The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-09 00:00:00

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

A meeting of this society was held last evening ;
Sir Roderick Murchison in the chair.

The SECEBTARY read the following letter from
Captain Penny, containing some further particulars
of the search for Sir John Franklin :

" Pi) )no tar, A borotito. , Do°, S, 7 R !II
- sk,--1 beg to lay before you, and the scientific
body to which you belong, a few observations which
came under my notice during my late voyage iu
search of Sir John Franklin, which I consider of
great importance at the present critical moment.
`• On the 25th of August, 1850, having joined Cap-
tain Ommanney on the west side of Wellington
Channel, and seen the traces found by him of the
missing ships, I considered it my proper course to re-
turn to the eastern shore of the channel, with the
view of examining those parts more closely than had
been done before.

" The result of my return was most satisfactory,
four milesis s
northsnd
for not until then were the winter quarters of the
missing ships discovered ; and, what is of still more
importance in my estimation as regards the route of
the missing ships, a wwaetsoth
fromteht
tuponhe p
position
s ti
o heightn
occupiedabo ut
by the ships. This tent was evidently for the purpose
of watching every move of the ice in Wellington
Channel. We also saw the ruts of sledges going and
returning from making observations upon the
channel, and in the tent we found a small piece of
paper with the words to be called,'—the other part
of which must have been torn off, thus evidently
showing that a regular watch bad been kept.
"On the sth of September, 1850, from the top of
Cape Spencer, a height of at least 730 feet, open water
was observed beyond the fixed ice in the channel.
The strong easterly gales which we experienced some
time previous to the above date had counteracted the
prevailing current from the westward, and had driven
the ice through Queen Victoria Channel into the
Arctic Basin.

"On the 7th of September a strong northerly gale
brought away fifteen miles of ice down Wellington
Channel, leaving only about fifteen miles of ice be-
tween the two seas.

" Having commenced our travelling on the 13th of
April, 1851, I came upon water and decayed ice on
the 15th of May, in the channel between Cornwallis
Land and Baillie Hamilton Island, obliging isle to re-
turn by the east of the said island, and then to the
north we gained Point Surprise, in lat. 76 2, long.
95 55. The water washed the Point at my feet, and
extended 25 miles west. The sky indicated water to
the north round Dundas Island.
" The moment I stood upon Point Surprise, with
a full view to the west, I exclaimed, Through this
channel Sir John Franklin has gone in clear water.
Oh ! for a boat.' With this conviction on my mind I
returned with the determination to use every exertion
to get a boat up to this water.
" On the 29th of the same month Messrs. Goodsir
and Marshall, advancing with their party along the
shore of Cornwallis Land, were forced to return for
water with still thirty days' provision upon their
sledges.
" Again, on the 31st May, Captain Stewart, having
advanced as far as Cape Becher by the east side of
the channel and along Albert Land, came to water,
and from a height of 700 feet found nothing but open
sailing ice as far as the eye could reach, to the west
and north-west. _ _

...._
" On the 6th of June a boat was fully equipped,
and a journey commenced for Victoria Channel,
of the party having only returned 34 hours from a
journey of 31 days. On the 17th of the same
96month
ht 1 t
hr bee re o
uddgaeyh deg.
west,
brought
boat was launched into the water in long.
west, and continued to contend for thirty-three adverse winds and rapid tides,
the drifting ice in such quantities tioe
east-
ward as to block up the various channels between
the islands, leaving an open sea beyond, seen from the
Island.s3lo
isutmostisland
d ecxoears -t
tt
ioopn
so fwße
reel 1 le ioe
hHm
a ma p
el lrteedn:
that iy
of
miles
were examined by the boat party ; but had a strong
easterly wind prevailed for only a short time, so as to
counteract the effects of the westerly current, what
thatthe even
that
tf mightlt
is haveul yn o e
conviction
obovein doneone
tiwithtideflaot ws smallfr boat?
omthe
north-west in Victoria Channel, although there is a
regular rise and falloffour feet ; still in
12
hoursthe current t
o the
seemed to runtchhe I greatev re
pnaort of h
doubt, was
eastward whi
,
greatly influenced by the strong N.W. and W.N.W.
winds which prevailed for a whole month ; but
amongst islands and narrow channels one would re-
quire longer time for making observations to enable
him to speak with certainty on this subject.
" In Davis's Straits and Baftin's Bay the tide flows
from the south, in Lancaster Sound it flows from the
east.
" With the knowledge we have acquired by our
late search, who can now doubt the route Sir John
Franklin has pursued ? A watch tent to observe
every move in the Strait, and the evident signs of a
hasty departure, amount in my mind to a conviction
that he had passed in open water through Wellington
1 Strait and Victoria Channel, and along Prince
Albert's Land, which I am stronglyoaftiolh th
ex-
tends 500 miles N.W.; and until distance is
reached no further traces will be discovered.
1 " Had not Sir John Franklin been farther advanced,
would not I have found traces of him on the islands I
searched, c about the headlands where birds build