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In the series of "The World's Great Explorers " Captain Markham has pub- lished the life of one of the noblest of a long list of noble names ; and having, as a very young man, lived for three years as one of the family in the house of Sir John Franklin, for whom 1 had the affection of a son for his father, I am anxious, through the medium of this review, to bring before those who may not he e had the opportu- nity of seeing Captain Markham's volume a condensed account of a character and career which well deserve to be more gen- erally known. When we remember the deep interest that was felt in the fate of Sir John Franklin and his gallant compan- ions during the many years in which it was wrapped in mystery, as testified by the numerous expeditions organized by private enterprise for their relief both in this country and in America, it is strange that until now no full record of his life and work should have been given to the public. The consequence has been that, to the great majority of the present generation, the name of Franklin is only known as that of one who perished in an Arctic ex- pedition, or, as it would mi-"" nrobably be said, in an attempt to r, he North Pole ; while not one in a itiousand is aware that this was but a sequel to what had gone before, that he had devoted years of his life to geographical explora- 'on, and that in previous expeditions he had faced hardships and sufferings that can scarcely have been exceeded in the one which ended so tragically. At the beginning of the century the life of a sailor was constantly one of adventure and privation, and Franklin had more than a common share of both ; before he was twenty years of age he had been pres- ent at Nelson's two greatest victories; he had taken part in a fight in which a fleet of merchant ships successfully beat o£E a powerful squadron of French men-of-war ; he had navigated waters that had scarcely been visited except by a few explorers ; he bad been wrecked on an unknown reef and imprisoned for two months on a small sandbank scarcely above high-water mark and out of the usual track of ships ; and in after life he took part, either as leader or as second in command, in no less than four Arctic expeditions. Franklin's sea life began in a merchant- man, in which his father had sent him on a short voyage in the hope of weaning him from a fancy for being a sailor, so common among high-spirited boys; but, as he returned more wedded to it than ever, no further opposition was offered to his inclinations, and in 1800, at the age of fourteen, he entered the royal navy as a midshipman in the two-decked ship Polyphemus, in which he served at the battle of Copenhagen in the following spring. The Polyphemus, carrying the flag of Rear-Admiral Graves, took her full share in that great fight, and, having been laid alongside of two of the Danish men- of-war, silenced their guns and took pos- session of them with a loss of thirty men in killed and wounded. A few months later he was appointed to the Investigator, under Captain Flinders, who had orders to survey the coast of what was then called New Holland, and afterwards at Flinders's suggestion re- named Australia. The ship was barely seaworthy and little fitted for the magnitude of the task imposed upon her commander, who was instructed to make a complete survey of the enormous stretch of coast of the Aus- tralian continent or island, of the greater part of which little beyond the barest out- line was then known. He began his work at the south-westera coiner of what is now western Australia, fo! owing it along the whole of the southc 1 and eastern coasts till he reached tiie Gulf of Carpen- taria in the extreme north. Here he found the Investigator in such a dangerous state that he was obliged to return to Sydney, having, however, ascertained the existence of a channel for ships through Torres Straits. At Sydney, which was then only a convict settlement, the Inves- tigator was surveyed, and being found to be so rotten that no repairs could make her seaworthy, her captain and what re- mained of her crew were embarked on a small vessol inamcd-thfi. P.onioUs.. which 10338 7 PROVINCIAL. LIBRARY 58o SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. was to convey them to England. They had been employed on a highly dangerous service, and, having in the course of it lost many men by disease, by drowning, and by accidents, others being invalided and remaining at Sydney, out of a total of eighty officers and men who left England in the Investigator only twenty, with Franklin among them, embarked in the Porpoise to return to it. Captain Flinders, determining to adopt the route he had been one of the first to discover through Torres Straits, which has now become the highway for ships between the east coast of Australia and India and China, sailed from Sydney in company with the East India Company's ship Bridgewater and a small vessel named the Cato, but they had scarcely been a week at sea when the Porpoise suddenly struck on a reef and at once fell over on her beam ends, while the Cato, which was close astern, striking at the same moment, became an almost total wreck. The Bridgewater, which was about a cable length's distance ahead, shortened sail, and after remaining all night within sight pursued her course the next morning with- out stopping to render assistance, and upon arriving at Bomoay her captain re- ported that the two ships had been lost with all hands ; but retribution for this heartless proceeding, so unlike the gal- lantry usually shown by seamen in rescu- ing their comrades in distress, was not long in overtaking those who had been guilty of it. After the Bridgewater left Bombay on her homeward voyage she was never heard of again ; her whole crew perished, while of the two crews they had abandoned to their fate all but three were ultimately saved. The ships had struck just at sundown, and though during the whole long night, with a heavy sea breaking over them, it was expected every moment they would go to pieces, they held together till day- break, when a low sandbank scarcely half a mile off seemed to offer a chance of safety, and preparations for taking advan- tage of it were instantly made on board the Porpoise. But before anything else was done an attempt must be made to save the people in the Cato, who were in a far worse plight, very little of that ship remaining above water, the crew having passed the night clinging in desperation to a fragment of the forecastle, and the Porpoise's boats had a difficult and dan* gerous task to perform before they suc- ceeded in rescuing the whole of them, with the exception of three, from the wreck, over which a heavy sea was breaking, and which went quite to pieces a few minutes later. The work was then at once taken in hand of conveying all that could be saved from the Porpoise to the sandbank, which was found to be about three hundred yards long by fifty broad ; and, although it was less than four feet above high-water mark, the eggs of the sea-birds that lay scattered about gave at least the hope that it was never completely submerged. The crews of the two vessels numbered ninety-four in all, and, the Porpoise hav- ing fortunately fallen over to leeward with her deck towards the shore, there was not much difficulty in landing everything that was not below water, and when the work of salvage was completed, it was found that sufficient stores and water for three months had been landed, together with sails and timber to provide shelter and fuel for cooking. Nevertheless, although the immediate safety of the shipwrecked crews was secured, their position was very far from a cheerful one ; they were out of the regular track of ships; the nearest help they could look for was from Sydney, seven hundred and fifty miles disi•./ ,.i. >'. mf- ■'T>-: i ,:■,- .■ £ i.4 - From Eraser's Magazine. L lifr. THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN Two years have elapsed since an article appeared in our pages on the "Arctic Expe- ditions," in which we gave all the information in our power respecting the expedition under Sir John Franklin, and of the means which had been takeu at that period to rescue our unfortunate countr3'men ; and we concluded by expressing our strong hopes and expecta- tions that before the close of 1849 they would be restored to us. But these hopes were, unhappily, destined to be disappointed. The autumn of 1849 witnessed the return of Sir James Ross from an entirely unsuccessful voyage in search of the Erebus and Terror ; and the winter of 1849-50 closed upon us with the painful certainty that 138 men still remained im- mured in the arctic regions. The signal failures to succor Sir John Franklin, acting powerfully on public sym- pathy, determined the Admiralty to organize more extensive measures for his discovery ; and no time was lost in obtaining the opinion of those persons best calculated to advise in so urgent a crisis. It ultimately was resolved to send out three distinct expeditions, — one, consisting of the Enterprise and Investigator, to Behring Straits, under the command of Captain Col- linson, who is instructed to do all in his power to penetrate through the Straits to Melville Island; and the two other expeditions to Lan- caster Sound and Barrow Straits, with the view of exploring the seas to the westward. The latter expeditions are composed of six ships, four of which are under the command of Captain Austin, and two under that of Mr, Penny, who has had great experience in the Arctic Seas as captain of a whaling-ship. A new and important feature merits notice with respect to Captain Austin's expedition. Two of his ships are screw steamers of sixty-horse power, and their performance has proved beyond all doubt that it is by the means of such vessels only that we can hope to tlioroughly solve the mysteries of the Arctic Seas. Independently of these expe- ditions, three others were despatched in the spring of the past year on the same humane mission to Barrow Straits. One consisting of two ships of 144 and 91 tons respectively, equipped at the sole expense of Mr. Grinnell of New York, which sailed from that port;^ one under the patronage of the Hudson's Bay Company, and commanded by Sir John Ross ; and one consistinir of the " ketch" Prince Al- bert, equipped at the expense principally of Lady Franklin, and which sailed from Aber- deen on the 5th of June last. Although this ship was sufficiently provisioned to enable her to remain out during this winter, her inability to enter a harbor in the vicinity of her pro- posed operations rendered her return expe- dient ; and it is to this circumstance that #e are indebted for much valuable and interest- ing information respecting the movements and probable position of the searching squad- ron. Before, however, entering on this branch of our subject, we have a few words to say with reference to the north coast of America, and the land supposed to exist to the north of that coast. It will be in the memory of our readers that Sir John Richardson and Mr. Rae examined that coast from the Mac- kenzie to the Coppermine rivers, a distance of 800 miles, without finding any trace of Sir 1861.] THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 421 John Franklin or of his companions. A more adventurous journey was undertaken by Lieut. Pullen, who volunteered to explore the same coast from Wainwright Inlet, near Behring Straits, to the Mackenzie. Tiiis was accom- plished witli great difficulty, and, unhappily, only produced the same negative results. But as an opinion was still entertained that the crews of the P^rebiis and Terrnr miijht forsake their ships in the vicinity of Banks' Land, and make un attempt to cross that land to the south, Mr. Rae was instructed to conduct a party from Fort Confidence on Great Bear Lake to Cape Krusenstern, and to endeavor, if possible, to traverse the channel to Wollas- ton Land, when his explorationsi were to com- mence, and to be carried on to the north- ward. But although that determined atid heroic Arctic traveler used every means in his power to cross to Wollaston Land, he was always foiled, and was at last obliged to aban- don the attempt. This failure caused Government to order Mr. Rae and Commander Pullen, who had been promoted for his daring journey from Behring Straits to the Mackenzie, to renew the search in the same direction last summer. But as the stock vjf provisions at their dispo- sal would not admit of two expeditions being equipped, Mr. Rae informs us that it was arranged that Commander Pullen, who, as he states, is much better fitted for such an un- dertaking than himself (Mr. Rae's health having given way under the privations and fatigues of his late Arctic journeys), should head a party, taking with him 4500 lbs. of pemmican and dry meat. The precise object of the proposed expedition will be best gather- ed from the following interesting letter, which has been furnished to us by Sir John Richard- son : — Captain Pnllon was to ciesccnd the Mackenzie in July last, with one of his own whale-I)oats and one of the HirJson's Bay Company's trading bat- eaux, calculatf>(l for river navigation and for carry- ing a large cargo, but not well suited for sea navigation. Some of his own men having snfTered from the fatig)ie of the previous year's work, wore sent home, and their place supplied by company's men hired for the voyage. The idea of striking out from Cape Bathurst for Melville Island was Lieut. Osborne's, and was urged strongly by Dr. Scoresby and Lady Franklin. With boats con- str' ctcd for navigating a stormy sea, and at the same time light enough to be hauled upon ice as Parry's were, the scheme seemed to nie to be practicable ; but with the few resources available to Captain Pullen, I held it, and hold it to be, ex- tremely hazardous, and look for no good results. Gnd errant that T mnv he mistaken. When asked by tlie Admiralty to offer any suggestions, I did not express a direct disapproval of the scheme, as when a man so competent to judge of tlie danger- ous navigation of the Arctic Sea as Dr. Scoresby strongly urged the enterprise, I did not think it was my part to oppose a plan which offered a cliiince of relief to the lost party; but I pointed out tbe difficulties Captain Pullen would have in procuring proper boats, and victualling them for sucli a voyage, and counselled the Admiralty to leave him full liberty either to undertake or de- cline the voyage, and not to attach any blame to him if he found his means inadequate. This they did in their instructions. lie 'vill also have to con- tend with the p]s(|uimaux of the Mackenzie river, but of their attempts to plunder he is well aware. He will return either by the Mackenzie, which is his safest course, or by a river which falls into Bathurst Inlet ; but as the navigation of this river is unknown, lie will be wise to avoid it if he can. Lastly, lie may, if led far to the eastward, ascend the Coppf rmine river, and cross to Fort Confi- dence; in which case he would likely see or hear of Rae and his party. His obvious and safest course, however, is to ascend the Mackenzie. Rae will have, I suppose, with him about seven men and a Mr. M'Kenzie, an active Hudson's Bay otlicer. His plan was to descend the Copper- mine in September last, to visit his depots of pem- tnican on the coast, that he might know how far ho could rely on them, as there was a possibility of tlieir being discovered and destroyed by the Bisquimaux. Jf all was right, he purposed, in April or May next, crossing to Wollaston Land over the ice. And in the summer to do the same in his boat if the sea should open. Captain Pul- len may fall in with Captain CoUinson, as both will be pressing towards the same point at the same time ; and this will be very desirable. Whatever expectations may be entertained of the utility of these expeditions, and it must be conceded that Sir John Richardson's letter does not ^ivc much encouragement for hope, it is m nifest that our greatest prospect of finding the missing party rests on those ships following their track. Although the latter left England at differ- ent periods during last spring, they all met in Melville Bay, those ships which had arrived there first having been detained by the heavy state of the icu in Baffin's Bay. This ice, which is well known to Arctic navigators as the "Middle Ice," cements Cheenland and America firmly together during the long winter months. Summer, in that region a brief but ardent season of constant life, makes rapid inroads upon this icy sea, and leaves a huge central tongue of ice bearing the name of the middle pack. It rarely hap- pens that this pack can be cleared at what is called the middle passage between the lati- tudes of 65° 50' and 75°. The general course of vessels is to the north of it round Melville 422 THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. [March, Tw appea dition in our Sir Jc had b unfort by ex tions I be res Bui to be witnei an en the E 1849- certaii murec Tht Frank pathy more and u of th( so ur( It three the El Straiti linson, to pel Island caster view c The U ships, of Ci»j Mr. P« Bay, and this was the route taken by all the ships last year. A detention took place off Cape York, in consequence of a terrible story having been communicated to Captain Austin by the Es- quimaux interpreter on board Sir John Ross's ship, to the effect that, in the winter of 1840, two ships had been broken up by the ice forty miles to the northward, and burned by a fierce and numerous tribe of natives ; and that the crews, being in a weak and exhaust- ed condition, had been murdered. Before proceeding further. Captain Austin wisely determined on investigating the crecii- bility of the story, and it resulted t'.iat the only apparent foundation was that the North Star had wintered in the situation referred 10. Letters, however, from the American ships mention a circumstance in connection witii Cape York, wliich seems to have escaped llie notice of our English friends, and may possi- bly have had some intluence in giving rise to the above report. They state that near that Cape more than twenty corpses of Esqui- maux were found ice-preserved, entire except their eyes and lips, and lying down, lifeless dog by lifeless master. The cause of this passing away of life was a mystery. There was food around them, and where food and fuel are nearly convertible terms, they could hardly have been without fire or light. As soon as the ships had attained open water on the west of Baflin's Bay, the search commenced. It was Captain Penny's inten- tion to have examined Jones's Sound, but being unable to enter it on account of the heavy ice which barred the entrance, he passed on through Lancaster Sound with the other ships. We must now revert to the Prince Gilbert, whose mission differed from that of all the other expeditions. If our readers will look at a map of the Arctic regions (and here we may tell them, that they can only obtain an accurate idea of the configuration of the land and water of that part of the globe by con- sulting the Admiralty charts containing the latest discoveries), they will see. that should Sir John Franklin have deserted his ships to the south of Cape Walker, it is quite possible that he would strike aci'O'js North Somerset, and make for the Fury stores at Fury Beach in Regent Inlet. Under these circumstances, the examina- tion of that inlet is of great importance ; and as it does not enter into the instructions of the other expeditions, Lady Franklin deter- mined to equip a ship of her own for the purpose of doing this very necessary work. The total cost of the expedition is estimated at about £4000, the greater portion of which will be borne by Lady Franklin. The Prince Albert, a ketch of eighty-nine tons, was pur- chased for the service. Captain Forsyth, in the most generous and noble manner, gave his services gratuitously ; and, provisioned for two years, the little ship went forth on her voyage on the 5th June last. Although tliis period was later by several days than the date of the departure of the other ships, vet the Prince Albert was the first to arrive at the entrance to Reirent Inlet, making Leo- pold Isliind, at the mouth of that inlet, on the 21st Aug. The harbor was closed with heavy ice, which completely prevented the ingress of the ship ; but it was so important that this locality should be examined, as being the place where Sir James Ross had left one of his steam-launches and a large quantity of provisions, that Captain Forsyth ordered Mr. Snow and a party of men to take the gutta- percha boat and endeavor to reach the shore. Had it not been for this boat, the ma- terial of which is singularly effective in resist- ing the p'essure of ice-floes, it would have been almost impossible to have gained the harbor, for the ice was so thick, and in such convulsive motion, that Mr. Snow declares, any boat made of wood would have been crushed like an egg-shell. We can well understand that it was an anxious moment when the cylinders found in the house on the beach were examined : — " Eagerly," says Mr. Snow, in his account of the voyage of the Prince Albert, " did I open them and take out their contents. Three papers were in one, and two in the other. My agitation was so great that I could hardly see to read, and my hands fairly trembled." To the great disappointment of the party, there was not a line from those whom ||iey sought, the papers simply giving an account of the provisions and stores deposited in the harbor by Sir James Ross, and of the visit of tiie North Star, which ship had been there only a few days before them. With the ex- ception of some rents in the sides and top of the house, it was found in good order ; and all the stores and provisions were in excel- lent preservation. Mr. Snow having regained his ship. Cap- tain Forsyth bore south down Regent Inlet, in accordance with his instructions; but being met when off Fury Beach by great quanti- ties of drift ice, through which be could not penetrate, and which, in his own opinion and that of Ills mates, presented no prospect of [March, cessary work, is estimated tion of which The Prince ons, WHS pur- n Forsyth, in manner, gave provisioned ent forth on Although •il days than e other ships, rst to arrive making Leo- t inlet, on the ed with lieavy the ingress •tant tliat this as' being the .d left one of je quantity of h ordered Mr. ke the gutta- o reach the boat, the ma- ctive in resist- t would have ve gained the k, and in such »now declares, lid have been !iat it was an riders found in examined : — his account of ;, " did I open tents. Three in the other. [ could hardly ly trembled." of the party, se whom ^|iey ig an account posited in the i of the visit ad been there With the ex- es and top of i order; and ivere in excel- lis ship, Cap- Regent Inlet, ns ; but being jreat quanti- be could not 1 opinion and • prospect of 1851.] THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 423 opening, he stood out again to the north- ward, with the ir.'ention of proceeding down the western i-ide of North Somerset, but was prevented carrying this into execution by the pack-ice, which extended across Barrow Straits. Running along the edge of this pack, he readied Cape Riley, at the eastern entrance to Wellington Channel. The American ship Advance was discovered close in shore, ap- parently beset by icebergs ; and it was from her captain that the starting intelligence was gleaned, that traces of an encampment liad been found on Cape Riley. Captain Forsyth immediately sent Mr. Snow to examine the Cape, and the result of the examination is loo well known to render it necessary for us to say more, than that the traces brouglit home by Captain P'orsyth have been regarded as certain evidence of Sir John Franklin having encamped on the Cape. Independently of the relics, traces of five tents were found, which led to the belief that Sir John Franklin had landed on Cape Riley to make magnetical observations, for which five tents would be required. Captain Ommaney, of the Assistance, v/ho had visited the Cape only two days before Cap- tain Forsyth's arrival, had evidently no doubt of laving discovered traces of the missing expe- dition ; and although he did not leave any re- cord of the nature of those traces, but simply stated his intention of going on to Cape Walker in search of further information, yet — as it is pretty clear that he spent a day and night on the Cape — he must have gle ined more intelligence respecting Sir John Franklin than we are aware of. And we have evi- dence even more confirmatory of this. For when Captain Ommaney parted from Cap- tain Austin, his instructions were to examine the north shore of Lancaster Sound to Wel- lington Channel, and then to proceed up the Channel, as far as practicable, until he felt fully satisfied that it has not been the course of the missing ships. These are positive or- ders obliging Captain Ommaney, before going elswhere, to satisfy iiimself fully that the Ere- bus and Terror had not proceeded up Welling- ton Channel. But instead of exploring this channel, we find that, after visiting Cape Ri- ley, he resolves immediately on pushing on to Cape Hotham and Cape Walker ; thus leav- ing us to infer that he felt entirely satisfied Wellington Channel had not been the course of the missing ships ; and that it was prac- ticable to go further up that channel is evi- denced by tl"^. fact of the Rescue being as high up as between Cape Innesand Cape Dowden. Cape Hotham is above thirty miles from Cape Riley ; and Mr. Snow states, that when the Frince Albert was mid-way between Cape Spencer and Point Innes, and about a mile from the shore, he saw the Assistance press- ing on through a channel of open water, within about fifteen miles of Cape Hotham. The Intrepid, steam tender, was near her, and there were apparent lanes or leads ot water in various directions. It was further ordered, that Captain Om- maney was to leave intelligence of his pro- ceedings at Griffith's Island, to which place Captain Austin would proceed ; and as there was about a month of open season liefore them, there is lilLle doubt but that all the ships met at that locality, which, indeed, had been appoiiited as a rendezvous. Should they have been unable to pene- trate further westward, the position of that island is highly favorable for walking explo- rations during this winter and spring ; and unless the ice prove quite impassable, parties will certainly reach Cape Walker and Melville Island. Feeling satisfied that the search to the westward would be effectually made by Cap- tain Ommaney and his con panions. Captain Forsyth, whose mission wa* confined to Re- gent Inlet, judged it prudent, as there was no port which he could enter in the vicinity of his proposed openi lions, to return to Eng- land. From information which has reached us, we apprehend that a spirit of insubordinn- tion, which early broke out among the chief officers of the Prince x\lbert, was another reason why Captain Forsyth felt anxious, when he could not examine Regent Irdi't, to return home. The rigorous discipline of the navy is especially needed in s(;rvices of such a natuie as Arctic explorations ; and the United States Government have acted most judiciously in placing the private expediton fitted out at the expense of Mr. Grinnell. "f New York, under Admiralty regulations. In conclusion, we cannot divest ourselves of the belief that the searching ships have succeeded in their mission. W^e are not suffi- ciently sanguine to hope that niiuiy of our friends will be rescued. Great mortality must have taken place among them ; but we do think it not only possible, but probable, that a few survive ; and that we shall hear from living lips the strangest record of en- durance and suffering that have yet befallen the mariners of any nation. I 112 THE TRACK OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN [Jan I 1861.] .'■l Mr* 'iV;. V ii From the New M o n t li I y Bl a g a z i n e ■ THE TRACK OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. I Havinu kept our readers ait fait to the progress of Artie research and discovery, and to t\w still more heart-stirrinL"' researches now being made after our k)ng-lost country- men, it behooves us to give some account of the traces tliat have been met witli of Sir John Franklin's expedition, and the deduc- tions t(j be founded upon this discovery. One of the vessels engaged in this most exciting of all hunts — her Majesty's ship North Star, Commander J. Saunders — which went out in May, ] 849, it is to be first observed, returned to Portsmouth, September 28, 1850, after wintei-ing in a small bay up Wolstenholme Sound, the farthest point to the north at which a British ship ever wintered before, without any tidings beyond rumors, little worthy of credit, of the missing expedition. The Prince Albert, Commander Forsyth, which, left Aberdeen on the oth of June last, arrived at Aberdeen on the 1st of October, bringing, however, the intelligence of traces of Sir Jfthn FrankUn's expedition having been discoveicd at Cape lliley, at the entrance of Wellington Channel. These traces, it ap- pears from a paper found by the Prince Al- bert, had been first discovered on the 23d of August, 1850, by CaptaLi Ommanncy and officers of her Majesty's ships Assistance and Intrepid, and who, it appears, " collected the remains of materials which evidently prove that S(jme party belonging to her Majesty's ships had been detained at that spot, and that Beechey Island had also been examined, where traces weie found of the same party." It is to be observed here, that the reacs al- luded to by Captain Ommanncy have not reached this country, nor have any notices of the traces said to have been found by the same party in Beechey Island. It is also to be observed that Captain Ommatuiey, who had been detached from the squadron under Captain Austin, o& Wolstenholme, on the 15th of August, was so far satisfied as to the indications afforded by the traces found at Cape Riley and Beechey Island, that he had, according to the notice found by Commander Forsyth at the first-mentioned place, bome off at once (o Cape Hotham and Capo^ Walker, to use his own words, " in searclj for further traces of Sir John Franklin's eX't pedition." ^ Captain Forsyth had advanced as far a;i Cape Spencer at Wellington Channel, wher he was met with impenetrable barrier.-. O] ice, and iinding further search in that direc^ tion impossible, Mr. Snow, the second offi cer in command, was sent to examine Cap» llilej'. Here Mr. Snow found the notice o Captain Ommarniey having been to the sami spot, and he observed five places where tents had been pitched, or stones placed, as if thej had been used for keeping the lower part otj the tents down ; also quantities of beef, pork, and biids' bones, and a piece of rope with what was then suj)posed to be the Woolwich mark upon it. This piece of rope, brought home by Cap- tain Forsyth, was forwarded by the Secre- tary at the Admiralty to the Captain Super- intcmdent of the Chatham yard, who reportet' that the yellow Avorsted mark, the distin^ ■ guishing mark of tlie Chatham and not th< Woolwich yard, fixed the date of manufac ture subseejuent to 1824, and further, thai ■ supplies of rope of many sizes were sent t( Woolwich in 1844 and 1845, and the latter' ye;u' a supply (.>f Arctic stores was sent from Chatham to Woolwich, expressly for the -&Ve- bus and Terror. The master ropemaker and master attendant also reported that the piece of rope found at Cape lliley was manufac- tured from Hungarian li mp, and that such hemp was not used befoie 1841. Ca{)tain Sir William Parry, reporting upon the same relics, as also upon a bit of canvas which it appears was also brought home by Captain Forsyth, says that Lieutenants Beechey and Iloppnt^r landed at Cape Riley upon the first discovery of the coast on the 22nd August, 1810, by the expedition under Captain Sir William Parry, but they only remained on shore a few minutes, having been recalled in consequence of a fair wind springing up. The date of the manufacture of the rope is also subsequent to the year [Jan( 1861.] THE TRACK OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 113 V ii I ' i' P c ( and Capo*^ in searclj nklin's ext 1 as far a:i ncl, wb:te^^ttu[