The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-13 00:00:00

of the meeting was to invite discussion. He stuck him-
self up as a target to be fired at, and would be most happy
to bear any kind of opposition, though he should certainly
claim the privilege of replying to any objections which
might bo raised. With respect to tbo lind:,,on Bay Cern-
pany's expedition to the Great Fish River, nobody knew
better than Sir F. Beaufourt, who had been for half a

century the hydrographer of the Admiralty, whether that
could be called a search. He (Dr. King) denied that
there was any evidence whatever that Captain Hudson, of
the Hudson Bay Company, had ever reached the mouth of
the Great Fish River. There never was a greater traveller
than Thomas Simpson, bat what did he discover at Mon-
treal Island ? He BALL "On the 16th we directed our

course with flags flying to Montreal Island, at which place
we found a deposit among the rocks in a cache, which con-
tained two bags of pemmican, a quantity of chocolate, and
various other things." If these things had not been washed

away by the tide, nothing on earth would convince him
(Dr. King) that the bodies of the 40 men who were said to
have died near that spot could have been washed away
without any record remaining behind. He believed him-
self that Sir George Back had never reached the Polar Sea

by the great outlet of the Fish River, but that he had
gone to some other point, and had never visited the cache
discovered by Simpson. The question now to be con-
sidered was, whether the search, being confined to a
limited area, it ought not to be pursued, and all doubts
as to the fate of Sir J. Franklin and of the crews of
the missing ships set at rest. He believed that the plan
submitted td the Admiralty by himself and Lieutenant
Pim contained elements of success such as no other plan had
ever combined. All that was wanted was confidence in
each other, and he solicited the co-operation of the meet-

ing, because believed that the expedition now projected
would set the question at rest for ever. (Hear, hear.)
Lieutenant Pim said he had attended the meeting with
feelings of sincere gratification, because he considered it a

step in the right direction. The motive was to encourage
inquiry, sift every particle of evidence, and send every one
away with a truthful impression of the present state of
this painfully interesting national question. After the
clear and distinct manner in which Dr. King had opened
tho subject, it was needless for him to enter into minute
details. He took his stand on the broad ground that 138
public servants were lost in the Polar region, that many
efforts had been made to find them, that by the merest
accident a clue to their whereabouts had been at last ob-
tained by them, and not till then all further efforts had
been abandoned. (Hear, hear.) Every one knew that
they had obtained traces of Franklin, for which they had
paid 10,0001. Those traces pointed to a circumscribed
space within which the ships themselves would probably
be found, for it must be borne in mind that a search had

been made in every other direction, and every Arctic ex,
plorer agreed that this spot could be easily approached by
several routes. Why, then, did they hesitate ? They had
offered a reward for a trace of Franklin ; they had paid
10,0001. for that trace; their experience in the Polar seas
attested that the trace could be followed to a successful
issue with less than the usual risk, and, strange to say,
they stopped short when the object was within their grasp.
(Hear, hear.) In his opinion they ought to settle all
doubt about the missing expedition. Surely national hon-
our called for it, independently of the extreme impolicy
of destroying the confidence of future navigators in
the beneficent care of their countrymen at home. Eis own
feelings in connection with this subject were these :
Being a sailor he knew the habits of sailors, and he did not
hesitate to say that he had always entertained a strong con-
viction that some of our unfortunate countrymen might be
still alive, and in slavery to the Esquimaux. They knew
that Dr. Kane, the intrepid and distinguished American
' traveller, had been on the point of throwing himself on the
mercy of the natives, when he providentially escaped from
his icy prison; and they also knew that Deese and Simp-
son had orders in case of necessity to winter with these
people. His had been no common service in the arctic re-
gions. lie had suffered the extremes of cold, hunger, and
thirst, and from experience he could :place himself in
the position of our lost sailors. He felt that if their
fellow-countrymen would stretch out a helping hand,
some of them might yet be restored to their friends. His
opinion was not singular, but was participated in by
many of the most eminent men in the country. (Hear.) He
entirely agreed with Dr. King that an unsupported expedi '
tion, by way of Barrow's Straits, must fail; that an unsup-
ported expedition down the Great Fish River must fail ;
but that a combined effort by both those routes contained
within itself elements of success such as had not hitherto
been tried. Dr. King had read the memorial which they
had conjointly submitted to the Admiralty. He need only
repeat that he (Lieutenant Pim) had the utmost confidence
that Dr. King would use every possible exertion to reach
the magnetic pole, and he believed that Dr. King had the
fullest confidence that he (Lieut. Pim) would meet him
there. He felt convinced that the search would be at-
tended with success ; and if they could restore only one
of those poor fellows to his country, they would be amply
rewarded for every hardship and difficulty they would have
' to encounter. (Cheers.)
Mr. FINDLEY wished to call the attention of the meeting
to a geographical question with reference to this subject.
By the position of the missing ships indicated on the map,
it would seem that they must have reached Victoria Land,
and it was alleged that they had gone through Peel's Sound;
but Lieut. Brown had found that the Sound was filled with
ice to the very !bottom, and had never been open at all.
The coast of Parry Soand had been clearly defined by Mr.
Wynn iat ; and if Sir J. Franklin's ships had really reached
the spot indicated, without going through Peel's Sound, he
was entitled to the me:it of discovering the North-West
Passage, as the precursor of Sir R. M'Clure.
Mr. M‘Cousercs having addressed the meeting,
Dr. SEAM,IN, naturalist and historian of the voyage of
the Herald in search of the Franklin expedition to Beh-
ring's Strait, considered that it was highly desirable that
there should be another expedition and viewed with satis-
faction the present plan. Many of the public were pos-
sessed of sufficient Arctic knowledge to criticise the plan,
but others wouldinquire what were the antecedents of its
principal promoters. It was sufficient to say that both Dr.
King and Lieut Pim were experienced Arctic travellers.
Dr. King had accompanied Sir G. Back down to Great
Fish River in search of Sir John Ross's party, any in the
memorable expedition had collected such vast stores of in-
formation that he was entitled to the gratitude of the
whole scientific world. When anxiety was first felt with
respect to the fate of Franklin, Dr. King had suggested a
plan, which, had it been at once adopted, would probably
have ensured the safety of most, if not all, of the missing
expedition, as the search would have been conducted on
the very spot where it had been shown that part at least of
the expedition had perished. It was melancholy to think
that this plan had been rejected. It had beea urged upon
the Admiralty again and again in vain, until facts had
at length come to light which had completely borne out
his view. Lieutenant Pim and himself were shipmates
in. the first search after Franklin, by Behring's Straits
during three seasons, under Captain Kellett ; he
had performed a most arduous journey from Kot-
zebue to Norton Sound and back ; and when it was
considered that the northern shores of Asia should also be
searched, he was only prevented from carrying it out by
the refusal of the Russian Government, the alleged reason
for that refusal by the Emperor of Russia being the great
danger which ho would have to incur. Subsequently, how-
ver, it transpired that the Emperor of Russia was influ-
enced by political motives, considering Mr. Pim as a spy
sent to investigate the mysteries of Siberia. When the last
Arctic expedition was fitted cut Mr. Pim joined the Reso-
lute, and had the good fortune to find Capt. M'Clure's
party, thus becoming the link which connected the eastern
with the western discoveries. Such were the men who now
presented a plan for a renewed search for traces of the fate
of Sir J. Franklin and his party. Therefore, if there were
no other means of judging the merits of that plan than
from their antecedents, it wool t still be entitled to re-
spectful consideration.
Lieut. BitowN thought that the great error in all the
searching expeditions arose from not paying a due regard
to Franklin's instructions. By those instructions they
would find that he was positively directed to proceed to
Lancaster Sound, and then to the south-west. At that time
the whole of Barrow's Strait was left as it was in 1819, and
Victoria Land itself was supposed to be sea. Franklin en-
deavoured to carry out his instructions, and consequently
had reached Beechey Island. He probably nex t endeavoured
to make Cape Walker, and it was upon that point that the
great diversity of opinion had arisen. It was supposed that
because he could not make Cape Walker, he would go up
Wellington Channel. He would never have left Beechey
Island without leaving some record of where he was bound.
He (Mr. Brown) did not think that Sir John ever went to
the north of Barrow's Strait, but that, being unable to reach
Cape Walker, he had endeavoured to get to the west of it by
taking the lino of the ice, had got entangled in it, and had
been unable to retrace his steps. He thought that Frank ,
lin, having abandoned his ships, went across the ice to
King William and Montreal Islands ; and there never was
a greater fallacy than to suppose that he went to Welling-
ton Channel, though it was not impossible that some of
his men might have gone there. It was quite possible, in
his opinion, that some of them might still be living among
the Esquimaux. An expedition going through Lancaster
Sound, which was open to the whalers five seasons out of
ten, would probably clear up the whole question.
Dr. KING observed, in reply to a question, that there was
not the slightest fear of the safety of a land party sledging.
There were ample means of forming caches,' and the lakes
afforded so abundant a supply of fish that two fishermen
would be quite able to lay in a store for 150 men ; and as
the fish froze almost immediately they came out of the
water, they would keep for years. Then, again, a couple
of Indian hunters would supply all the game they required.
It was his opinion, therefore, that as little ineumbrance
should be taken as possible, which was also the idea of the
late Sir J. Ross.
Mr. M'Coneficir said he only wanted to show the advan-
tage of having a ship to fall back upon.
Dr. KING then proceeded to notice the various points
raised in the discussion in detail, observing that he had
very faint hopes of finding any of the survivors of the ill-
fated expedition ; but there could be little doubt that such
records would be obtained as would set the question at rest
for ever, while, if there was the remotest chance of rescuing
any of our countrymen, it was our bounden duty to do so.
' Some further discussion ensued, and a resolution approv
ing of the projected expedition was agreed to.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the chairman, and
the proceedings terminated.