The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-26 00:00:00

a rt;:ord of it would have been left. It is
onable to consider that vessels could not have
aClhsoa7eals,
passed through a narrow passage between the islands
which appear in Captain Penny's chart without de-
tention ; and (being new discovery) possession would
have been taken and some mark of such discovery left
on them. I may also mention that Sir John Ross,
Captain Ommanney, Lieutenant De Haven, and
Captain Penny, all left the Wellington Channel and
proceeded towards the south-west.
I have now offered my views of Wellington Chan-
nel, and expressed some of the grounds upon which I
entertain them ; but there are other grounds—there
are opinions which have influenced and guided me—
there are recorded opinions of our most eminent
Arctic navigators and men of science far from favour-
ing the search for Sir John Franklin by the way of
the Wellington Channel. The committee will re-
' member that the orders to Sir John Franklin himself
laid no stress upon the importance of that channel, but
pointed his especial attention to another direction.
I may here remark, as bearing upon the present in-
quiry, that Lady Franklin in a letter to me upon my
departure expressed her anxiety that particulor search
should be directed to the south-west of Cape Walker;
but not one word of Wellington Channel.
With all these important considerations before me
I am at a loss to account for the strong feeling that
is abroad in favour of a further search for the missing
ships in the direction of Wellington Channel. With
reference to the extent of open water reported in the
upper part of Wellington Channel, it is well known
to those accustomed to ice navigation, that much de-
ception arises from ice covered by water being mis-
taken for open water, particularly in the months of
June and July; the snow being melted on the sur-
face of the ice, the latter becomes transparent and
acquires a sea tint; and has, combined with the al-
most constant deceptive state of the atmosphere, not
only the appearance of water, but with numerous
pools upon it presents also the appearance of an open
sea, in which the undulating wave can almost be fully
recognised; and it is to this optical deception that
much that is said to have been seen may be fairly
ascribed. Beyond six or eight miles the floe ice upon
the horizon frequently presents such a peculiar sur-
face, that much caution and determination is neces-
sary to avoid being led into error.
In explanation of the water said to have been seen
" on each shore, and for some miles distant from the
places of observation," without its following that
there was a navigable sea or outlet, I would observe
that the situation of our wintering corresponded in a
manner with that of the head of Wellington Channel,
and although much limited in extent, the west side
being formed by islands, and a bay with an outlet at
the head, yet water made to the northward two to
three miles from our position, while we were fixed to a
fixed barrier, and blocked in to the southward. The
Intrepid afterwards sailed in this water, which then
proved of limited extent. It had before given the
idea of an extensive navigable space, and although
there was much more water in Barrow's Strait in the
autumn of 1851 than in that of 1850, yet there was
very little difference as to the power of navigating
Wellington Channel.
Having therefore very naturally weighed all these
circumstances, I cannot but be strongly impressed
that Sir John Franklin did snot prosecute beyond
Beechy Island, but that leaving his winter qusr-
ters, he was either beset on that occasion, or was
attempting to return to England. The loss of
whalers in the pack will fully account for
the complete destruction of any vessel or vessels ;
and if at a period of winter instead of summer, also
for the total loss of the crews. Contact with bergs
would also sufficiently account for the disappearance
of the ships, with all on board. Many whalers
having large numbers of casks on board have been
destroyed in Baffin's Bay, without scarcely a vestige
having ever been found, and I am not aware that any
part of the hull or the spars of the Fury have ever
been found.

In reply to that portion of the third question which
requires what measures I should recommend if a fur-
ther search be decided on, I have to say that the two
ships and the two steam-vessels which composed the
late expedition under my orders were found to be
well adapted for the service upon which they were
then employed ; and that (except in some little mat-
ters of detail) I have no improvements in their equip-
ment to suggest. . _

I have now completed my answers to the written
inquiries of the committee, and I have endeavoured to
lay before them, through the medium of those an-
swers, not only all the information in my power, but
every opinion and answer which my own experience
has suggested. If from inadvertence or forgetfulness
I have failed in affording the committee all that they
may require, I will at once supply the omission as
soon as I am made acquainted with their wishes.

HORATIO T. AUSTIN, Captain R.N.,
Late of her Majesty's ship Resolute, and in
charge of the Arctic Expedition.
London, Nov. 15, 1851.

CAPTAIN OMMANNEY'S REPLIES.
Question I.—Do you suppose it probable that Sir
John Franklin, or any portion of the crews composing
his expedition, still survive, and, if so, in what
direction ?
Answer.--I am of opinion that neither Sir John
Franklin, or any portion of the expedition, can be
now alive.
Question 2.—What are your grounds for forming
that opinion ?
Answer.—First, from the fact that on leaving
Whale Fish Islands in June, 1845, the expedition
was then provisioned for three years. It was, pro-
bably, August, 1846, when they quitted Beechey
Island. Thus they had less than two years' provi-
sions left eh last them up to the present time ; even
allowing that their numbers diminished, I main-
tain that no English constitution, or people habi-
tuated to civilized life, could exist so long on reduced
allowance.

Secondly, I place no reliance upon the support
they are likely to procure from the quantity of game
or animals found in those regions. The whole amount
of game procured near our winter quarters this
summer amounted to about one bird a man for the
whole expedition, although parties were sent out ex-
pressly to shoot; and bear in mind these were obtained
with some labour by people in good health. Ad-
mitting that there are birds and animals—the former
are migratory, as are most of the latter—then there
are but eight weeks out of the whole year on which
you can depend for this supply. There is nothing to
induce me to suppose that any party could kill suffi-
cient food to sustain them for the remaining ten
months. The numerous old Esquimaux settlements
met with along the south shores of the Parry group
lead me to believe that a change has taken place in
those seas, in the course of time, which, becoming
blocked up with ice for a longer period of the year,
deprived the natives of the means of living, which
caused them to emigrate eastward. I consider the
opinions of Continental travellers on this subject as
fallacious, for it does not follow that because animal
life abounds on the American continent, the same
should be found 400 or 500 miles further north. I
see no analogy between the two countries—the coast
of America and Parry group.
Thirdly, if they abandoned their ships northward
of the Parry group, in all probability their travelling
parties would hare retraced their steps towards their
first winter quarters, or made for Melville Island,
where it appears there is more animal life, of which
they, of course, were quite aware from Parry's voyage.
Lastly, there are reasons to suppose they did not
prosecute the north-west passage after leaving Bee-
chey Island. We know that three of their men
(young men) died the first year, from which we may
infer they were not enjoying perfect health. It is
supposed that their preserved meats were of an inferior
quality. No records being left does not look like ad-
vancing, as Sir John Franklin and Captain Crozier—
the latter of whom has served in four expeditions—
were alive to the importance of depositing records.
Again, look at the position of Cape Riley ; they
had made little progress in the object of their voy-
age ; all their work was still before them, for I regard
that position merely as the threshold of the north-
west passage. Under these circumstances, and sup-
posing that Franklin had examined the seas beyond
Cape Walker in the fall of 1845, and by travelling
parties found this impenetrable barrier of ice across
the Wellington Channel, spoken of by Penny's expe-
dition, what other course had Franklin left but to re-
treat ? That two ships could be lost in the ice
without meeting a vestige of them afterwards is a
catastrophe I can easily conceive possible, especially if
the two ships happened to be beset close to each other.
Assuming that they did advance through the Wel-
lington Channel, and became blocked up in some in-
accessible place, my firm conviction is, that none can
now survive; for I think it impossible for the consti-
tution to endure the climate and the privations ne-
cessarily exposed to, even with a moderate allowance
of provisions for so long a period.
Question 3 —Should a further search he decided
on, what measures do you recommend for this pur-
pose, and in what direction ?
Answer.—Should another search be considered de-
sirable, I would recommend that the expedition be
composed of vessels fitted with screw-propellers, so as
to act without the encumbrance of a sailing-vessel
after reaching the ground of operations.
From the indefinite statements made with regard
to the channel seen by Mr. Penny's expedition since
his return to England, and the impression excited in
consequence on the public mind about a navigable sea
in that direction—viz., north-westward of the Wel-
lington Channel, it seems to me to require a further
examination. To accomplish this, two questions pre-
sent themselves :—" First, whether it would be re-
quisite to provide for a prolonged absence ? Secondly,
whether it would not be more desirable to arrange for
a rapid execution of this service ? In the former case
it would involve the necessity of a depot ship being
stationed at Beechey Island ; in the other, 1 would
be attended with one depot ship to accompany the