Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-26

smooth water. He and his pilot had blazed new
trails hundreds of miles north Of the Arctic
Circle. They had mapped a thousand miles OF
coast line from the air and would map another
thousand on the return Journey Their one
remaining duty was to clear up If possible, the
Franklin mystery.
To the northwald stretched the great white
desert, jagged and inhospitable, its rough-hewn
pressure ridges Scintilating in the afternoon
sun. Here the Franklin ships had been beset.
Dividing his party Maj. Burwash explored the
shore line on foot. while others sought traces
of the Franklin followers farther inland Near
Lady Jane Franklin Point they found unnis-
taxable evidences Of a Franklin camp-some
stores and the stone walls of a rectangular tent.
This may have been the camp discovered by
Lieut.. Hobson of the British Navy in the VIM
ter of 1859-60. Then, however, the vicinity had
been covered with heavy fall of snow; now,
the exceptionally mild Summer had melted the
snow and ice that usually covers this barren
country.
The following morning they examined the
coast line northward to Victory Point, where
cairn, not previously examined by any searching
party, was found. But it apparently had been
rifed by wandering groups of Eskimos. Oppo-
site the cairn and close to the shore Maj. Bur-
wash came upon what evidently had been a
fairly large camp. A close search failed to
reveal any graves or bodies nearby Farther to
the southwark at Terror Bay, the party visited
the spot where Lieut.. Schwatka of the United
tragedy, the remains of hospital camp Only
one large grave, in which several bodies seem
to have been buried, was located by Maj. Bur-
wash's party. This spot was carefully and
reverently covered over.
Their work ON the ground completed, Burwash
and his party returned to their plane from
which they photographed with their aerial
mapping camera the route over which the
Franklin followers, weakened by disease and
exposure. must have made their last march.
Their discovery OF new camp sites and new
graves confirmed the reports of other and
earlier seafchers. travelling by less modern
methods. that the survivors of the Franklin
expedition, following the death Of their COM
mander attempted to return to civilization ON
foot.
PERHAPS the most. tragic thing about that
march is the fact, as subsequent events
have shown, that these explorers starved in
land Of comparative plenty, where Eskimos
Tor scores Of generations have Hved-and still
Lively the bow and arrow. These brave
men persisted because in their haste to reach
civilization they overlooked the game posi-
bilities OF the country. Millions Of caribou
roamed the vicinity, and SEALS polar bears,
musk oxen, geese and ducks were to be found
on every side. The skins of these animals
would have provided them with clothing shell
ter and footwear, as well as covering for the
Eskimo type Of skin boat. Instead, they
at Least five times as much as an Eskimo
umiak Of the same size, until they were
exhausted. The blubber of the seal could
have been used for heating and lighting their
tents, for cooking and for waterproofing their
footgear. Instead, they depended upon the
old-fashioned tallow candle and upon the
stiff-soled cowhide boots of the period, which
were unsuited to that climate. Most impor-
tant Of all, however, the meat of the animals
would have provided food in abundance-the
az
has demonstrated
DR.. John Rae, one of the most indefatigable
and ingenious searchers for the Franklin party
maintained his personnel by killing game in
the same country where those he sought had
persisted. This was an intellectual achieve
ment. He accomplished something which no
other explorer had dared try. It was a radical
yet perfectly logical step forward in scientific
teenth century-for by adopting the Rae
method any one with good pair Of legs,
good eyesight and o dependable rifle can go
anywhere in the North and stay as long
rs his cartridges hold out
The primary purpose Of Franklins Inflated
expediton-the discovery of a Northwest
Passage-had been sought for 400 years by
the worlds Adventures, scientific and other
wise. At one time the British government
had offered q reward Of 100000 for the dis
the call Of the North and the IRE Of adven-
tzre IN the blood brought the flower Of the
Old Worlds manhood to the fore whenever
IN Arctic expedition was in prospect
In 1645 Britain suddenly experienced q
revival Of the old scheme, and Franklin was
appointed to command an expedition. Care
fully equipped. proyisioned for three years and
carrying picked men as their crews. Franklins
two stanch vessels departed from the Thames
toward the end Of May. On July 20, 1e45,
the expedition was seen for the last time In
Lancaster Sound; then 1t disappeared, almost
without trace. Winter came early and the
two ships were frozen in. They were carried
backward and forward by the drifting foes I'm