The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-13 00:00:00

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

A very numerously attended meeting of this society
was held last night at their rooms in Waterloo-place, at
which several interesting communications were made
with reference to the efforts now in progress for the dis-
covery of Sir John Franklin's expedition; Sir Roderick
Murchison, as president, took the chair, and among those
present was Ibrahim Khan Bahadour, accompanied by
his secretary.
The following letter, addressed by his Excellency
Baron Brunow to the President, was first read:—
" Ashburnham-house, Jan, 2, 1852.
" My dear Sir Roderick,—ln wishing you with all
my heart a happy new year, I shall begin it by commu-
nicating to you the enclosed paper on a subject in which
I know you feel deeply interested, By the perusal of
the copy of the letter from Count Nesselrode to Sir
Hamilton Seymour you will perceive the earnest desire
evinced on the part of the Imperial Government to co-
operate in the measures already taken to discover, if
possible, traces of Sir John Franklin's expedition. You
will also learn with great satisfaction how willingly and
cordially the Imperial Government has entered into a
mature deliberation as to the measures contemplated by
Lieutenant Pim for the accomplishment of his object.
But, at the same time, you must not be surprised to hear
that serious doubts have arisen at St. Petersburgh in re-
gard to the possibility of carrying into effect Lieutenant
Pina's noble enterprise. These doubts are more than
mere conjectures; they amount almost to a certainty, us
you will conclude atter the perusal of the statement of
meta which accompanies Count Nesselrode's letter to Sir
H. Seymour.
" Under these circumstances, it was rot to bo ex-
pected that the Imperial Government should be induced
to put in jeopardy the life of a British officer, sacrificing
his safety to a bold experiment, without any reasonable
chance of success.
" On the other hand, you will be gratified to hear that
the Imperial Government has at once suggested to put
Lieutenant Pim in communication with your friend Baer
and Middendorff, in order to ascertain what can be done
towards the discovery of the traces of Sir J. Franklin's
expedition, in as far as further means can be adopted
on our part to meet the generous wishes and zealous en-
deavours of her Majesty's Government and the British
public.
" You may derend upon it, my dear Sir Roderick, that
your own honourable advocacy in this good cause has
been sincerely appreciated by the Imperial Government,
and that the strong interest you have taken in Lieut.
Pim's journey to Russia has been an additional ground
for securing the favourable and friendly reception he has
met with on all sides in my country.
" Believe me, with the highest esteem and regard,
" Faithfully yours,
" BM:WOW.

" To Sir Roderick Murchison,
President of the Royal Geographical Society."
The statement of the Imperial Government alluded to
in his Excellency's letter, commences with a notice of
the lively interest which the Emperor has not ceased to
take in the generous efforts made by the British Govern-
ment to discover traces of the Franklin expedition, as
evinced by the co-operation of his Imperial Majesty;
distinct orders having been given to his officers and
people on the coasts of Asia and America to assist in
every way the British explorers, while instructions have
been given to obtain any information of shipwrecks on
the northern shores of Siberia. The report then pro-
ceeds— _ _

" With similar sentiments of sympathy, the Emperor
heard of the expedition proposed by Lieutenant Pim, of
the British navy. But unfortunately, between the con-
ception of such a project and its realization physical dif-
ficulties and insurmountable obstacles exist, which Mr.
Pim, guided bp his generous devotion, does not seem to
have sufficiently foreseen, and concerning which it is tho
duty of the Russian Government to enlighten him.
" It is easy to trace in the mop of the world, across
the immense wilderness of Northern Siberia, an itinerary
which might lead to the end desired to be reached by
Lieutenant Pim; but in executing such a project it must
not be forgotten that, in addition to the enormous dis-
tances to be traversed, vast deserts must also be passed
over, which, buried under eternal snows, offer neither
means of transport nor provisions—unexplored regions,
in which tribes of savage people are scattered at wide
intervals—people over whom the Russian power exer-
cises only the slightest influence, and whose warlike
character, barbarous customs, and hatred of strangers
are such that the Imperial Government would find it
impossible to guarantee the personal security of Lieut.
Pim and his party.
" To give an idea of the difficulties that such a journey
presents it is well to call to mind the expedition under-
taken some years ago by Admiral Wrangel. Prepared
during two preceding years by the local authorities, this
expedition, though undertaken on a scale of research
much less extensive than that now contemplated, had to
be diminished in consequence of a disease among the
dogs employed to drag the sledges, and yet 50 sledges
and 600 dogs were required.
" From this example, it may be easy to judge of the
fate which would attend Mr. Pim and his companions in
the endeavour to execute a journey almost treble the ex-
tent of that accomplished by Admiral Wrangel, and in
which the British officer, having to be accompanied by
interpreters must be provided with more considerable
means of transport.
" To define more precisely the nature of these difficul-
ties, and to establish the basis of an approximate esti-
mate, it is sufficient to remember, that as Admiral
Wrangel was compelled to employ 50 sledges and 600
dogs (each sledge being supplied with from 50 to 70 salt
herrings per divas), Lieutenant Pim's expedition would
call for from 1,200 to 1,500 dogs, and provisions in pro-
portion. Now, these animals are only kept in sufficient
number fur the use of the inhabitants, and it is doubt-
ful if it would be possible to collect such a quantity o
dogs, even if the complete rui❑ of the natives, which musf
ensue, were entirely put out of the question.
"As to the ides of setting on foot such a journey
at present, and without having made the necessary
preparations, the Imperial Government does not hesi-
tate to ♦iew it as physically (' materiellemene) impos-
sible."

After some observations upon the improbability of
the expedition of Franklin having been shipwrecked in
the glacial sea to the north of Siberia, without some
information of the event having been conveyed to the
Imperial authorities by the natives, the report concludes
by stating that the Imperial Government, having it at
heart to neglect nothing which might contribute to the
work of humanity which the British Government has
followed up with so much perseverance, seizes the op-
portunity of proposing to Lieutenant Pim to have fur-
ther communications with M. Baer and M. Middendorff
in order that any ulterior measures may be indicated by
which tidings may be obtained of the missing expe-
dition.

After this statement was read,
Sir RODERICK MURCHISON observed, that Lieutenant
Pim had assured him by letters from St. Petersburgh
that he had boon most cordially welcomed by all the
Russians to whom ho had been addressed, but that all
the persons most conversant with the tracts to be ex-
plored considered his scheme impracticable, saying,
that if ho went on with it they should never see him
again. Still, when ho last wrote, but before the
formal decision had been announced to him,
Mr. Pins had not abandoned his hope of pro •
reeding; and Sir H. Seymour in writing to Sir R. Mur-
chison, had thus spoken of that gallant officer:--" If
exertion will enable Mr. Pim to procure the necessary
permission for his expedition, you may be sure he will
proceed. I never saw a man more intent on carrying
through what he had undertaken." In one of his letters
from :St. Petersburgh, addressed to the President, Mr.
Pita thus expressed himself :—" You cannot imagine how
anxious I feel, and how I look forward to my interview
with the Emperor. I shall use every endeavour to per-
suade his Majesty to share my confidence, and to allow
me to proceed." To this letter Sir Roderick replied,
repeating the injunction he gave to Lieutenant Pim at
his departure, that he must not think of prosecuting his
design if the Russian authorities deemed it impracti-
cable, and that when such intrepid and experienced men
as Aujon and Matinshkin (the companions of Wrangel)
had assured him they never would see him more, he
must abandon it; though he ought to remain in Russia
with the view of co-operating in any other project that
might be considered feasible by the ,Russian geogra-
phers. The President added, that his own specula-
tions had never led him to suppose that Franklin
cuuld have reached so far westward as the longi-
tude of New Siberia ; but ho had long thought that
the expedition might have been frozen up to the north
of the distant lands described by Wrangel and Kellett
beyond Bearing's Straits. It was to those lands that
he looked chiefly as the ultimate dostination,of Lieute-
nant Pim's journey, and it was to the same tract that
Captain Beatson now proposed to endeavour to proceed
in his own small screw steamer—a project to which,, in
common with Admiral Sir F. Beaufort, be gave his
hearty approbation, and which he hoped would meet
with the public encouragement due to so noble and andgo-
aerous an enterprise. Sir Roderick then called
atten-
tion to a sketch-map illustrative of a plan of research
which had been communicated to Lieutenant P
Ym
by
e
the Russian geographers, as probabltoy
the affording
north of
readiest means of reaching the lands
Behring's Straits. It suggests that an expedition should
proceed by sea to the upper extremity of the Gulf of
Anadyr, and, traversing the land to a point almost due
north, to endeavour thence to reach the hilly grounds
seen in the distance. The President mentioned that such
an exploration might possibly be in some way combined
with the voyage of Capt. Beatson, and thus by such efforts
directed from the east in conjunction with the renewal
of the enterprise directed by the Admiralty to follow the
supposed track of Franklin from the west through
VPellington Strait, an exhaustive survey might be com-
pleted which would be will worthy of the cause. In
conclusion, he hoped that any efforts like those of Lieu-
tenant Pim and Captain Beatson, or others which
might proceed from the independent geographers of
Britain, would be, as far as possible supported by our
Admiralty, and, to prevent aoy possible misconstruction
on this point, he took this occasion to state, and he was
sure the society agreed with him, that in the tracts they
had been ordered to examine the officers and men of the
exploring vessels scot out by authority had made the
most noble exertions. At the same time, he reminded
the meeting that when Sir John Roes was given up as
lost it was the Royal Geographical Society which led
the way in dispelling despondency, by subscribing to
send out a vessel to the rescue ; and he would now
only add, that he had the honour of presiding over them
when the gallant Franklin and his companions left the
shores of England, so it would be the happiest moment
of his life if any good tidings should be heard of them
while he was again in the chair of the Royal Geogra-
phical Society.
Dr. SHAW, the secretary to the society, then read the
following interesting communication from Captain Beat-
son, proposing a new plan of search for the missing ex'
pedition

" 36, Moorgate.street, Jan. 12, 1852.
" Sir,—Tho subject of search for Sir John Franklin.
hiving been N frequently discussed by the members of