The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-30 00:00:00

* Athabasca Lake.
t Fish River.
Great Fish River.
II Mr. T. Simpson's Journey to the Polar Sea.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DAY.)

LONDON, Oct. 30.—Wind this day at Noon, S.W. ;
fine, clear weather, with a strong breeze.
PORTSMOUTH, Oct. 29.—Wind, S.S.W. Arrived—
Louisa, from Hamburgh, for Sydney, N.S.W. ; Concordia,
Altona, for Guernsey; Alexandria, Dantzic, for Poole;
Commerce, Christiana, for do. ; Weimer Castle, London,
for the Black Sea ; Harvest Home, London, for Sydney,
N.S.W., leaky ; Egypt, do. do., leaky ; Resolution,
Youghal ; Coronet, Quebec ; Warrior, London, for Ja-
maica ; H.M.S. Lizard, Sheerness. Sailed—Eurydice, for
the East Indies.

PLYMOUTH, Oct. 29.—Wind, S. W. Arrived —Reward,
from Quebec ; Sea Nymph, Antigua ; William, London,
for Melbourne ; Telegraph, Southampton, for Australia ;
Truo Briton (store-ship), London, for Malta.
DovEn, Oot. 29.—Wind, Arrived—Nelson
Packet, front Hamburgh.
COWES, Oct. 29.—Wind, S. Arrived—Jane Picteryn
Koerr, from Akyab ; Dolphin, Callao ; Thetis, Gothen-
burg, for Oran ; Y. E. D., Newcastle, for Constantinople;;
J. A. Hazard, Cuba; Maria Eugenia, do., for Trioste.

(BY SUBMARINE AND EIROPEAN TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND' Monday, 10.45 a.m.
Wind, S. ; tide first hour's ebb; fine.
Arrived, Oct. 29—Diaapore, from Madras; Swan, Stock-
holm ; Ypres, Dunkirk; Havering and Wonder, Antwerp;
Melpomene. Rotterdam; Camallas, Demerara; Walter
Hood, Sydney ; Leeuwarden, Harlingen.
Arrived, Oct. 30—Hanover, steamer, from Rotterdam;
Stad Dordrecht, steamer, Dordt ; Ravensbourn, steamer,
Antwerp ; Fyenoord, steamer, Rotterdam ; Caledonia,
steamer, Hamburg ; Era, St. Kitt's ; Newcastle, Ostend ;
Eagle, Rouen ; Leenne, Gravelines.
Sailed—New Great Britain, for Port Phillip; Advance,
Havre ; Lady C. Barham, Jamaica ; Commodore, B Ja-
maica ; Perseverance, Leer ; Lucy Sharp, Algoa ay ,
Louthe, Rio Janeiro.

DEAL, Monday, 9.55 A.M.
Wind southerly, light, very fine.
London, for
Packet., Blyth, for St. Valery; N t
yacht,
for Belize; Ashburton,
Anchored—Eliza, from Shield ,ofrorhGsitiearrn, Leipsic
Akyab; William Bryan, London,
Antwerp, for Cardiff.
atoyw, f;orshLaornpd,oyna.
Sailed—Haddington,
Passed—Alico Maude,fofrroßmomAblagyo,aißn
for Poole.
Report of the ship Polonaise, 105 days from Whampoa.
Passed the barque Malard, from Calcutta, for London, 68
days out, lat. 19.30 S., long. 2.19 W. ; passed barque
Granville, from London, for Calcutta, lat. 6.41 N., long.
,
03.54 W. ; passed barque Velcro, lat. 8.47 N. long. 24.13
passedl3.2o N. , long.
f' .
Ir.; passed banine Niagara, from Glasgow, for California
larot.mlL3.i2verNp.ool,
long. 25.50 W. ,
12t.
passed brigs Favourite, from Newport, for Rio, and Af"-
mooro, from Swansea, for Coquimbo, both in lat. 11.51
N., long. 26.22 W. ; passed. Eliza and Fleites from Calo
for Cork, and Richard Barkley, from Valparaiso for Liver-
pool, brig Ellen 1
I:Gregor from Valparaiso for Bordeaux
—all in lat. 27.36 N., long. 33.34 W. ; passed barque
Goethe, of Bremen, from Baltimore, lat. 47.41 N., long.
53.51 W. ; passed. barque Grange,
Marta from Jamaica, off the

DR. VAE'S REPORTS ON THE ARCTIC

EXPEDITION.

TO THE BDITOR OF THAI TIMES.

Sir,—ALlthough the opinions which I hold on the sub-
ject of Dr. I?ae's report go something beyond what you
yourself have expressed, I trust that you will allow this
letter to appear irr your paper, if it is only for the pur-
pose of eliciting the sentiments of others on a matter in
which I am peculiarly interested—having had a brother
on board Her Majesty'& skip Terror.

It appears to me that V.”. Rae has been deeply repre-
hensible either in not verifyiog the report which he re-
ceived from the Esquimaux, or, if that was absolutely
out of the question, in publishing the details of that
report, resting as they do on grounds most weak and
unsatisfactory. He had far bettor have kept silence
altogether than have given us a story which, while it
pains the feelings of many, must be very insufficient
for all.
To say nothing of the difficulties which, in your article
of Thursday, you have touched upon, there are others
which seem to me so patent that I can only wonder they
did not occur to Dr. Rae himself.
1. Where the Eiquiniaux can live—where Dr. Rae's
party could find abundant means—what should have
prevented Sir John Franklin and his party from subsist-

ing too ?
2. When they were forced—as, no doubt, they have
been—to abandon their ship., can any one believe that
they would have encumbered themselves with forks and.
spoons and silver plates, instead of reserving every inch
of available space firstoreg and articles absolutely neces-
sary for subsistence ?
3. Supposing that they died by starvation, is it likely
that a large body of men would have died all together I
Would they not have yielded one by one, each struggling
on as far as he could, in the hope of either finding some
store of provisions or meeting some party sent out for
their rescue ?

I, sir, for one, have long given up all expectation of
seeing my brother again -in this world. But there are
many who still cling to the hope of regaining their rela-
tions. My own belief is, that the ships have been aban-
doned and plundered by Esquimaux. I would only per-
suade myself that I am not compelled to believe the
painful details which Dr. Rae has most unwarrantably
published. But others believe that the crews may yet
be subsisting somewhere, and until Dr. Rae's report be
verified they will not part with their belief for anything
which he has said. I enclose my card, and am,
Sir, your obedient servant,
]. J. H.

Oct. 26.

SIB JOHN FRANKLIN'S FATE.

There is no longer any doubt of the melancholy death
of Sir John Franklin and his companions. To the roll-
call of perished heroes, to the lists now daily swelling
with noble names, of brave men battling against fearful
odds, and dying in the performance of their duty, are to
be added the names of the Arctic voyagers. The sad
assurance might have reached us at a moment less dis-
tracted by other anxieties and sorrows, but it comes not
unfitly while the public sympathy is keenly awakened to
the claims of all who imperil life for high and unselfish
aims. Almost simultaneously with the fate of so many
who left us six months since to perish in the tents at
Varna, on the heights of the Alma, or before the walls
of Sebastopol, we learn the fate of the devoted band
who departed ten years ago to face a far more terrible
foe, and, after more than three years of unspeakable
suffering, have left behind them but the memory of
that unflinching enterprise and endurance, that resolute
perseverance, that moral and physical courage, that har-
dihood unappalled and discipline undisturbed by the
most frightful dangers which we take to be peculiar to
English seamen.
The dreadful certainty of Sir John Franklin's fate has
reached us at the time when we were busied listening to
the details of the last expedition sent to explore the
mystery of it. The court-martials on Sir Edward Belcher
and his officers place before us vividly not alone the
dangers and uncertainties of Arctic enterprise, but the
sad inutility of even its most hopeful results. Twelve
months of the year spent motionless in the ice, excepting
perhaps an interval of three week's open water, and even
when freedom returns, the intricate and still ice-locked
straits and inlets only possible to be got through step by
step, year icy year ! No doubt grave mistakes were
committed in the recent expedition, and it comes back
ungraced by any marks of unusual determination or
daring, at any rate in its chief. But we cannot say we
are surprised to find Arctic discoverers themselves, who
have spent their best years and energies in the zeal of
such research, turn from it at last in even such despair
and weariness as would seem to have inspired the
doubtful resolution of the last commander.

Of the charge against Sir Edward Belcher, and his de-
fence, we now shall say nothing. The public opinion
upon his conduct will be reserved till the fate of Capt.
Collinson is known, and we prefer ourselves to wait for
that light to read the proceedings by. Should Collinson
have also fallen upon the memorials of Franklin, as now
appears not improbable, and retraced his steps in safety,
there will be nothing left that need be urged with any
particular warmth against Sir Ednlard Belcher. Bit
should the fate of the last navigator remain much longer
in suspense, should actual reverses have befallen him,
should it appear that the help withheld might really with
effect have been given, then certainly opinion will side
with Captain Kellett, and a just indignation will be felt
that his reluctance to quit those frozen shores till the
third summer had passed was not acquiesced in by his
superior officer.
Of the correctness of the testimony, oral and circum-
stantial, which Dr. Rae has brought home, we limit our
belief to the proofs of identity and death. The evidence
is quite imperfect as to the manner of the death, or as
to the shocking incidents assumed to have preceded it ;
but for the rest, the pieces of silver plate, the crests and
initials, the watches, telescopes, and guns, tell sufficiently
the terrible story. It is also borne out by the Esqui-
maux accounts, which neither is there any reason to
doubt, of the exhausted state of the little band. At
once marvellous and mortifying is it, that in a vicinity
so attainable, so known, so likely to be visited as the
position of the magnetic pole, the lost wanderers could
neither have been met with, or directed towards reach-
ing supplies. But unfortunately every effort at discovery
or help, up to the period when all such ceased to be use-
ful, was directed to the sea and its shores, although the
abandonment of the ships aid betaking of the crews to
land passage was a circumstance so naturally to be looked
for. The Admiralty people were too romantic in their
conjectures. Ships and men, it was thought, must have
disappeared up one of those mysterious and perilous
avenues that strike northwards towards the pole ; and
that the starving band should have been prosaically
sought for on the bank of the Great Fish River was in
the contemplation of none.

Of none in authority. But let us do justice to Dr.
King, who, with a humane perseverance worthy of bet-
ter success, has vainly urged upon successive Govern-
ments, ever since 1847, that the expeditions in search of
our lost countrymen should take that exact course which
we now see too late would have led upon their track.
In 1847 he wrote to Lord Grey to point out the Great
Fish River as the high and ice•free road to the land
where the missing expedition was likely to be found.
In the same year ho implored to have his services joined
to those of Sir James Ross and Sir John Richardson,
using these remarkable words :
" It is a service in which I can act independently of Sir
James Clarke Ross, and independently of Sir John Richard-
son ; and Sir James Clarke Ross and Sir John Richardson,
it is already arranged, are to act independently of each
other. Sir James Clarke -Ross's knowledge of Barrow
Strait—Sir John Richardson's knowledge of the Mackenzie
and the Coppermine Rivers—and my knowledge of the
Great Fish River and its estuary, will be so many guaran-
tees that the work to be done will be done well ; and this
state of independence will insure a large amount of effort,
even though it were merely in a spirit of emulation."
Two years later (some six or eight months before the
date of the now ascertained calamity) he renewed his
applications. He wrote letters to Lady Franklin to tell
her she was ill advised, and, with all the vehemence of
personal entreaty, besieged successive Secretaries to the
Fish
plEaritivve:t2etweolhaPtee-x:
Admiralty ; but Mr. Ward, Mr. Hamilton, and all the
rest, returned him answers as cold and unsympathising
as their chiefs, and the opportunity was lost which never
was to return. Hear the Cassandra of this ill-fated
business ! We quote one of his last appeals :
" All that has been done by way of search since Febru-
ary, 1848, tends to draw closer and closer to tie west land
of North Somerset as the position of Sir John Franklin,
and to the Great Fish River as the high road to
treaicsh it.
sSucheciue
na
• wouldw allow
happiest moment of my life if their lordships
tlplany o
of
as t
the
e proposed
utmost to
mo tphoeritra lnocred. s h
ii yt s in 17
d 8
be c
tohn
()-
tempt to save human life a second time on the shores of
me to go by my old route, the Great
the Polar Sea.
making a final
our countrymen have been
Admiralty attempts to find
Kennedy and poor B 110
It is deplorable to think that in everaywtoiunthledtae
nneocletostehoot
by fauthe least successful.
but.. e t
till
expe-
dition, twereio 13 , near
and uponnot
undertakenth etrack,
effort, and, c
we
e 49 discussediv e
urged
otnhsei
considering
the
rb.tthi na necessity hthi seoef
hat journalinlecne 8
war-
rant the risk of another expedition, we held that it should
have been planned on such a scale as completely to scour
the track, both by land and sea, in which the clearest
judgments might see the probabilities of success. More
than two years had then passed beyond the
e time to which
the ships were victualled, and we believed
last glm of rational hope. It • it to be our
been seao. is now proved to have
On the details of what our lamented
suffered we forbear to dwell. countrymen have
perils Sir John Franklin It was into no unknown
ventured.
earlier, and again after an Nearly 30 years
intervale of six or seven years,
his indomitable spirit had be n tried in the same disas-
trous scenes. The language
and
endurance contains no records of en-
terprisesurpassing those of his two jour-
neys to the shores of the Polar
have
but Sea, and to them we
but to turn to •
obtain no dim or imperfect image of the ter-
ror of his final journey, or of what we may hope to have
been the merciful assuagements vouchsafed to it. "A t
this period we avoided as much as possible conversing
upon the hopelessness of our situation, and generally
endeavoured to lead the conversation towards our future
prospects in life. With the decay of our strength, in
fact, our minds decayed, and we were no longer able
to bear the contemplation of the horrors that surrounded
us. Each of us excused himself from so doing by a de-
sire of not shocking the feelings of the others. We were,h
sensible of one another's weakners of intellect, though
blind blind to our own. Yet we were calm and resigneduit .
our fate, not a murmur escaped us, and we wereß p it,
eine.,
tual and fervent in our addresses to the Supreme
~„
written, the writer
When these affecting words were
face to face with
and his e,,nipanions were so nearly
deatn, that the delay of but another day in their relief
• sorrow which
might then have anticipated the nationalilh
now makes sacred the memory of Sir o u Franklin,