The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-16 00:00:00

L )YT,'ON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1867.

Very nearly twelve years have elapsed since
the departure from this country, in 1845, of the
good ships " Erebus" and "Terror," under the
command of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN. On Sunday,
the 26th of July, 1857, it will be fully twelve
years since the date of the last tidings ob-
tained of that heroic and unfortunate expedition.
Yet, up to this time, no authentic account has
ever been received relative to the actual fate of
those long-lost Arctic navigators. We repeat it---
No authentic account whatever. No account that
can possibly be relied upon as positively conclu-
sive. And we say this with a vivid recollection
of Dr. RAE'S harrowing Report, addressed to the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and dated
from Repulse Bay, July 29, 1854. We say it
with a lively remembrance of the 10,0001.
'awarded to that voyager by order of the Go-
vernment, in accordance with the terms of the
official announcement, published on the 7th
of March, 1850, to the effect that that sum would
he given "to any party, or parties, wha should,
by his or their efforts, first succeed" in ascertain-
ing the fate of the missing navigators. We say
it, in fact, with a painfully accurate remem-
brance of the extraordinary and, we may even
venture to add, wholly unparalleled declaration
in the London Casette, of January, 1854—a sort
of a preternatural proclamation, making known to
the world at large the astounding fact that if by
the 31st of March following, nothing further
should be heard of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN and his
137 companions, they were from that date no
longer to he in existence—by Order of the Go-
vernment ! Nevertheless, remembering all this
remembering Dr. Rae's veracious Report of the
29th July, 1854—remembering the boon of
10,000/. awarded to him by virtue of the pro-mise
publicly given on the 7th of March,
1850—remembering the January Gazette of
'54, declaring the lost navigators to have
officially expired on the 31st of March, 1854.
we most distinctly and explicitly assert that up
to the present day, January 16th, 1857, no
yet been received in
authenticEnglan explanatoryiatelii gence
ohfatsh Et fate of the bravo Sir
-Rum FRANKLIN and his heroic companions.
Remember that Dr. RAE'S Report to the Ad-
miralty, Dr. RAE'S appalling Report fixing upon
the gallant officers and crew who were missing in
the Arctic Seas the hideous charge of Cannibalism,
rested solely, rests to this day solely upon certain
roundabout rumours received "second-hand"
from a party of gabbling Esquimaux. Re-
member that Dr. RAE himself, who was
the means of bringing this frightful rumour
under the notice of the Admiralty, and who
received from the Admiralty, as we have
seen, in recompence for it, the magnificent
reward of 10,000/., was actually nut more than a
day's journey from the spot Where the bones of
the dead Cannibal-navigators were (according to
his own. Report) lying uninterred ; and that be,
nevertheless, on the 27th of April, 1854, turned
away from that terrible scene of calamity, without,
on the contrary, hastening towards it, to the end
that be might test the accuracy of the revolting
narrative he was the means of communicating,
three months later, to her MAJESTY'S Govern-