Birth and youthful career of Franklin--His service at sea--Appointed to
survey the Coppermine River--His expedition--His second expedition to
the Arctic regions--Made Governor of Tasmania--His return--The last
Franklin expedition.
Sir John Franklin, whose Arctic expeditions and their consequences will
form the subject of this chapter, was born at Spilsby, in Lincolnshire,
on the 16th of April, 1786. He was the youngest son of most respectable
parents and intended for the Church, but as he preferred the sea
service, his father yielded, and got him appointed a middy at fourteen
years of age. Young Franklin soon saw some service. He was present at
Copenhagen in 1801, and was appointed to the _Investigator_, which,
under his cousin Captain Flinders, explored the Australian coast. The
_Investigator_ went to grief, and when the crew were transferred to the
_Porpoise_ she was wrecked, the ship's company and officers living on a
sandbank for fifty days. After being taken off, Franklin was carried to
Canton, and when he eventually reached England he was appointed to the
_Bellerophon_, and was present at the battle of Trafalgar, where he was
signal midshipman, and behaved splendidly.
For several years he served in the _Bedford_, and was engaged and
wounded at New Orleans. In 1818 he was put in command of the _Trent_ to
find an Arctic passage to India, and in this Captain Buchan, in the
_Dorothea_, took command. But the latter vessel being damaged, the
expedition returned to England, though Franklin wished to proceed alone.
After this, his reputation having been well established, not only as a
thorough seaman but as a man of science, he was appointed to the
expedition to cross the continent from Hudson's Bay to the Coppermine,
and explore the coast eastward.
We will now, as briefly as possible, give the interesting narrative of
Franklin's Arctic expeditions.
While Sir Edward Parry, whose expedition we have already detailed, was
endeavouring to cross the Polar Sea westwards, Lieutenant John Franklin
was commissioned by the Admiralty to ascertain the sources of the
Coppermine River. At the same time Doctor Richardson and Messrs. Hood
and Back were also nominated, with two English sailors, to accompany
him. This small party embarked on board the Hudson Bay Company's vessel
_Prince of Wales_ on the 23rd of May, 1819, and after some perils they
arrived off York Factory, on the Hudson Bay shore, in August of the same
year.
On the 9th of September the party commenced their exploration, and
reached Cumberland House on the 22nd of October. Franklin,
notwithstanding the advanced period of the year, determined to push on,
and after a delay he set out, accompanied only by Lieutenant Back, on
the 18th of January, 1820. Doctor (afterwards Sir John) Richardson and
Mr Hood were to bring up the baggage and more stores in the early
spring. The enterprising pair then journeyed more than eight hundred
miles in the terrible Arctic winter, and reached Fort Chepeywan on the
26th of March following.
Meanwhile Doctor Richardson and Mr Hood remained at Cumberland House
engaged in congenial pursuits and studying the Cree Indians, with other
natural history subjects. The notes they give concerning the manners
and customs of the Indians are extremely interesting, but are by this
time pretty well known. Their dexterity in hunting and hawking are
particularly commended, and much useful information concerning the fauna
of the district was collected by Doctor Richardson and his companion.
When spring began to appear Doctor Richardson and his friend, with the
Indian hunters, set out to join Franklin, and the "misery"--there is no
other name for it--which the party endured, not from cold but from the
mosquitoes, must be read about in detail to be even partially
appreciated. This is a fearful plague of the northern regions just as
Nature is beginning to clothe herself anew in green, and the white
mantle of winter has disappeared in those places where snow is not
perpetual.
On the 18th of July, 1820, the whole party was assembled at Fort
Chepeywan, and they set out together, so as to reach the mouth of the
Coppermine in time to establish winter quarters for the next cold
season. But tremendous difficulties beset them--lakes and rivers had to
be crossed, portages had to be made, as rapids had to be avoided, and
shallows had to be circumvented. Thus it was the middle of August again
ere they reached a place whence further progress was impossible that
season. The signs of approaching winter could not be disregarded: a
house was constructed as a winter residence, and called "Fort
Enterprise."
Their objective point was still many, many miles away, and those miles
they could not traverse with their boats and stores. So, after a
hurried peep at the head of the river, they made ready to winter, and
with that view laid in a stock of provisions. This consisted chiefly of
pemmican, which is frozen or dried reindeer-flesh kneaded with the fat
into a kind of paste. Fish was added to this, but as people came
along--natives and their families, who "made for" shelter as quickly as
possible--the stock was not enough. Ammunition gave out, many necessary
stores had not come up, and at length Mr--afterwards Admiral Sir
George--Back determined to return, and bring up the required stores.
After a lapse of five months this intrepid young officer returned to
Franklin. In the meantime he had travelled one thousand miles in
snow-shoes, had no covering at night except a blanket and a deer-skin,
the thermometer at 40 degrees to 50 degrees below zero, and on occasions
he was for two or three days without food! This was indeed intrepidity,
but he knew his friends were waiting for him, and that without some such
self-sacrifice they could not have remained in their winter quarters,
where, during Mr Back's absence, they suffered greatly from the
climate.
The young voyager brought back with him two interpreters, whose names in
English were "Stomach" and "Ear," but who were called Augustus and
Junius, in preference to the British equivalents of their baptismal
names. During the winter all played games and wrote out their
journals--a favourite occupation with all travellers in their forced
idleness. They subsisted on reindeer meat without vegetables, and drank
tea or chocolate. The Indians were very kind and friendly all the time.
Many instances are related of their good-nature and simplicity.
The 14th of June had come before the travellers considered the icy river
navigable. Some difficulties occurred with the hunters as to the
procuring of provisions by the way, but when all had been arranged
comfortably, a start was made, and the rocky river attempted.
The party arrived at the Copper hills, where the ore was searched for,
and then the expedition continued its course, though the Indians would
not go on after a while for fear of meeting the Esquimaux; and even the
Canadian hunters wanted to go back. The sea was reached on the 18th of
July, and the party paddled their own canoes towards the east. For more
than five hundred miles they coasted, until, instead of finding
themselves in the Arctic Ocean, they were only in an immense bay. So
they turned back and went up Hood's River, with the intention to go as
far as possible by water, and then strike overland to Fort Enterprise
again.
This was a hazardous attempt, but it was their only chance. They were
soon stopped by a waterfall, and then the pilgrimage began. The large
canoes were made into two smaller ones, for the crossing of rivers and
lakes, and, with only provisions for two days, they started overland.
In three days they encountered quite a wintry climate, and from the 5th
to 26th of September they had to march through snow and live on mosses,
without any guide, or observation, to show the way, and many days they
had no food at all. Frozen, and eventually almost in despair, the
Canadians grew impatient. One canoe was disabled, the other lost, and,
at length, when they all reached the Coppermine River, they had no means
of crossing it.
In this emergency, Doctor Richardson volunteered to swim the hundred and
thirty yards of icy water (38 degrees), and carry a line over. He made
the attempt, and had almost succeeded when the cold overcame him, and he
was dragged back nearly drowned. He was with much difficulty restored
to animation. A kind of basket was then rigged up, and in it Saint
Germain, an interpreter, paddled over, carrying the line. He managed to
reach the opposite bank, and with no more than a wetting the rest all
crossed in safety after him.
This was in the beginning of October, and winter was upon them. So
Franklin sent on some of the men with Mr Back to find the Indians near
Fort Enterprise, and the rest followed. But the lichens disagreed with
two men, and though Doctor Richardson went back and endeavoured to cure
them and bring them along, he was obliged to abandon them to die in
their tracks. Things looked so serious that Richardson and Hood
pluckily proposed to remain at the first convenient halting-place with
the weaker brethren, and let Franklin push on to the fort, and send back
help and food. This was agreed to. Franklin went on, but Hepburn, the
English sailor, volunteered to remain with Richardson. This parting
took place on the 7th of October, twenty-four miles from the fort. Of
the eight men who left with Franklin, four were taken ill and returned
to Doctor Richardson, but only one man, the Iroquois Michel, reached the
tent in rear.
On the 11th Franklin, with four men, reached the fort, and found it
completely empty and deserted--no food, no friends, nothing! After a
while a note was found from Mr Back saying he had gone after the
Indians, but he was unsuccessful in finding them. Others were sent
afterwards, and so for eighteen days Franklin lived miserably on the
skins, bones, and remains of the reindeer which had been eaten the
previous winter!
On the 29th of October Richardson and Hepburn came in--walking
skeletons. Where was poor Hood? Where were the others? A tragic tale
had to be told by Doctor Richardson. Here is the account of what
happened.
For two days the party left by Franklin had no food. Michel then
brought a little game. Then another day and no food, and Mr Hood was
very ill. Next day the Iroquois carried home some "wolf-meat," but
Richardson believes it was a part of the body of one of the wanderers
who had been killed by the Iroquois. This man now became very
ill-natured and got worse and worse in his conduct, refusing to supply
his companions with food or to share what he had procured. One day
after being remonstrated with while Doctor Richardson and Hepburn were
absent from the tent, this wretch shot Hood in the back, and Michel was
so evidently the murderer that afterwards, in self-defence, Richardson
shot him unexpectedly as he was coming to the fort. Hepburn had noticed
certain acts which left no doubt of Michel's intention to murder his
companions, and Richardson anticipated the murderer's aim.
After this Richardson, emaciated and half dead, with Hepburn a perfect
skeleton, found Franklin as bad as themselves. Utterly unable to find
any food they gnawed skins and bones. They were on the point of death
when on the 7th of November assistance came. Three Indians sent by Back
appeared with food. They afforded material assistance, and finally
conducted the remainder of the party to the next fort. The survivors
reached York Factory in July, 1822, having been absent from it just
three years.
Many Arctic expeditions were sent out after this for the north-west
exploration. Commander Lyon, in the _Hecla_, has been already
mentioned. We shall hear of the _Blossom_ in connection with Sir John
Franklin. The _Victory_, under Captain John Ross and Lieutenant Ross,
Captain Back in the _Terror_ and in boats, the Hudson Bay Company's
_employes_ in 1836-39, and Doctor John Rae, 1846-47, all added their
"notable voyages" to the record of Arctic expeditions, and were we to
detail them there would be a sameness in the narratives, though the
adventurous spirit breathed through them all. But later on we will
mention Doctor Kane's expedition.
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We will at present confine ourselves to Sir John Franklin's expeditions
undertaken in 1825-27 and 1845-50, with the search made for him by
various vessels.
Not contented with what had been done, and was being done, by Parry and
others in the North, Franklin undertook to conduct a second expedition,
which Captain Beachey was appointed to meet by going round Cape Horn,
and through Behring's Strait to the eastward, so as to unite with
Franklin, who hoped to come overland. Four expeditions, including
these, were fitted out; but we have already seen what Parry did.
Captain Lyon's attempt to survey the coast failed; so we will follow
Franklin in his second venture.
The explorer was again accompanied by Doctor Richardson and Lieutenant
Back; Mr Kendall and Mr Drummond also went as members of the "staff."
Their object was to descend the Mackenzie River to the sea. There it
was determined the party should divide, one portion going eastward, the
other westward to Behring's Strait.
The whole expedition reached Fort Chepeywan once again in July, 1825,
and pressed onto the Great Bear Lake; then, following the river which
runs out of it to the Mackenzie River, they took up winter quarters;
but, as there was still time to explore a little, Franklin descended the
Mackenzie to the sea, and returned to the Fort (Franklin) before the
severity of winter had overtaken him.
Winter passed over in the usual manner, and in June, 1826, it was judged
that an advance might safely be made. On the 15th June all were ready.
Two parties were formed. Franklin and Lieutenant Back, with fourteen
men, were to go westward in the _Reliance_ and _Lion_ (boats); Doctor
Richardson and Mr Kendall, with the _Dolphin_ and _Unicorn_, were to
proceed eastward. They all descended the Mackenzie together, and when
they reached the mouth they separated as agreed on. Franklin's party
proceeded westward, and met with some opposition from the Esquimaux, who
tried to steal the stores and other things.
Eventually the explorers got free, and sailed on in continually thick,
foggy weather. It was the middle of August before the boats reached the
half-way point between the Mackenzie and the Cape. After a careful
consideration of the circumstances, and being ignorant of the vicinity--
comparatively speaking--of Captain Beachey in the _Blossom_, which had
been directed to unite with him, Franklin made up his mind to return, as
the winter was already beginning to manifest its approach.
Beachey was at that time actually expecting Captain Franklin. Only one
hundred and forty-six miles intervened between them, and the brave
explorer afterwards declared that had he known of the _Blossom_ being so
near he would have risked the meeting. But he had no reason to think
that Beachey had got nearer than Kotzebue Sound, whereas a party from
the _Blossom_ had even ventured round Icy Cape in the search for
Franklin.
The result was that Franklin returned, encountering severe weather, and
on the 21st of September again gained the shelter of Fort Franklin.
Beachey, meanwhile, waited in Kotzebue Sound as long as he dared, and
then retreated to Petropavlovok. The extent of Franklin's survey had
extended over three hundred and seventy-four miles of dreary coast
without discovering a single harbour for vessels. He penetrated as far
as latitude 70 degrees 24 minutes, and longitude 149 degrees 37 minutes
West.
Doctor Richardson's party made some very valuable observations in his
survey of five hundred miles--a much more pleasant journey than
Franklin's. In the account of the expedition are many interesting
details of Esquimaux life. Doctor Richardson and his companions reached
winter quarters in safety on the Great Bear Lake. In 1827 Captain
Beachey again made his way up to Kotzebue Sound, in the expectation of
encountering Franklin, but, of course, did not meet him. These three
parties traced the coast down to Return Reef westward, from the
Mackenzie eastward to Cape Kensurstern, and circumnavigated the Great
Bear Lake, this, "if continued eastward, would have solved the
North-West Passage."
Before considering the several Arctic expeditions which made attempts to
discover the desired North-West Passage, we will speak of Sir John
Franklin's third and last expedition to the Icy Regions. In the year
1829, Captain Franklin had been created a Knight, and received the
degree of D.C.L. at Oxford. In 1830 he commanded the _Rainbow_ in the
Mediterranean, which ship was known as "Franklin's Paradise," so well
did he treat his crew. In the year 1836, he was appointed Governor of
Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania), and in that colony he remained until 1843,
where he was, and is still, gratefully remembered. He returned to
England in consequence, it is said, of some misunderstanding with the
Colonial Office, and in 1845 he claimed the command of the new
expedition.