The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-20 00:00:00

THE SEARCH for SIR JOILV FRANKLIN.
The interesting account recently published by Sir
John Richardson of his boat voyage upon the coast
of North America in search of his friend, Sir John
Franklin, has a postscript of the highest value, giving
a summary of the results afforded by the return of
the expeditions under Captains Austin and Penny.
As this statement enables us distinctly to perceive
the present hopeful aspect of the Arctic question, we
propose to place it entire before our readers, who can
desire no better authority thin that of Sir John
Richardson for their guidance and information :
"The preparation of the illustrations, and other
circumstances, having retarded the publication of
these volumes for some months after the letter-press
was ready, the delay has enabled us to learn the
result of the last year's search for the lost expedi-
tion. The first traces of the missing ships, disco-
vered on the south side of Beechey Island and on Cape
Riley, as mentioned in vol. ii., p 155 , were followed
up by the discovery of 700 empty meat tins, and
other remains, which furnish undoubted proof of
Franklin's ships having wintered 1845-6 on the inside
of the above-named island. The tombs of three men,
with headboards bearing their names and the dates of
their deaths, were erected on the east side of the
island, not far from the site of the armourer's forge,
an observatory or store-house, and other enclosures
opposite to the anchorage. One of these men belonged
to the Terror, and two to the Erebus, which is suffi-
cient evidence of the presence of both ships ; and the
latest death supplies us with the date of 3d April,
1846. The mortality does not exceed that of previous
expeditions ; and we may therefore conclude that the
expedition was in highly effective order when it left
that anchorage, with only a moderate inroad into its
stock of preserved meat, the 700 empty tins found on
the island forming but a small proportion of the
24,000 canisters with which the ships were supplied.
" Captain Penny and his officers, who examined
Beechey Island and the neighbourhood very carefully
and minutely, believed that the expedition did not
quit its winter anchorage till the end of August or
beginning of September, :'1846, founding their opi-
nion mainly on the lateness at which the ice breaks
up; that much of the summer was passed there they
consider as proved by the deep sledge ruts in the
shingle, which must have been made after the snow
had partially disappeared, and by small patches of
garden ground bordered with purple saxifrage, and
planted with compartments with the native plants.
"It is also the opinion of several officers of the
searching party that Franklin's ships left their win-
tering station suddenly. The reasons assigned for this
belief are, that several articles which might have been
useful were left behind, and; that at a look out, or
fowling station, on Cape Spencer, a long day's jour-
ney from the anchorage, the lines for securing the
covering of a circular inclosure, formed by a low wall
of stones, had been cut, instead of having been deli-
berately united, when the covering was removed,
leaving the ends of the line attached to the stones.
The absence also of any memorandum of past efforts
or future intentions, either at the stone cairn erected
on the south side of Beechey Island, at the pile of
canisters, or in the neighbourhood of the kitchen,
forge, and other marked localities opposite the an-
chorage, is thought by some to bo an indication of
the sudden departure of the expedition. The value of
the articles left behind is too trifling to suppose such
an inference : these were an armourer's wooden stand,
used, when laid on its side, for the support of the
anvil, and when standing on its end for the insertion
of a vice ; several coal bags, two of them containing
coal dust mixed with a small proportion of small cin-
ders and ashes; some pieces of rope, and scraps of old
canvas, and a small piece of oaken fire-wood, besides
many fragments of worn clothing utterly worthless.
An iron stove, that had been made on board
ship, was also found at a fowling station near
the east coast of the island, but it is stated
to be not worth carrying on board. The birds'
bones remaining in the vicinity of the stone inclosure
on Cape Spencer, show that the sportsmen encamped
there had been tolerably successful, and much small
shot was found scattered amongst the stones with
which the inclosure was paved. In the interstices of
the stone wall there were many pieces of newspaper ;
also two bits of paper of much interest to the friends
of two of the missing officers—one being subscribed
with the name of Mr. INl`Donald, the surgeon ; the
other containing part of a memorandum in the hand •
writing of Captain Fitzjames, giving directions as to
the times of recording certain meteorological obser-
vations, and the absence of the diligently searched-for
memorandum does not seem to be sufficiently ac-
counted for by such a supposition. The time required
for calling in the parties from Cape Spencer, Caswell's
Tower, in Radstock Bay, and other points where
they have been traced, and for embarking the instru-
ments and utensils from the observatories and kitchen,
might have sufficed for the planting of a copper cy-
linder or bottle, with a memorandum.
" That the ships drifted out unexpectedly in a
floe of ice is not considered by the nautical men who
have examined the anchorage to be possible. The
north point of Beechey Island being connected to
North Devon by a shingle beach, covered by only
two or three feet of water, no pressure of ice can
operate on the harbour from that direction, so as to
drive out vessels by the south-eastern and only navi-
gable entrance, and it is almost certain that Frank-
lin's ships must have made their exit by the tedious
and laborious operation of sawing out.
" The absence of a memorandum at the wintering
station is remarkable ; and, in my opinion, wholly
unexplained by any suggestion that has hitherto been
given by the many writers who have made their
opinions known through the medium of the periodical
. pre,s
s From Sir John Franklin's well-known
anxiety to act up to the tenor of his instruc-
tions, combined with the expressed desire of the
Admiralty, that he should embrace every opportunity
of forwarding accounts of the progress of the expedi-
tion to England, I should have thought that he would
certainly have left a record of his doings at a winter
station, which he knew to be within reach of the
whalers, before he commenced his voyage of the se-
cond season, in the hope of penetrating either to the
south-west or northward, where he knew there would
be little or no chance of finding a channel of commu-
nication, unless he succeeded in overcoming all ob-
stacles, and pushing his way through that archipelago
which has hitherto proved a barrier to successive ex-
peditions. And should he, as some suppose, but con-
trary, as I think, to all likelihood, have cut his way
out of Beechey Harbour merely to turn his face to
England, still I think he would have left some au-
thentic record on the spot, mentioning his labours, and
the cause of his return.
"As there are no natives on the north side of Lan-
caster Strait to disturb any memorial or flag post
that may be erected, Sir John Franklin would
probably not think it necessary to bury the copper
cylinder or, bottle containing his memorandum, but
would rather suspend it in the most conspicuous way
he could devise.
"Now, I ,have learnt by experience that the
wolverine (the wolverine inhabits the islands north of
Lancaster Strait, and its recent footmarks were often
seen by Lieut. M'Clintock) will ascend trees to cut
down a package hung to a branch ; and that bears
have similar habits was fully ascertained by Captain
Austin's sledge parties. A. depot, formed by Lieut.
AUClintock on Griffith Island, was entirely eaten by
bears, the tin cases proving to be but a poor defence
against the tusks of these omniverous animals, who
expressed their approval of preserved potatoes by the
way in which they cleared out the canisters.
" That they would relish the pemican, which was
part of their spoil, might have been predicted. They
did not respect even the sign-post, but overthrew it,
and bit off the end of the metal cylinder containing
the record.
"The want of this memorialfeaves us totally in the
dark as to Franklin's intended course, which would in
all probability have been decided upon before he left
the harbour ; for, from his position, he had the means
of ascertaining the state of the ice both in Barrow's
Strait and in Wellington Channel. If the former
was open, his course would be to Cape Walker and
the south-west, agreeable to his instructions ; but if
Barrow's Strait was closed, as he had found it to be
the preceding year, and Wellington Channel open,
then he would gladly follow the latter, which one
at least of his intelligent officers considered to be
the most promising route of all, and which the spirit
of his instructions permitted him to take if shut out
from the west or south-west.
" The well-planned and thoroughly-organised
travelling parties of the searching squadron, though
they traced with extraordinary perseverance extensive
portions of insular coast, failed in detecting any fur-
ther decisive vestiges of Franklin's course. Captain
Austin's two ships with their tenders, wintered at
the south-west end of Cornwallis's Island, under the
shelter of Griffith Island.
"From thence Lieutenant M'Clintock, who made
the longest journey of all the pedestrian parties,
setting out in spring, rounded the west-end of Mel-
ville Island in longitude 114 deg. W., and, passing
over the extreme discoveries of Sir W. Edward
Parry, saw distant land extending beyond the 116th
meridian. The intermediate passage and bays were
explored by Lieutenant Aldrich, Mr. Bradford and
Mr. MEDougall. On the south side of Barrow's
Strait, Cape Walker and the adjoining coasts were
traced by Captain Ommanney and Lieutenants Os-
borne, Bleechara, and Rrowne; Lieutenant Osborne