghly favoured, carrying a fair wind from Wahoa, which place we left on the 4th. We passed the Aleutian Islands on the 20th, in 172° 30' W., and got fairly through the Straits to-day, and we consider we are upon our ground j the only detriment has been very dense fogs, which have rendered the navigation of the islands exceedingly nervous work ; but as the object to be achieved is of so important a nature, all hazards must be run to carry out the inten- tions of those at home, which have very fortunately termi-^ nated without accident. We are now making the most of our wind, and we hope to meet an American whaler, of which I believe there are a great number fishing this season, and to whom we must entrust our last despatches. Sincerely do I trust that, ere we return, some tidings of poor Sir John and his noble companions may reward our search; which -will render the long-sought for passage, should it be our fortune to make it, one of the most memorable in the annals of our times, and relieve many an anxious breast." Despatches have been received at the Admiralty from Captain £ellet, C.B., of her Majesty's ship Serald, dated at sea, the 14th of October, 1850, on his return from Behring's Strait. The Herald had communicated with her Majesty's ship Plover, on the 10th of July, at Oha* 298 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. misso Island, where the Plover had passed the preceding winter. The two ships proceeded to the northward until they sighted the pack ice, when the Herald returned to Cape Lisbume, in quest of Captain Collinson's expedition, and on the 31st fell in with her Majesty's ship Investiffator, which had made a surprisingly short passage of twenty-sis days from the Sandwich Islands. The Herald remained cruising off Cape Lisbume, and again fell in with the Plover on the 13th of August, on her return from Point Barrow, Commander Moore having coasted in his boats, and minutely examined the several inlets as far as that point from Icy Cape without gaining any intelligence of the missing expedition. Commander Moore and his boat's crew had suffered severely from exposure to cold. Captain Kellett, having Mly victualled the Plover, ordered her to winter in Grantley Harbour (her former anchorage at Chamisso Island not being considered safe), and then returned to the southward on his way to England. Despatches have also been received from Captain Col- linson, C.B., of her Majesty's ship Enterprise, and Com- mander M'Clure, of her Majesty's ship Investiffator, of which the following are copies : — " Her Majesty's Ship * JEnterprise,* Port Clarence, Sept 13, 1850. " Sir, — ^I have the honour to transmit an account of the proceedings of her Majesty's ship under my command since leaving Oahu on the 30th of June. ** Being delayed by light winds, we only reached the western end of the Aleutian Chain by the 29th of July, and made the island of St. Lawrence on the 11th of Aug., from whence I shaped a course for Cape Lisbume, in anti* cipation of falling in with the Herald or the Plover. Not, however, seeing either of these vessels, and finding nothing deposited on shore, I went on to Wainwright Inlet, the SECOND TRIP OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 299 last rendezvous appointed. Here we communicated on the IStli, and bein^ alike nnsuccessfiil in obtaining any information, I stood to the north, made the ice following morning, and reached the latitude 72° 40' N. in the meridian of 159° 30' W., without serious obstruction. Here, however, the pack became so close that it was im- possible to make way in any direction except to the south- ward. Having extricated ourselves by noon on the 19th, we continued to coast along the edge of the main body, which took a south-easterly trend, running through the k)Ose streams, so as not to lose sight of tight pack. At 4 A.M. on the 20th we were in the meridian of Point Barrow, and twenty-eight miles to the north of it, when we found open water to the N.E., in which we sailed, without losing sight of the ice to the north until the morning of the 21st, when we were obstructed by a heavy barrier trending to the S.W. A thick fog coming on, we made a board to the north, in order to feel the pack edge in the upper part of the bight, and not to leave any part unexplored. Having satisfied myself that no opening existed in this direction, we bore away to the south, running through heavy floes closely packed, and pushing to the eastward when an opportunity ofiered. In this, however, we were unsuccess- ful, being compelled to pursue a westerly course, the floes being very heavy and hummocky. By 8 p.m. we were within thirty miles of the land, and having clear weather, could see the ice closely packed to the south, that left no doubt in my mind that a stop was put to our proceeding in this direction, by the ice butting so close on the shoal coast as to leave no chance that our progi'ess along it would justify the attempt to reach Cape Bathurst, a dis- tance of 570 miles, during the remaining portion of this season ; and finding this opinion was coincided in by those officers on board qualified to form an opinion on the sub^ jeot, I determined to lose no time in communicating with 300 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Point Barrow, but to attempt the passage further north, in hopes that the lane of water seen last year by the Herald and Plover would ajSbrd me an opening to the eastward. I therefore reluctantly proceeded again to the west, and turning the pack edge fifteen miles further to the south than it was on the day after we left Wainwright Inlet, we followed the edge of a loose pack greatly broken up, until we reached 163° W. long., when it took a sudden turn to the north, in which direction we followed it until the morning of the 27th, when we were in latitude 73° 20', and found the pack to the westward trending southerly. I therefore plied to the eastward, endeavouring to make way, but such was its close condition that we could not work, although we might have warped through had the condition of the ice in that direction afforded us any hope; but this, I am sorry to say, was not the case, and, on the contrary, the further we entered the larger the floes became, leaving us, in thick weather, often in great diffi- culty where to find a lane. On the 29th the thermometer having fallen to 28°, and there being no prospect of our being able to accomplish anything towards the fulfilment of their Lordships' instructions this season, I bore away for Point Hope, where I arrived on the 31st, and found a bottle deposited by the Merald, which informed me that it was intended to place the Plover in Grantley Harbour this season. I accordingly proceeded thither, with the view of taking her place for the winter, and enabling Commander Moore to recruit his ship's company by going to the south- ward. On my arrival I found her inside, preparing her winter quarters, and having examined and buoyed the bar, I attempted to take this vessel inside, but failed in doing so, owing to the change of wind from south to north having reduced the depth of water four feet, and had to relieve the ship of 100 tons, which was quickly done by the SECOND TRIP OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 301 opportune arrival of the Heraldf before she was released from a very critical position. The tides being irregular, the rise and fall depending principally on the wind, and that wind which occasions the highest water producing a swell on the bar, it became a question whether a consider- able portion of the ensuing season might not be lost in getting the ship out of Grantley Harbour; and on consult- ing Captains Kellett and Moore, finding it to be their opinion, founded on the experience of two years, that the whalers coming from the south pass through the Strait early in June, whereas the harbours are blocked until the middle of July, I have come to the conclusion that I shall better perform the important duty confided in me by returning to the south, and replenishing my provisions, instead of wintering on the Asiatic shore, where there is not a prospect of our being of the slightest use to the missing expedition. It is therefore my intention to pro- ceed to Hong Cong, it being nearer than Valparaiso, and the cold season having set in, my stores and provisions will not be exposed to the heat of a double passage through the tropics ; and as I shall not leave until the 1st of April, I may receive any further instructions their Lordships may please to communicate. " The Flover has been stored and provisioned, and such of her crew as are not in a fit state to contend with the rigour of a further stay in these latitudes have been removed, and replaced by Captain Cellett, and the para- graphs referring to her in my instructions fulfilled. " I have directed Commander M!oore to communicate annually with an island in St. Lawrence Bay, in latitude 65° 38' N., and longitude 170° 43' W„ which is much resorted to by the whalers, and where any communication their Lordships may be pleased to send may be deposited by them, as they are not in the habit of cruising on this >„.iiii 302 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. side of the Strait ; and I have requested Captain Kellett to forward to the Admiralty all the information on this head he may obtain at the Sandwich Islands. " It is my intention to proceed again to the north, and remain in the most eligible position for affording assistance to the Investigator, which vessel, having been favoured with a surprismg passage from the Sandwich Islands, was fallen in with by the Herald on the 31st of July, off Point Hope, and again, on the 5th of August, by the Pl(yi)er, in latitude 70° 44' N., and longitude 159° 52' W., when she was standing to the north under a press of sail, and in all probability reached the vicinity of Point Barrow fifteen days' previous to the Enterprise, when Captain M'Clure, having the whole season before him, and animated with the determination so vividly expressed in his letter to Captain !Kellett, has most likely taken the inshore route, and I hope before this period reached Cape Bathurst; but as he will be exposed to the imminent risk of bemg forced on a shoal shore and compelled to take to his boats, I shall not forsake the coast to the northward of Point Hope until the season is so far advanced as to insure their having taken up their winter quarters for this season. " I have received from my officers and ship's company that assistance and alacrity in the performance of their duty which the noble cause in which we are engaged must excite, and I have the satisfaction to report that (under the -blessing of God), owing to the means their Lordships have supplied in extra clothing and provisions, we are at present without a man on the sick list, notwithstanding the lengthened period of our voyage. " I have, &c., " BiCHABD CoLLiNSON, Captain. " The Secretary of the Admiralty." SECOND TRIP OF ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 303 " Her 'Majesty* s Discovefy-ship * Investigator,* at sea, lati- tude 51° 26' N., longitude 172° 85' W., July 20. " Sip, — ^As I have received instructions from Captain CoUinson, C.B., clear and unembarrassing (acopy of which I enclose), to proceed to Cape Lisbume in the hope of meeting him in that vicinity, as he anticipates being detained a day or two by the Plover in Kotzebue Sound, it is unnecessary to add that every exertion shall be made to reach that rendezvous, but can scarce venture to hope that even under very favourable circumstances I shall be so fortunate as to accomplish it ere the Enterprise will have rounded that cape, from her superior sailing, she hitherto having beaten us by eight days to Cape Virgins, and from Magellan Strait to Oahu six. It is, therefore, under the probable case that this vessel may form a detached part of the expedition that I feel it my duty to state, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the course which, ULder such a contingency I shall endeavour to pursue, and have to request that you will lay the same before their Lordships. " 1. After passing Cape Lisburne, it is my intention to keep in the open water, which, from the different reports that I have read, appears about this season of the year to make between the American coast and the main pack as far to the northward as the x30° meridian, unless a favourable opening should earlier appear in the ice, which would lead me to infer that I might push more directly for Banks' Land, which I think is of the utmost import- ance to thoroughly examine. Li the event of thus far succeeding, and the season continuing favourable for further operations, it would be my anxious desire to get to the northward of MelviUe Island, and resume our search along its shores and the islands adjacent as long as 304 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. the navigation can be carried on, and then secure for the winter in the most eligible position which offers. " 2. In the ensuing spring, as soon as it is practicable for travelling parties to start, I should despatch as many as the state of the crew will admit of in different direc- tions, each being provided with forty days' provisions, with directions to examine minutely all bays, inlets, and islands towards the north-east, ascending occasionally some of the highest points of land, so as to be enabled to obtain ex- tended views, being particularly cautious in their advance to observe any indication of a break up in the ice, so that their return to the ship may be effected without hazard, even before the expenditure of their provisions would other¥ri8e render it necessary. <'3. Supposing the parties to have returned without obtaining any clue of the absent ships, and the vessel liberated about the Ist of August, my object would then be to push on towards Wellington Inlet, assuming that that channel communicates with l^e Polar Sea, and search both its shores, unless in doing so some indication should be met with to show that parties from any of Captain Austin's vessels had previously done so, when I should return, and endeavour to penetrate in the direction of Jones' Sound, carefully examining every place that was practicable. Should our efforts to reach this point be suc- cessful, and in the route no traces are discernible of the long missing expedition, I should not then be enabled longer to divest myself of the feelings, painful as it must be to arrive at such a conclusion, that all human aid would then be perfectly unavailing ; and therefore, under such a conviction, I would think it my duty, if possible, to return to England, or at all events endeavour to reach some port that would insure that object upon the following year. " 4. In the event of this being our last communication, I would request you to assure their lordships that no ap- SECOND TRIP OP ENTERPRISE AND INVESTIGATOR. 305 prehension whatever need be entertained of our safety until thh autumn of 1854, as we have on board three years of all species of provisions, commencing from the 1st of September proximo, which, without much deprivation* may be made to extend over a period of four years ; more- over, whatever is killed by the hunting parties, I intend to issue in lieu of the usual rations, which will still further protract our resources. " It gives me great pleasure to say that the good effects of the fruit and vegetables (a large quantity of which we took on board at Oahu) are very perceptible in the in- creased vigour of the men, who at this moment are in as excellent condition as it is possible to desire, and evince a spirit of confidence and a cheerfulness of disposition which are beyond all appreciation. "5. Should difficulties apparently insurmoimtable en- compass our progress, so as to render it a matter of doubt whether the vessel could be extricated, I should deem it expedient in that case not to hazard the lives of those entrusted to my charge after the winter of 1852, but in the ensuing spring quit the vessel with sledges and boats, and make the best of our way either to Pond's Bay, Leo- pold Harbour, the Mackenzie, or for whalers, according to circumstances. " Finally. In this letter I have endeavoured to give an outline of what I wish to accomplish (and what, under moderately favourable seasons, appears to me attainable), the carrying out of which, however, not resting upon human exertions, it is impossible even to surmise if any, or what, portion may be successful. But my object in addressing you is to place their Lordships in possession of my intentions up to the latest period, so as far as possible to relieve their minds from any unnecessary anxiety as to our fate ; and having done this, a duty which is incum- bent from the deep sympathy expressed by their Lordships, 306 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. and participated in by all classes of our countrymen, in the interesting object of this expedition, I have only to add that with the ample resources which a beneficent government and a generous country have placed at our disposal (not anything that can add to our comfort being wanting), we enter upon this distinguished service with a firm determination to carry out, as far as in our feeble strength we are permitted, their benevolent intentions. " I have, &c., " EoBEBT M'Clubb, Commander." « " Ser Majesty* 8 ship * Enterprise^* " Oahu, June 29, 1850. Memobandxjm. — ^As soon as her Majesty's ship under your command is fully complete with provisions, fuel, and water, you will make the best of your way to Cape Lis- bume, keeping a good look out for the Seraldt or casks, and firing guns in foggy weather after passing Lawrence Bay. The whalers also may afford you information of our progress. ** Should you obtain no intelligence, you will understand that I intend to make the pack close to the American shore, and pursue the first favourable opening west of the Coast stream, pressing forward t.owards Melville Island. In the event of meeting land, it is most probable that I would pursue the southern shore, but conspicuous marks .will be erected, if practicable, and information buried at a ten-foot radius. " As it is necessary to be prepared for the contingency of your not being able to foUow by the ice closing in, or the severity of the weather, you will in that case keep the Investigator as close to the edge of the pack as is con- 49i8tent with her safety, and remain there imtil the season compels you to depart, when you will look into Kotzebue DISPATCHES FROM ENTERPRISE AND INYESTIOATOR. 307 Sound for the Plover, op information regarding her posi- tion; and having deposited under her charg ) a twelre- month's provisions, you will proceed to Yai^araiso, re- plenish, and return to the Strait, bearing in mind that the months of June and July are the most favourable. " A letter from the hydrographer relative to the varia- tion of the compass is annexed ; and you will bear in mind that the value of these observations will be greatly en- hanced by obtaining the variation with the ship's head at every second or fourth point round the compass occa- sionally, and she should be swung for deviation in harbour as often as opportunity may offer. " Should you not find the Plover, or that any casualty has happened to render her inefficient as a dep6t, you will take her place; and if (as Captain Kellett supposes) Kotzebue Sound has proved too exposed for a winter harbour, you will proceed to Grantley Harbour, leaving a notice to that effect on Chamisso Island. The attention of your officers is to be called, and you will read to your ship's company, the remarks of Sir J. Richardson concern- ing the communication with the Esquimaux, contained in the Arctic report received at Plymouth. " Your operations in the season 1851 cannot be guided by me, nor is there any occasion to urge you to proceed to the north-east; yet it will be highly desirable, previous to entering the pack, that you completed provisions from whalers, and obtained as much reindeer meat as possible. Captain Kellett's narrative will point out where the latter is to be had in most abundance, and where coal can be picked up on the beach ; but husband the latter article during the winter, by using all the drift wood in your power. " In the event of leaving the Strait this season, you will take any weak or sickly men out of the Plover, and replace them from your crews, affording Commander Moore all the assistance in your power, and leaving with z2 308 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. him Mr. Miertsching, the interpreter ; instructions with regard to whose accommodations you have received, and will convey to the captain of the Plover. "ElCHABD COLLINSON. " To Commander M*Clv/re, of her Majesty* s ship * Investigator* " Should it be the opinion of Commander Moore that the services of the Investigator* s ship*s company in explor- ing parties during the spring would be attended with material benefit to the object of the expedition, he will, not- withstanding these orders, detain you for that purpose ; but care must be taken that your efficiency as a sailing vessel is not crippled by the parties not returning in time for the opening of the sea. " B. C." " Ser Majesty's discovery ship * Investigator,* July 28, 1850. Kotzebue Sound, latitude 66° 54' iV., longitude 168° W, " Sir, — I have the honour to acquaint you, for the infor- mation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that to this date we have had a most excellent run. Upon getting clear of Oahu, on the morning of the 5th, we shaped a course direct for the Aleutian group, passing them in 172° 40' W. upon the evening of the 20th ; con- tinued our course with a fine south-easterly breeze, but extremely thick and foggy weather (which retarded the best of our way being made). Got fairly out of Behring Strait upon the evening of the 27th, and are now in a fair way of realizing their Lordships' expectations of reaching the ice by ^he beginning of August, or progress being advanced by the favourable circumstance of a fine southerly wind and tolerably dear weather. The latter we have known nothing of since the 19th, which, I can VOYAGE OP THE PLOVER, ETC. 309 assure jou, rendered tlie navigation amongst the islands a subject of much and deep anxiety, seldom having a horizon above 480 yards, that just enabled the dark outline of the land to be observed and avoided. " It is with much satisfaction t' it I report the good qualities of this vessel, having well tried her in the heavy gales experienced during five weeks off Cape Horn, and in moderate weather among the intricate navigation of these islands, where so much depended upon her qtiick obedience to the helm, although laden with every species of stores and provisions for upwards of three years. From these circumstances I am, therefore, fully satisfied she is as thoroughly adapted for this service as could be reasonably wished. ** I have not seen anything of the Enterprise, nor is it my intention to lose a moment by waiting off Cape Lis- burne, but shall use my best endeavours to carry out the intentions contained in my letter of the 20th, of which I earnestly trust their Lordships will approve. ** I am happy to be able to state that the whole crew are in excellent health and spirits, and everything as satis- factoiy as it is possible to desire. "I have, &c., "BoBEBT M*Clvbb, Commander. " The Secretary qf the Admiralty" Voyage op H.M.S. " Plovee," and Boat Expeditions undeb commandeb fullen, 1848 — 51. In the copy of the instructions issued from the Admi- ralty to Lieutenant (now Commander) Moore, of the Plover, dated 3rd of January, 1848, he was directed to make the best of his way to Fetropaulowski, touching at Panama, where she was to be joined by H.M.S. Herald, and afterwards both vessels were to proceed to Behring 310 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Strait, where they were expected to arrive about the Ist of July, and then push along the American coast, as far as possible, consistent with tLe certainty of preventing the ships being beset by the ice. The Plover was then to be secured for the winter in some safe and convenient port from whence boat parties might be dispatched, and the Serald was to return and transmit, vid Panama, any intelligence necessary to England. Great caution was ordered to be observed in communicating with the natives in the neighbourhood of Xotzebue Sound, should that quarter be visited, as the people in that part of the country differ in character from the ordinary Esquimaux, in being comparatively a fierce, agile, and suspicious race, well armed with knives, &c., for offence, and prone to attack. They were also ordered to take interpreters or guides from a small factory of the Bussian-American Company in T^orton Sound. The Plover was safely ensconced for the winter of 1849-50 in Kotzebue Sound, afber the termination of a hard season's work. She had conjointly with the Merald, discovered to the north of Behiing Strait, two islands, and several apparently disconnected patches of very ele- vated ground. Lieut. Pullen had previously quitted her off Wainwright Inlet, with four boats, for the purpose of prosecuting his adventurous voyage along the coast to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, where he arrived safely on the 26th of August, after a perilous navigation of thirty- two days, but had obtained no clue or intelligence regard- ing the prime object of his expedition. At a later date he encountered at Fort Simpson, higher up the river, Dr. Bae, and gathered from that gentleman that the party led by him down the Coppermine, with the view of crossing over to Victoria or WoDaston Land, had, owing to the unusual difficulties created by the more than customary rigour of the season, met with entire failure ; the farthest point attained being Cape Krusenstem. VOYAGE OP THE PLOVER, ETC. 311 Lieut. Pullen is occupied during the present year in a journey irom tlie mouth of the Mackenzie eastward, along the Arctic coast, as far as Cape Bathurst, and this being successfully accomplished, he purposes attempting to cross the intervening space to Banks' Land. He is furnished with two boats, both open. Lieut. W. H. Hooper, one of the party, in a recent letter to his father in London, writing from Great Slave Lake, under date June 27, 1850, gives some further details of their proceedings. Having had considerable trouble and a slight skirmish with some parties of Esquimaux, they were obliged to be continually on the watch. At the end of August the party entered the Mackenzie B>iver, and in a few days reached one of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts on the Peel Biver, a branch of the Mackenzie, where Commander Pullen left Lieut. Hooper and half the party to winter, while he proceeded farther up the river to a more important post at Fort Simpson. After remaining at Peel's Biver station about a fortnight, Mr. Hooper found that his party could not be maintained throughout the winter there, and in consequence determined on fol lowing Capt. Pullen, but was only able to reach Fort Norman, one of his party being frost-bitten on the journey. They thence made their way across to Great Bear Lake, where they passed the winter, subsisting on fish and water. Dr. Bae arrived there as soon as the ice broke up, and the party proceeded with him to Fort Simpson. On the 20th of June Commander Pullen and all his party left with the company's servants, and the stock of furs, on their way to the sea, to embark for England, when they were met on the 25th by a canoe with Admiralty dispatches, which caused them to retrace their steps ; and they are now on their route by the Great Slave Lake to Fort Simpson, and down the Mackenzie once more, to ^he Polar Sea, in search of Sir John Franklin. " However grieving," Lieut. Hooper adds, "it is to be m 312 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. disappointed of returning home, yet I am nevertlieless de- lighted to go again, and think that we do not hopelessly undertake another search, since our intended direction is considered the most probable channel for finding the miss- ing ships or crews. We go down the Mackenzie, along the coast eastward to Point Bathurst, and thence strike across to WoIlaFton or Banks' Land. The season will, of course, much influence our proceedings; but we shall probably return up the hitherto unexplored river which runs into the Arctic Ocean from Liverpool Bay, between the Coppermine and Mackenzie." The latest official dispatch from Commander Pullen is dated Great Slave Lake, June 28th. He had been stopped by the ice, and intended returning to Fort Simp- son on the 29th. One of his boats was so battered about as to be perfectly useless, he intended patching up the other, and was also to receive a new boat belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, from Fort Simpson. He had dismissed two of his party, as they were both sufiering from bad health, but purposed engaging at Fort Good Hope, two Hare Lidians, as hunters and guides, one of whom had accompanied Messrs. Dease and Simpson on their trips of discovery in 1838 and 1839. This would augm<)nt the party to seventeen persons in all. ** My present intentions," he says, " are to proceed down the Mackenzie, along the coast, to Cape Bathurst, and then strike acnross for Banks' Land ; my operations must then of course be guided by circumstances, but 1 shall strenuously endeavour to search along all coasts in that direction as far and as late as I can with safety venture; returning, if possible, by the Mackenzie, or by the Beghoola, which the Indians speak of as being navigable, as its head waters are (according to Sir John Bichardson) only a nine-days' portage from Fort Good Hope; to meet which, or a similar contingency, I take f now shoes and sledcres, &o. VOYAGE OP THE PLOVER, ETC. 31^ " In conclusion, I beg to assure their Lordships of my earnest determination to carry out their views to the utmost of my ability, being confident, from the eagerness of the party, that no pains will be spared, no necessary labour avoided, and, by God's blessing, we hope to be successful in discovering some tidings of our gallant countrymen, or even in restoring them to their native land and anxious relatives." Mr. Chief Factor Bae was about to follow Commander Pullen and his party from Portage La Loche. Dr. Richardson observes that " Commander Pullen vrill require to be fully victualled for at least 120 days from the 20th of July, when he may be expected to commence his sea voyage ; which for sixteen men will require forty- five bags of pemmican of 90lbs. each. This is exclusive of a further supply which he ought to take for the relief of any of Franklin's people he may have the good fortune to find. After he leaves the mainland at Cape Bathurst, he would have no chance of killing deer till he makes Banks' Land, or some intervening island ; and he must provide for the chance of being caught on the floe ice, and having to make his way across by the very tedious portages, as frdly described by Sir W. £. Parry in the narrative of his most adventurous boat voyage north of Spitzbergen. " Mr. Eae can give Commander Pullen the fullest information respecting the dep6ts of pemmican made on the coast. " With respect to Commander Pullen's return from sea, his safest plan wiU be to make for the Mackenzie ; but should circumstances place that out of his power, the only other course that seems to me to be practicable is for him to ascend a large river which falls into the bottom of Liverpool Bay, to the westward of Cape Bathurst. This river, which is named the Beghoola Dessy by the Indians, runs parallel to the Mackenzie, and in the latitude of Fort 814 F90OBESS OF ABOTZO I>ISCOyEBT. Gkx>d Hope (66° 8(y N.)» w not abore five or six days* journey from that post. Hare Indians, belonging to Fort Good Hope, might be engaged to. hunt on the banks of the river till the arrival of the party. The navigation of the river is unknown ; but even should Commander Fullen be compelled to quit his boats, his Indian hunters (of which he should at least engage two for his sea voyage) will support and guide his party. Wood and animals are most certainly found on the banks of rivers. " It is not likely that under any circumstances Com- mander Fullen should desire to reach the Mackenzie by way of the Coppermine Biver, and this could be effected only by a boat being placed at Dease Biver, for the transport of the party over Great Bear Lake. This would require to be arranged previously with Mr. Bae; and Commander Fullen should not be later in arriving at Fort Confidence than the end of September. VOTAOB OP THE " LaDY FbANKLIN" AND " SoPHIA," GOVEBNMBNT YeSSELS, UNDEB THE COMMAND OF Mb. Fenny, 1850-51. A VESSEL of 230 tons, named after Lady Franklin, fitted out at Aberdeen, with a new brig as a tender, built at Dundee, and named the Sophiat in honour of Miss S. Cracroft, the beloved and attached niece of Lady Franklin, and one of the most anxious watchers for tidings of the long-missing adventurers, were purchased by the Govern- ment last year. The charge of this expedition was entrusted to Captain Fenny, formerly commanding the Advice whaler, and who has had much experience in the icy seas, having been engaged twenty-eight years, since the age of twelve, in the whaling trade, and in command of vessels for fourteen years ; Mr. Stewart was placed in charge of the Sophia, The crew of the Lachf Franklin, number twenty-five and that of the Sophia, twenty, all picked men. VOYAGE OP THE LADY FRANKLIN AND SOPHIA. 315 These ships sailed on the 12th of April, 1850, pro- Tisioi\ed and stored for three years. They were provided with a printing press, and every appliance to relieve the tedium of a long sojonm in the icy regions. In the instructions issued by the Admiralty, it is stated that in accepting Captain Penny's offer of service, regard has been had to his long experience in Arctic navigation and to the great attention he has paid to the subject of the missing ships. He was left in a great measure to the exercise of his own judgment and discretion, in combining the most active and energetic search after the Erehus and Terror, with a strict and careful regard to the safety of the ships and their crews under his charge. He was directed to examine Jones' Sound at the head of Baffin's Bay, and if possible penetrate through to the Parry Islands ; failing in this, he was to try Wellington Strait, and endeavour to reach Melville Island. He was to use his utmost endea- vours (consistent with the safety of the lives of thosd entrusted to his command) to succour, in the summer of 1850, the party under Sir John Franklin, taking care to secure his winter quarters in gOv>d time ; and, 2ndly, the same active measures were to be used in the summer of 1851, to secure the return of the ships under his charge to this country. The Ladif Franklin was off Cape Tork, in Baffin's Bay, on the 13th of August. From thence she proceeded, in company with H.M.S. Assistance, to Wolstenholme Sound. She afterwards, in accordance with her instructions, crossed over to the west with the intention of examining Jones' Sound, but owing to the accumulation of ice was unable to approach it within twenty-five miles. This was at midnight on the 18th. She, therefore, continued her voyage to Lancaster Sound, and onwards to Wellington Channel, where she was seen by Commander Forsyth, of 316 PBOGBESS OF ABCTIC DISCOYEBT. the Prince Albert, oa the 25th of August, with her tender, and H.M.S. Assistance in company, standing towards Cape Sotham. VoYAaE OF H.M. Ships "Resolute" and "Assistance," WITH THE Steamers " Pioneer" and " Intrepid" as Tenders, under command of Captain Austin, 1850-61. Two fine teak-built ships of about 500 tons each, the JBaboo and Ptarmigany whose names were altered to the Assistance and Resolute, were purchased by the GoTem- ment in 1850, and sent to the naval yards to be properly fitted for the voyage to the Polar regions. Two screw-propeller steamers, intended to accompany these vessels as steam tenders, were also purchased and similarly fitted ; their names were changed from the Eider and Free Trade to the Pioneer and Intrepid, The command of this expedition was entrusted to Cap- tain Horatio T. Austin, C.B., who was first Lieutenant of the Fwry, under Commander Hoppner, in Captain Sir £. Parry's third voyage, in 1824-25. The vessels were provisioned for three years, and their attention was also directed to the depdts of stores lodged by Sir James Boss at Leopold Island, and at ^avy Board Inlet by the North Star. The ships sailed in May, 1850. The officers em- ployed in them were as follows : — Sesolute, Captain — Horatio T. Austin, C.B. Lieutenants — E. D. Aldrich and W. H. J. Browne. Mates — B. B. Pearse and W. M. May. Purser — J. E. Brooman. Surgeon — A. B. Bradford. Assistant ditto — Biohard King. Midshipmen— C. Bullock, J. P. Cheyne. Second Master— G. F. M'Dougall. Total complement, 60 men. VOYAQE OF THE BESOLUTE AND ASSISTANCE, ETC. 317 JPioneer screw steamer. * Lieut.-Commandmg — Sherard Osbom. Second Master — J. H. Allard. Assistant-Surgeon — F. B. Picthom. AsaistaTice. Captain — ^E. Ommannej. Lieutenants— J. E. Elliot, F. L. M*Clintock, and G. F# Mecham. Surgeon — J. J. L. Donnett. Assistant ditto — J. Ward (a). Mates — "R. Y. Hamilton and J. B. £eane. Clerk in charge — ^E. N. Harrison. Second Master — W. B. Shellabear. Midshipman — 0- ■ Htuarkham. 1 tri ' Jmplement, 60 men. Intrepid screw steamer. Lieut.-Commander — ^B. Cator. Each of the tenders had a crew of 30 men. Two of the officers appointed to this expedition, Lieu- tenants Browne and M'Clintock, were in the Enterprise under Captain Sir James C. Boss in 1848. The Emma EugeniattKos^^Qxt was despatched in advance with provisions to the Whalefish Islands, to await the arrival of the expedition. It having been suggested by some parties that Sir John Franklin might have effected his passage to Melville Island, and been detained there with his ships, or that the ships might have been damaged by the ice in the neigh- bouring sea, and that with his crews he had abandoned them and made hid eboape to that island, Captain Austin was specially instructed to use every exertion to reach this island, detaching a portion of his ships to search the 318 PROGBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. shores of Wellington Channel and the coast about Cape Walker, to which point Sir J. Franklin was ordered to proceed. Advices were first received from the Assistance, after her departure dated 5th of July ; she was then making her way to the northward. The season was less favourable for exploring operations, than on many previous years. But little ice had been met with in Davis Strait, where it is generally found in large quantities, so that obstacles of a serious nature may be expected to the northward. Penny's ships had been in company with them. Ice is an insurmountable barrier to rapid progress; fortifications may be breached, but huge masses of ice 200 to 600 feet high are not to be overcome. On the 2nd of July the Assistance was towed beneath a perpendicular clifi* to the northward of Cape Shackleton, rising to the height of about 1500 feet, which was observed to be crowded with the foolish guillemots ( Vria troile). When the ship hooked on to an iceberg for the night, a party sent on shore for the purpose brought off 260 birds and about twenty dozen of their eggs. These birds only lay one egg each. The following official despatch has been since received from Captain Ommanney :~-> " Mer Majesty's ship * Assistance* off Lancaster Sound, latitude 75° 46' N., Umgitude 75° 49' W., August 17, 1850. " Sir, — ^I have the honour to acquaint you, for the infor- mation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that her Majesty's ship Assistance, and her tender, her Majesty's steam-vessel Intrepid, have this day succeeded in effecting a passage across to the west water, and are now proceeding to Lancaster Sound. Officers and crews all VOYAGE OF THE BESOLUTE AND ASSISTANCE, ETC. 319 well, with fine clear weather, and open water as far as can be seen. "Agreeably with instructions received from Captain H. Austin, we parted company on the 15th instant, at one ▲.M., off Cape Dudley Biggs, as the ice was then sufi* ciently open to anticipate no further obstruction in effect- ing the north passage. He was anxious to proceed to Pond's Bay, and thence take up the examination along the south shores of Lancaster Sound, leaving me to ascer- tain the truth of a report obtained from the Esquimaux at Cape York respectiug some ship or ships having been seen near Wolstenholme Island, after which to pro- ceed to the north shores of Lancaster Sound and Welling- ton Channel. " On passing Cape York (the 14th inst.) natives were seen. By the directions of Captain Austin I landed, and communicated with them, when we were informed that they had seen a ship in that neighbourhood in the spring, and that she was housed in. Upon this inteUigence I shipped one of the natives, who volunteered to join us as interpreter and guide. " On parting with Captain Austin we proceeded towards Wolstenholme Island, where I left the ship and proceeded in her Majesty's steam vessel Intrepid into Wolstenholme Sound, and by the guidance of the Esquimaux succeeded in finding a bay about thirteen miles further in, and sheltered by a prominent headland. In the cairns erected here we found a document stating that the North Star had wintered in the bay, a copy of which I have the honour to transmit their Lordships. " Previous to searching the spot where the North Star wintered, I examined the deserted Esquimaux settlement. At this spot we found evident traces of some ship having been in the neighbourhood, from empty preserved meat canisters and some clothes left near a pool of water, 320 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. marked with the name of a corporal belonging to the N(yrth Star, " Hiaymg ascertained this satisfactory information, I returned to Wolstenholme Island, where a document was deposited recording our proceedings. At 6 a.m. of the 16th inst. I rejoined the ship, and proceeded at two to the westward, and am happy to inform you that the passage across has been made without obstruction, towing through loose and straggling ice. " The expedition was beset in MelviUe Bay, surrounded by heavy and extensive floes of ice, from the 11th of July to the 9th of August, 1850, when after great exertion a release was effected, and we succeeded in reaching Gape York by continuing along the edge of the land ice, after which we have been favoured with plenty of water. " Captain Penny's expedition was in company during the most part of the time while in Melville Bay, and up to the 14th inst., when we left him off Cape Dudley Diggs ■ — all well. " In crossing Melville Bay we fell in with Sir John ^o»B and Captain Forsyth's expeditions. These Captain Austin has assisted by towing them towards their destina- tions. The latter proceeded with him, and the former has remained with us. " Having placed Sir John Boss in a fair way of reaching Lancaster Sound, with a fair wind and open water, his vessel has been cast off in this position. I shall therefore proceed with all dispatch to the examination of the north shores of Lancaster Sound and Wellington Channel, according to Captain Austin's directions. " I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, " Erasmus Ommanney, Captain." The Beaolute got clear of the Orkneys on the 15th of VOYAGE OF THE BESOLUTE AND ASSISTANCE, ETC. 321 May, and arriyed with her consort and tiie two tenders at the Whale-Fish Islands on the 14Ah of June. The' Mesolute was in Possession Bay on the 17th of August. From thenoe her proposed course was along the coast, northward and westward, to Whaler Point, situated at the southern extremity of Port Leopold, and afterwards to Melville Island. In order to amuse themselres and comrades, the of&c >r.4 of the Assistance had started a MS. newspaper, under the title of the ''Aurora Borealis.*' Many of my readers will have heard of the " Cockpit Herald," and such other produc- tions of former days, in his Majesty's fleet. Parry, too* liad his journal to beguile the long hours of the tedious Arctic winter. I have seen copies of this novel specimen of the " fourth estate," dated Baffin's Bay, June, 1860, in which there is a happy mixture of grave and gay, prose and verse; numerous very fair acrostics are published. I append, by way of curiosity, a couple of extracts. " What insect that Noah had with him, were these regions named after P — The Arc-tic. " To the Editor qfthe Aurora JSorealis. " Sib, — ^Having heard from an Arctic voyager that he has seen ' crows'-nests' in those icy regions, I beg to inquire, through your columns, if they are built by the crows (CorvustintintuUmlus), which Gbodsir states to utter a metallic bell-like croak P My fast friend begs me to inquire when rook shooting commences in those diggings P " A Natubalist. [« We would recommend to ' A Naturalist' a visit to these ' crows'-nests,' which do exist in the Arctic regions. We would also advise his fast friend to investigate these said nests more thoroughly; he would find them tenanted ^22 PBOOBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY* by very old birds (ice quarter-masters), who would not only inform him as to the species of crows and the sport- ing season, but would give them a fair chance of showing him how a pigeon may be plucked. — Editor."] VoTAaB of Captain Sib John Eoss, in ^-ib " Felix," PRIVATE Schooner, 1850-61. In April, 1850, Captain Sir John Boss having volun- i»ered his services to proceed in the search, was enabled, by the liberaliiy of the Hudson's Bay Company, whc contributed 500Z., and public subscription, to leave Eng- land in the Felix schooner, of 120 tons, with a picked crew, and accompanied by Commander C. Gervans Phillips, B.N. She also had the Mary, Sir John's own yacht, of twelve tons, as a tender. Mr. Abemethy proceeded as ice-master, having accompanied Sir John in his former voyage to Boothia; and Mr. Sivewright was mate of the Felix, The vessels sailed from Scotland on the 23rd of May, and reached Holsteinborg in June, where Captain Boss succeeded in obtaining a Danish interpreter who understood the Esqui- maux language; he then proceeded on, calling at the Whale-Fish Islands, and passing northway through the Waygatt Strait, overtook, on the 10th of August, H.M. ships Assistance and Resolutet with their tenders the Jntrepid and Fioneer, under the command of Captain Austin. On the 13th of August Captain Ommanney in the As" distance, and Sir John Boss in the Felix, being somewhere off Cape York, observed three male Esquimaux on the ice close by, and with these people it was prudently resolved to communicate. Accordingly, Lieutenant Cator in the Jntrepid steamer, tender to the Assistance, and Commander Phillips in the whale-boat of the Felix, put off on this service. The Intrepid's people arrived first, but appa- rently without any means of expressing their desires, so VOYAOE OF SIB JOHN BOSS IN THE FELIX, ETC. 323 that when the boat o{ the^Felix, eontainmg an Esquimaux interpreter, joined the party, the natives immediately gave signs of recognition and satisfaction, came into the boat without the least hesitation, and engaged themselves pre- sently in a long and animated conversation with their countryman, the interpreter. Half an hour was devoted to this interchange of intelligence, but with no immediate result, for the interpreter could only translate his native language into Danish, and as no person in the boat under- stood Danish, the information remained as inaccessible as before. In this predicament the boats returned with the intention of cond&onting the interpreter — ^whose Chris- tianized name is Adam Beek — ^with Sir John Boss himself. As Sir John, however, was pushing a-head in the Felix towards Cape Dudley Diggs, and as Adam appeared anxious to disburden himself of his newly acquired in- formation, the boats dropped on board the Prince Albert, another of the exploring vessels in the neighbourhood, and there put Adam in communication with the captain's steward, John Smith, who " understood a little of the lan- guage," as Sir John Boss says, or " a good deal," as Com- mander Phillips says, and who presently gave such anaccount of the intelligence as startled everybody on board. Its pur- port was as follows : — That in the winter of 1846, when the snow was falling, two ships were crushed by the ice a good way off in the direction of Cape Dudley Diggs, and afterwards burned by a fierce and numerous tribe of natives ; that the ships in question were not whalers, and that epaulettes were worn by some of the white men ; that a part of the crews were drowned, that the remainder were some time in huts or tents apart from the natives, that they had guns, but no balls, and that being in a weak and exhausted condition, they were subsequently killed by the natives with darts or arrows. This was the form given to the Esquimaux story by John Smith, captain's steward of S24 PROOBESS OF ABOTIO DISCOVERT. the Prince Albert Impressed with the importance of these tidings, Captain Ommanney and Commander Phillips immediately made their report to Captain Austin in the Besoluie, which was then in company with the Felix near Cape Dudley Diggs. Captain Austin at once decided upon investigating the credibiliiy of the story, and with this yiew despatched a message to the Lac^ Franklin, another of the exploring ships, which lay a few miles off, and which had On board a regular Danish interpreter. This interpreter duly arriyed, but proceeded forthwith to translate the story by a statement " totally at variance " with the interpretation of " the other," whom, as we are told, he called a liar and intimidated into silence ; though no sooner was tilie latter left to himself than he again re- peated his version of the tale, and stoutly maintained its accuracy. Meantime an additional piece of Information became known, namely, that a certain ship had passed the winter safely housed in Wolstenholme Sound — a state- ment soon ascertained by actual investigation to be per- fectly true. The following is an extract of a letter from — Captain Sir John Boss, B.N., to Captain W. A, B. Bar milton, B.N.f Secretary of the Admiralty, " ' Felix ' discovery yacht, off Admiralty Inlet, " Lancaster Sound, August 22. " Sib, — ^I have to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that the Felix discovery yacht, with her tender, the Mary, after obtain- ing an Esquimaux interpreter at Holsteinborg, and calling at Whale-fish Islands, proceeded northway through the Waygatt Straits, and overtook her Majesty's discovery ships, under the command of Captain Austin, on the 11th of August ; and on the 12th the senior officer and the second in command having cordially communicated with VOYAGE OF SIB JOHN BOSS IK THE FEUX, ETC. 325 me en the best mode of performing the service on which we are mutually embarked, arrangements were made and concluded for a simultaneous examination of every part of the eastern side of a north-west passage in which it was probable that the missing ships could be bound: docu- ments to that effect were exchanged, and subsequently assented to by Captains Forsyth and Fenny. " On the 13th of August natives were discovered on the ice near to Cape York, with whom it was deemed advis- able to communicate. On this service. Lieutenant Cator, in the Intrepid, was detached on the part of Capt. Austin, and on my part Commander FhiUips, with our Esquimaux interpreter, in the whale boat of the Felix, It was found by lieutenant Cator that Captain Fenny had left with the natives a note for Captain Austin, but only relative to the state of the navigation; however, when Commander FhiUips arrived, the Esquimaux, seeing one apparently of their own nation in the whale boat, came immediately to him, when a long conversation took place, the purport of which could not be made known, as the interpreter could not explain himself to any one either in the Intrt^^ or the whale boat (as he understands only the Danish besides his own language), until he was brought on board the Prince Albert, where John Smith, the captain*s steward of that vessel, who had been some years at the Hudson's Bay settlement of Churchill, and understands a little of the language, was able to give some explanation of Adam Beek*s information, which was deemed of such importance that Captains Ommanney, FhiUips, and Forsyth, pro- ceeded in the Intrepid to the Besolute, when it was de- cided by Captain Austin to send for the Danish interpreter of the Ladif Franklin, which, having been unsuccessful in an attempt at getting through the ice to the westward, was only a few miles distant. In the meantime it was known that, in addition to the first information, a ship, 326 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. wliicli coidd only be the North Star, had wintered in Wolstenholme Sound, called by the natives Oorinak, and had only left it a month ago. This proved to be true, but the interpretation of the Dane was totally at variance with the information given by the other, who, although for obvious reasons he did not dare to contradict the Dane, subsequently maintained the truHi of his statement, which induced Captain Austin to dispatch the Intrepid with Captains Ommanney and Phillips, taking with them both our interpreters, Adam Beek and a young native who had been persuaded to come as one of the crew of the Assistance, to examine Wolstenholme Sound. In the meantime it had been unanimously decided that no alteration shoidd be made in our previous arrangement, it being obvious that while there remained a chance of saving the lives of those of the missing ships who may be yet alive, a further search for those who had perished should be postponed, and accordingly the Resolute, Pioneer, and Prince Albert parted company on the 15th. It is here tmnecessary to give the ofScial reports made to me by Commander Fhil- Hps, which are of course transmitted by me to the Secre- tary of the Hudson's Bay Company, which, with the information written in the Esquimaux language by Adam Beek, wiU no doubt be sent to you for their Lordships' information ; and it will be manifest by these reports that Commander Phillips has performed his duiy with saga- city, circumspection, and address, which do him infinite credit, although it is only such as I must have expected from so intelligent an officer ; and I have much satisfaction in adding that it has been mainly owing to his zeal and activity that I was able, under disadvantageous circum- stances, to overtake her Majesty's ships, while by his scientific acquirements and accuracy in surveying, he has been able to make many important corrections and valu- able additions to the charts of the much-frequented eastern VOTAOE OF SIR JOHN ROSS IN THE FELIX, ETC. 327 side of Baffin's Bay, which has been more closely observed and navigated by us than by any former expedition, and, much to my satisfaction, confirming the latitude and lon- gitude of every headland I had an opportunity of laying down in the year 1818. " I have only to add that I have much satisfaction in co-operating with her Majesty's expedition. With such support and with such vessels so particularly adapted for the service, no exertion shall be wanting on my part. But I cannot conclude this letter without acknowledging my obligations to Commodore Austin and Captain Om- ttianney for the assistance they have afforded me, and for the cordiality and courtesy with which I have been treated by these distinguished officers and others of the ships under their orders. Animated as we are with an ardent and sincere desire to rescue our imperilled countrymen, I confidently trust that our united exertions and humble endeavours may, imder a merciful Providence, be com- pletely successM. " I am, with truth and regard, Sir, your faithful and obedient servant, ** John Boss, Captain, E.N.'* By the accounts brought home by Commander Fo:*^) th from Lancaster Sound, to the 25th of August, it is stated that Sir John Boss, in the Felix, intended to return to England. The ice was at that period very heavy, extending all around from Leopold Island, at the entrance of Begent Lilet, to Cape Farewell, to the westward, so as to prevent the possibility of any of the vessels pushing on to Cape Walker. When the Prince Albert was between Cape Spencer and Cape Lmes, in Wellington Channel, Mr. Snow went at noon to the mast-head, and saw H.M. ship Assistance as near as possible within Cape Hotham, under d2S PB00RE8S OF ARCTTO DISCOVERY. 8 press of sail. Her tender, the Intrepid, was not seen, bnt was believed to be with ber. Captain Fenny, with bis two ships,. the Lac^ Franklin and Sophia, was endeayour- ing to make his waj up the same Channel, but it was feared the ice would ultimately be too strong for him, and that he would have to return home, leaving Captain Austin's squadron only to winter in the ice. The American man-of-war brig Itescue was close beset with the ice near Cape Bowen. The Pioneer was with the Resolute on the 17th August. Ambbioan Seabohino Expedition. — United States' Ships, " Advance" and " Ebscub," vndbb thb Command of Lieutenant Db Haven, 1850-51. In the spring of 1849, Lady Franklin made a touching and pathetic appeal to the feelings of the American nation, in the following letter to the President of the Bepublic :— " The Lady qfSir John Franklin to the President, " Bedford-place, London, 4ith April, 1849. " Sib, — I address myself to you as the head of a great nation, whose power to help me I cannot doubt, and in whose disposition to do so I have a confidence which I trust you will not deem presimiptuous. "The name of my husband. Sir John Franklin, is probably not unknown to you. It is intimately connected with the northern part c^ that continent of which the American republic forms so vast and conspicuous a portion. When I visited the United States three years ago, amongst the many proofs I received of respect and courtesy, there was none which touched and even ' rprised me more than the appreciation everywhere expressed to me of his former services in geographical discovery, and the interest felt in the enterprise in which he was then known to be engaged." LADY franklin's APPEAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 329 [Her ladyship here gives the details of the departure of the expedition, and the measures already taken for its relief.] • • • • « ** I have entered into these details with the view of prov- ing that, though the British government has not forgotten the duty it owes to the brave men whom it has sent on a peril-^ (saa service, and has spent a very large sum in providing the means for their rescue, yet that, owing to various causes, the means actually in operation for this purpose are quite inadequate to meet the extreme exigence of the case ; for» it must be remembered, that the missing ships were victualled for three years only, and that nearly four years have now elapsed, so that the survivors of so many winters in the ice must be at the last extremity. And also, it must be borne in mind, that the channels by which the ships may have attempted to force a passage to the westward, or which they may have been compelled, by adverse cir- cumstances, to take, are very numerous and complicated, and that one or two ships cannot possibly, in the course of the next short summer, explore them all. ** The Board of Admiralty, under a conviction of this fact, has been induced to offer a reward of 20,000/. sterling to any ship or ships, of any coxmtry, or to any exploring party whatever, which shall render efficient assistance to the missing ships, or their crews, or to any p<^*tion of them. This announcement, which, even if the sum had been doubled or trebled, woidd have met with public appro- bation, comes, however, too late for our whalers, which had unfortunately sailed before it was issued, and which, even if the news should overtake them at their fishing- grounds, are totally unfitted for any prolonged adventure, having only a few months' provision on board, and no ad- ditional clothing. To the American whalers, both in the Atlantic and Pacific, I look with more hope, as competitors I i id 330 PB06RESS OF ASC'TIC DISCOVERT. for the prize, being well aware of their numbers and strength, their thorough equipment, and the bold spirit of enterprise which animates their crews. But I venture to look even beyond these. I am not without hope that you will deem it not unworthy of a great and kindred nation to take up the cause of humanity which I plead, in a national spirit, and thus generously make it your own. " I must here, in gratitude, adduce the example of the imperial Bussian Government, which, as I am led to hope by his Excellency theEussian Ambassador in London, who for- warded a memorial on the subject, will send out exploring parties this summer, from the Asiatic side of Behring's Strait northward, in search of the lost vessels. It would be a noble spectacle to the world, if three great nations, possessed of the widest empires on the face of the globe, were thus to unite their efforts in the truly Christian work of saving their perishing fellow-men from destruction. - " It is not for me to suggest the mode in which such benevolent efforts might best be made. I will only say, however, that if the conceptions of my own mind, to which I do not venture to give utterance, were realized, and that, in the noble competition which followed, American seamen had the good fortune to wrest from us the glory, as might be the case, of solving the problem of the unfound passage, or the still gi'eater glory of saving our adven- turous navigators from a lingering fate which the mind sickens to dwell on, though I should in either case regret that it was not my own brave countrymen in those seas whose devotion was thus rewarded, yet should I rejoice that it was to America we owed our restored happiness, and should be for ever bound to her by ties of affectionate gratitude. ' " I am not without some misgivings while I thus address you. The intense anxieties of a wife and of a daughter may have led me to press too earnestly on your notice the LADY franklin's APPEAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 331 trial ujider which we are suffering, (yet not we only, but hundreds of others,) and to presume too much on the sympathy which we are assured is felt beyond the limits of our own land. Yet, if you deem this to be the case, you will still find, I am sure, even in that personal intensity of feeling, an excuse for the fearlessness with which I have. thrown myself on your generosity, and wiU pardon the homage I thus pay to your own high character, and to that of the people over whom you have the high distinction to preside. " I have, &c. (Signed) " Janb Franklin.'* To which the following reply was received :— Mr. Clmfton to Lad^f Jane Franklin. " Department of State, Washington, "25^A4prt7,1849. " Madam, — ^Your letter to the President of the United States, dated April 4th, 1849, has been received by him, and he has instructed me to make to you the following reply: — ' " The appeal made in the letter with ^hich you have honoured him, is such as would strongly enlist the sym- pathy of the rulers and the people of any portion of the civilized world. " To the citizens of the United States, who share so largely in the emotions which agitate the public mind of your own country, the name of Sir John Franklin has been endeared by his heroic virtues, and the sufferingB and sacrifices which he has encountered for the benefit of mankind. The appeal of his wife and daughter, in their distress, has been borne across the waters, asking the assistance of a kindred people to save the brave men who embarked in his unfortunate expedition; and the people of the United States, who have watched with the deepest 332 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. interest that hazardous enterprise, will now respond to that appeal, bj the expression of their united wishes that -every proper effort may be made by this Government for the rescue of your husband and his companions. "To accomplish the objects you have in view, the attention of American navigators, and especially of our whalers, will be immediately invoked. All the informa- tion in the possessicm of this Government, to enable them to aid in discovering the missing ships, relieving their crews and restoring them to their families, shall be spread far and wide among our people; and all that the executive Government of the United States, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, can effect, to meet this requisition on American enterprise, skUl, and bravery, will be promptly undertaken. " The hearts of the American people will be deeply touched by your eloquent address to their Chief Magis- trate, and they will join with you in an earnest prayer to Him whose spirit is on the waters, that your husband and his companions may yet be restored to their country and their friends. " I have, &c. (Signed) "John M. Clayton." A second letter was also addressed by Lady Franklin to the President in the close of that year, after the forced return of Captain Sir James Eoss, from whose active exertions so much had been expected— The Lady cf Sir John JFranklin to the Prs^sident. ** Spring Oardent, London, 11th Dec, 1849. *' Sib, — I had the honour of addressing myself to you, in the month of April last, in behalf of my husband. Sir John Franklin, his officers and crews, who were sent by Her Majesty's Government, in the spring of 1845, on a i LADY franklin's APPEAL TO AMERICAN NATION. 33$ maritune expedition for a discoyeiy of the North- West Passage, and who have never since been heard of. "Their mysterious fate has excited, I believe, the deepest interest throughout the civilized world, but no- where more so, not even in England itself, than in the United States of America. It was under a deep convic- tion of this fact, and with the humble hope that an appeal to those generous sentiments would never be made alto- gether in vain, that I ventured to lay before you the necessities of that critical period, and to ask you to take up the cause of humanity which I pleaded, and generously make it your own. "How nobly you, sir, and the American people, responded to that appeal, — ^how kindly and courteously that response was conveyed to me, — ^is known wherever our common language is spoken or understood; and though difficulties, which were mainly owing to the advanced state of the season, presented themselves after your official announcement had been made known to our Government, and prevented the immediate execution of your intentions, yet the generous pledge you had given was not altogether withdrawn, and hope stUl remained to me that, should the necessity for renewed measures continue to exist, I might look again across the waters for the needed succc v. "A period has now, alas! arrived, when our dearest hopes as to the safe return of the discovery ships this autumn are finally crushed by the unexpected, though forced return of Sir James Eoss, without any tidings of them, and also by the close of the Arctic season. And not only have no tidings been brought of their safety or of their fate, but even the very traces of their course have yet to be discovered; for such was the concurrencs of unfortunate and uinusual circumstances attending the efforts of the brave and able officer alluded to, that he I m 334 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. was not able to reach those points where indications of the course of the discovery ships would most probably be found. And thus, at the close of a second season since the departure of the recent expedition of search, we remain in nearly the same state of ignorance respecting the missing expedition as at the moment of its starting £rom our shores. And in the meantime our brave country- men, whether clinging still to their ships, or dispersed in various directions, have entered upon a fifth winter in those dark and dreary solitudes, with exhausted means of sustenance, while yet their expected succour comes not! " It is in the time, then, of their greatest peril, in the day of their extremest need, that I venture, encouraged by your former kindness, to look to you again for some active efforts which may come in aid of those of my own country, and add to the means of search. Her Majesty's Ministers have already resolved on sending an expedition to Behring's Strai', and doubtless have other necessary measures in contemplation, supported as they are, in every means that can be devised for this humane purpose, by the sympathies of the nation, and by the generous solicitude which our Queen is known to feel in the fate of her brave people imperilled in their country's service. But, whatever be the measures contemplated by the Admiralty, they cannot be such as will leave no room or necessity for more, since it is only by the multiplication of means, and those vigorous and instant ones, that we can hope, at this last stage, and in this last hour, perhaps, of the lost navi- gators' existence, to snatch them from a dreary grave. And surely, till the shores and seas of those frozen regions have been swept in all directions, or until some memorial be found to attest their fate, neither England, who sent them out, nor even America, on whose shores LIEUTENANT OSBOBN'S SUGOESTIONS. 335 thej have been launched in a cause which has interested the world for centuries, will deem the question at rest. " May it please God so to move the hearts and wills of a great and kindred people, and of their chosen Chief Magistrate, that they may join heart and hand in the generous enterprise ! The respect and admiration of the world, which watches with growing interest every move- ment of your great republic, will follow the chivaJric and humane endeavour, and the blessing of them who were ready to perish shall come upon you I "I have, &c. (Signed) tt Jane Fbanelin. « Sis Excellency the President of the United States.'* In a very admirable letter addresjsd to Lady Franklin in February, 1850, by Lieut. Sherard Osborn, E.N., occur the following remarks and suggestions, which appear to me so explicit and valuable that I publish them entire :— (( Ghfeat Ealing, Middlesex, Qth February, 1850. " My Deab Lady Feanklin, — It is of course of vital importance that the generous co-operation of the Ameri- cans in the rescue of Sir John Franklin and his crews be directed to points which call for search, and at the same time give them a clear field for the exercise of their energy and emulation. It would be a pity, for instance, if they should be merely working on the same ground with ourselves, whilst extensive portions of the Arctic Sea, in which it is equally probable the lost expedition may be found, should be left unexamined ; and none, in my opinion, offers a better prospect of successful search than the coasts of Bepulse Say, Hecla and Fury Strait, Commitv^ 3 Bay, Felix Harbour, the estuary of the Great Fish Biver, and Simpson's Strait, with the sea to the lll!>S1| 336 . PROGRESS OF ARCTIO DISCOVERT. north-west of it. My reasons for saying so are as follows : — " Suppose Sir John Franklin to have so far carried out the tenor of his orders as to have penetrated south-west from Cape Walker, and to have been either 'cast away/ or hopelessly impeded by ice, and that either in the past or present year he found it necessary to quit his ships, they being anywhere between 100° and 108° west longitude, and 70° and 73° north latitude. Now, to retrace his steps to Cape Walker, and thence to Begent Inlet, would be no doubt the first suggestion that would arise. Yet there are objections to it ; firstly, he probably would have to contend against the prevailing set of the ice, and currents, and northerly winds ; secondly, if no whalers were found in Lancaster Sound, how was he to support his large party in regions where the musk-ox or reindeer is never seen? thirdly, leaving his ships in the summer, he knew he could only reach the whaling ground in the fall of the year ; and, in such case, would it not be advisable to make ritther for the southern than the northern limit of the seas visited by the whalers P fourthly, by edging to the south rather than the north. Sir John Franklin would be falling back to, rather than going from, relief, and increase the probabilities of providing food for his large party. ** I do not believe he would have decided on going due south, because the lofty land of Victoria Island was in his road, and when he did reach the American shore, he would only attain a desert, of whose horrors he no doubt retained a vivid recollection ; and a lengthy land journey of more than 1000 miles to the H^^dson's Bay settlements was more than his men were capable of. " There, therefore, remains but one route for Sir John under such circumstances to follow ; and it decidedly has the following merits, that of being in a direct line for the LIEUTENANT OSBORN'S SUGGESTIONS. 337 Boutliern limit of the whale fishery; that of leading through a series of narrow seas adapted for the navigation of small open boats ; that of being the most expeditious route by which to reach Fort Churchill, in Hudson's Bay ; that of leading through a region visited by Esquimaux and migratory aiiimals; and this route is through the 'Strait of James Iloss,' across the narrow isthmus of Boothia Felix (which, as you reminded me to-day, was not supposed to exist when Sir John Franklin left Eng- land, and has been since discovered), into the Gulf of Boothia, where he could either pass by Hecla and Fury Strait into the fishing>ground of Hudson Strait, or else go southward down Committee Bay, across the Bae Isthmus into Eepulse Bay, and endeavour from there to reach some vessels in Hudson's Bay, or otherwise Fort Churchill. ** It is not unlikely either, that when Franklin had got to the eastern extremity of James Boss's Strait, and found the land to be across his path where he had expected to find a strait, that his party might have divided, and the more active portion of them attempted to ascend the Great Fish Biver, where we have Sir George Back's authority for supposing they would find, close to the Arctic shores, abundance of food in fish, and herds of reindeer, &c., whilst the others travelled on the road I have already mentioned. " To search for them, therefore, on this line of retreat I should think highly essential, and if neglected this year, it must be done next; and if not done by the Americans, it ought to be done by us. "I therefore suggest the following plan. Suppose a well-equipped expedition to leave America in May, and to enter Hudson Strait, and then divide into two divi- sions. The first division might go northward, through Fox's Channel to Hecla and Fury Strait, examine the z I 338 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. shores of the latter carefully, deposit provisions at the western extreme, erect conspicuous beacons, and proceed to Melville or Felix Harbour, in Boothia, secure their vessel or vessels, and despatch, as soon as circumstances would allow, boat parties across the neck of the isthmus into the western waters. Here let them divide, and one party proceed through James Boss's Strait, carefully examining the coast, and push over sea, ice, or land, to the north-west as far as possible. The other boat party to examine the estuary of the Great Fish Eiver, and thence proceed westw«ird along the coast of Simpson's Strait, and, if possible, examine the broad Bay, formed between it and Dease's Strait. " The second division, on parting company, might pass south of Southampton Island, and coast along from Ches- terfield Inlet northward to Repulse Bay, a boat party with two boats might cross Eae Isthmus into the bottom of Committee Bay, with instructions to visit both shores of the said bay, and to rendezvous at the western entrance of Hecla and Fury Strait. The second division (be it one or more vessels) should then pass into Fox's Channel, and turning through Hecla and Fury Strait, pick up the boats at the rendezvous; and thence, if the first division have passed on all right, and do not require reinforcement, the second division should steer northward along the unknown coast, extending as far as Cape Kater ; from Cape Kater proceed to Leopold Island, and, having secured their ships there, dispatch boat or travelling parties in a direction south-west from Cape Eennell, in North Somerset, being in a parallel line to the line of search we shall adopt from Cape Walker, and at the same time it will traverse the unknown sea beyond the islands lately observed by Captain Sir James Eoss. " Some such plan as this would, I think, ensure your gallant husband being met or assisted, should he be to the LIEUTENANT 03B0BN S SUGGESTIONS. 339 soutli or the west of Cape Walker, and attempt to return by a south-east course, a direction which, I think, others as well as myself would agree in thinking a very rational and probable one. " I will next speak of an argument which has been brought forward in consequence of no traces of the miss- ing expedition having been discovered in Lancaster Sound ; that it is quite possible, if Franklin failed in getting through the middle ice from Melville Bay to Lancaster Sound, that, sooner than disappoint public anxiety and expectation of a profitable result arising from his expedition, he may have turned northward, and gone up Smith's Sound; every mile beyond its entrance was new ground, and therefore a reward to the discoverer. It likewise brought them nearer the Pole, and may be they found that open sea of which Baron Wrangel speaks so constantly in his journeys over the ice northward from Siberia. " It is therefore desirable that some vessels should care- fully examine the entrance of this Sound, and visit all the conspicuous headlands for some considerable distance within it; for it ought to be borne in mind, that localities perfectly accessible for the purpose of erecting beacons, &c., one season, may be quite impracticable the next, and Franklin, late in the season, and pressed for time, would not have wasted time, scaling bergs to reach the shore and pile up cairns, of which, in all the sanguine hope of success, he could not have foreseen the necessity. " Should any clue be found to the lost expedition in this direction, to follow it up would, of course, be the duty of the relieving party, and everything would depend neces- sarily on the judgment of the commanders. " In connexion with this line of search, I think a small division of vessels starting from Spitzbergen, and pushing from it in a north-west direction, might be of great ser- vice; for on reference to the chart, it will be seen that z2 I'l, ii 340 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERY. Spitzbergen is as near tlie probable position of Franklin (if he went north about), on the east, as Behring's Strait is upon the west; and the probability of reaching the meridian of 80° west from Spitzbergen is equally as good as, if not better than, Behring Strait, and, moreover, a country capable of supporting life always in the rear to fall back upon* • " Shebabd Osboen, " Lieutenant, Eoyal Nayy, " To Lady Franklin" Debate in the Amebican Congbess. The following remarks of honourable members and senators, in defence of the bill for carrying out Mr. Grin- nell's expedition, will explain the grounds on which the government countenance was invoked for the noble under- taking: — " Mr. Milleb : I prefer that the government should have the entire control of this enterprise ; but. Sir, I do not think that can be accomplished ; at all events, it can- not within the time required to produce the good results which are to be hoped from this expedition. It is well known to all that the imcertain fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions has attracted the attention and called forth the sympathies of the civilized world. This Govern- jnent. Sir, has not been indifferent to the call. An appli- cation, an appeal was made to this government of no ordinary character ; one which was cheerfully entertained by the President, and which he was anxious should be complied with. But it is known to the country and to the Senate that, although the President had every dispo- sition to send out an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, it was found upon inquiry that we had no ships fitted for the occasion, and that the Executive had no authority to procure them for an expedition of this kind, DEBATE IN CONGRESS. 341 and suitable for this sort of navigation. The Executive was therefore, obliged, for want of authority to build the ships, to forego further action on this noble enterprise, until Congress should meet and authorize the expedition. '* In the meantime, Mr. Grinnell, one of the most respectable and worthy merchants of the city of New York, understanding the difficulty that th^ government had in fitting out the expedition, has gone to work, and with his own means has built two small vessels especially prepared for the expedition ; and he now most generously tenders them to the government, not to be under his own control, but the control of the government, and to be made part of the navy of the United States. The honourable senator from Alabama (Mr. Xing) is mistaken with regard to the terms and effect of this resolution. This resolution places these two ships under the control of the government, as much so as if they were built expressly for the navy ot the United States. Their direction, their fitting out, their officers and men, are all to be under the control of the Executive. Their officers are to be officers of our navy— their seamen the seamen of our navy — so that the expedi- tion will be as thoroughly under the control of this govern- ment as if the ships belonged to us. Now, Sir, I should have no objections myself to amend this resolution so as to authorize the purchase of these two small vessels at once, and make them a part of our naval establishment ; but when I recollect the magnanimous feeling which urged this noble-hearted merchant to prepare these ships, I know that that same feeling would forbid him to make merchandise of that which he has devoted to humanity. He offers them for this great cause; they are his property, prepared forthi^ enterprise, and he offers them to us to be used by the government in this great undertaking. We must either accept them for the purpose to which he has dedicated them, or reject them altogether. If we refuse 342 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. these sliips, we will defeat the whole enterprise, and lose all opportunity of participation in a work of humanity which now commands the attention of the world. " If we refer this resolution back to the committee, and they report a bill authorizing government to build ships to carry on the expedition on its own account, it would be attended with very great delay, and, in my opinion, defeat the object we have in view. In a case of this kind time is everything. It must be done speedily, if done at all. Every hour's delay may be worth the life of a man. Sir John Franklin and his companions may ere this have perished, but our hope is that they are still living in some narrow sea, imprisoned by walls of ice, where our succour may yet reach them. But, Sir, whether our hopes are fal- lacious or not, the public feeling — the feeling of humanity — ^is, that the fate of Sir John Franklin should, if possible, be ascertained, and as soon as possible. The public mind will never be satisfied till an expedition from this country, or from some other country, shall have ascertained their fate. I therefore trust that this resolution, as it is, will be acted upon at once, and that it will receive the unanimous vote of the Senate. * • • * ** I am so impressed, Mr. President, with the import- ance of time as regards the disposal of this question, that 1 hesitate even to occupy the attention of the Senate for a few moments; and I only do so for the purpose of correct- ing some views which have been expressed by the senator from Mississippi. * * * The question is, whether we shall adopt this resolution, and immediately send forth this expedition for the puurpose of accomplishing this great object, or whether we shall throw back this resolution to drag its slow course through Congress, in the form of another bill, to make an appropriation for the purpose of building vessels. For what object? To secure, as the senator says, to the United States, the sole honour and DEBATE IN CONGRESS. 343 glory of this expedition. Sir, if this expedition is got up merely for honour and glory, either to the United States or to an indiyidual, I will hare nothing whatever to do with it. Sir, there is a deeper and a higher sentiment that has induced the action of Congress on this subject. It is to engage in a great work of humanity, to do that which is ^'^t only being done by the Government of Eng- land, but by private individuals, who are fitting out expe- ditions at their own expense, and sending them to the northern seas, for the purpose of discovering the fate of this great man, who has perilled his life in the cause of science and of commerce. " Mr. President, I have been informed that a private expedition is now being fitted out in England, under the direction of that great commander, or I may call him the king of the Polar Seas, Sir John Boss, who is going again to devote himself and his life to this perilous expedition. Sir, although I have not had heretofore much confidence in the success of this expedition, yet when I consider the reputation of Sir John Boss, and the fact that he is better acquainted with these seas than any other man living, and understanding^ that he entertains the belief that Sir John Franklin and his companions are yet alive, and may be rescued, — I say, finding such a man as Sir John Boss engaged in an expedition of this kind, I am not without hope that oui' efforts may, under Providence, be crowned with success. But the honourable senator says that nothing is likely to be derived from this expedition but honour and glory, and that that is to be divided between the govern- ment of the United States and a private individual. Sir, is there nothing tt be derived from the performance of an act of humanity but honour and glory P Sir, it. is said that in this instance both the government and the individual alluded to are engaged in the same work. Well, Sir, wbat objection can there be to that connexion? Does the 344 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. honourable senator from Mississippi envy the individual his share of the honour and glory P Does he desire to monopolize it all to the United States F I hope he has no such feeling as that. " But, Mr. President, the honourable senator made use of an expression which I think he will withdraw. He intimated, if I understood him rightly, some suspicion that this was a matter of speculation on the part of Mr. Grinnell. " Mr. FooTE: I said I had heard such a thing sug- gested; but I do not make any such charge myself. " Mr. Miller : I have heard this urged as an objection heretofore, but I am satisfied that if the senator from Mis- sissippi knew the character and the history of this gentle- man, he would not even repeat that he had heard such an insinuation. Sir, although this is a liberal donation from an individual, the sum need not alarm gentlemen about after claims. These ships are but small ships ; and it is necessary that they should be small in order that they may be effective. One of them is, I understand, 150 tons, and the other 90 tons. They have cost, I believe, 30,000 dollars. Now, when we find this merchant devoting his property, not for the purpose of building ships to convey merchandise to the markets of the world ; when we find him retiring from the ordinary couise of commercial pur- suit in which all the world is engaged, and devoting a por- tion of his fortune to the building of ships which can be used for no other purpose but in this voyage of humanity, can it be imagined that any thought of speculation on his part could have influenced his conduct P No, Sir. On the contrary it is a high and worthy motive ; and I think it ought to receive the approbation of this and all other intelligent Christian nations, to see a merchant, who, while the commercial world are encompassing the globe by sea and land in quest of profit and of gold, is dedicating him- DEBATE IN CON&RESS. 345 self to this great objed;, and devoting a part of his fortune to the cause of humanitf , and offering it to Government, not as a bounty, but because the government, with all its means, has not the power and the time to prepare vessels to do this work. That, Sir, is the object. " Now, if we do not accept these ships, there will be an end of this expedition. Sir, shall it be said that this Go- vernment has lost such an opportunity as this of exhibiting the deep interest which our people feel, both in the cause of science and humanity, and that, too, at the very time when we are entering into treaties and compacts with all the commercial nations of the world, for the purpose of extending commerce and civilization, opening commimica- tions of trade from sea to seaP When the Government is not only doing all this by its own power, but also acting in concert with our private citizens in constructing rail- roads and canals, and by various other modes extending commercial civilization throughout the world, shall it be said that we, at this moment, refused, through the luar of losing a little honour and glory and national dignity ; o accept two ships — the only two ships in America thar c vn do the work — in the accomplishment of this gi^^nt outer- prise P I hope not. Let us not, then, cavil ind waste time about these little matters. If the work is to bn lo'ie at all it must be done now, and done, as I conceit i, ij the adoption of this resolution." GovEBNOB Sewabd spoko as follows in the Ser.^xe on the same subject : — " I am happy to perceive, Mr. Presi- dent, indications aU around the chamber that there is no disagreement in regard to the importance, or in relation to the propriety, of a search on the part of this nation, by the Government itself, or by individual citizens, for the lost and heroic navigator. Since so much is conceded, and since I come from the State whence this proposition ema- nates, I desire to notice, in a very few words, the objec- 346 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. tions raised against the mode of carrying: the proposed design into effect. It is always the case, I think, when great objects and great enterprises which are feasible are hindered or defeated, that they are hindered or defeated, not so much by want of agreement concerning the measures themselves, as by diversity of opinion concerning the mode of carrying them into execution. Since this is so generally the case, the rule which I always adopt, and which seems to be a safe one, is, that where I cannot have my own way of obtaining a great public object, I will accept the best other way which opens before me. Now, I cordially agree with those honourable Senators who would have preferred that at some appropriate time, and in some proper and unobjectionable manner, the Govern- ment should have moved for the attainment of this object, as a Government, and have made it exclusively the act of the nation. And I would have preferred this, not so much on account of the glory that it is supposed would have followed it, as because of the beneficence of the enterprise. Enterprises which spring from a desire of glory are very apt to end in disappointment. True national glory is always safely attained by prosecuting beneHcent designs, whatever may be their success. I say, Sir, then, that I would have preferred the alternative suggested ; but the fact is, without stopping to inquire where the fault lies, or whether there be fault at all, the Government has not moved, and the reason which has been assigned is, I have no doubt, the true one. I do not know that it has ever been contradicted or called in question ; that reason is, that the Navy of the United States cont&ins no vessels adapted to the enterprise, but consists of ships constructed and fitted for very different objects and purposes than an exploring expedition amid the ice-bound seas of the Arctic pole. Our naval marine consists of vessels adapted to the purposes cf convoys, military armament, and the suppres* DEBATE IN CONGRESS. 347 sion of the slave-trade on the coast of Africa. The execu- tive portion of the Government failed for want of vessels suitable to be employed in this particular service. It therefore devolved upon the Legislature of the United States. But, although we have been here now nearly five months, no Committee of either House, no member of either House of Congress has proposed to equip a national fleet for this purpose. While this fact exists on one side, it is to be remarked on the other, that the time has arrived in which the movement must be made if it is to be made at all, and also that a careful investigation, made by sci- entific and practical men, has revived the hope in Europe and America that the humane object can be attained. There can, then, be no delay allowed for considering whether the manner for carrying the design into efiect could not be changed. Let us, then, practically survey the case as it comes before us. The Government of the United States has really no vessels adapted to the purpose. To say nothing of the expense, the Government has not time to provide, prepare, or equip vessels for the exj»edition. Under such circumstances, a citizen of the United States tenders to the Govcinment vessels of his own, precisely adequate in number, and exactly fitted in construction and equipment, for the performance of the duty to be assumed. Since he offers them to the Government, what reason can we assign for refusing them P No reason can bo assigned, except that he is too generous, and offers to give us the use of the vessels instead of demanding compensation for it. Well, Sir, if we do not accept them, then this enter- prise cannot be carried into effect ; at least, not now — pro- bably, never. If we do accept them it c&c be immediately carried into execution, with a cheering prospect of attaining the great object which the United States and the civilized world have such deep interest in securing. Then the question refeolves itself into this — the question raised by 348 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. the honourable Senator from Alabama (Mr. King) — whether, in seeking so beneficent an object, it is consistent with the dignity of the nation to combine individual action with a national enterprise. I do not think, Mr. President, that that honourable Senator will lind himself obliged to insist upon this objection after he shall have carefully ex- amined the bill before us. He will find that it converts the la derlaking into a national enterprise. The vessels are t<:« be accepted not as individual property, but as n«tici.ii vessels. They will absolutely cease to be under ihe. direction, management, or control of the owners, and will bvcome at once national ships, and for the time, at kritsi 9vd for all the purposes of the expedition, a part of the 'iu'ional marine. 'Ifow, Sir, have we not postal arrangements with various foreign countries carried into effect in the same way, and is the dignity of the nation compromised by themP During the war with Mexico the Government continually hired ships and steam-boats from citizens for military operations. Is the glory of that war tarnished by the use of those means P The Government in this case, M in those cases, is in no senee a partner. It assumes the whole control of the vessels, and the enter- prise become a national one. The only circumstance re- maining to be considered in whether the Government can accept the loan of the bcrdce of th'» vessels without mn Icing compensation. Now, Sir, I should not have had the least objection, and, indeed, it would have been more agreeable to me if the Government could have made an arrangement to have paid a compensation. But I hold it to be quite unnecessary in the present case, because the character of the person who tenders these vessels, and the circumstances and manner of the whole transaction, show that it is not a speculation. No compensation is wanted. It would only be a ceremony on the part of the Govem- « DEBATE IN CONGRESS. 349 ment to offer it, and a ceremony on the part of the mer- chant to decline it. I am, therefore, willing to march directly to the object, and to assume that these ceremonies have been duly performed, that the Government has offered to pay, and the noble-spirited merchant declined to receive. "Now, then, is there anything derogatory from the dignity and independence of this nation in employing the vessels P Certainly not, since that employment is indis- pensable. If it were not indispensable I do not think that the dignity of the Bepublic would be impaired ; I think, on the contrary, that it would be enhanced and elevated. It is a transaction worthy of the nation, a spectacle deserving the contemplation and respect of mankind, to see that not only does the nation prosecute, but that it has citizens able and willing to contribute, voluntarily and without compulsion, to an enterprise so interesting to the cause of science and of humanitv. It is indeed, a new and distinct cause for national pride that an individual citizen, not a merchant prince, as he would be called in some other countries, but a republican merchant, comes forward in this way and moves the Government and co-operates with it. It illustrates the magnanimity of the nation and of the citizen. Sir, there is nothing objectionable in this feature of the transaction. It results from the character of the Government, which is essentiaily popular, that there are perpetual debates on the question how far measures and enterprisef , for purposes of humanity and science, are con- sistent with the constitutional organization of the Govern- ment, although they are adinitted to be eminently com- patible with the dignity, character, and intelligence of the nation. All oiir enterprises, more or less, are earned into execution, if they are carried into execution at all, not by the direct action of the GU)vemment, but by tlie lending of its favour, countenance, and aid to individuals, to cor- 350 PKOGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERY. porations, and to States. Thus it is that we construct raih*oads and canals, and found colleges and universities. " Nor is this mode of prosecuting enterprises of great pith and moment peculiar to this Government. There was a navigator who went forth from a port in Spain, some three or four hundred years ago, on an enterprise quite as doubtful and quite as perilous as this. After trying un- successfully several States, he was forced to be content with the sanction, and httle more than the sanction and patronage, of the Court of Madrid. The scanty treasures devoted to that undertaking were the private contributions of a Queen and her subjects, and the vessels were fitted out and manned at the expense of merchants and citizens, which gave a new world to the kingdom of Castile and Leon. " Entertaining these views now, whatever my opinion might have been under other circumstances, I shaU vote against a recomiaittal, and in favour of the bill, as the surest way of preventing its defeat, and of attaining the sublime and beneficent object which it contemplates." The committee of both Houses of Congress, to whom Mr. GrinneU's petition for men and supplies was referred, made a unanimous report in its favour ; and the vessels left on their daring and generous errand. The following are the joint resolutions which passed both Houses of Congress and were approved by Genera! Taylor, authorizing the President of the United States to accept and attach to the U.S. Navy the two vessels, ofiered by Mr. Grinnell, to be sent to the Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions : — " Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the President be, and he is hereby authorized and directed, to reo*^ive from Henry Grinnell, of the City of New York, the two vessels prepared by him for an expe- BESOLUTIONS OP CONGRESS. 351 dition in search of Sir Jolin FranMin and his companions, and to detail from the I^avy such commissioned and warrant officers, and so many seamen as may be necessary for said expedition, and who may be willing to engage therein. The said officers and men shall be furnished with suitable rations, at the discretion of the President, for a period not exceeding three years, and shall have the use of such necessary instruments as are now on hand and can be spared from the Navy, to be accounted for or returned by the officers who sha)l receive the same. " Sec. 2. Be it further resolved. That the said vessels, officers^ and men shall be in all respects under the laws and regulations of the Navy of the United States until their return, when the said vessels shall be delivered to the said Henry Grinnell: Provided, That the United States shall not be liable to any claim for compensation in case of the loss, damage, or deterioration of the said vessels, or either of them, from any cause or in any manner whatever, nor be Hable to any demand for the use or risk of the said vessels or either of them." Directly the fact became known that the American Government had nobly come forward to aid in the search which was being so strenuously made, the different learned societies of the metropolis vied with each other in testify- ing the estimation in which this noble conduct was held. At the annual meeting of the Royal Society, on the 7th of June, upon the motion of Sir Charles Lennox, seconded by the late Marquis of Northampton, a vote of thanks was carried with the utmost enthusiasm, expressive of the gratitude of the Society to the American Government, and of their deep sense of the kind and brotherly feeling which had prompted so liberal an act of humanity. A similar vote was carried, on the 11th of June, at a general meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, (of which Sir John Franklin was long one of the vice-presidents). 352 PROGRESS OP ARCTIC DISCOVERT. The American expedition consists of two brigantines — now enrolled in tlie United States Navy — ^the Advance^ of 144 tons, and the JRescue, 91 tons. These vessels have been provided and fitted out by the generous munificence of Mr. Henry Grinnell, a merchant of New Tork, at an expense to him of between 5000^. and 6000/. The Ame- rican Government also did much towards fitting and equipping them. The Advance was two years old, and the Rescue quite new. Both vessels were strengthened in every part, and put in the most complete order for the service in which they were to be engaged. They are under the command of Lieutenant Edward S. De Haven, who was employed in Commander Wilkes's expedition in 1843; Mr. S. P. Griffin, acting-master, has charge of the Rescue. The other officers of the expedition are Messrs. W. H. Murdaugh, acting-master ; T. W. Broadhead and B. B. Carter, passed midshipmen ; Dr. E. £. Kane, passed assistant-surgeon ; Mr. Benjamin Finland, assistant-sur- geon; W. S. Lovell, midshipman; H.Brooks, boatswain; and a complement of thirty-six seamen in the two vessels — the crew of the Advance consisting of fifteen men, and the Rescue thirteen men. The vessels left New York on the 25th of May, 1850. Their proposed destination is through Barrow Strait, westward to Cape Walker, and round Melville Island. They were provisioned for three years. Whatever may be the result of this expedition, as con* nected with the fate of the gallant Sir John Franklin, it is one which reflects the highest honour upon the philan- thropic individual who projected it, and upon the officers and men engaged therein. . A despatch has been received from Lieutenant De Haven, dated off Leopold Island, August 22nd, which reports the progress of the expedition thus far. The Advance, in company witli her consort, the Rescue, sailed THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION. 353 igantines — d.dvance, of essels have nnnificence York, at an The Ame- fitting and rs old, and lengthened rder for the ij are under Qaven, who pedition in arge of the are Messrs. adhead and Cane, passed ssistant-snr- , boatswain; vo vessels — len, and the w York on 3stination is Vallcer, and )d for three ion, as con- •anklin, it is the philan- the officers atenant De S2nd, which far. The escue, sailed from the Whale Fish Islands on the 29th of June, after many delays and obstructions from calms, stream ice, and the main pack, they forced a passage through it for a con- siderable distance, but at last got wedged up in the pack immoveable until the 29th of July, when by a sudden movement of the floes, an opening presented itself, and under a press of sail the vessels forced their way i'^o clear water. They encountered a heavy gale, whicl ith a thick fog, made their situation very dangerous, the huge masses of ice being driven along by the strength of the wind and current with great fury. By the aid of warping in calm weather, they reached Cape Yorke on the 15th of August, and a little to the eastward met with two Esqui- maux, but could not understand much from them. Be- tween Cape Yorke and Cape Dudley Diggs, while delayed by calms, being in open water, they hauled the ships into the shore at the Crimson Cliffs of Beverley, (so named from the red snow on them,) and fllled their water casks from a mountain stream. On the 18th, with a fair wind, they shaped their course for the western side of Baffin Bay, and met the pack in streams and very loose, which they cleared entirely by the following day — getting into the north waters, where they fell in with Captain Penny's two vessels, which having been unsuccessful in their efforts to enter Jones's Sound, were now taking the same course up Lancaster Sound. On the 19th, in a violent gale, the Advance parted company with the Rescue. On the morning of the 21st of August, the fog cleared, and Lieutenant De Haven found he was off Cape Crawford, on the southern shore of the Sound. Here he fell in with the Felix schooner, under Captain Sir John Eoss, from whom he learnt that Commodore Austin was at Pond's Bay with two of his vessels, seeking for information, while the other two had been despatched to examine the north shore of the Sound. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 j^m |25 ■i< lU 12.2 iM 12.0 IK HA mt^ii^ ^^ 6" ► ^J> V' HiotograiJiic Sciences CorpQrEition as WUT MAIN STRUT WmSTM.N.Y. UStO (7U) 172.4903 354 PBOORESS OF ABCTIO DISCOVERY. Xieuteoant De Hayen purposed pvoceedmg on from Port Leopold to Welliogton Ohamiel, the Appointed place of rendezvous with his consortt Captain Foustth's Bbmai^eablb Yotaob iir Tan "Pbiwcb Ai«beet." ^sr April, I860, a branch expecUtion to aid those vessels sent out by the Government was determined om by Lady Franklin, who contributed largely towards its outfit; a considerable sum being also raised by public subseripticm. The expenses of this expedition were nearly 40002., of which 25Q0Z. were contributed by Lady Franklin herself. The object of this expedition was the providing for the search of a portion of the Arctic Sea, which it was cUs* tinody understood could not be executed by the vessels tinder Captain Austin ; but the importance of which had been set forth, by Arctic and other authorities, in doeu-^ ments printed in the Parliamentary Papers. The unprovided portion alluded to, includes Begent Inlet, and the passages connecting it with the Western Sea, James Boss' Strait, and other localitiest S.W. of Cape Walker, to which quarter Sir John Franklin was required by his instructions to proceed in the first instance. This search is assumed to be necessary on the following grounds : — 1. The probability of Sir John Franklin having aban- doned his vessels to the S.W. of Cape Walker. 2. The fact that, in his charts, an open passage ii laid down from the west into the south part of Eegent Lilet. 3. Sir John Franklin would be more likely to take this course through a eountry known to possess the resouroet of animal life, with the wreck of the Fie^ory in Felix Harbour for fViel, and the stores of Fury Beach farther North, in view, than to &U upon an utterly barren region of the North coast of America. row Port I plac^ of if ^^^^■**^^*^W8!iH*i^j :^w»4«»w»»«,w^; '^^tiimmim»^. ■^^JkJt ';»»>*a8|(Hfe. ■.■5311%; CK T«IS by Lady outfit; a Beriptkm. looo;., of n keneli; [g for the was dis- e vessels hichhad indoett^ Begani Western , of Cape required e. This ollowifig igaban- e is laid Inlet. akethis isouroea a Feliz farther I region *^ ^ ,«.-» •.■4!t»««- / / li" <(J)onil« rubirlla^t ^t :> 4' ^ 4<» H E T m -^^ Vr'if'i.wjj ^ i/ BARROW STRAIT, PRINCE REGENT INLET, Sec. . / /' / ' ^^ / / / /' WMthr rnuk0ftktPrinr€AatrtCii^.C.fir.f»r.trefiff..V. / mndt th^/tMbbmrv »fUhe> tee . iSdo . /•■^ivj .■mt > i m mti M -j!i mmt\ »mi tm0'0'irmhi ii Mt \'^-'-timmmtmittmi>m^mf9iiii.< > ■ ■ri4^ :;i'.d*s»-£»_v^"'«k....iMt. - .. nut;^ v^; ,•* Jwi ;J .*/ f^. •.\. 'v>.-i»'>^ «•.■*»»•,; ^^ -iltl I If; If; i^». N" YOTAGE OF. THE PBIKCE ALBEBT. 355 4. He would be more likely to expect gucconr to be Bent to him by way of Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait, into which Begent Inlet opens, than in any other direction. In corroboration of the necessity of this part of the search, I would refer generally to the Parliamentary Papers of 1848-9 and 50. As an individual opinion, I may quote the words of Captain Beechey, p. 81 of the first series. " If, in this condition*' (that of being hopelessly blocked up to the S.W. of Cape Walker), " which I trust may not be the case. Sir John Franklin should resolve upon taking to his boats, he would prefer attempting a boat navigation through Sir James Boss' Strait, and up Begent Inlet, to a long land journey across the continent to the Hudson Bay Settlements, to which the greater part of his crew would be wholly unequal." And again, in his letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, 7th of February, 1860, Captain Beechey writes, *«•••* the bottom «t Begent Ldet, about the Pelly Islands, should not be left imexamined. In the memorandum submitted to their Lordships,17th of January,1849, this quarter was considered of importance, and I am still of opinion that had Sir John Fnmklin abandoned his vesBels near the coast of America, and much short of the Mackenzie Biver, he would have preferred the probability of retaining the use of his boats until he found relief in Barrow Strait, to risking an over- land journey via the before-mentioned river ; and it must be remembered that at the time he sailed. Sir Geoi^ Back's discovery had rendered it very pibbable that Boothia was an island." The memorandum alluded to by Captain Beechey as having been submitted to the Lords of the Admiralty on the 17th of January, 1849, was, the expression of the unanimous opinion of the Arctic officers assembled by command of the Admiralty to deliberate upon the best means to be taken for the relief of the missing Expedition ; ▲ ▲2 »•• < 1 1 356 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. and in this Beport, clause 14 is expressly devoted to the recommendation of the search of Eegent Inlet. The necessity for the proposed search may be thus farther developed. Sir John Franklin may have abandoned, his ships, when his provisions were nearly exhausted somewhere about the latitude of 73° N. long. 105° W. j in short, at any point S.W. of Cape Walker, not further W. than long. 110°. And in such case, rather than return north, (which might be indeed impracticable,) or moving south upon the American Continent, of which (upon the coast) the utter barrenness was already well known to him, he might prefer a south eastern course, with a view of passing in his boats, either through James Eoss, or through Simpson Straits, into the Gulf of Boothia, and so up into Begent Inlet to the house and stores left at Fury Beach, the only dep6t of provisions known to him. The advan- tages of such a course might appear to him very great. 1. Two open passages being laid down in his charts into Begent Inlet, by James Boss Strait, and by Simpson Strait, a means of boat transport for his party would be afforded, of which alone perhaps their exhausted strength and resources might admit ; such a course would obviously recommend itself to a commander who had experienced the frightful difficulties of a land journey in these regions. 2. The proposed course would lead through a part, the Isthmus of Boothia, in which animal life is known at some seasons to abound. 3. The Esquimaux who have been found on the Isthmus of Boothia are extremely well disposed and friendly. 4. It is the direct route towards the habitual yearly resort of the whalers on the west coast of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, indeed those ships occasionally descend Begent Inlet to a considerable distance south. 6. There are two persons attached to the Expedition '^ho are well acquainted with this region and its resouroes VOYAGE OF THE PRINCE ALBERT^ 357 rearly ij and )8cend Idition >iiroes ^-viz., Mr. Blankj, ice master, and Mr. MacDonald, assistant surgeon, of the Terror. The former was with Sir John Boss in the Victors/. The latter has made several voyages in whaling vessels and is acquainted with the parts lying hetween Begent Inlet and Davis Strait. Where so few amongst the crews of the missing ships have had any local experience, the concurrent knowledge of two persons would have considerable weight. 6. Opinions are very greatly divided as to the part in which Sir John Franklin's party may have been arrested, and as to the course they may have taken in consequence. It would be therefore manifestly unfair, and most dan- gerous, to reason out and magnify any one hypothesis at the expense of the others. The plan here alluded to sought to provide for the probability of the Expedition having been stopped shortly after passing to the south west of Cape Walker. The very open season of 1845 was fol- lowed by years of unusual severity until 1849. It is therefore very possible that retreat as well as onward progress has been impossible, that safety alone has become their last object. The hope of rescuing them in their last extremity depends, then, (as far as human means can ensure it,) on the multiplying of simultaneous efforts in every direction. Captain Austin's vessels will, if moving in pairs, take two most important sections only, of the general search, and will find they have enough to do to reach their several points of operation this season. The necessity for this search was greatly enhanced by the intelligence received about this time in England of the arrival of Mr. Bae and Commander Fullen at the Mackenzie Biver, thus establishing the fact, that Sir John Franklin's party had not reached any part of the coast between Behring Strait and the Coppermine Biver, whilst the check which Mr. Bae received in his course to the north of the Coppermine, tended to give increased importance to the quarter eastward of that position. 358 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. CoinmaAderCha3%CodrmfirtonEor8yth,B.I7.,anenterpri8^ ing young officer, whohad not long previously been promoted in consequence of his arduous services in surveying on the Australian, African, and American shores, and who had rendered good service to the Grovwument by landing nip- plies on the east coast of Africa, under circumstances of great difficulty during the Kafir war, had volunteered imsuccessfuUy for all the Government Expeditions, but was permitted by the Admiralty to command this private branch E^qtedition, in which he embarked without fee or reward — on the noble and honourable mission of endeavouring to relieve his long-imprisoned brother officers. The Prince Albert, a small clipper vessel of about ninety tons, originally built by Messrs. White, of Cowes, in October, 1848, for the fruit trade, was accordingly hastily fitted out and despatched from Aberdeen, and Captain Forsyth was instructed to winter, if possible, in Brentford Bay, in Begent Inlet, and thence send parties to explore the opposite side of the isUmius, and the various shores and bays of the Inlet. She had a crew of twenty, W. !Kay and W. Wilson acting as first and second mates, and Mr. W. P. Snow as dark. She sailed on the 5th of June, and was consequently the last vessel that left, and yet is the first that has reached home, having also brought some account of the track of Franklin's Expedition. The Prince Albert arrived ofi* Cape Farewell, July 2nd, entered the ice on the 19th, and on the 2lBt came up with Sir John Boss in a labyrinth of ice. She proceeded up Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait» fell in with most of the English ships in those seas, and also with the Ame- ncasL brig Advtmoe, sailing some time in company, and attempted to enter Begent Inlet and Wellington Chan- nd. She le^ the Advance aground near Cape Biley, at the entrance of Wellington Channel, though not in a situation suj^posed to be dangerous. Commander Forsyth, VOYAGE OP t&E PRIXCE ALBEltT. 859 tiley, hi a fch. in his official letter to the Lords of the Admiralty, says that " traces of the Inissing Expedition under Sir John Franklin had been found at Cape Biley and Beechej Island, at the entrance to the Wellington Channel. We observed five places where tents had been pitched, or stones placed as i^ they had been used for keeping the lower part of 1^6 tents down, iilso great quantities of beef, pork, and lord's bones, a pieee of rope, With the Woolwich naval mark on it (yellow), part of which I have enclosed." Having enter^ Wellington Channel, and examined the coast as far as Point Innis, and finding no further traces of the missing vessels, and it being impracticable to penetrate farther to the west. Commander Forsyth re«> turned to Begent Inlet, but meeting no opening there, the season being near at hand When the ice begins to form, and his vessel not of a strengtiii which would enable it to resist a heavy pressure of ice, he determined on returning without farther delay to England, after examining a number of points along the coast. On the 25th of August, a signal staff being observed on shore at Cape Biley, Mr. Snow was sent by Captain Forsyth to examine it. He found that the Assistance, Captain Ommanney, had been there two days before, and had left the following notice :— " This is to certify that Captain Ommanney, with the officers of her Majesty's ships Assistance and Intrepid, landed upon Cape Biley on the 28rd August, 1850, where he found traces of encampments, and collected the remains of materials, wMch evidently proved that some party belonging to her Majesty's ships had been detained on that spot. Beechey Island was also examined, where traced Were found of the same party. Thiii is als^ to give notice that a supply of provisions and fuel is at Cape Biley^ Since 15th August, they have examined the north shore of Lancaster Sound and Barrow Sti ait, without meeting 360 PBOGBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. with any other traces. Captain Ommannej proceeds to Cape Hotham and Cape Walker in search of further traces of Sir John Franklin's expedition. Dated on board her Majesty's ship Assistance, off Cape Biley, the 23rd August, 1850." The seamen who were despatched from the Assistance to examine these remains found a rope with the naval mark, evidently belonging to a vessel which had been fitted out at Woolwich, and which, in all probability, was either the Erehus or the Terror, Other indications were also noticed, which showed that some vessel had visited the place besides the Assistance. Captain Forsyth left a notice that the Prince Albert had called off Cape Riley on the 25th of August, and then bore up to the eastward. Captain Forsyth landed at Possession Bay on the 29th August, but nothing was found there to repay the search instituted. The Prince Albert arrived at Aberdeen, on the 22nd of October, after a quick passage, having been absent some- thing less than four months. Captain Forsyth proceeded to London by the mail train, taking with him, for the information of the Admiralty, the several bones (beef, pork, &c.) which were found on Cape Biley, together with a piece of rope of about a foot and a half in length, and a small piece of canvas with the Queen's mark upon it, both in an excellent state of preservation; placing it almost beyond a doubt that they were left on that spot by the expedition under Sir John Franklin. Captain Forsyth, during his short trip, explored re- gions which Sir James Eoss was unable to reach the previous year. He was at Wellington Channel, and penetrated to Fury Beach, where Sir £. Parry abandoned his vessel (the Fury) in 1825 after she had taken the ground. It is situated in about 72'' 4ff N. latitude, and 91° 50^ W. longitude. This is a point which has not been reached VOYAGE OP THE PRINCE ALBERT. 361 by any vessel for twenty years past. It was found, however, utterly impossible to land there on account of the packed ice. The whole of the coasts of Baffin Bay have also now been visited without result. The intelligence which Capt. Forsyth brought home has, as a matter of course, excited the most intense interest in naval circles, and among the friends and relatives of the parties absent in the JSrehus and Terror, the more so inas- much as it has been ascertained at Chatham Dockyard that the rope which Captain Forsyth found on the spot when he visited it, and copied Capt. Ommanney's notice, is proved by its yellow mark to have been manufactured there, and certainly since 1824; and moreover, from inquiries instituted, very strong evidence has been elicited in favour of the belief that the rope was made between the years 1841 and 1849. That the trail of the Franklin expedition, or some detachment of it, has been struck, there cannot be the slightest doubt in the minds of any one who has read the despatches and reports. That Captain Omman- ney felt satisfied on this score is evident from the terms of the paper he left behind him. The squadron, it appears, were in full cry upon the scent on the 25th of August, and we must wait patiently, but anxiously, for the next accounts of the res^ilts of their indefatigable researches, which can hardly rouch us from Barrow Strait before the autumn of 1851. There can be no doubt now in the mind of any one that the Arctic Searching Expeditions have at length come upon traces, if not the track of Sir John Franklin. The accounts brought by Captain Forsyth must have at least satisfied the most desponding that there is still hope left — ^that the ships have not foundered in Baffin Bay, at the outset of the voyage, nor been crushed in the ice, and burnt by a savage tribe of Esquimaux, who had murdered the crew. That the former might have happened, all must 362 PSOORBSS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. admit ; but to the latteit, few, we ima^e, will f^ye their asBent, notwithstanding the numerous cruel rumours promulgated from time to time. It would be idle to dwell upon so impossible an erent. Where could this saragd tribe spring flromP Mr. Saimders describes the natires of Wolstenholme Sound as the moss miser- able and helpless of mortals. They had no articles obtained from Europeans; and he was of opinion that there were no settlements Airther north; and if there were, doubtless they would be even more impo- tent than these wretched beings. That the ship might have foundered all must admit. The President did so with many a gallant soul on board. The Avenger ran on the Sorelh, and 300 brave fellows, in an instant, met with a watery grare ; and till the sea shall give up her dead, who can count the thousands that lie beneath the billows of the mighty ocean P We have now certain evidence that Franklin's ships did not founder^— not, at least, in Baffin Bay ; and our own belief (says a well-informed and competent writer in the Morning Serald,) is that the pendant still floats in the northern breeze, amidst eternal regions of snow and ice. The voyage performed by the Prince Albert has thus been the means of keeping alive our hopes, and of informing OS, up to a certain point, of the progress of the expeditions, and the situation of the different ships, of which we might have been left in a state of utter ignorance till the close of this year. Everything connected with the naviga^ tion of the Arctic Seas is a chance, coupled, of course, with skill; and in looking at this voyage performed by Lady Franklin's little vessel, it must be obvious to every one that Captain Forsyth has had the chance of an open season, and the skill to make use of it. " Live a thousand years," and we may never see such another voyage performed. We have only to look at all that have preceded. Parry, it is true, in one year ran to TOTAOE OF THE PRINCE ALBERT. 363 Sfioh at all ran to Melville Island, and passing a winter, got back to England the following season — and this is at present the ne plus ultra of Arctic navigation. Sir John Boss, we know, went out in the Victory to Begent Inlet, and was frozen in for four years, and all the world gave him up for lost^- but " there's life in the old dog yet," as the song has it. Sir James Boss was frozen in at Leopold Harbour, and only got out, after passing a winter, to be carried away in a floe of ice into Baffin Bay, which no human skill could prevent. Sir George Back was to make a summer's cruise to Wager Inlet, and return to England. The result every one knows or may make themselves acquainted with, by reading the fearful voyage of the TerroTt an abstract of which I have already given. It would be superfluous to enumerate many other of our series of Polar voyages, but it is pretty evident that Captain Forsyth's voyage, per* formed in the summer months of 1850, will be handed down to posterity as one of the most remarkable, if not the most remarkable, that has ever been accomplished in the Arctic Seas — ^the expedition consisting' of one solitary small vessel. The main object of the voyage, it is true, has not been accomplished, but as all the harbours in Begent Inlet were frozen up, and it was not possible to cut through four or five miles of ice to get the ship to a secure anchorage, Captain Forsyth had no alternative but to return, and in doing so has, in the opinion of all the best informed officers, shown great good sense and judgment, rather than remain frozen in at the Wellington Channel, where he only went to reconnoitre, and where he had no business whatever, his instructions being confined to Begent Inlet. Lady Franklin purposes, if she can raise sufficient funds, to send out another boat expedition this spring to Begent Inlet, to prosecute the search in the regions before alluded to, and on which she places so much reliance. The party, under the charge of Mr. Kennedy, will probably winter in 364 PROGBESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. Brentford Bay or some other conyenient place, and carry on the searchingoperations on the opposite shores of Boothia as the season permits. But her ladyship's income has been so largely drawn upon by the various enormous expenses she has been put to, that it is doubtful whether she will be able to carry out her views without assistance from the public. I sincerely trust that the generosity and chivalry of the people of England will not allow this noble-minded lady to exhaust her private resources in the equipment of expeditions which are deemed so important and necessary, but that they will come forward and relieve her, recol- lecting that the expedition is required in search of two of her Majesty's ships, sent out on their arduous service by the Government of the country, and under command of her honoured, amiable, and distinguished husband, the good and brave Sir John Franklin. I have thus gone through, as fully as my space would permit, the voyages and journeys of our navigators and travellers within the Arctic circle, and the record of their arduous services cannot fail to prove interesting. For the convenience of the reader who may be more deeply inter- ested in the subject, and desirous of closer investigation and more detailed information, I have given, at some trouble, in the appendix, a carefully prepared list of the diiSerent works and editions of travels and voyages in the Polar Begions. There is one land expedition, that of Dr. Sir John Bichardson, on the Polar shore between the Coppermine and Mackenzie Bivers, in 1848, which I have not touched on, because it has already been published in detail in several quarters, and the gallant Doctor is preparing a very full account of it for immediate publication. Captain Kellett, also, has it in contemplation to publish an account of the voyage of the Herald. The following recapitulation will give the position of the different veBBela engaged in the search when last heard of. LATEST POSITION OF ALL THE VESSELS. 365 very iptain kount )fthe of. The Investigator having passed Behring Strait, reached Kotzebue Sound on the 27th of July, and when last heard of, was pushing her way along between the ice towards Melville Island. The Enterprise had put back to Hong Kong to winter, having been unable to enter the ice. The Advance was aground off Cape Biley, August 25th. The Assistance^ in Wellington Channel, August 25th, standing towards Cape Hotham, The Felix, off Cape Crawford, in Lancaster Sound, August 22nd. The Intrepid and Lady Franklin, on August 24th and 25th, in Wellington Channel, standing towards Cape Hotham. The Resolute and Pioneer, in Possession Bay, Aug. 17th. The Rescue and Sophia, in Wellington Channel, August 25th, apparently beset with ice. The Plover, wintering in Grantley Harbour, Port Cla- rence, 1850. The North Star and Prince Albert have, as we have seen, arrived in England, and the Herald is also on her passage home. I have been favoured with the sight of a private letter of very recent date from an officer of the Herald, dated Hong Kong, 23rd of December, 1850, from which I make the following extracts : — " On our third and last cruise north in search of the ill- fated expedition under Sir John Franklin, we sailed from dahu on the 24th of May, 1850, arriving in Kotzebue Sound on the 14th of July. The Sound was a perfect wall qf ice, with no prospect of our being able to com- municate with the Plover for a week or ten days. One ot our cutters was sent in with letters, getting between the floes, and hauling over some, at last reached her and found them all well, but no news during the winter of Sir John Franklin. On the 21st of July, after watering and re- fitting, we sailed for Cape Lisbume to intercept the Enterprise and Investigator, this being the appointed ren. 366 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. dezYous. The Plover also sailed for Point Barrow to look after Pullen's party. On the 26th, in a dense fog, we made the ioe-pack, much to our surprise, 180 miles south of where we found it last season, in latitude 70^ 13' N. The ice waa fourteen feet high, a solid wail without an opening through which we might with safety sail. Towards midnight it blew a gale of wind, and we were compelled to haul off. On the 29th we again made the pack much higher than before, rising like a hill from the sea face, in latitude 71° 12' N. On the night of the 30th we saw de- tached icebergs off Wainwright Inlet, from thirty to forty feet high. The wind again increasing to a gale, with thick rainy weather, reduced us to close reefs, and com- pelled us to bear up for Cape Lisbume. " Arriving off that place on the last day of July, we were fortunate enough to fall m with the Iwoeatiffator in a dense fog. Clearing for an instant, we were alongside each other! and we had the news of the last twelve months. She had come from Oahu in the short space of time twenty-six days. The Enterprise sailed five days' before her. They had not seen each othw since roundhig the Horn. The Investigator remained but a few minutes in our company, and then departed with three hearty cheers from us for the ice pack, determined to get to Mel- ville Island. She had our good wishes, but at the same time our doubts as to her success ; we had the experience of three voyages. She was as yet green, and all her troubles to go through. " From this day, 31st of July, to 26th of August, we were blockading Cape Lisbume, to intercept the Enterprise and Plover, a most tedious and troublesome twenty-six days as ever we experienced ; we did not see the former, but the Plover we spoke. She had been to Point Barrow, had heard from the natives that a party of white men had been murdered and buried near the Colville Siver, near the THE SEAECKINO EXPEDITIONS. 367 Mackenzie Eiver, and that whales' jaws and bones now marked the spot. If it had not been so late in the season we should have sent a boat expedition there, but we hardly knew what conclusion to come to. It may be Pullen's party, — ^it may be only ' native report' to get tobacco and beads. My opinion was, and is, that the story was a most improbable one, as the natives refused to accept a cask of tobacco and two muskets to go there as pilots. But should anything have unfortunately happened to Pullen's party, and no movement made by us to rescue them if still alive, it would be a damper on the Herald, and the affair never forgiven or forgotten by the public. " Finding it useless to wait any longer for the Enter- jprise, we sailed for Port Clarence, and put the Plover into vnnter quarters as a dep6t for the two ships north." were te and days it the , had been the TO THE EXPEDITIONS IN 8EABCH OF SIB JOHN FRANKLIN. From Fisher's Drauring-Raom Serap-Book. Across the Arctic foam, To bring the wanderer home, Speed on, ye fleets, whom Mercy's hand equips I And may the favouring gales Make music in your sails. And waft you safely, oh, ye gallant ships ! May sunshine light your path. And tempests still their wrath, And fortune guide you on your darkest track ; Speed on with high endeavour. And hopeAil courage ever, And bring to British hearts their long lost hero back! Farewell — a short farewell 1— The hopes of nations swell, And prayers of myriads rise to Heaven for you. That perils of the cold. And hardships manifold, Hay bear their gentlest on each hardy orewl 368 PROGRESS OF ARCTIC DISCOVERT. A thankftil world looks on, And gives its benison { America and Europe Join their hands; And o'er the Northern Sea, Gaze forward hopefiilly. And sound our Franklin's name through all the anxious lauds. Return I oh, soon return I And let our beal-flres bum On every mountain-top and dizzy scaur; And let the people's voice. And dapping hands rctjoioe For his and your returning from afar,* No conqueror antique. Of Roman fame or Greek, Such proud ovation gathered, laurel-crowned. As we on him would pour, From every sea or shore. And hive of busy men, on all our English ground. But if this may not be. And o'er the frozen sea They sleep in death, the victims of their zeal ; Be yours the task to show The greatness of our woe. And end the doubting hopes that millions feel. Then shall the tears be shed For them, the glorious dead ; And then shall History, on a spotless page. Inscribe each honest name With tributary f)une— The men of noble soul — ^tme heroes of our age. Speed on across the wave I— For you the good and brave. The good and brave of every land implore All blessings andsuccess, Sunshine and happiness. And safety on the fkr and frozen shore. From storm and hidden rock. And from the iceberg's shook. May Heaven protect you, wheresoe'er ye stray I On Mercy's enrand sped On you be mercy shed, Qod guide you, mariners, and shield you on your way! APPENDIX. A. Thb Polab Sea. Mb. Maubt, of the Nautical Observatory, Washington, in a letter dated July, 1850, asserts his conviction that an open sea exists near the region of the Parry Islands. I may here state briefly the facts and observations upon which this conclusion is based. We have traced the gulf stream to the north of the British Isles, and thence around North Cape into the Arctic Ocean. We have traced a current from the Pacific, at certain seasons of the year, also into the Arctic Ocean. Geographers have traced, also, into the same ocean, immense bodies of firesh water that is carried to the Polar regions by the rivers of Northern Europe, Asia, and America. We have also made the existence of the fact to appear probable that the amount of precipitation over the Arctic Ocean is greater than the evaporation, and that all of these facts go to show that there is a large balance of water in that sea always in motion, and which finds its escape through Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay into the Atlantic Ocean. The ice has been observed generally when it breaks up to press against the north part of this continent; it therefore commences to break up first from the north, hence we infer that it has been warmer at the north. The birds and beasts are always found to migrate to the north. These are two facts which go to induce the belief that there is a climate milder than that about Mackenzie River« farther to the north ; and the presence there of large quantities of water in a fluid instead of a solid state, would tend to make such a difference of climate. That the water in motion must be for the most part in a fluid state is clear, and that along the northern shores of this continent, it is not in a fluid state for much of the year, is also clear ; and as B B 370 APPENDIX. the BaflBn's Bay current is always in motion, the conclusion has been forced upon Mr. Maury, that the water which comes from around the North Cape, through Behring Strait, and down the rivers of Europe and Asia into the Arctic basin, probably passes along to the north of Parry Islands, on its way out into Baffin's Bay. [I do not know whence Mr. Maury derives his facts as to the birds and beasts always migrating towards the north, because Bichardson, Franklin, Parry, and Back invariably record their migration to the south. — Editob.] B. National Cost ov Abctic Disooveby. Much stress has been laid by uninformed parties, on the great expense which has been incurred, and the loss of life sustained in the prosecution of Arctic discovery. The following official return, which I have procured, shows that up to July, 1848, the total expen- diture during the present century of all the Government Expeditions, was less than half a million. This is exclusive of the recent eastern expeditions, and the re equipment of the Enterprise and Investi- gator for the western search. A Return of the Expense incurred on account of Arctic Expeditions, from the Commencement of the Century, Period of Expedition. Names of the Sliips employed. Expense of the Expedition. 1818. 1819 fc 1820. 1821 to 1828. 1828 to 1825. 1826 to 1828. 1827. 1886 to 1837. 1846 (8tUl out). 1848. Alexander, Dorothea, Isabella, and Trent £ a. d. 24,198 19 10 41,024 16 4 60,407 19 6 60.255 6 7 46,776 2 11 9,976 13 9 17,700 10 4 75,981 12 11 92,465 14 S Hecla and Griper Hecla and Fury Hecla, Fury, and Griper . . . Blossom Hecla Terror Erebus and Terror Plover, Enterprise, and Inves- tiirator Total Expense . . . 428,782 15 5 APPENDIX. 371 sion has les from )wn the J passes in's Bay. bhe birds hardson, tn to the be great tained in il return, il expen- (editions, t eastern Investi- )editions, »fthe on. d. ) 10 i 4 6 l> 7 11 9 4 11 Z Surely, when we vote twenty millions for the abolition of slavery, when we spend half a million annually in blockading the coast of Africa, when our naval estimates alone amount yearly to between seven and eight millions, a great and maritime nation like Great Britain cannot grudge such an outla]^ for the advancement of science and the acquisition of knowledge, not for England alone, but for the general benefit of mankind. As regards the loss of life on these voyages, it has been singularly small, probably not more than ten or twelve deaths having occurred during all the voyages of the present century, and scarcely half of these are fairly to be attributed to the severity of the climat0, or the dangers and perils encountered. And if we contrast this with the frightful mortality incurred on the Niger expedition, and the ratio of deaths among our navy and army on tropical stations, we have no reason to accuse ourselves of unjust exposure of brave men, or unnecessary waste of life. List of Works Relating to the Arctic Regions which have been Consulted, with the date of their Publication, Captain Phipp's Voyage towards the North Pole, in H.M. Ships Racehorse and Carcass, 1773. Mackenzie's Voyages and Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, 1789 to 1793. 1 795. Narrative of a Journey from Prince of Wales Fort, in Hudson's Bay, to the Northern Ocean, 1769 to 1772. By Samuel Heame. London : Strahan and Cadell. 1818. The Possibility of Approaching the North Pole asserted. By the Hon. D. Barrington. With an Appendix, containing Papers on the same subject, and on a North- West Passage, by Colonel Beaufoy, F.B.S. ; and a Map of the North Pole. 8vo. Pp. 258. London : T. and J. Allman. A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions, undertaken chiefly for the purpose of Discovering a North- East, North- West, or Polar Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. By John Barrow, F.R.S. With a Map. 8vo. Pp. 428. London: John Murray. 372 APPENDIX. 1819. A Voyage of Discovery made under the orders of tbe Ad- miralty, in his Majesty's ships Isabella and Alexander^ for the purpose of exploring BafSn's Bay, and inquiring into the Probability of a North- West Passage. By John Ross, K.S., Captain B.N. 3 vols. 8vo. With Map. London : Longman and Co. Ditto. 4to. With Plates. London : J. Murray. 1821. Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Pas- sage, in 181 9-1820, in his Majesty's ships HeclaanA Chriper. By W. E. Parry, B.N., F.R.S., and Commander of the Ex- pedition. 4to. London : John Murray. Appendix to ditto. 4to. Murray. A Journal of a Voyage of Discovery in the Arctic Regions, in his Majesty's ships Hecla and Oripevy in the Years 1819 and 1820. By Alexander Fisher, Surgeon, B.N. Maps and Woodcuts. 8vo. Pp. 320. London : Longman and Co. Scoresby's Northern Whale Fishery. 8vo. London: Hurst. 1824. The Private Journal of Captain O. F. Lyon, of his Migesty's ship HeclOf during the recent Voyage of Discovery under Captain Parry. With a Map and lUustrations. 8vo. Pp. 468. London : J. Murray. Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North- west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in his Ma- jesty's ships Fury and Hecla^ in 1821 1823, under the orders of Captain W. E. Parry, R.N., F.B.S. 4to. Plates. London : J. Murray. Appendix to ditto. 4to. Murray. 1825. Captain F. Lyon's Account of his Attempt to reach Repulse Bay in H.M.S. Oriper, 8vo. London : Murray. 1828. Narrative of an Attempt to reach the North Pole in the Year 1827. By Captain W. E. Parry. 4to. London: John Murray. 1829. Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819-1822 ; with a Brief Account of the Second Journey in 1825-1827. By John Franklin, Captain R.N., F.R.S., and Commander of the Expedition. 4 vols. 18mo., with plates. London : J. Murray. Parry's Voyages to the North Pole. 6 vols. 18mo. Murray. APPENDIX. 373 [pulse I Year Fohn }a in |rney Iwith rray. 1829. Franklin's Seeond Expedition to the Coppermine Biver. 4to Murray. 1831. A Voyage to the Pacific and Behring Strait to co-operate with the Polar Expeditions, performed hy H. M. S. Blossom^ under the command of Captain W. F. Beeohey, B.N., in 1825. 2 vols. 8vo., or 1 vol. 4to. London: B. Colbum. 1835. Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage, and of a Besidenoe in the Arctic Begions during the Years 1829-1833. By Sir John Boss, C.B., K.S.A., K.C.S., &o., Captain B.N. London: A. W. Webster. Ditto. 4to edition. Appendix. Plates. Webster. 1836. Narrative of Captain Back's Arctic Land Expedition. 8vo and 4to editions. London : J. Murray. 1837. Captain Back'd Narrative of the Perils and Escape of H.M.S. Terror. 1 vol. 8vo. Loudon : Murray. 1839. A Narrative of the Voyages and Travels of Captain Beechey, B.N., F.B.S., to the Pacific and Behring Strait, performed in the Years 1825-1828, for the purpose of co-operating with the Expeditions under Captains Parry and Franklin ; and of Captain Back B.N., to the Thlew-ee-choh river and the Arctic Sea, in Search of the Expedition under Captain Sir John Boss, B N. 8vo. Pp. 704, with Illustrations. Compiled by Bobert Huish. London : W. Wright. 1843. A Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole, performed in her Majesty's ships Dorothea and Trent^ under the Com- mand of Captain David Buchan, B.N., in 1818 : to which is added a Summary of all the Early Attempts to reach the Pacific by way of the Pole. By Captain F. W. Beechey, B.N., F.B.S., one of the Lieutenants of the Expedition. 8vo. Pp. 351. Mi^ and Illustrations. London : Bichard Bentley. 1844. Admiral Von Wrangell's Narrative of his Expedition to the Polar Sea, in the years 1820-23, by Colonel Sabine. 2nd edition. London: Madden. 184G. Discovery and Adventure in the Polar Seas and Begions, &c. By Sir John Leslie, Professor Jameson, and Hugh Murray, Esq. With a Chart and Fifteen Engravings. Pp. 426. Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd. 374 APPENDIX. 1846. Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic Regions from the Year 1818 to the Present Time, &o. By Sir John BaiTOw, Bart., F..R.S. With Portrait and Maps. Pp. 530. London : John Murray. Ohservations on a work entitled "Voyages, &o., within the Arctic regions, by Sir John Barrow, Bart., tetat 82," being a refutation of the numerous misrepresentations contained in that volame, by Sir John Ross, C.B., &o., Captain R.N. Blackwood. 1847. Narrative of the Discoveries on the North-East Coast of America, effected by the 0£Bcers of the Hudson's Bay Company, during the Years 1836-1839. By Thomas Simp- son. 8vo. London : Richard Bentley. The Arctic Regions. By Rev. W. Scoresby. London : pub- lished by the Religious Tract Society. 1848. Parliamentary Paper: Arctic Expedition, No. 264, Session 1848. Dated 13th April. Pp. 82. With Charts. Ditto. No. 386. Dated 7th June, 1848. 1849. Ditto ditto Nps. 188, 30th March, 188-2, 20th April, and 387. 1850. Ditto, Arctic Expedition, No. 107, 5th March. Pp. 157. Ditto No. 397, 31st May. Pp.6. A Narrative of Arctic Discovery, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; with the Details of the Measures adopted by her Migesty's Government for the Relief of the Expedition under Sir John Franklin. By John J. Shil- linglaw. With Portrait of Franklin, and Maps. Loudon : W. Shoberl. An Arctic Voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound in search of Friends with Sir John Franklin. By Robert Arthur Goodsir. London : J. Van Voorst. The Franklin Expedition, or Considerations on Measures for the Discovery and Relief of our Absent Adventurers in the Arctic Regions. By the Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D. Maps. Pp. 100. London : Longman and Co. Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846*1847. By John Rae, Hudson's Bay Company's Service. 8vo. Maps. T. and W. Boone. APPENDIX. 375 }850. A Lecture Delivered before the London Institution on the Arctic Regions and the Expedition under Sir John Frank- lin. By C. B. Weld, Assistant-Secretary of the Boyal Society. Map. London : John Murray. Voyages towards the North-West. Hakluyt Society. 185L Voyage of the Prince Albert in Search of Sir John Franklin : a Narrative of Every-day Life in the Arctic Seas. By W. P. Snow. 8vo. With Chart and Four Illustrations. London : Longman and Co. Quarterly Journals of the Boyal Qeographical Sooietyi 184851. Nautical Magazine, vols. 1847-1850. LIBRARY »'^VJ.; THE END. Savill & £dwards, Printers, 4, Chando!i.street, Covent-garden.