The Express.
London, England, 1853-10-08 00:00:00

ARCTIC EXPLORING EXPEI►ITIoN

We have received the following important com-
munication from the Board of Admtralty. It would
uppeur that the North-west l'asagt: L hem
actually sailed through. A more important item of
the news is that nothing hits been Laid ur se..n of
Franklin and his gallaut companions. It is to bu
feared that all hope of rescuing them must now be
abandoned.

Her Majesty's steamship Pl.cenix, cif
Thuro, U.t. 4.

Sir,—l have the honour to report to you, for the io-
fotmation of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
my arrival from the Arctic regions, bringing with me the
important intelligence of the safety of the lusestigater, and,
the discovery of the North•\Yeet Passage, though, unhap-
pily, without finding the slightest traces of the missing.
expedition, either by this route, or on the field of search
occupied by the squadron under Sir Edward Belcher's com.
mend.
-

2. I am the bearer of despatches from that officer and-
Captain Kellett. and Lieutenant ere.+well, .1 the liisisti-
gator, whom I appointed trout the North Star as supernu-
merary to this ship, is charged with the letters and journals
of Commander Al•Cluro.

3. As his jounial is of considerable length, I will endea-
vour to acquaint you with the substance of it, tlmt their
lordships may thus be early informed of the leading
features of the Investigator's discoveries ; hut, ere I i rater
into this matter, I deem it to be my duty to acquaint their
lordships ut the result of the expedition I Lave the honour
to command, unit though I have earned out their laid-
ships' instructions to the letter, and, I trust, to their entire
satisfaction, it has not been without great difficulty, con-
siderable peril to the safety of this vessel, and the total
loss of the Breedalbane transport, without the loss of
single life.

there is
4—. This unfortunate event, which occurred on the morn-
ing of the 21st of August, off Beechey Island, uo human
power could have averted; and my own vessel, which at
that time had the transport actually in tow, b ;irely escaped
Thisti lnedettinera , l
Gravy a maggelia
on
too
a similar lute, receiving a severe nip, wi.ich rose the stern
revcral feet, and arched the quarter-deck, 1. stroying the
rudailer and screw. One of ant beams forward wu sprung,
and the port bow partially stove, breukin u ono of the inlets
.7.1
~fodroc aunbgt,inmtalyi e
iipalz kb tnegn.
sil.
morning of the 18th of August, when the ship was severely
nipped off Cape Riley. Tue ice master is of opinion it was
rectivcd in Melville Bay, while forcing a passage under full
steam through some heavy ice. However this may he, I
have little doubt but that for the solid nature of the stow-
age of our hold, and the strengthening* fitted in England
we must have shawl the MAIO hoe ea the uuturtstaste
Breadulhane._ .

5. By the Diligence their lordship+ will have been in-
formed of my proceedings up to the time of my arrival at
Disco. I will, therefore, now brie fly state what we have
since done, and then, in obedience to the Mtn cluuse of
their lordships' orders, relate what information I have ob-
tained with reference to the expedition, and the discoveries
which have been made.
_ _ _

6. On leaving Disco I proceeded, with the Breads:bane
in tow, to Upernavik, there to obtain dogs, and to comma-
unaite with the inspector of North Gr.:emend concerning
the disposal of the Ituse of Hull. On the afternoon r.f the'
Ilth of July we reached this place, end the ships heading
off, while I landed, in two hours we proceeded tg, the
coast._

7. The following day, passing Cape Sitakleton in a calm, I
took advantage art the fine weather to obtain some lams
from the rookery for the use of the arctic ships, and in three
hours we obtained a sufficient quantity to give each of out
own vessels a day's fresh meat, reserving enough to supply.
the North Star's crew with provisions for ten days, iudepea-
dent of . he sheep we brought from Ireland.
8. On the 16th July wo entered Melville Bay, and found
it packed with tee, in some places very heavy, trout recent
pressure, and the land flue uuturtunately broken away, thus
depriving us of the advantage of its edge for docking the
vessels, in case of a threatened nip.
9. On the 11th of July, owing to oamage eustained in the
see, it became necessary to shift the. screw, and this was
&lee while beset among heavy flues, :.Incest out of sight of
land. From the masthead no lead could be .ten at midday,
or, indeed, any water but the pu.,l in which the ships were
afloat, but, at midnight, we pryer,. dad along a narrow lane
which opened away to the northward.
10. Thick fogs and southerly wines, which closed the ice
up, prevented our getting through Mehl& Boy till the
2oth of July, when we stretched away from Cape York for
Cape Warreuder. Fog prevented cur tak,ng observations
while crossirg over, and experiencing a string southerly
set, we found, on the weather cleating, that the ship was
within two miles of Cape Liverpool, though we had steered
for Cape Warrender, with due allowance for currents.
11!•aching over to the north shore (which we then kept
close on board), we steered up Lancaster Sound, pessing
large floes w hien were driving to the eastward.
11. On the morning of the 29th of Juiy we found a
barrier of ice stretching from shore to shore, and which
evidently had never broken away this Beaton. We followed
its edge for several miles in the hope of finding a lace
throegh, but were eventually obliged to hear up for Dundas
Harbour (au Croker Bay), there to await a change.
In coasting towards this anchorage we were surprised at
beholding • ! tents pitched en • point six miles to the
westward of Cape Warrender, but shortly taund them to
be the habitations of a party of Esquirnaux, who had come
over from Pond's Bay. Among there people I found many
',reserved meat and potato tins, the former bearing Mr.
Golduer's name, candle boxes, some span, sad other govern•
went stores, which led me to fear that they had visited the
depot at Wollaston Island.
12. In Dundee Harbour we lay for eight days, anxiously
awaiting the breaking up of the ice ; ur d on the 6th of
August, hoping that I might be able to examine, and if
necessary remove, the stores from Wollaston. Island, we got
under weigh and stretched across in that direction; bat
heavy hummocky ice prevented our even sighting it, and
we were forced to bear up again for the r.orth shore. By
this time a light north-westerly wind had eased off the ice,
and 1 determined to push un as far as practicable under
steam. The wind holding for 48 hours, we were fortunate
enough to reach Betchy Island on the Bth of August. la
many cases the ice opened just as we reached a block, which
would otherwise have stopped
. our progres ; and we were
told by the officers of the North Star that au water was to
be seen h•cm Cape Riley the day before we arrived. Thus
their lordships will perceive that no time was lost in reach-
ing our destination.
13. Erebus and Terror Bay was full of heavy hummocky
ice, of great thickness, impervious to the sec or the blasting
cartridge, and too rough and too much inundated with deep
fresh water pooh; to admit the possibility of lauding the
stores en Beeehey Island, or putting them on board the
North Star (a mile and a half distant), according to my
orders.

14. I had therefore no choice but to place them in what I
deemed the most convenient and practicable petition, sad,
in my capacity as senior officer at Brechey Island, deter-
mined on Cape Riley as the fittest spot, and even more ae•
cesaible than the island.

Accordingly, on the following morning we commenced our
weak, and, having secured the transport in a big'-.; of the
land ice, immediately abreast of a steep cliff, the people
were now set to work, watch and watch, night and day.
To expedite the service I erdercd all han6s to be sent from
the North Star, with their hammocks, and desiring them
to be victualled from our ship. The time was thus saved
which would have been lost by their going and retort-
ing to their vessel, upwards of two and a half miles die-
taixt.

The steamer lay with her fires banked up and her haw-
sers in, ready, at a moment's warning, to take the transport
off shore, in case of the ice closing; and now, everything
being set forward systematically, and 130 tons of t'W
lauded in the first 30 hours, I determined to proceed myself
up Wellington Channel by boat and sledge in 'earn of
Captain Pullen, who had been absent from the North Star
a month, and as his provisions must have been expended,
there was some apprehension as to his safety.
I had the double motive of desiring to convey to Sir
Edward Belcher his despatches, as it would only be by such
means he could possibly learn of my arrival until neat
season, unless he should return to Beechey Island.
16. I started in my whale-boat, with a month's provi-
sions, at 9 a.m., on the 10th of August, leaving written
orders with the first lieutenant, a copy of which I enclose,
marked " M. 1," in case of any unforeseen casualty pre-
venting my return to the ship by the time the transport
was cleared, to run no risk of the ships beiso caught for the
winter, but to proceed to England witn,,ut me.
17. Wellington Channel was then 101 l of ice, and so
rough with large cracks and pools that it d,i,ed sledging ex-
cepting with a strong party. Landing, therefore, on Corn-
wallis Island, a little above Barlow Creek, we made an at.
tempt to carry a small punt over the ice; but this proved
ineffectual, and 1 determined at last to proceed with Mr.
Alston, mate of the North Star. and two men, by land to
Cape lteacuc. Each carried a blanket bag, with a fortnight's
provisions, and reached, with much exertion, the Cape at
5p m. of the 13th of August. A piece of open water off
Helen Haven, prevented our proceeding further, and here
we learnt by notice of Captain Pullen's return to his Ship,
and his having communicated with Sir Edward Belcher.
18. Depositing in the cairn duplicates of their lordships'
despatches for that officer, we commenced our return, and
reached the tent on the fifth day of our absence, footsore
and much exhausted with this new mode of journeying
in the Arctic regions, having travelled 120 miles; sleeping
without shelter on the bare beach, at a temperature sewn'
degrees below freezing point, was a trial for all, more
especially as we could not eat the pemmican, and subsisted
wholly en biscuit and tea, with the exception of a few
dovekies which I shut.
19. Up till the 12th of August, Wellington Channel was
blocked with ice as far as the eye could reach. The plan
marked "0 1" shows its position at this date,and the aliens-
lion I have mode in the coast line of the western shore.
20. It is remarkable that we traced, snd followed for
many miles the dog-sledge tracks of Mr. Penny, ao fresh
upon the sandy beach as though they hal beet, made the
day previous, and it must be remembered that these were
originally upon ice.
21. I returned to the ship on the afternoon of the 15th
of August, and found that wind and char aes ir, the ice had
obliged the first lieutenant to move the transport away
from Cape Riley, and that the process of unloading had been
carried on but slowly by means of sledges; 556 package
had, however, been transported to the North Sea by then
means.
22. On the 17th of August a heavy gale from the eolith
east set the ice on to the Cape so suddenly and with such
violence that both ships narrowly escaped being lost. The
Phmuix was severely nipped, the ice bearing down upon
her with such force that the six hawa,rs and two cables
laid out were snapped like pack thrsad, and the ship forced
against the laud ice, lifting her stern five feet, and causing