The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-25 00:00:00

mere conjecture. Ins practical point of view, holiever, it is
of very little moment whether the character of North
Somerset is insular or peninsular ; and I can therefore
spare your lordship's time by avoiding to give you proof
of this—which would fill a volume, in consequence of the
importance that has been put upon it, in support of the
theory- of a North-West Passage at the bottom of Regent
Inlet.

The western land of North Somerset can easily be reached
by a party travelling overland from Canada ; and it cannot
be denied that a land journey affords the only sure mode of
extending our geographical knowledge, and therefore the only
sure ladder by which to reach Sir John Franklin. In prac-
tice, however, it is necessary t o know whether the question
mooted has science; or humanity in view ; for, in the former
case, it is argued that expeditions by sea are the best, and in
the latter journeys by land; although there is always tacked
on to these..even larger promises of advancement to geographi-
cal science than is made in the other. I confess I could never
understand the logic of the argument ; but it is not less a mat-
ter of truth, for the scientific expedition which Sir John Frank-
lin now commands was set afloat in the face of the following
facts that seven of the ten Polar Sea expeditions
could be thus briefly described :—Capt. Lyon's expedition
was modestly called by him " An unsuccessful attempt to
Lveo n
reach Repulse Bay ;" in the body of the narrative of Captain
Back'sn gave expedition
his
title-page
found the same tale which Captain
Lyon
; Captain Ross returned after four
years' wintering, without advancing a step towards the object
in view; Captain Parry failed in his attempt to reach the
Polar Sea by Regent Inlet ; Captain Beochey saw the Polar
Sea, and that is all ; and Captain Buchan was not so fortunate
as Captain Beechey ; while a short survey of the polar land
journeys affords a standard of comparison, and developer the
true position. Tho journey of Hearne proved the existence of
a Polar Sea, and demonstrated that it could be reached over-
land by way of Canada ; and the success which attended Sir
John Franklin's first polar land journey proved that the
opinion which had been formed. was in every way cor-
rect. The distance between the Coppermine River and
Point Turnagain was thus made known to us. A second
polar land journey added to our knowledge of the
coast line the distance between the Mackenzie and the Cop-
permine Rivers, and as, westward of the Mackenzie as
Foggy Island, which far surpassed in extent the prosperous
voyage of Sir Edward Parry in 1819 and 1829. A third polar
land journey eclipsed all, and. left to be surveyed but a small
portion of the North American boundary of the Polar Sea.
The fruits of the ton Polar Sea expeditions will not balance
with those of one of the Polar land journeys ; and the
harvest of the first and the least successful of those interesting
missions is greater than that which remains to be gathered.
Even the little that has been done by the Polar Sea expedi-
tions is of a doubtful character. Banks Land, the North Geor-
gian Group of islands, and the boundaries of Barrow Strait
are still problems ; in fact, so many lesser puzzles as additions
to the great geographical puzzle of three centuries. It is
not so with the labours of the commanders of the Polar
land journeys. The footing which they made is permanent;
while Croker Mountains have dissolved, and islands threaten
to be continents, and continents islands—the natural conse-
quence of discovery in ships.
It is altogether illogical to suppose that a party isolated.
rom the known world, as Sir John Franklin is at this mo-
ment, can reach civilisation with as great facility as a party
from the known world can reach him. Sir John Franklin, if
he can keep his party together, will rest where he is, and daily
look for assistance from his home. This was a subject which
the promoters of the expedition in search of Sir John Ross
had to prove in 1833; and nothing has since occurred to create
a different opinion.
There are manifestly two modes of attempting to afford Sir
John Franklin relief—to convey provision to him and convey
him to the provision; but I shall have no difficulty in proving
to your lordship that there is but one mode practicable—that
of conveying him to the provision. The conveyance of provi-
sion to Sir John Ross was a failure—and in that case it was
only contemplated to relieve a small party of twenty-
three men—for this evident reason, that the country is
too poor to support a large party—and a large party it is ne-
cessary to have, when every kind of provision has to be
carried on men's backs over the innumerable obstructions
which are to be met with in an overland journey.
The party in search of Sir John Ross saved themselves from
starvation by consuming the food intended for that gallant
officer long before they had reached the half-way house to
him. These aro not mere assertions to suit the moment : for
the facts which support these opinions were recorded in 1835%
in " King's Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic
Ocean," in these words :—" Although overland expeditions
towards the northern coast of North America may be re-
garded as less expensive and. less dangerous than an arctic
voyage, and more likely to obtain accessions to science and
commerce, they may greatly vary amongst themselves in all
these respects, according to the mode in 'which they
may be undertaken. They may, however, be all com-
prised in two classes. To the first class belong small
companies, travelling with the least possible incumbrance,
and strictly adopting the mode of proceeding and the means
of subsistence in use amongst the natives of the country and
the traders who visit them. Individuals uniting physical
ability, both for doing and suffering, necessary to meet the
dangers and fatigues of this mode of travelling, with talents
and acquirements necessary to render their journey availing
for the purposes of science, have already effected much at a
very trifling outlay. Hearne and Mackenzie prove the truth
of this assertion. The second class consists of those expedi-
tions which possess a more organised and systematic form ;
being composed of a company of men and officers accustomed
to military or naval service, seldom or never amounting to a
smaller number than three officers and twenty mon ; and con-
sequently requiring a considerable amount of baggage. For
the conveyance of these men and their stores the small canoes
of the country, which are readily made, repaired, and trans-
ported, are quite inadequate. Boats of larger dimensions aro
therefore had recourse to ; which are easily damaged, aro with
difficulty repaired, and. are too cumbrous to be conveyed
across the portages when the distance is great or the ground
uneven. These evils are not theoretical ; they have been
proved by fearful experience, and have been the cause of im-
mense difficulty or failure ; for though they form but a small
military troop, they are too large to travel with advan-
tage through a country in which the means of subsis-
tence aro very scanty and still more precarious. The diffi-
culties which they have to encounter aro infinitely increased
when the individuals comprising the company are not prac-
tically acquainted with the mode of travelling through the
district to be crossed, and consequently cannot be separated
from each other without the greatest danger of fatally losing
their way ; on which account they cannot seek game and
other sources of subsistence. From want of experience they
are unable either to bear the burdens or travel the distance
which a Canadian or an Indian would disregard. Time, the
most important element in northern expeditions, is inevitably
lost, and neither the energy nor the genius of the command-
ing officer can retrieve the error when the season is advanced
upon them.*

The evidence which I have brought forward I most conselen
tiously believe to be conclusive, that the means to be adopted
for relieving Sir John Franklin will be for the Government to
despatch one or more vessels with provision to the western
land of North Somerset by Barrow Strait, in the summer of
1848, and to call upon the Hudson's Bay Company to use
their best exertions to fill theirnorthern depots with pemican,
dried meat and fish by the same date. Information of such
provision having been made should be conveyed, in the
course of the summer of 1848, by a small party provided
with Indian guides—in case it should be desirable to convey
the lost party to the Hudson's Bay depots on the Mackenzie
or the Great Slave Lake, instead of to the southern boundary of
Barrow Strait, in search of the provision vessels. Such a party,
my Lord, I will undertake to lead, in company with any officer
whom the Government may appoint, provided he be of my
own age and in possession of the same amount of physical
capability. lam induced to volunteer my services, because
I believe that I am the only person in whom the requisites
for such a journey aro to be found. Sir John Richardson
counts twice the number of years that I do, and he is not
acquainted with either tho country or the American Indians
to the extent that I am; and I should disgrace myself as an
Englishman if I did not stop forward to save a veteran in the
service like him from the necessity of fulfilling his promise to
the Admiralty of going in search of Sir John Franklin in
March next in case of our receiving no tidings of him in the
autumn of this year. The Government surely cannot con-
sent that Sir John Richardson, arrived at an age much better
suited to receive honour than to endure hardship, should ex-
pose himself to fresh dangers and privations, when there are
the young and the competent anxious to take their turn.
If Sir John Franklin is to bo relieved, it must be in the
summer of 1848. Ho must be spared the winter of that
year ; and the Government will incur a heavy responsibility
if every effort that experience can suggest is not made to save
him from such an ordeal, which can scarcely be contemplated
without the most painful feelings. Sir John Franklin's ex-
pedition should never have set sail in the face of the facts
that I laid before the late Government ; and the least that
the present Government can do is to lessen the evils that
their predecessors have allowed the veteran to heap upon
himself. And it will certainly not be taking the best means
to send one veteran in search of another.
In conclusion, my Lord, I would call your attention to the
opinions of the medical officers of the second expedition of
Sir Edward Parry in answer to the query of that gallant com-
mander, "as to the probable effect that a third winter
passed in the Arctic regions would produce on the health of
the officers, seamen, and marines under his charge." Mr.
Edwards and Mr. Skeoch report, that during the last
winter and subsequently, the aspect of the crow of the Fury
in general, together with the increased number and character
of the complaints, strongly indicated that tho peculiarity of
the climate and service was slowly affecting a serious decay
of their constitutional powers ;"l and Capt. Lyon remarks,
that " he has for some time been of opinion that the Fury's
passing a third winter in the country would be extremely
hazardous. lie is induced thus to express himself from the
great change he has observed in the constitution of the officers
and mon of the Ilecla, and by the appearance of some very
severe cases of scurvy since the summer has commenced.
Long continuance on one particular diet, almost total depriva•
tion of fresh animal and vegetable food for above two years,
and the necessary and close confinement for several
months of each severe winter, are undoubtedly the causes of
the general alteration of constitution which has for some

w « Narrative or a Journey to tho Shores of the Arctic
Ocean, by Richard Ring," pp. 293-298,
t Parry's Sooo4d_Voyage, p, 471,