pices of North Somerset, along which, in 1848, Capt. M'Clintock had travelled with Sir James Ross, as previously recounted; on the other, the equally barren but far more navigable coasts of Prince of Wales' Land. He could not but feel certain that down this strait Franklin had sailed in some more fa had failed to accomplish in that first unlucky | but slightly checked by ice, to Capes Walker season. The year 1858 was as propitious as and Bunny in the south-west, those gloomy that of 1857 had been otherwise, and with the yet picturesque portals to the channel known exception of one accident of a really alarm- until now as that of Peel, but fated to bear ing nature, when the vessel perched herself hereafter the name of Franklin, in commemupon a rock with a falling tide, and nearly oration of its having been the path to death tumbled over, before the returning flood en- and fame of his noble expedition. Down it abled them to extricate her, there was no very for twenty-five miles M'Clintock advanced, serious obstacle to their progress into Lan- until ice was seen stretching across from caster Sound, which highway to the "North-shore to shore. On his left lay those preciWest" they entered by the month of July. We need not stay to point out more than the fact that Captain M'Clintock, in that neighborhood, perfectly cleared up all the thousand and one stories emanating from whalers and Esquimaux, of some of the "white men " having been seen there, and that he discovered a new fishing-ground for whales up Pond's In-vorable season, or perhaps later in the year; let, which may hereafter prove of no small importance to our enterprising merchants and whaling seamen of Aberdeen and Hull. On the 15th August, 1858, we find the "Fox" at Beechey Island, in that bay where, as we have long known, Franklin passed his winter of 1845-46, and with which the writings of subsequent explorers have made the public tolerably conversant. Here Captain M'Clintock completed his stock of provisions from the immense depôt left at Northumberland House by Belcher and Inglefield, and under its gloomy cliffs he erected a monument with which he had been intrusted; the epitaph by Lady Franklin runs as follows:-"To the memory of Franklin, Crozier, Fitzjames, and all their gallant brother officers and faithful companions who have suffered and perished | in the cause of science and the service of their country. The tablet is erected near the spot where they passed their first arctic winter, and whence they issued forth to conquer difficulties or to die. It commemorates the grief of their admiring countrymen and friends, and the anguish, subdued by faith, of her who has lost in the leader of the expedition the most devoted and affectionate of husbands." A more fitting record, or more heart-stirring words, could hardly be conceived; and it will touch the best feelings of those seamen who, in future generations, may, in enterprises equally bold, reach this lone spot, now so hallowed in the minds of all who hold our glory dear as the greatest of mari time nations. Sailing from Beechey Island, our modern paladins steered away with flowing sheet, and and it was a question which had to be quickly decided, whether he, in the "Fox," should remain where he was, and run the chance of the strait opening in a fortnight, or, instead of doing so, turn back to Regent's Inlet and proceed down to Bellot Strait, where he would be sure of being within easy access of King William's Land for sledges, even should that strait prove likewise to be closed this season. M'Clintock decided at any rate to visit Bellot Strait, even if he afterwards returned to Peel Sound; and in a few hours the "Fox," under sail and steam, was rattling back towards Regent's Inlet. By August 21st, she had entered Bellot Strait, and was battling her way to the westward. Three several times did Captain M'Clintock strive to pass through this remarkable strait into that arctic sea, which washes the shores of North America. We need only give one instance of how he was foiled in his endeavors : "To-day an unsparing use of steam and canvas forced the ship eight miles further west: we were then about half-way through Bellot Strait! Its western capes are lofty bluffs, such as may be distinguished fifty miles distant in clear weather: between them there was a clear, broad channel, but five or six miles of close, heavy pack intervened-the sole obstacle to our progress. Of course, this pack will speedily disperse: it is no wonder that we should feel elated at such a glorious prospect, and content to bide our time in the security of Depôt Bay. A feeling of tranquillity, of earnest, hearty satisfaction has come over us. There is no appearance amongst us of any thing boastful; we have all experienced too keenly the vicissitudes of arctic voyaging to admit of such a feeling. "At the turn of tide we perceived that we were being carried, together with the pack, back to the eastward. Every moment our velocity was increased; and presently we were dismayed at seeing grounded ice near us, but were very quickly swept past it, at the rate of nearly six miles an hour, though within two hundred yards of the rocks, and of instant destruction. As soon as we possibly could, we got clear of the packed ice, and left it to be wildly hurled about by various whirlpools and rushes of the tide, until finally carried out into Brentford Bay. The icewere large, and dashed violently against each other, and the rocks lay at some distance off the southern shore. We had a fortunate escape from such dangerous company." masses the young birds tender and white as chickens!" and, indeed, on one occasion, the worthy captain quite warms up in his reminiscences of such luxuries "as thin frozen slices of seal's fat!" Winter passed as pleasantly as it may in 740 north latitude; the sun returned; there was light without warmth; but with the experience of so many seasons of sledging, and the perfect equipment of his men, Captain M'Clintock at once put forth his parties to carry forward the depots of provision, and to strive to pick up some clue by which to ascer tain whether Franklin's ships had been beset or wrecked north or south of his present position. Captain Allen Young started to the north-west for Prince of Wales' Land; Captain M'Clintock towards the Magnetic Pole. "For several days this severe weather continued, the mercury of my artificial horizon remaining frozen (its freezing-point is -390); and our rum, at first thick like treacle, required thawing latterly, when the more fluid elled each day until dusk, and then were occuand stronger part had been used. We trav pied for a couple of hours in building our snowhut. The four walls were run up until five and a half feet high, inclining inwards as much as possible; over these our tent was laid to form a roof; we could not afford the time necessary to construct a dome of snow." One day's routine will suffice to depict what the work and suffering of these early spring journeys must have been : The little "Fox" stood but little chance in a struggle against blocks of ice, each quite as heavy as she was, in a six-knot tide; and when, after a survey of the western ocean from a lofty cape, the leader saw that it was still covered with ice, which would only break up with the early winter gales, he fain sought shelter and winter-quarters in a small bay on the shores of North Somerset, and immediately set to work to place depôts of provisions out upon the routes his sledges would have to travel in the spring of 1859. These autumn sledge-parties were undertakings of no ordinary danger and difficulty; for the violence of the storms, fearful snow-drifts, and unexpected disruption of ice, nigh caused the loss of Lieutenant Hobson's party, and entailed much suffering upon all. This arduous duty exe"Our equipment consisted of a very small cuted, they prepared to pass another and sec-brown-holland tent, macintosh floor-cloth, and ond winter of darkness and monotony-but felt robes; besides this, each man had a bag not before the sportsman and naturalist had of double blanketing, and a pair of fur boots rummaged every valley and sheltered slope, pieces of blanket in which our feet were to sleep in. We wore moccasins over the and satisfied themselves that they, at any rate, had not fallen upon one of those pleasant places "abounding in game and salmon," of which they who have never visited those lands are prone to write and talk. Failing venison and salmon steaks, they, like wise *men, made the best of what Providence sent them, and they were by no means squeamish, provided it was fresh meat. In these gastronomic feats, Petersen's experiences in Greenland stood them in good stead. That worthy Dane seemed to have a keen digestion, and not over-delicate taste. Dog-mutton, however, he could not even lure our gallant countrymen to undertake, though they agreed with him that "old owls and peregrine falcons were the best beef in the country, and wrapped up, and, with the exception of a change of this foot-gear, carried no spare clothes. The daily routine was as follows: I led the way; Petersen and Thompson followed, conducting their sledges; and in this manner we trudged on for eight or ten hours without halting, except when necessary to dis the night, Thompson and I usually sawed out entangle the dog-harness. When we halted for the blocks of compact snow and carried them to Petersen, who acted as the master mason in building the snow hut; the hour and a half or two hours usually employed in erecting the edifice was the most disagreeable part of the day's labor, for, in addition to being already thoroughly chilled whilst standing about. well tired and desiring repose, we became When the hut was finished, the dogs were fed, and here the great difficulty was to in sure the weaker ones their full share in the "Next morning came breakfast, a struggle to get into frozen moccasins, after which the sledges were packed, and another day's march commenced. "In these little huts we usually slept warm enough, although latterly, when our blankets and clothes became loaded with ice, we felt the cold severely. When our low doorway was carefully blocked up with snow, and the cooking-lamp alight, the temperature quickly rose, so that the walls became glazed, and our bedding thawed; but the cooking over, or the doorway partially opened, it as quickly fell again, so that it was impossible to sleep, or to hold a pannikin of hot tea without pulling on our mitts, so intense was the cold." Thus, with toil and suffering, have all our gallant explorers opened up that vast extent of country which lies between Greenland and Behring's Straits, and nothing will convey a better idea of the extraordinary additions which have been made in those regions to our geographical knowledge, than a careful comparison of the two excellent maps which Mr. Murray has very wisely given us in this work-namely, the chart of the arctic regions as they were known to us when Franklin sailed in 1845, and that of the same quarter of the globe in 1859. Our arctic navigators and explorers need no better monument than this noble result of their exertions. On March 1, 1859, Captain M'Clintock met Esquimaux, and from them learned that one of the ships (the long-sought ships "Erebus" and "Terror," for there could be no others), "had been crushed by the ice out in the sea "One day up the inlet, still in sight, and to the west of King William's Land, but that one day overland; this would carry them to all the people landed safely." They told, They added that but little now remained of the western coast of King William's Land. likewise, of white men having died upon an the wreck which was accessible, their countryisland at the mouth of a river; and with this men having carried almost every thing away. meagre information M'Clintock was fain to be In answer to an inquiry, they said she was content; it pointed to King William's Land | without masts. The question gave rise to as the place where one of the vessels would be found, and he hastened bac. to the "Fox" to equip and start his parties for their long second ship compelled him to again send summer journeys. The uncertainty as to the Captain Allen Young to Prince of Wales' Land, in case one of Franklin's ships might have been wrecked there. Subsequent information disproved this supposition, but Allen Young did right good service; he added a great deal of new coast-line to our charts-proved the insularity of Prince of Wales' Land - discovered the M'Clintock Channel-corrected Captain Osborn's position of 1851, and fully confirmed the opinions of that officer, as well as those of Captain Ommaney, as to the impenetrable nature of the ice-stream which e. of Victoria and Albert Land. Captain M'Clincumbers that strait, and the north-east shores tock and Lieutenant Hobson, in the mean time, proceeded towards King William's Land and the Great Fish River. Nothing was found on the western or southern coasts of King William's Land; and the estuary of the Great Fish River as well as Montreal Island were equally bare of traces of the lost expedition. The Esquimaux had swept away all relics of Franklin's people in these quarters, though most of those relics of an imperishable character have been subsequently recovered by Dr. Rae, in Repulse Bay, and by Captain M'Clintock. There was, however, a wonderful paucity of natives in all the extent of coast above alluded to; indeed, beyond the Esquimaux at the Magnetic Pole in Boothia, Captain M'Clintock only encountered one more village of ten William's Land and near Cape Norton. Some or twelve snow-huts with inhabitants on King additional information was gleaned from them of a trivial nature; instead of one ship, they now spoke of two; but described one as having sunk when the ice broke up-the other had evidently been drifted safely into some position which was within their haunts. The and described their journey to her as occupyparty at Cape Norton had visited this wreck, ing five days. some laughter amongst them, and they spoke | course, mere theorists, like Captains Snow to each other of fire, from which Petersen and Belcher, are at perfect liberty to suppose thought they had burnt the masts through Franklin reached King William's Land by close to the deck, in order to get them down. There had been many books, they said, but all have long since been destroyed by the weather. The ship was forced on shore in the fall of the year by the ice. She had not been visited during the past winter; and an old woman and a boy were shown to us who were the last to visit the wreck. They said they had been at it during the close of the winter of 1857-58. "Petersen questioned the woman closely, and she seemed anxious to give all the information in her power. She said many of the white men dropped by the way as they went to the Great River-that some were buried, and some were not. She did not herself witness this, but the Esquimaux discovered their bodies during the winter following." any route they are pleased to fancy. On the How natural, then, that they should have determined to fight their way down that shoal and dangerous west coast of King William's Land. The allusion to fire points to the possibility of the second vessel having been intentionally or accidentally burnt by the natives, as an easy and barbarous way of breaking her up for the nails and bolts, or pieces of planking -all so precious to these savages. At any rate, she no longer existed upon the south or western shores of King William's Land; but upon that west coast, between a point ten miles south of Cape Herschel, where the skele- We next hear of them in May, 1847, when ton of a European sailor was discovered, up Lieutenant Graham Gore and Mr. Des Voeux to Cape Victory, where the tale of Franklin's of the "Erebus" land with a party of six success and death, together with the subse- men for some purpose, possibly to connect quent attempt of the crews to reach the Great the coast-line between the two known points Fish River, was found, there was needed no-Capes Herschel and Victory. They tell us, Esquimaux to interpret the tale of the melan- in a few brief words, that "all was well, and choly fate of those M'Clintock sought. We Sir John Franklin commanding the expedi will epitomize the information he and Lieu- tion." A twelvemonth passes, and the record tenant Hobson there collected. The "Ere- is again opened, and in a few words the firm bus" and "Terror" wintered at Beechey hand of the gallant Captain Fitzjames reveals Island 1845-46, after having, in the same sea- to us a thrilling tale of sorrow and suffering, son that they sailed from England, made a heroically, calmly met. Their gallant, loved very remarkable voyage up Wellington Chan- leader, Franklin, had died on the 11th of nel, and down a new strait (now justly named June, 1847. The ships in that summer only after the gallant Crozier) between Bathurst drifted, beset in the ice, about fifteen miles. and Cornwallis Land. Franklin thus fore-Nine officers and fifteen men had fallen; stalled in that direction all the discoveries of amongst them Graham Gore, though not unPenny, De Haven, Belcher, and Austin. In til after he had become a commander through 1846, the "Erebus" and "Terror" proceeded towards King William's Land; and although the record does not say by what route, still the concurrent opinion of every officer who has visited the channels which lie on either side of Prince of Wales' Land, gives it in favor of Franklin having taken the route between Capes Walker and Bunny; though, of the death of Franklin. And lastly, on the 22d April, one hundred and five souls, the survivors of the original expedition, had abandoned the ships under the orders of Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, and were striving to escape death from scurvy and starvation, by retreating to the Hudson-Bay Company's territories, up the Great Fish River. or chief who reached Montreal Island agrees with the appearance of Captain Fitzjames, whilst the fact of a piece of wood being found on Montreal Island with the name of Dr. Stanley carved upon it, and a fragment of an under-flannel, marked with the initials of Charles Des Voeux, point to two more individuals, whose well-known vigor of constitution renders it probable that they survived many of their more weakly comrades. We need not dwell longer on this painfully touching subject; it would be profanation to attempt to picture the last hour of these gallant martyrs to their country's fame-it only remains for us to thank Providence that, owing to the persevering self-sacrifice of Lady Franklin, and the devotion and zeal of M'Clintock and his worthy This information was written in a strong report, we are assured that at any rate a porhand, which is recognized as that of Fitz- tion of the crews—a forlorn hope, in short— james; and in a corner, under the very in- reached the entrance of the Fish River, and firm looking signature of Captain Crozier, we that too with a boat. The description of find a note in the same writing as the rest of this party, given from reports collected by Dr. the record, which shows that these poor starv- Rae in 1854, is confirmed by Captain M'Clining crews commenced their march from Cape tock's information; and the Esquimaux of ReVictory upon April 26, 1848. pulse Bay, Boothia Felix, and King William's After this no more written information was Land, all agree in the account of the eventcollected of their proceedings, except the mel-ual death by starvation of every soul in this ancholy relics which were strewn along their advanced party. Who they were that thus path, and too painfully tell their own tale. A survived to see that summer of 1848 come in large boat upon a sledge was found about half-upon them, will perhaps never be known; way to Cape Herschel, and Captain M'Clin- but the Esquimaux description of the officer tock thinks she was returning to the ships for provisions. In her there was found two skeletons, and a little tea and chocolate, but no other provision. What became of the large party of men evidently necessary to drag such a boat and sledge, in their then debilitated condition, we shall probably never know; for if they found her too heavy to drag, and tried to march back to the ships, with the intention of staying in them until death released them from their sufferings, it is to be feared the ships were never reached, as the Esquimaux distinctly said that they only found one skeleton in the vessel that fell into their hands. If the poor men fell by the wayside, as seems likely from the unburied skeletons found in the boat, and on the beach near Cape Herschel--the wolf and bear would soon obliter-comrades, the memory of the Franklin Expeate all traces of their fate; and if they walked and fell upon the smooth ice of the strait, a short distance off shore the summer thaws would soon allow the bones of the starved seamen to sink through the ice to their long rest in the sea beneath. Had not the relics brought home by Dr. Rae in 1854, and Mr. Anderson in 1856, assured us of some portion of this retreating party having reached Montreal Island, we should still not have needed proof to show that, at any rate, some of the one hundred and five men had rounded Cape With all this information carefully collected, Herschel, for a few miles beyond it Captain and after having searched in a triple examiM'Clintock found a skeleton on a ridge of nation every nook and bay of the western gravel. The poor creature had evidently fall-coast of King William Land, M'Clintock and en on his face as he was walking towards his comrade Hobson loaded their sledges home, and had only been disturbed subse- with relics of the lost ones, and hastened back quently by wild animals, though not to any to the "Fox," just in time to avoid being cut great extent. He remarks that it was indeed off by the summer thaws. Success in the a melancholy truth that the old woman at search was followed by good fortune in the Cape Norton had spoke when she said the re-escape of the "Fox" from Bellot Strait, treating seamen "fell down, and died as they and subsequent voyage to England, where walked along." By the light of Esquimaux our stout little band of navigators arrived in dition will ever be associated with their great achievement, the first discovery of the NorthWest Passage; for on the day that Cape Herschel was reached by Franklin's sledgeparties and that probably as early as on the occasion of Commander Gore's journey in 1847, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were connected; and we have little doubt that Sir John Franklin died knowing that the great work to which he had devoted so many years of his life was accomplished. |