The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-01 00:00:00

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

TO THE IDITOE 01 THE TIMES.

Stet,—On looking over your paper this morning I
was deeply pained, and not a little surprised, at some
remarks in a letter purporting to come from a brother of
one of the officers of her Majesty's ship Terror, one of
the vessels of the unfortunate expedition under Sir John
Franklin.

,The writer, in the first place, says, "that Dr. Rae
, has been deeply reprehensible for not verifying the re-
port of the Esquimaux, and for publishing his report
without verification ; that he should have kept silence
altogether, and not have excited such painful feelings in
many persons on such insufficient grounds."
To have verified the report which I brought home
would, T believe, have been no difficult matter, but
it could not possibly be done by my party in any
other way than by passing another winter at
Repulse Bay, and making another journey over
the ice and snow in the spring of 1855. This
I could have easily done, without exposure
to more privations than persons accustomed to the Hud-
son's Bay Company's service are in the habit of enduring,
but I had a deeper motive in returning to England with
the information I had obtained than the mere selfish
feeling of regard for my own comfort, which is a point I
have never much studied. My reason for returning
from Repulse Bay without having effected the survey I
had contemplated was to prevent the risk of more valu-
able lives being sacrificed in a useless search in portions
of the Arctic seas hundreds of miles distant from the
sad scene where the lives of so many of the long-lost
party terminated ; and I am happy to say that my con-
duct has been approved by all those whose opinion I
value, and with whom I have conversed on the subject.
It is stated by your correspondent, " that where Es-
quitnaux can live, where Dr. Rae's party could find
abundant means, what should prevent Sir John Franklin
and his party from subsisting too 1"
No man but one perfectly unacquainted with the sub-
ject could ask such a question.
At the season when Sir John Franklin's party was
seen travelling over the ice the seal-holes are covered
by snow, and can only be discovered by the acute sense
of smell of the native dogs ; and, after the seal-hole is
discovered, much patience, experience, and care are re-
quisite to kill the seal. As soon as the snow thaws (say
in June) the seals show themselves on the ice, but they
are then so difficult of approach that not one of my
men (Ouligbuck, the interpreter, excepted), although
they often made the attempt, could approach near
enough to shoot any of these animals,
I wintered at a part of the Arctic coast remark-
able by its geographical formation for the abundance
of deer during the autumn migrations, but only
then ; and it was at that time that we laid up our
winter stock of food, but it was hard work even for
us (all practised sportsmen, picked men, and in full
strength and training) to collect a sufficiency.
That portion of the country near to and on which a
portion of Sir John Franklin's party was seen is in the
spring notoriously the most barren of animal life of any
of the Arctic shores, and the few deer that may be seen
are generally very shy, from having been hunted
during the winter by Indians on the borders of the
woodlands.

To prove this scarcity of game, I may add that during
my spring journey of 56 days' duration one deer only
and a few partridges were shot by us.
It is asked by your correspondent why " the unfortu-
nate men should have encumbered themselves with silver
forks and spoons and silver plates, &c."
The total weight of the silver forks and spoons
could not be more than 41b. or 51b, at the utmost;
and would not appear much when divided among
forty persons ; and any officer who has ever had the
misfortune to abandon his ship or boat anywhere, but
more particularly in the Aectic sea, knows well how apt
men ar© to encumber themselves with articles far mere
useless and bulky than a few forks and spoons.
I suppose by " silver plates" your correspondent al-
ludes to the silver plate with Sir John Franklin's name
engraved thereon, and which may possibly weigh half
an ounce—no great addition to a man's load.
Again, your correspondent says "that the ships
have been abandoned and pillaged by the Esqui-
maux." In this opinion I perfectly agree so far as
regards the abandonment of the ships, but not that
these ships were pillaged by the natives. Had this
been the case wood would have been abundant
among these poor people. It was not so, and they
were reduced to the necessity of making their sledges
of musk-ox skins folded up and frozen together, an alter-
native to which the want of wood alone could have re-
duced them. Another proof that the natives had very
little wood among them may be adduced.
Before leaving Repulse Bay I collected together some
of the most respectable of the old Esquimaux, and distri-
buted among them all the wood we could spare, amount-
ing to two or three oars and some broken poles. When
these things were delivered to them I bade the Esqui-
maux interpreter, who speaks both his own and the
English language fluently, to ask whether they or their
acquaintances near Pelly Bay had now most wood. I
need scarcely add that, had the ships been found by the
Esquimaux, a stock of wood sufficient for many years for
all the natives within an extent of several hundred miles
would have been obtained.

It may be as well here to state, for the information of
your correspondent and others, that the authorities of
the Hos. Hudson's Bay Company have, in the most kind
manner, permitted roe to devote my whole time, as long
as requisite, to satisfy the questions, as far as in my
power, and to reply to communications from the rela-
tives and friends of the long missing party, instead of
to complete my chart and write up the report of my
expedition for their information.
It Liay interest your readers to learn that two over-
, land expeditions have been decided upon—the one in
boats, to go down the Mackenzie River in search of
Captain Collinson, about the safety of whom there is
now some anxiety ; the other, in canoes, down Back's
Fish River, to make further inquiry into the fate of Sir
J. Franklin's people, and to endeavour to obtain some
more relics ; and, should any of the remains of the
dead be found, to place them decently under ground.
About noon on Friday it was arranged by the Lerds
Commissioners of the Admiralty and Captain Shepherd,
Deputy-Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, that
these expeditions should be left wholly in the hands of
the Hudson's Bay Company, and the same evening the
Deputy-Governor had posted letters to Sir George Simp-
son, territorial Governor, containing full details as to
the objects and mode of carrying into effeot these ex-
peditions.

I trust that any of the relatives of the lost navigators
who may in future wish to make severe remarks on the
mode in which I have acted, in the very perplexing
position in which I was placed, will first do me the
favour of communicating with me, and, if I cannot
satisfy their doubts, it will then be quite time enough
to make their opinions public—such would be the more
fair and satisfactory course.
In conclusion, let me observe that I am at a loss
to discover what course of proceeding your corre-
spondent would have desired me to pursue. I hav e
assigned the reason for my return ; if he can offer au
equally good one er a better why I should have stayed
out another year, I should be most happy to have learnt.
it, either by letter to myself or through the medium of
your columns. _ _

I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
JoHN RAE.
Tavistock Hotel, Covent-L!arden, Oct. 3.