The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-13 00:00:00

Island (where her commander received the dispatches
of Sir Edward Belcher from which we extract these
particulars) the squadron under the orders of that
gallant commander had steamed up the channel to the
point indicated by Captain Penny, and had not re-
turned ! Yet the distance is short, and if no such
passage had existed, Sir Edward Belcher, on detect-
ing the mistake, would indubitably have returned to
the rendezvous at Beechy Island, We may take it
for granted, therefore, that the passage does exist, i
and that Sir Edward Belcher has entered it. May
we not equally infer that Sir John Franklin did the
same before him ? It is, at least, good for us to
think so, fur that is the only hypothesis on which
can he grounded the strong belief still cherished by
many that some at least of that gallant company still
survive to reward the expectation of their anxious
country. In the present scate ofgeographical science it is
difficult if not impossible to come to any other con-
clusion than that Sir John Franklin—not having
passed down Prince Regent's Inlet, nor weathered
Cape Walker, nor returned home—must have gone
up the Wellington Channel and entered the Queen's
Channel. It is true that adverse winds or currents
may have afterveneds driven him to the eastward and
southward of his course, and that his vessels may at
last have foundered in some of the straits which are
supposed to connect those channels with the upper
portion of Baffin's Bay. In that case Sir Edward
Belcher end the ships under his command may fail to
discover the traces of the lost squadron; but the
boats and sledges under the immediate command of
his surgeon, Mr. M'Ccrmick, may be more fortunate.
That gentleman, a few hours before the departure of
the Prince Albert, had started from Beechy island in
quest of a passage from Wellington Channel into
Baffin's Bay. The strange tale of the cairn of stones
and the bivouac seen on the shores of Jones's Sound by
the crew of a passing whaler will, at all events, be now
cleared up by Mr. M'Cormick. Some surprise has
very naturally been excited by the absence of all de-
finite memorials of Sir John Franklin's intended
route. It is hard to account for the omission ; but
so it is, that not a document was left by our unfortu-
nate countrymen at any one of the stations which have
been visited, by which their future course could be
even guessed at. But it is scarcely less extraordinary
that there should have been nothing in Sir John
Franklin's instructions—minute as they were—to
lead him to suppose that such was the pleasure cf the
Admiralty. He is directed " frequently to throw
overboard a bottle or cylinder," for the purpose of
ascertaining the currents of the Arctic Ocean ; but,
of leaving landmarks, or dispatches, or any other in-
dications of bis route for the information of those
who might come after him, not one syllable is said.
Nevertheless this neglect on his part, in a matter
where he is not bound to await instructions, is as
unaccountable as its consequences have been un-
fortunate. Shall we conclude without drawing public
attention to a matter in which the honour of a great
and generous nation is deeply concerned ? Services
the most important have been rendered by Lady
Franklin to the cause of humanity. Her private
fortune has been expended in their accomplishment.
The Prince Albert, which for the second time, anti-
cipating all other means of communication at the dis-
posal of the Government, has conveyed to the Admi•
ralty the tidings of its own commander's discoveries,
and of the progress of those of the squadron actually
engaged in the Artic Seas, is nevertheless a mere
merchant ship—purchased, equipped, and manned as
such at the expense of Lady Franklin. Is it credit-
able to this nation that it should allow such sacri-
fices to be made for en object which concerns not
alone the sorrowing family of Sir John Franklin,
but also hundreds more, and, above all, the country
which they have served, and in serving which they are
perishing, or have perished ? Parliament should see
;o this.

(From the Herald.)
The safe return of Lady Franklin's private expe•
dition with the glorious news of open water up the
Wellington Channel, which was supposed by some to
be for ever blocked with a barrier of ice, is a matter
of no small moment to those who are deeply inte-
rested in the subject, and to Captain Penny it must
indeed be a source of the highest satisfaction. It
will be remembered that it was his " conviction that
Sir John Franklin had gone through the strait
leading north-west out of Wellington Channel (which
for the present he had named Queen Victoria Chan-
nel), and that he had gone off in clear water, and was
beyond their reach."
That this will now prove to be the case there seems
to be a most reasonable prospect, as Sir Edward
Belcher and that gallant young officer Lieut. Sherard
Osborne lave proceeded in "clear water" into the
Queen's Channel, with the Assistance and Pioneer steam
tenders. That they may have passed out of the Queen's
Channel, and through Penny Strait, to the north-
westward, is more than probable. If so, we may
fairly hope that before they house in for the winter,
they will have come upon the second winter-quarters
of sir John Franklin. Mr. Kennedy's voyage is alto-
gether so remarkable that it will take its place
amongst the foremost of any. A solitary little vessel,
of some 90 tons, manned by a few gallant men,
dauntlessly proceeds to brave all the dangers of a
frozen sea, trusting to the guiding hand of Providence
to protect them on their mission of humanity. Alone
in that vast solitude of eternal ice and snow no fears
disturb them—no dangers appal. The mazy laby-
rinth of ice is threaded with the utmost patience and
indomitable perseverance till the vessel gets into the
open water of Barrow's Straits, and happily finds
a secure harbour in Prince Regent's Inlet
to pass the winter, now rapidly coming in upon
them. Preparations are at once commenced to
search for our missing countrymen. The noble John
Hepburn and Captain Leask are left in charge of the
ship, and, for the first time in the annals of Arctic
history, a journey, unexampled in every respect, is
commenced in the depths of winter to explore an
unknown portion of the Polar regions. These brave
men, guided by their brave leader, Mr. Kennedy,
and his no less brave companion, M. Bellot, of whom
Mr. Kennedy says, in his dispatch, " he cannot find
words to express his admiration," are absent from
their ship for five months, sleeping in snow huts, fre-
quently confined to them for days together by stress
of weather, and travelling at night over the dreary
wilderness of snow by aid of moonlight, and eating
snow and ice in the morning as a substitute for cocoa
or tea! having little or no fuel • yet all undergone
with the utmost cheerfulness. The noble conduct of
M. Bellot, a young French officer, in going out in
this little craft, from the purest and loftiest motives,
will, we are sure, meet with the universal admiration
of our countrymen ; and we trust that the Minister of
Marine will in some way mark his approbation of his
heroic conduct, remembering that, although in a
foreign service, on such an occasion as this—
" One touoh of Nature makes all kin alike."
We cannot expect to hear any further tidings from
Sir Edward Belcher's squadron till this time next
year, unless, indeed, his passage through the Queen's
Channel and Penny Strait was unobstructed, and he
should have come upon further important traces of
such moment as to induce him to detach a party to
the North Star, and thus, with the Mary yacht, to
endeavour to communicate with the whalers in the
we t wattPTS-
This is only an idea which occurs to
ci
us as just possible, and more.noointiceMoore
Our new Arctic
news will probably be from Behring Straits in
December, when the frigate which has gone up with
have supplies for the Plover may be expected to have re-
turned with dispatches; and we anxiously await the
intelligence we may hope to receive from Captain
of his
re(
who
proceedings is
comingat
Point Barrow, which we hope will have b een visited
,his
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left
r so sswoenaCe Captain
little doubt Captain Collin-
son