The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-16 00:00:00

APRIL 16, 1849.

THE EXPEDITION IN SEARCH
OF ofit JOEIN FRANKLIN.

A Parliamentary paper hai just been is,u d, contain-
ing extracts of proceedings and correspondence of the
A•finiralty in reference to the Artic expeditions It i,
dated Admiralty, larch 27, 1849, and signed "J. 11.
lhy, Chief Clerk." Its contents, which are very inte-
resting, are divided into five parts. The first includes
correspondence relative to the progress of the expedi-
tion of Sir James C. Ross to Lancaster Sound and Bar-
row Straits, giving the last accounts from the Enter-
prise and investigator, "dated 28th August, 1848, lat.
73 deg. 50 min. N, and long. 58 deg 6 min. 30 secs.
West," stating that the ships had cleared the main track
in Melville Bay, on the 20th of August, and after ex-
amining Pond's Bay on the 23d, had passed on to the
northward in search of Sir John Franklin.
The second section refers to the expedition to the
mouth of the Mackenzie River, and gives extracts of
dispatches from Sir George Simpson, the governor of
the Iludson Bay Company, and letters fr An Sir John
Richer ison, detailing the progress of the Arctic expedi-
tion under his command. The last letter from the vete-
ran voyager is date I Methy Portage, Rupert's Land,
July 3, 1848. In it he reports to the Admiralty that,
with Mr. Rae, he arrived there June 28, and found Mr.
Bell and his party with the boats, who had reached there
the previous day. Sir John says:—
" Mr. Bell's voyage from Cumberland House, con-
sidering his detentions by ice and stormy weather,
was expeditious; and we should have been able to have
descended to the mouth of the Mackenzie by the be ;in-
ning of August, but an unforeseen occurrence has greatly
retarded our progress and fatigued the men. Forty
horses employed by the company on this portage, and
the same number belonging to the natives, being
all the horses in this district, died of an epidemil
in the winter. Deprived of their aid, the men bare
had to carry the boats, and all the cargo, over on their
shoulders, by very bad paths. The distance is between
eleven and twelve miles; and many of the Europeans
being unable to carry more than 90 lbs. or 100 lbs. at a
time, have had to traverse the ground eleven times with
loads (and, consequently; ten times in returning light) in
transporting their allotment of packages, which, accord-
ing to custom, were distributed equally. With the
assistance of the horses, we could have crossed this height
of land in two days. As several of the men have become
lame in consequence of the severe toil, I expect that one-
third of the portage, which remains to be crossed, will
occupy us a proportionably longer time, and that the
portages on Clear-water River and Slave River will be
more tardily made than usual. These delays will, per-
haps, prevent us from reaching ithe sea for nearly a
week later than that which I had mentioned as the pro-
bable date, unless we are favoured by southerly winds in
the descent of the Mackenzie, when the time lost may
be redeemed. I now expect to leave this portage on the
7th or Bth. The conduct fof the men under their dis-
tressing labour is excellent."
The third section refers to the expedition to Behring's
Straits, and gives the correspondence of Captain Kellet,
C. 8., of her Majesty's ship Herald, and Commander
Moore, of her Majesty's ship Plover, showing the pro-
gress of their expeditions in that quarter. Captain
Kellett gives a most interesting narrative of his proceed-
ings in endeavouring to communicate with the Plover,
sent out from England. The Herald arrived off Chamisso
Island, in Kotzebue Sound, Sept. 14, 1848. Captain
Kellett says—
. _ .

" With the exception of four natives on Chamisso
Island, with whom I communicated on the evening of our
arrival, and who, being frightened, gave to our leading
questions all their answers in the affirmative, we could
not find a native in the Sound within reach of our boats;
they had all left for their winter quarters. I weighed,
therefore, and went to the northward as far as Cape
Krusenstern to endeavour to find them, but they had left
this and Hotham's Inlet also.

! "In returning to our position off Chamisso Island, I
anchcred off Spaforeif Inlet, on the south side of the
Sound, and sent my boats up it. Here we were more
successful; we found a native who could converse fluently
with the interpreter; he had only just arrived, after a
hunting expedition to the northward.
" He described his distance as a long way north,where
the sea came close to the land, and that there were no
ships seen or heard of.
" He said that there were some white men, like us,
inland, one of them with a band on his cap, pointing to
ours; that they were southward to us, nearer Norton
Sound.

While at Michaelouski the Russians informed us of
there being six Americans in their vicinity trading for
skins. How they came they could not tell. I suppose
them to be part of the crew of some American whaler,
who have absconded with a boat from her.
" These natives could not be induced, by presents or
promises, to come to the anchorage at Chamisso Islands,
although so short a distance.
" I sent boats to the ice cliff in Eschalatz Bay, to col-
lect any fossils that might be exposed since the Blossom's

visit. IV° were very successful in qnantity and size, but
none of them different, I fear, from those obtained by
Captain Beechey.
" They endeavoured, also, to fall in with another party
of the natives at the entrance of the Buckland River, but
in this we failed, the Esquimau' had evidently retired
somewhere for the winter.

"Tho weather now became excessively cold, the sea
had suddenly cooled down to 22 deg.; the whole face of
the country covered with snow; all the lakes and springs
frcsen, so that we could not water from them, and a con-
stant west or north-west wind was blowing. These
evident indications of the winter having set in deter-
mined me to sail the first favourable opportunity.
"Up to the 26th. September_ we had in Kotzebue

Sound most delightful weather; I should say that this
had been an unusually fine open season. On Chamisso
Island we found some of the beeches, and other shrubs,
budding a second time. The weather wss so mild that
that there were many sanguine hopes we should yet
meet Sir John Franklin's ship.
" After the 26th the weather suddenly became so bad
and threatening that I weighed on the morning of the
29th September, and beat out of the Sound, passing the
Straits on the evening of the 2d October, in a heavy
snow storm.

" I lost one man (our fiddler) by death on this long
and arduous voyage; with this exception, the health of
my crew has been very good until within a few days of
making this port, when we had many cases bearing
slight symptoms of the presence of scurvy.
" No men could have been better clothed or less ex-
posed; our main deck was always dry and warm, and the
strictest attention paid to airing their bedding. Our
voyage from Panama to this port (Mazatlan) has occu-
pied 199 days, 10 of which we were on fresh provisions,
fish and beef, and 50 of the days preserved meats and
rice were issued. My impression, until this disease made
its appearance, was that we might have protracted our
voyage for any length of time, with the samo precautions
and a similar issue of such provisions; the absence of
vegetables is the only reason I can assign for it, unless
the men may have been predisposed to it from the debi-
litating effects of their long service in the hot and moist
climate of Chaso.

"In conclusion, sir, may I beg that, whenever their
Lordships may be pleased to order my return they will
grant me permission to do so by the western route, touch-
ing at Hong Kong, Labuan, and any other interesting
place pointed out by the hydrographer."
Commander Moore, in several letters, explains the
cause of his protracted passage. He left England on
the 31st of January, and arrived at SandwichWoahoo,an
202
Islands, August 22d last,havinglbele2n nday o
less
s that anchor,
days on the passage, includingony
namely eat the Fa
Falkland Islands and 3at Callao. Even
with a fine fair wind, seldom more than four and a half
knotould be got out of the Plovei ; her extreme rate
of sailing
was about six knots, although during a heavy
gale she had once or twice gone very nearly seven knots.
When within ten miles of the Falklands the
Plover was driven back for a week. Captain Moore
says—“l regret to say I have been obliged to carry
whole topsails and topgallant sails, when other ves-
sels would have been under double reefs and top-
gallant sails in, and then she would not move through the
water more than one or two knots." He reports that his
officers and men were in excellent health, with the ex-
ception of John Watson, gun-rcom steward, who was in-
valided at the Falklands. The last intelligence from the
Plover is dated Sandwich Islands, August 23d. Com-
mander Moore says :
" I should not have called at these islands, even for the
dispatches left here by the Pandora, from Captain Kel-
lett, but that I found I should lose no time in so doing.
I am happy to report that both officers and men are in
most excellent health.

" The charts, &c., left here by the Pandora for me,
will be of great assistance to me in making Behring's
Straits at this advanced season of the year.
' I beg also to inform their Lordships, that so soon as
I shall have completed my water and got fresh rates for
my chronometers (which I regret to say are not going at
all well) I shall make all possible dispatch for Behring's
Straits, and that the most strenuous exertions, as here-
tofore, will be made to make up for the loss of time oc-
casioned by the excessive slow sailing of the Plover, and
that should any unforeseen circumstance (such as the
winter setting in sooner than usual) occur so as to prevent
my getting through the Straits, I shall winter at Petro-
pauloski or Port Clarence; but again beg to assure their
lordships that I feel the greatest possible anxiety as to
being their in time, and that not a moment shall be
lost in endeavouring to render every assistance to Sir
John Franklin and his expedition.

" I have filled up (prior
,to leaving Callao) provisions
of every description, sufficient to last until next July
(1849).

The last from the Herald is dated Panama, January
25, 1849. Captain Kellett then says :
" The moment I get on board my provisions and stores
sent by the commander-in-chief to meet me here, I shall
proceed northerly from Coiba Island along the coast,
surveying to the middle or end of March, when I shall
leave the coast and proceed to Oahu, where I have re-
quested the commander-in• chief will cause my stores
and provisions to be sent, and in the following quanti-
ties:—Twelve months complete for Plover, and eight
months for this ship, which is about as much as I can
stow on my decks.
" From Oahu I shall proceed to Petropauloski and
Behring's Straits to meet the Plover.
"As the Plover could not have reached the point di-
rected by their Lordships, lam (having little informa-
tion) at a loss to know whether the Plover ought to be
placed there this year. In the absence of further orders,
I shall, if possible, place her there, and return at the ex-
piration of the fine season to the north—to the port of

Mazatlan—for orders.
"I feel, sir, that though I have been unavoidably and
painfully unsuccessful in meeting the Plover, that the
service of this ship has not been thrown away, inasmuch
as we obtained all the information that could be obtained
at that season, that if any of the party to whose assist•
ance we were sent should come near that part, they
would know from the natives that their Lordships were
endeavouring to send relief to them.
The fifth part of this document contains the follo;eing
instructions to Sir James Ross:—

"PURPORT OF INSTRUCTIONS INTENDED TO BE SENT To
SIR JAMES R •SS BY TUE NORTII STAR, FORWARDED BY

THE WHALE SHIPS.
"To the Master of the Ship
" Sir,—My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
being desirous of fft cling a communication in the course
of the ensuing season, with her Majesty's ships Enter-
prise and Investigator, which were sent out last year
under the orders of Captain Sir James Ross, in search
of Sir John Franklin's expedition, and deeming it expe-
dient to multiply as much as possible the chances of
effecting this communication,
"I am commanded by their Lordships to transmit to
you herewith a dispatch, addressed to Captain Sir James
Ross, of the Enterprise, in the hope that, should you
enter or approach Lancaster's Sound, you may have an
opportunity of delivering the same to some officer or party
belonging to Sir James Ross's expedition, and who are
hereby authorised to open it.
" My Lords have reasonable hope that such an oppor-
tunity may occur if the ship under your command should
enter Lancaster Sound, as the Investigator was :ordered
to pass the winter of 1848-9 somewhere near Cape Hen-
nell (which is marked* in the accompanying chart), and
to send a boat into Lancaster Sound this summer for
the express purpose of receiving a communication
from England. You will therefore perceive how desir-
able it will be for you to keep a vigilant look out for
any such boat should you enter or approach Lancaster
Sound.
"In order still further to increase the chances of the
desired communication with the Enterprise and Inves-
tigator, their Lordships have caused to be forwarded to
your address 12 cylinders, each containing a copy of the
dispatch now committed to your charge. Their Lord-
ships request that, should opportunity offer, you will
cause one of these cylinders to be carefully deposited
(in the manner hereinafter mentioned) at each of the
following places, marked on the accompanying chart,
—viz., Whaler Point, Cape York, Cape Crawford, Cape
Hay, Possession Bay, Pond's Bay, Agnes' Monument;
or, if this should not be practicable, in any other con-
spicuous places on the same line f coast ; observing,
however, that those named have been specially selected
by Sir James Ross, and are therefore by far the most
important.
" The following mode of depositing the cylinders is
recommended as most likely to answer the intended
purpose:—
" Select a spot which is conspicuous from a boat rowing
near the shore, and not very far from the sea. Bury
the cylinder from a foot to 18 inches beneath the sur-
face, making the ground quite smooth again, and then
pile over the spot a large heap of atones, with a staff in
the centre.
"In addition to the foregoing precautions, and as a
mode of possible communication still more easy to be
adopted, you are requested to cause not less than four
water-tight casks, of large size, to be fitted with a short
pole carrying a small flag or tin vane, each cask to in-
close one of the cylinders before mentioned, carefully
packed to prevent its being damaged; and to drop these
casks in different places, four or five leagues apart, as
far to the westward as possible in Lancaster Sound, but
in those parts where the sea is most generally free from
ice; marking on the enclosed chart the places where you
drop them, and making a memorandum of the dates.
" It is scarcely necessary to add, that should you fall
in with either of the ships, or with one of their boats,
it will be of the utmost importance to receive in writing
from the commanding officer a full account of the past
proceedings of the expedition, and most especially to
ascertain whether any information has been obtained,
or any traces discovered of the ships under Sir John
Franklin's orders; and on your arrival in England you
are requested to transmit to the Secretary of the Ad-
miralty, without delay, a full account of the informa-
tion you may have been enabled to collect, and of the
measures you may have adopted in compliance with
their Lordships' wishes now explained to you. And if
it should happen that, after obtaining any such informa-
tion, you meet with other ships likely to quit the
fishery and return to England sooner than your own,
you are particularly requested to transmit by two of
such ships a duplicate and triplicate account, containing
at least the substance of your information, in order that
their Lordships may be put in possession of the intelli-
gence at the earliest possible period.
" Their Lordships feel assured that in thus seeking
your co-operation in their views for rendering assistance
to the gallant officers and men engaged in these arduous
enterprises, they may confidently rely on your zealous
and efficient aid, so far as your means and opportunities
may permit.
" I request you will acknowledge the receipt of this
communication, and also of the box of cylinders,t as
soon as they may reach.—l am, &c.
(Signed) " W. A. B. HAMILTON.
" (Any expenses that may be incurred in carrying out
their Lordship's wishes will be defrayed by the Ad,
miralty."

`• Admiralty, March 1, 1849.
" Sir,—Herewith you will receive a paper containing
the purport of more particular instructions that will be
sent out to you in the North Star; and although it is
not praeticable to furnish you at this early period with
the precise orders you may expect to receive, yet their
Lordships deem it right to apprise you of their intentions
to dispatch a vessel in the direction of Lancaster Sound
and Barrow's Strait this season, with supplies for the
ships under your orders.
" In the meantime their Lordships deem it expident
to place this notice in the hands of the masters of se-
veral of the whalers, on the chance of its reaching you
before the arrival of the North Star in the neighbour-
hood of Lancaster Sound. The whalers have also re-
ceived copies of this notice, hermetically sealed up in
metal cylinders, which they are requested to deposit at
Whaler Point, Cape York, Cape Crawford, Cape Hay,
Possession Bay, Pond's Bay, and Agnes' Monument,
should opportunities offer.—l am, &c.,
(Signed) " W. A. B. HAMILTON.
" Captain Sir James C. Ross, her Majesty's
ship Enterprise."
"PURPORT OF INSTRUOTIONS TO BE SENT OUT BY THE