The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-16 00:00:00

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

_- - -
ABERDEEN, SATURDAY.—The Lady -Franklin,
Captain Penny, and the Sophia, Captain Stewart,
sailed from this port to-day for the Arctic regions, in
search of Sir John Franklin. The two vessels were
hauled out of the docks at two o'clock, and left the
harbour amid the cheers of some thousands of spec-
tators. The Lady Franklin is a first-olass clipper
brig, built at Aberdeen ; and the Sophia is equally
strong, though less sharp in her model, and was built
at Dundee. The expedition is under the command of
Captain Penny, who volunteered his services, and in
recommending him to the Admiralty, Sir Francis
Beaufort says—
" The daring but prudent conduct that Mr. Penny is
said to have evinced on many occasions, together with
the large experience that he must have gained during a
whole life among the ice, as well as the ambition he ex-
presses to distinguish himself is this noble enterprise, on
which all eyes are turned, lead me to think that it would
be wise to let loose his energy, and to give him the op-
portunity for which he begs. I may add that I believe
this would sensibly gratify Lady Franklin."
Captain Penny has been to the Arctic regions
almost every year for the last 20 years. He went to
Davis' Straits first as an apprentice seaman, and had
the experience of his father, who had then been long
known as a captain of one or other of the Aberdeen
whalers, and soon after his apprenticeship was com-
pleted he became first mate, and then a master him-
self. When commanding one of the Aberdeen
whalers in 1839 he gathered some information from
an Esquimau; which led him to believe that there
was an unexplored region in the Straits, abounding
with whales; and having got the young native to
come to Scotland, he managed to educate him so as to
be able to line out a chart of the unknown bay, and to
give such an account of its geographical bearings as
enabled him next season to explore it, and to open up
a new source of supply when whales failed in the or-
dinary fishing-ground. In this-way, and in various
other ways, Capt. Penny gained an acquaintance with
almost every inlet and sound of Davis' Straits ; and it
is well known that he has been able to add consider-
ably to our stock of knowledge of the icy regions of
the north. lie has a most perfect conviction that Sir
John Franklin is yet alive, and is to pursue his search
in the first instance in Admiral Jones' Sound and the
Wellington Channel.

The Lady Franklin and Sophia have 25 men each,
including officers, and are provisioned for three years.
They have each a full supply of coals, but are to re-
ceive additional coals from the Pacific, of this port,
which vessel took out a large quantity when she sailed
the other day for Davis' Straits. All the appoint-
ments of the vessels are of the most simple and prac-
tical description. They have boats similar to those
of the ordinary whaler; ice anchors, ice saws, warp-
ing apparatus, and every sort of machinery necessary
to enable them to make way through the ice. There
is also a full and complete assortment of geographical
and astronomical apparatus, and, what is of no small
value in this important expedition, a large amount of
discretionary power conferred on the commander.