Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-11-08
discovery OF the Actual and wretched
tate of the Long-Lost Sir John Franklin
and his Companions in Misfortune as
From the MoatreaI Herald Of the 2lst ult

/ SON. 'oNerhof or the HudsonS Bay Ter
rltory tor the privilege of first publishing
f to the civilized world the at length ascer-
tanned fate OF the noble but Ill starred Sir
John Franklin and his gallant company
Alas that that fate should have been so
sad, and that the problem. WHICH has so
, long occupied the thoughts and engaged
the energies of the great navigator's
; countless friends and admirers. in Eurone
aud America, should be solved by so pain.
full, SO distressing a narrative as is con.
8 talned in the following letter. which only
reached Sir George Simpson Yesterday
atternoon-i: having been forwarded from
!. FORK Factory via Red River Our own
hopes of Sir John Frauklin's restoration
to the world had We confess. long ceased
but who would have been prepared for the
fearful reallty-a misera Bile aud lingering
death, from literal starvation-pussibIv
as DR. Rae conJectures, worse than starry
atlon--on the frozen and desolate shores
OF the Arctic Ocean2 But we shall not
detaln the reader By any reflections of ours
from the perusal Of DR. Raes intensely
Interesting narrative-we shall merely
mention that York Factory is situated at
the mouth of Hayes River in Hudson's
Bay, in about So n lat, 93o w Ion
DR.. RAE's LETTER TO SIR GEORGE SIMPSON
loRK FAcToRY, August A, 1854
My DEAR SIR GEoRGE:-Your several
letters. public and private of dates 18th
June aud lst December 1853. aud 18th
aud 10th June. 1854 were handed me on
the 2Sth ultimo, on my reaching Church
i'll, and | am rejoiced to learn that your
health has benefited so much by your
visit to the north
Let me now allude to the expedition
affairs [ arrived here on the 3lst ult.
with my small party, in excellent health,
but | am sorry to say without having eff
fected our object At the same time, in
formation has been obtained and articles
purchased from the natives. which places
the fate of e portion. if not ALL of the
tien survivors of Sir John Frauklin's mis-
erable party beyond dnnbt-a fate the
most deplora ble--death from starvation
after having had recourse to caunibalism
as means of prolonging life
L reached my old quarters at Repulse
Bay, on the 9th August. and preparations
we're Immediately commenced for winter
ing. GA the lst Sept [ explained to the
men our position. the stock of provisions
we had on hand quot more than three
months rations.) aud the prospects we had
of getting more sc. sc pointing out all
the dangers and difficulties of our position
All readily volunteered to remain, and
our exertons to collect food and fire. went
on with undated energy. By the end Of
September. l09 deer, musk OK. j3 brace
of Ptarmigan. and one seal had been shot,
and the nets produced 100 salmon.
nr
ted. 10 deer and the musk OK were shot
by myself 2l deer by Mistegan. (the deer
hunter) 4 By one of the men. 9 by dig
buck, and s by the other four men. The
migration of the deer terminated about
the middle of October. aud % more AM
mails were added to our stock.
On the 26th Of October the snow be
ing sufficiently hard for building. we were
happy to exchange our cold tents for the
more comfortable shelter of the snow
house. The winter was very severe. but
the temperature In our snow huts was
never so low al in my winter quarters Of
l646-7. Up to the 18th of January we
had nets set under the ice in the lakes ;;
the nets were taken up on that date as
they produced nothing
% the 3lst March my spring journey
commenced bat in consequence of gales
of winds deep and soft snow. and foggy
weather, we made bat very little progress
We did not enter Peley Bay unit the
18th. At this place we met with Esqul
maux one of whom, on being asked If he
ever saw the white people. replied III the
negative, bat said that large party-at
least 40 persons-had perished from want
of food. some 0 or II days journey to
the westward The substance of the IN
formation obtained at various times and
from various sources, was as follows;
In the spring. four winters past--spring
llS50-a party of white men, amounting
to about 40. were seen travelling south
ward over the ice and dragging a boat
with them, by some Esquimaux who were
killing seals on the north shore of King
Williams Land, which is large island
named Kei-ik tax by the Esqulmaux--
None of the party could speak the native
language ihtelligibly, but by signs, the
natives were made to understand that
their ships or ship had been crushed By
ice aud that the whites were now GO
ing to where they expected to find deer to
shoot From the appearance Of the men.
all of whom, except one ofhcer-chlcf-
looked thin, they were then supposed to
be getting short of provisions, aud they
purchased small seal from the natives
At late date the same season. but
previous to the disruption Of the ice the
!, bodies of about thirty white persons were
discovered on the continent, AID five %
8 an island near 1t, about lopg day jour
, ney-say 81 or 10 ullies-to the \ ".
! If large stream which can be no other
than Backs Great Fish River-named By
) the Esquinaux. Outko hi-ea iik-as Its
6 description. and that Of the low shore III
the neigh Dor hood of Point Ogle and Mon
Etreal Island agree exactly with that of
, Sir George Back. Some of the bodies
have been buried-probably those of the
first victims of famine-some were IN a
tent or tents. Others under boat that
a had been turned over to form a shelter
and severaI Law sea tered about IN differ