Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-19
TRACES OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN's
EXPEpETION.

billty is vouched for, writes to the
Bulletin of that city from San
Buenaventura that q document had
been found On the beach at that
place, on the 3Oth of August, very
badly mutilated. On the document
was found request for. the finder
to forward it to the Secretary of
Admiralty at London, or the British
Consul at the nearest port, the re-
quest being printed in six commerN
cial languages on the margin.
Every vacant portion was filed with
writing, relating to Sir John Frank
lin and his party. The document
was evidently cast in the water IN
latitude 60 degrees, 81 minutes, ~
seconds, and longitude SO degrees,
L minutes, seconds. 1t gives an
account of the desertiOn from
the ships Erebus and Terror.
The party numbered lO5 at
the time of the desertion, under the
| command of F. r. M. Crozeir.
| They had succeeded in reaching
the above latitude and longitude,
where they had found relics of the
late Sir John Ross. The document
states that the party had wintered
at Beechy Island in 1876 and l847,
and that Sir John franklin had
died on the 18th of June, 1847. 1t
contains many interesting incidents
connected with the expedition.
The New York Tribune says ofthis
record of the Franklin expedition,
which is supposed to have been
thrown overheard among the frozen
waters of the Arctic circle, and
after twenty-one years to have
been cast ashore something like
| 5000 miles from the place where
it was launched, that it is
full of o melancholy interest,
though there is little probability
that the document, even if authena
| tic, will add much to what we al
ready know of the last days OF
Franklin's gallant band. The Tri-
bune adds: SIN all likelihood the
record is merely duplicate OF the
| one which McCIintock discovered
on King Williams Island in 1859
Sir Leopold, it will be remembered,
found there the only authentic &C
count of Franklin's fate which, up
to the present time, has ever reach
ed us. In q cairn, erected
twenty eight years before by Sir
John Ross, he found, inclosed In 8
tin case, q record Of Sir Johns last
cruise up to the 25th of April, 1913
Franklin had died on the 18th o.
June, 1917. The ships Erebus and
Terror had been frozen in for nine
teen months, and the survivors O
the crew, 105 in number, under
command of Capt. Crozier, had aban
: doned them and set out over lane
for the Great Fish River Of British
, | North America. McClintock hear(
from the EsquimauX how the white
, men had, one by one, dropped dowT
: and died on the way. lilo toun<
the skeletons of two or three, will
} their abandoned sledges, boats ant
: guns; he satisfied himself that tn
remainder had persisted miserabl..
: among the frozen straits, and thei
) bones had been lost in the water
when the short Summer thaw Sc
in; and though there has since beel
q rumor that Crozier and some o
his men were alive several year
later among the Esquimaux, ant
may even yet be wandering in thos
inaccessible regions where the foo
of no other civilized man ha
ever trod, there can be little doub
that McClintOck's conclusion
were justified, and that no late
: record of the most memorabl
of all Arctic voyages will eve
reach US. The document said T.
have been found on the CalitOrnl
coast appears to have been written
as that found on King William
Island was, on one Of the printe'
I forms furnished by the British AID
miralty to all discovery ships, TO
l the purpose Of being inclosed II
1 bottles and thrown overheard in or
. der to ascertain the direction G
ocean currents. SO exact indeed
. Judging from the Geographic re
port, is its resemblance to the Nc
Clintock relic, that we should hav
little hesitation in prOnOuncing 1t
forgery in spired by that document
were it not probable that forge
: would have invented some varia
} ton, and given the record a late
date. The latitude is the same a
that in which Crozier deposited tn
, writing in the tin case; the longi
tude differs by ten seconds, Crozle
giving $50 A 15", and tn
} California report go A s.
but this discrepancy may b
owing to a toIcgraphic blunder. |
this waif was really committed t.
the waves by the crews Of the Ere
bus and Terror when they set GU
! upon their awful land journey in tn
spring of 1913, it must have floate'
y through that northwest passag
| which so many lives and so man