The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-10-20
Hi1islna9 From the Press Tribune
the Steamer Fox in the Polar Sea. 4

the Steamer Fox in the Polar Sea. 4
From the mass of interesting facts
and records gathered by Capt. Nc
Clintock in his late successful search
for Sir John Franklin. we make the
following summary in as ineligible q
form for the general reader as it can be
be presented with the aid of American
maps Of the Arctic regions. ssa3s iis1ss
The steam Yatch Fox, Capt FL.
McCIintock and % men, sailed from
England in the fall of 1851. Reaching
Davis Straits the same winter, they
became imbedded in theice and driftedu
1,l74 miles. On the 25th of April
they effected their escape in latitude
534 deg. north, and made the settlement
of Hoisteinburg, on the west coast Of
Greenland, few miles north of the
"Arctic circle, ".as traced on the maps
Thence they touched at Godbaven and
Uppernavik, (Greenland) in May Mel
vile Bay, latitude IS deg, in June
and Cape York, on the other side of
Baffin's Bay, the samo month. On this
coast the natives informed Capt. Nc
Clintock, though the interpreter, Pc
tersen, (the same who accompanied Dr.
Kane) that no ships had been seen
there since the visit of the Phoenix in
1854. On the 9th Jnly they reached {
Ponds Inlet, also on the west shore of
BaAin's Bay. (Cape York is Innocent
ly located on the American maps, be-
ing placed on Lancaster Sound instead
of Baffin's Bay.) One old woman and
a boy were found at Ponds inlet,
The inflammation obtained from them
was, that nothing whatever respecting
the Franklin expedition had come to :
their knowledge, nor had any wrecks
within the last twenty or thirty years
reached their shores. The Fox then
set sail for Lancaster Sound, and pen.
etrated as far as Beechey Island, on
Barrow Straits, lat. IS, lon. 90 deg. on
the l1th August. Here Capt. McClin-
took landed handsome marble tablet
commemorative of Sir John Franklin.
and took on board considerable
amount of stores left by the Erebus
and Terror in 1916 or 1S47. The Fox
then sailed south into Prince of Wales
Sound until her further progress was
impeded by the ice. She then returned
to Barrow's Straits and entered Prince
Regents Inlet, which was found to be
unusually free from ice. Capt. McClin-
fcc Fought up in Brentford Bay, near
|1t Straits, on the goth of August.
/, tc1e localities are not given on Amer
{c1El maps. Bellots Strait connects
f11oe Regents Inlet or Boothia Gulf
with the Straits of Sir James Ross and
the westward line of waters to the open
ee1 beyond Barring Island. Brentford
Iz one of the numerous indenta-
tons OF the west coast of Boothia. 1t
will be remembered by the-readers of
Arctic adventure that Bellot, tho brave
young Frenchman, lost his life in exe-
cutting an order Of Sir Edward Belcher
being carried seaward on hammock
of ice suddenly detached from the
shore. Capt. McClintosk found Bellot
Strait filled with drift ice, but as the
season advanced it became perfectly
clear its shores are in many places
faced with lofty granite cliffs, and some
of the adjacent hills rise 900 feet; the
tides are very strong. On the 9th Sep
tember McClintock passed through
Bellot Strait without obstruction, and
secured the ship to fixed ice across its
western outlet. From here, until the
9th, when he deemed it necessary to
GO into winter quarters, he constantly
watched the movements of the ice IN
the western sea or channel In ihid4
channel it was broken up and drifting
about; gradually the proportion Of
water increased, until at length the ice
which interviewed was reduced to three
or four miles in width. But this was
firmly held fast by numerous islets, and
withstood the violence of the autumn
gales. 1t was tantalizing beyond de-
scription, says Capt. McClintock, thus
to watch from day to day the free water
which we could not reach, and which
washed the rocky shores few miles
to the southwark of MS. From this
point Lieut.. Hobson was sent out with
depots Of provisions which he was to
leave at the "magnet pole" discovered
by Ross in 1881, but the separation of
the ice from the main land foiled the at
tempt and very nearly cost the lives of
the party. The crew then went into
winter quarters at the entrance of Bel
lot Strait, where they remained III
months. Hunting parties secured the
country during the winter but the only
results of their foraging were 8 REIN
deer, 2 polar bears, Is seals and pair
4 of waterfowl. <. 5000 tflI. '4HI,
Early the next spring the expedition
divided into three parties to explore
the country between the parallels 67
and 73, and the. rieridians 90 and 100
-one under Lieut.. Hobson, another
under Capt. Allen Young, and the third
under Capt McClintock. Lieut.. Hob
sons party took the western shore Of
Boothia, Young's essayed the explora-
; ton of Prince of Wales Land, and
Nc Clintock's made for King Williams
! Island. On the 2sth of February Nc.
Clintock fell in with small party of
Esquimaux who told him that several
years ago ship was crushed by the
ice off the north shore of King VIII
liam's Island, but that all her people
landed safely, and went away to the
Great Fish River, where they died.
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