The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-02 00:00:00

PROPOSED FINAL ARCTIC SEARCH.

The following letter Las been addressed to the Editor
of the Tioica:—

Sir,—llaving read, during a short absence from Lon-
don, the article in your journal of the 27th on the pro-
posal to make a final search for the relics of the Franklin
expedition, in which any name is mentioned, I beg to
call your attention to the real object of the persons with
whom I am associated in recommending this project to
the consideration of ber Majesty's Government.
As a full explanation of our ♦iecvs is given in the me-
morial presented last summer to the First Minister of
the Crown, I earnestly hope that you will do me the
favour to print that documont, a copy of which is now
enclosed. If this request should be complied with, your
readers will then see the brolid distinction between the
wished for restricted search aald all former expeditions
sent in pursuit of our rnisE.ini;. countrymen, in none of
which, however, it may be observed, did any Inca of life
occur among the numerous eflicers employed, save in
the case cf poor young Bellot.
In short, as we now know precisely where to go, and
also that the voyage along the coast of the mainland of
North America has been s-uccessfully made to and fro by
Capt. Collinson in a sailing ship (i.e., to within a short
distance of the circumscribed track to be examined by ex-
ploring parties), and further, as this distinguished Arctic
officer pledges his reputation that be can with much
greater facility take thither a large screw vessel and bring
her safely back, I trust that the public will be induced to
Mink that, my friends and self have not advocated a
visionary scheme which might lead to indefinite re-
searches.—l remain, sir, your very obedient servant.
llownicK I. Mu:am:Haw.
Belgre.,ve-square, Nov. 29,

" TO THE EIGHT HON. VISCOUNT I'ALMEESTON, G.O B.
"Loudon, June 5, 1856.

" Impressed with the belief that her Majesty's missing
ships, the Erebus and Terror, or their remains, are still
frozen up at no great distance from the spot whence
certain relics of Sir John Franklin and his crews were
obtained by Dr. Rae—we, whose names are undersigned,
whether men of science and others who have taken a deep
interest in Arctic discovery, or explorers who have been
employed in the search for our lost countrymen, beg ear
neatly to impress upon your lordship the desirableness of
sending out an expedition to satisfy the honour of our
country, and clear up a mystery which has excited the
sympathy of the civilised world.
" Thie request is supported by many persons well versed
in arctic surveys, who, seeing that the proposed expedi-
tion is to be directed to one limited area only, are of
opinion that the object is attainable, and with little risk.
" ',Ye can scarcely believe that the British Government,
which to its great credit has made so many efforts in
various directions to discover even the route pursued by
Frankiin, should cease to prosecute research now that the
locality has been cleat ly indicated where the vessels or
their remains must lie--including, as we hope, records
which will throw fresh light on Arctic geography, and
dispel the obscurity in which the voyage and fate of our
countrymen are still involved.
" Although most persons have arrived at the conchs.
sion that there can now be no survivors of Franklin's
expedition, yet there are eminent men in our own coun-
try and in. America who hold a contrary opinion. Dr.
Kane, of the United States, for example, who tins dis-
tinguished himself by pushing further to the north in
search of Franklin than any other individual, and to
whom the Royal Geographical Society has recently
awarded its founders'-g.ild medals, thus speaks (in a
letter to the benevolent Mr. Grionell)—'l am really in
doubt as to the preservation of human life. I well know
how glad I would have been had my duty to others
permitted me to have taken refuge among the Esqui-
maux of Smith Strait and Etah Bay. Strange as it may
seem to you, we regarded the coarse life of these people
with eyes of envy, and did not doubt but that we could
have lived in comfort upon their resources. It required
all my powers, moral and physical, te prevent my men
from deserting to the 'Walrus settlements ; and it was my
final intention to have taken to Esquimaux life had net
Providence carried us through iu our hazardous escape.'
"But, passing from speculation, and confining our-
selves alone to the question of finding the missing ships
or their records, we would ()Werra that no land expedi-
tion down the Back River like that which, with great
difficulty, recently reached Montreal Island, can satis-
factorily accomplish the end we have in view. The frail
birch bark canoes in which Mr. Anderson conducted his
search with so much ability, the dangers of the river,
the sterile nature of the trtsct near its embouchure, and
the necessary failure of provisions, prevented the com-
mencement, even, of such a search as can alone be
satisfactorily and thoroughly- Accomplished by the crew
of a man-of-war—to say nothie g of the moral influence
of a strong armed party remainkog in the vicinity of the
spot until the confidence ofithe motives be obtained.
"Many Arctic explorers, indepe udent of these whose
names are appended, and who art' absent on service,
have expressed their belief that there are several routes
by which a screw vessel could s) closely approach the
area in question as to clear up all doubt.
"In respect to one of thesecourses, or ihat by Behriug
Strait, along the coast of North America, we know that
a single sailing vessel passed to Cambridge Bay within
150 miles of the mouth of the Back River, and returned
home unscathed, its commander having expresseed his
conviction that the passage in question ie so constantly
open that ships can navigate it without el fliculty in one
season. Other routes, whether by Rege at Inlet, Peel
Sound, or across from Repulse Bay, are preferred'. by
officers whose experience in Arctic matters entitles them
to every consideration ; while, in referer ce to two of
these routes, it is right to state that vast quantities of
provisions have been left in their vicinity,
"Without venturing to suggest whielt of these plans
shonld be adopted, we earnestly beg your lordship to
sanction without delay such an expedition as, in the
judgment of a committee of Arctic voyagers and geo-
graphers, may be considered best adapted to secure the
object.
"We would ask your lordship to reflect upon the
great difference between a clearly-defined voyage to a
narrow and circumscribed area, within which the miss-
ing vessels or their remains must lie, and those former
necessarily tentative explorations in various direction,
the frequent allusions to the difficulty of which, in re-
g;ons far to the north of the voyage now contemplated,
have .L'd persons unaeqeainted with geography to sup-
pose that such a modified and limited attempt as that
which we pro9ese involves; further risk, and may call for
future researches, Ti.e very nature of the former expe-
ditions exposed them, it is true, to risk, since regions
had to be traversed which were totally unknown, while
the search we ask for is to be.directed to a circumscribed
area, the confines of whkeh hae-e already been reached
without difficulty by one of her 3i,ta.iestY's Vessels*
" Now, inasmuch as France, aK er repeated fruitless
efforts to ascertain the fate of La ferouss, no sooner
heard of the discovery of some relics of that eminent na-
vigator than she sent out a searching 515 sedition to col-
lect every fragment pertaining to his vessel.'- so we trust
that those Arctic researches which have reflecte
d. much
honour upon our country may not be abandoned at the
very moment when an explanation of the wanderinge,and
fate of our lost navigators seems to be within our grasp.
"In conclusion, we further earnestly pray that it may
not be left to the efforts of individuals of another and
kindred nation, already so distinguished in this cause,
nor yet to the noble-minded widow of our late lamented
friend, to make an endeavour which can be so much
more effectively carried out by the British Government.
" We have the honour to be, &c.,
" E. Beaufort " L. Hs'rner
R. I. Murchison W. H. ,311ilten
F. W. Beechy Lyon Play fair
Wrottosley T. Thorp
E. Sabine C. Wheatstone
Egerton Ellesmere W. J. Hooker
W. Whewell J. D. Hooker
R. Collinson J. Arrowsmith
W. H. Sykes P. La Trobe
C. Daubeney W. A. B. Hamilton
J. Fergus R. Stephenson
p.
.B. De Stzrelecki J. E. Portlock
'.esT. Smyth C. Piazzi Smyth
A. ma; endie C. W. Pasley
G. Rennie
R. Faeroe J. P. Gassiot
E. G. Fishb.lurns G. B. Airey
Robert Brown John F. Burgoyne
G. Maoartney
sif the Royal Navy, who have
" The following officers fter Franklin, and who are
been employed in the search is_ previously expressed
now absent from London, hat final search above re-
themselves to be favourable to the "eptains Sir James
commended :—Commodore Kellett ; -nney, Sir Ro-
Ross, Sir E. Belcher, Austin, Bird, Omme • Magnire'
bert M'Clure, Sherard Osborn, Inglefield, ' ldrich
111 'Clintock, and Richards ; Commanders A ''ton
Mecham, Trollope, and Creeewell Lieuts, Liam,
and