Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-10-08
HALLS ARCTIC JOURNEY.
The last OF SIR John Frank1in's Elk
pedii1On-DiseOVery of Relies.

s1owl edge Of Arctic geography, is r
plete with deeper interest than we hs
. any reason to anticipate. In some res
poets his has been the most remarkabl
journey ever undertaken in the pols
regions. He was not an experiences
explorer; he was not even q sailor, bu
plain citizen Of Cincinnati, when b
conceived the idea of prosecuting, upon
plan hitherto untried, more minut
search after the relics of the Franklin
expedition than any previous travelel
had been able to make. He put nj
trust in ships, but depended entirely
upon sledge journeys. living with th'
Esquimaux, learning their language
and adopting their customs and diet
This involved greater hardShips and
required more heroic patience than even
the memorable voyages of DR.. Kane; but
Capt. Hall has passed in his two expedi.
tions no less than seven or eight years
among the frightful Arctic SHOWS, and
has got thereby the knowledge which
he went to seek. The problem of Sir
John Franklin's fate was already so
nearly solved that there could be no
res sonabls hope that any one survived
| out of that gallant commanders party.
1 It was known that with his two ships,
the Erebus and Terror, he had discover
ed the long.sought, useless North West
passage which had cost the world so
many lives, and just at the goal of bis
voyage had been hopelessly locked in the
grasp of the ice. It was known that
Franklin died during the aext years
captivity; that after the ships had re-
NAMED motionless for nineteen months
the survivors, los in number, under
command o.: Capt. Crozier, set out afoot
across the frozen strait which separates
King Williams Island from tho North
ern line Of the American continent, in
the hope of reaching the frontier stations
of the Hudson's Bay Company; and that
many, and probably all Of the party, died
on the way. Their relics were found by
McClintock all along the coast of King
Williams Island, and the natives assur-
ed him that every one Of the party had
persisted. Sill McClintock's discove~
ries left room for a faint hope that one
or two might have escaped the fate of
the rest. Anderson in 1855 had
heard Of some Of the missing adventu-
rers as far south as Montreal Island,
at the mouth Of the Great Fish river;
and a flint rumor reached Hall in his
first voyage Of three white men who,
as recently as 1854 or 1856, had been
wandering among distant Esquimax
tribes, seeking in vain for deliverance.
1t was to clear up this last mystery and
complete the investigations Of McOlin-
took that Hall sailed from New Lon
don in 1864. There is no longer even
a shadow of hope that any one sur
wives out of Franklin's company. 1t is
ascertained, according TO this report,
that none of them reached even as far
as Montreal Island, and their bones lie
scattered along the coast of King Wll>
liam's Land, some in isolated graves,
others in the camping places where they
fell and diad in companies. The
melancholy history has its crown
ing horror in the knowledge that they
died of starvation through the base be-
hayior of the Esquimaux. Mr.. Hall
thinks that, beyond doubt, records OF Sir
John franklin are buried in q vault in
land east Of Cape Victory, the Captain
being at one time within seventy fTe
miles of the place. he will not prose-
cute the search further, at present, but
will probably make an effort to obtain
government aid in fitting ont aud mans
ming an expedition to be sent, next sum-
mer. to the North Pole. We give an
extract from Mr.. HALLS letter;
SKELETONS OF FRANKLIN's CREW.
The result of my sledge journey to
King Williams Land may be summed
I'D thus None of Sir John Franklin's
COMPANIONS ever reached or died on Mons
treal Island. 1t was late in July, 1913,
that Crozjer and his party of about forty
five passed down the west coast of King
Williams Land in the vicinity Of Cape
Herschell. The party was dragging two
sledges on the scarce, which was nearly
in its last stage of dissolution-one, 8
large sled laden with an awning covered
boat, and the other, a small one, laden
with provisions and camp material. Just
before CIozier and party arrived at Cape
Herschell, they were met by four fsmi.
lies Of natives, and both parties went
into camp near each other. Two Esqui~
maux men, who were Of the native party,
gave me much sad but deeply inter-
estipc information. Some of it stirred
nv heart with sadness, intermin-
gled with rage, for it was a con
fession that they with their companions
had secretly and hastily abandoned
Crozier and his party to suffer and die
for need Of fresh provisions, when, in
| truth, it was in the power of the natives
| to save every man alive. The next trace
of Crozier and his party is to be found
| in the skeleton which McClintock dis
covered little below, to the southwark
and eastward of Cape Herschelli this
was never found by the natives. The
next place is camping place on the
seashore Of King Williams Land, about
three miles eastward of Pleffer river
where two men died and received Chris
| tan burial. At this place fish bones
were found by the natives, which showed
them that CrCzier and his party had
| caught while there species of fish ex-
| cellent for food, with which the sea there
| abounds The next trace of this party
occurs some five or six miles eastward,
on a long, low point of King Williams
| Land. where one man died and was bu-
ried
| THE NORTHWESTERN PASSAGE.
The same year that the Erebus and
Terror were abandoned one Of them COM
summated the great Northwest Passage,
having five men aboard. The evidence
of the exact number is eireumstantiaL
Everything about this Northwest Pass
SAGE ship Of Sir John Franklin's expedi-
ton was in complete order; four boats
were hanging high up at the ships sides,
and one was on the quarter deck; the
vessel was in its winter housing of sail
or tent cloth. This vessel was found by
| the Ook-ioo,lik natives near O'Reilly Is
| land, lat 6So 80, n, long. 990 81 W.,
early in the spring Of 1910, it being frO4
zen in, in the midst of smooth and un.
broken foe Of ice of only one winter 8
formation. From certain evidence
have gained, both at lg-lOo-lik and
King Williams Land, there must have
been dog of the greyhound species
belonging TO one or the other Of the two
ships. / only know this through native
testimony. II is quite likely that some
one in England can tell whether there
was a dog on board either Of the ships
when Sir John Franklin left in 1915
wHAT REMAINS TO BE DISCOVERED
My sledge company from Rspulse Bay
to King Williams Land consisted o.
sleyen souls. all Esuuimaux Although