THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN
Captain Parker's Report--Government offers a Reward--Dr. Rae's
Expedition--Captain McClure's Voyage in the
_Investigator_--Hardships and Perils--The Meeting with the
_Herald_--Lady Franklin still Hopeful--Sir F. L. McClintock's
Expedition in the _Fox_ with Lieutenant Hobson--Their Sad and Fatal
Discoveries--Lieutenant Schwatka recovers the Body of Lieutenant
Irving.
The enthusiasm which was aroused over the departure of Sir John
Franklin's expedition gave place to a deep national anxiety as the years
passed without any word being received of its whereabouts. On October 4,
1849, the _Truelove_ arrived at Hull from Davis Straits, and her
commander, Captain Parker, reported that he had heard from some Eskimo
that the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ had been seen in the previous March
fixed in the ice, and apparently abandoned in Prince Regent's Inlet. No
confirmation was ever obtained for this report, but it served to excite
public anxiety still more, and expeditions began to be organised for the
relief of the missing explorers. In all, twenty-one expeditions were
sent, of which eighteen were British and three American, to search the
neighbourhood where it was anticipated Sir John and his gallant band
would be. Coals, provisions, clothing, and other necessaries were
deposited at different spots in the hopes that they would be found by,
and be of use to, the castaways. But, as has already been stated, none
were able to give succour to the men for whose use they were intended.
A great deal of valuable and highly interesting work, however, was done,
and in addition to at length discovering enough relics of the party to
show that all the members had perished while carrying out their duty, an
amount of knowledge was acquired which made the North-West Passage
familiar, located the Magnetic Pole, and opened the way for more recent
and equally brilliant journeys towards the Pole itself. The general
public, as well as the Government, were responsible for search
expeditions; but to stimulate the enterprise, the British Government
offered a sum of L20,000 to any party of any country that should render
efficient service to the crews of the missing _Erebus_ and _Terror_.
Half that reward was paid to Dr. Rae, who discovered the relics of the
party, now at the Greenwich Museum, consisting of Sir John Franklin's
star, some spoons and forks, the remains of a watch, and some other
metallic odds and ends.
The story of this discovery was briefly told by Dr. Rae in a letter to
the Admiralty. He was, in 1854, surveying the coast of the mainland
immediately south of King William's Land, when he encountered a small
party of Eskimo hunters. He asked them whether they had ever met other
white men, and they told him that four summers before (1850) a number of
white men had been encountered by some Eskimo who were catching seals
off the south coast of King William's Land. The white men came from over
the ice, and were dragging a boat behind them. By signs they made the
hunters understand that they were hungry, and a seal was exchanged for
the articles Dr. Rae was shown. Then the white men went on walking over
the ice, dragging the boat behind them, one walking in front alone, and
all the rest pulling the ropes attached to the boat. A few weeks later
they were seen again, this time on the mainland, but all were dead. The
place where they were found was about one day's journey from the Great
Fish River, and all had evidently died of cold and starvation. They had
erected tents and had turned the boat over for a shelter, and some of
the men lay under the boat, while others were in and around the tents.
One man was some distance away with a telescope slung over his
shoulders, and underneath his body was a double-barrelled gun. This man,
they said, was the chief of the party.
About the encampment there were plenty of guns and ammunition, but no
food. More than likely the unfortunate castaways were too weak from want
to be able to hunt, for Dr. Rae, in his reports, stated: "I may add that
with our guns and nets we obtained an ample supply of provisions last
autumn, and my small party passed the winter in snow houses in
comparative comfort, the skins of the deer shot affording abundant warm
clothing and bedding."
Next to the story of Dr. Rae's discovery comes the account of the
finding by Lieutenant Hobson, on May 6, 1859, of the record left on
Point Victory, and after that again, the recovery, in 1879, by
Lieutenant Schwatka, of the United States Navy, of the bodies of several
of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ crews. But meanwhile a glance may be taken
at some of the thrilling adventures which befell the different relief
expeditions. The account of Captain McClure's voyage in the
_Investigator_, graphically told by himself in his reports to the
Admiralty, is full of typical Arctic adventure.
The _Investigator_ was one of several ships forming one of the
expeditions. After sailing in company for some time they separated to
work over set areas. The _Investigator_ entered the Polar Sea and sailed
along the North-East Passage. She was soon amongst the ice, and sailed
on in a depth of 150 feet of water until the pack showed a solid
unbroken line in front from east to west. Then she sailed along it, in
the hopes of finding an opening; but all that could be seen, beyond the
ice, was a vast number of walrus, lying upon it huddled together like
sheep. Between the ice and the land, however, there was open water, and
here the _Investigator_ shaped her course, keeping well in towards the
shore on the look-out for natives. There was an interpreter on board,
Miertsching by name, so that whenever any natives were encountered
inquiries could be made for tidings of the missing explorers. At Cape
Bathurst, near the Mackenzie River, a part Franklin had explored many
years before, a large tribe was observed, and at once a boat party put
off from the ship.
As they approached the shore, thirty tents and nine winter-houses were
seen. Immediately the boats were run ashore a tremendous stir was caused
in the village, the men running to and fro and then charging down a
steep slope to where the boats were aground on the beach. As they drew
near it was seen that each man carried a drawn knife in his hand, as
well as bows and arrows, and their warlike intentions were still more
clearly shown when they fitted arrows to the bows and began to aim at
the white men. The interpreter Miertsching, clad in native costume,
advanced from the explorers towards the angry Eskimo, holding his hands
above his head in the position which expresses peace amongst these
primitive people.
They paused as they saw him, and waited until he came up; but although
they put back their bows and arrows when he told them no one wished to
harm them, they would not relinquish their knives. As they crowded down
to the boats, the captain told him to explain to them that they must put
their knives away; but the chief of the tribe immediately retorted, "So
we will, when you put down your rifles." To prove their peaceful
intentions, one of the rifles was given to the chief to carry while the
explorers remained with them, and this action so effectually satisfied
them that no harm would be done to them that they offered to let their
visitors take charge of their knives.
The village contained over three hundred men, women, and children, and
was formed for hunting purposes. The mass of ice showing across the open
passage, they said, was the land of the white bear, an animal which,
they explained, was very plentiful and of which they were greatly in
fear. Several tales were told of the savagery of these creatures, a
woman pitifully bewailing the loss of her little child, who was carried
off by one of them when playing at the water's edge within her sight. A
less mournful story was that of a seal hunter who, having speared one
seal, was sitting by the side of his victim waiting for the mate to
appear above the water, when he felt a tap on the back. Suspecting a
trick by a fellow-huntsman, he did not turn round, whereupon he received
a heavy blow on the side of the head which sent him sprawling. As he
scrambled to his feet, angry at his comrade's roughness, he saw a big
bear walking off with his seal.
Upon the interpreter explaining how the white men's rifles could kill
the bears, the chief at once invited him to come and live with them,
offering as inducements his own daughter, a pleasant-looking girl of
about fifteen, a fully furnished tent, and all the other necessary
possessions of a well-to-do Eskimo. Failing in that, they invited the
explorers to a feast of roast whale and venison, salmon, blubber, and
other delicacies; but instead of taking from them, the explorers
presented them with a number of gifts, and left them on the best of
terms.
A few days later and farther along the coast another small band was
encountered, one of whom was wearing a brass button in his ear. The
button was off a sailor's jacket, and upon being asked how he obtained
it, the man replied it had been taken from a white man who had been
killed by the tribe. He was asked for further particulars, in case the
unfortunate might turn out to be one of Franklin's men. The Eskimo
replied that it might have been done a year ago or when he was a child,
but the huts the white men had built were still standing. The explorers
at once persuaded him to take them to the spot, but on arrival they
found the huts so weather-worn and overgrown with moss that more than a
generation must have passed since they were built.
[Illustration: AN IMMENSE ICEBERG.
This berg was photographed off the coast of Newfoundland. It had
probably made its way there from the glaciers of Greenland.
_Photo by Parsons._]
This was not the only occasion when hopes were raised that some of the
missing expedition were about to be discovered. As the _Investigator_
continued her voyage along the coast, heavy volumes of smoke were seen
rising from a bluff, and the man on the look-out in the crow's-nest at
the top of the foremast cried out that he could see white tents and men
with white shirts on near them. At once everybody was on the alert.
Boats were lowered and rowed quickly to the shore, but on close
inspection the white tents were found to be conical mounds of volcanic
formation, and the smoke, which was also volcanic, was rising from
fissures in the ground.
Winter was now setting in, and as there was no suitable harbour at hand,
Captain McClure determined to pass the season amongst the ice-floes. His
decision was largely due to the fact that as the ice was forming around
them, a great mass of old ice, over six miles in length and drifting at
the rate of two miles an hour, came upon them. Its enormous weight
crushed everything out of its way, and the ship could only manoeuvre
sufficiently to graze it with her starboard bow. Fortunately on the
other side of her there was only freshly formed and comparatively thin
ice, otherwise she would have been hopelessly crushed at once. As it
was, the gradual drifting past of the mass was disconcerting, and it was
decided to make fast to it. A great mass which they ascertained extended
downwards for forty-eight feet below the surface of the sea was
selected, and with heavy cables the _Investigator_ was made secure to
it. Throughout the winter she remained moored to it, though not without
more than one experience of danger.
Soon after making fast to the ice, the first bear of the season was
shot. He was a magnificent specimen, measuring over seven feet, but upon
being cut up considerable speculation was roused as to the contents of
his stomach. In it was found raisins, tobacco, pork, and some adhesive
plasters. For some time the combined intellect of the ship's company
was exercised to explain where the bear could have obtained such a
varied diet and many suggestions were advanced in explanation.
Franklin's ships might be near, some said, or the crews might be
encamped on the neighbouring land, and Bruin might have looted their
stores. No one struck the correct solution of the mystery until some
days later a hunting party came upon a preserved meat tin partly filled
with the same sort of articles as were found in the bear's stomach. He
had evidently found the tin and sampled its contents, not entirely to
his enjoyment, as he had left the larger portion behind. But whence the
tin had come they never learned.
The winter having passed without mishap they began to watch for the
breaking of the ice. When it began, they had a very narrow escape from
destruction. A light breeze springing up the day after open water
appeared among the floes, the pack to which the _Investigator_ was
attached began to drift. It was carried towards a shoal upon which a
huge mass of ice was stranded. A corner of the pack came in contact with
the great stationary mass with a grinding shock that sent pieces of
twelve and fourteen feet square flying completely out of the water, and,
as the immense weight of the moving pack pressed forward, there was a
sound as of distant thunder as it crushed onwards. The weight at the
back caused an enormous mass to upheave in the middle of the pack, as
though under the influence of a volcanic eruption. The great field was
rent asunder, the block to which the _Investigator_ was attached taking
the ground and remaining fixed, while the lighter portion swung round
and, with accelerated speed, came directly towards the vessel's stern.
To let go every cable and hawser which held her to the block was the
work of a moment, for every one was on deck keenly on the look-out. The
moving mass caught her stem and forced her ahead and from between the
moving floe and the stationary mass. The two came into grinding
collision and the men on the deck of the vessel saw the great bulk to
which the ship had been attached slowly rise. It went up and up until it
had risen thirty feet above the surface and hung perpendicularly above
the ship. It towered higher than the foreyard, presenting a spectacle
that was at once grandly impressive but terribly dangerous, for if it
fell over upon the _Investigator_ she would be crushed to atoms. For a
few moments the suspense was awful, till the weight of the floe broke
away a mass from the great bulk, which rolled back with a tremendous
roar and rending, and, with some fearful heaves, resumed its former
position. But no longer could it withstand the pressure, and it was
hurried forward with the rest of the floe, grinding along the surface of
the shoal.
The pack having set in towards the shore, the only hopes of safety lay
in keeping with the ice, for, if the _Investigator_ were pushed ashore
by it, there would be little chance of her ever floating again. She was
consequently made fast again and carried along, though with a
tremendous strain on her stern and rudder. It was discovered that the
latter was damaged, but there was no possibility of unshipping it for
repairs while the ice was moving. Towards the afternoon the wind
dropped, the drift became less, and for five hours the rudder received
attention.
Scarcely had it been replaced when once more the ice began to move, and
the crew saw that they were being forced directly upon a large piece of
the broken floe which had grounded. Feeling certain that if the ship
were caught between the grounded mass and the moving floe nothing could
save her from being crushed to pieces, a desperate effort was made to
remove the great mass. The chief gunner, provided with a big canister of
powder, went on to the ice and struggled over the rugged surface until
he reached the stationary mass. He intended to lower the canister under
the mass before exploding it, but the ice was too closely packed around
it to permit of this being done. There was no time to consider any other
plan, so he fixed the blast in a cavity and, firing the fuse, scrambled
back to the ship.
The charge exploded just as the pressure of the floe was beginning to
tell, but the result was apparently valueless. The _Investigator_ by
this time was within a few yards of the great mass, and there seemed to
be no hope of escaping from the crush. Every one on deck was in a state
of anxious suspense, waiting for what was evidently the crisis of their
fate.
Most fortunately the ship went stem-on, as sailors term it, and the
pressure was directed along her whole length instead of along her sides.
Every plank seemed to feel the shock, and the beams groaned as the
pressure increased. The masts trembled, and crackling sounds came from
the bulwarks as she strained under the tension. Momentarily the men
expected that she would collapse under them, when the result of the
gunner's blast was made manifest. It had cracked the mass in three
places, and the pressure of the ship's stern forced the cracks open. The
liberation from the obstacle was at once evident as the mass slowly
divided and, falling over, floated off the shoal. The cable holding the
vessel to the floe parted as she surged forward and the ice-anchors drew
out, while the blocks of ice, as they turned over, lifted her bows out
of the water and heeled her over; but the cheer which broke from the
assembled crew drowned all other noise, for it was as though they had
been snatched from the very jaws of death.
Subsequent examination of the vessel showed that she had escaped
practically without serious injury. Several sheets of her copper were
stripped off and rolled up like scraps of paper; but as no leaks were
discovered, the loss of the copper was not greatly deplored.
After escaping from these dangers it was hoped that open water would be
found, so that the voyage might be continued to other areas which had
to be searched, and, as the _Investigator_ drifted along amongst the
partly broken up floes, she encountered some rolling swells, which
increased the hopes that open water was not far ahead. But in this the
crew were disappointed, for although the water near the land was
sufficiently free from ice to enable sail to be made, out toward the
Polar Sea the pack was heavy and close.
They rounded Cape Lambton on Banks' Land, a promontory which they found
rose a thousand feet precipitously. The land beyond gradually lost the
bold character of the rugged cape, the island presenting a view of hills
in the interior which gradually sloped to the shore, having fine valleys
and extensive plains, over and through which several small and one
considerable sized stream flowed. A great deal of drift-wood lay along
the beach, and the land was covered with verdure upon which large flocks
of geese were feeding, while ducks were flying in great numbers. Two
small islands were passed off the coast, one of which afforded an
example of the force exerted by a drifting Polar Sea ice-floe. The
island rose about forty feet above the surface of the sea, and broken
masses of ice, which had formed a floe, had been driven entirely over
it.
The pack still presented an impassable barrier to their course away from
the land, and as the season was getting late they decided that they
would make winter quarters. A suitable bay was found on the north of the
island, and there they spent, not one, but two winters, for the ice
remained so thick during the ensuing short summer that it was impossible
to move. In the summer, however, if they could not get to sea, they
could travel on to the land, and as game was plentiful they were able to
keep themselves well supplied with fresh meat. But when winter again
came upon them with its cold darkness, the game was scarcer, and, what
was worse, the ship's stores were decreasing.
As perhaps another twelve months would have to be faced, every one went
on reduced rations, so that the stores should be made to last as long as
possible. The approach of the milder weather Captain McClure determined
should be made the occasion of a daring expedition. A few of the men
were beginning to show signs of sickness, and the captain decided that
they should set out in April for the mainland with enough provisions to
carry them through. The ship was so slightly affected by the buffeting
she had received that the leader could not bring himself to think of
abandoning her while he had any stores left and men who were ready to
remain with him. Only the least robust of the crew were to go as the
overlanding party, and they were to travel to the nearest station of the
Hudson Bay Company, and from thence press on to England with despatches
for the Admiralty requesting help and provisions for those who remained
by the ship. Everything was arranged, even to the date of departure,
which was settled as April 15. But before that day arrived another
incident was to transpire.
On April 10, Captain McClure and his first lieutenant were walking over
the ice near the ship, discussing the serious turn events had taken, for
one of the men had just died from scurvy, and some of the others were in
a bad state of health. This was the first death which had occurred, and
it naturally cast a gloom over every one. As the two walked, they espied
a man coming rapidly towards them from over the ice. He was hastening so
much that they thought he must be flying from a bear, and they went
forward to meet him. But as they approached him, they saw that he was
not one of their own ship's company, for he was of a different build to
any of their men, in addition to which his face showed black from
between his furs, and he was waving his arms wildly. They stopped,
doubtful what to make of him, and he rushed up, still gesticulating and
articulating wildly.
"Who are you, and where do you come from?" McClure exclaimed sternly.
"Lieutenant Pim, of the _Herald_, Captain Kellett," the strange figure
managed to reply, as he seized McClure's hands and shook them
frantically.
Rapidly he told the astounded couple his story, for Captain Kellett, of
the _Herald_, had bid McClure God-speed as he was entering the Polar Sea
three years before, and the commander of the _Investigator_ could not
understand how he could have reached Banks' Land.
The _Herald_ was one ship of another expedition which had come in search
of the gallant Franklin. She had wintered at Melville's Island, and
Lieutenant Pim had set out across the straits with a sledge party on
March 10. For a month they had been wandering, and he had happened to be
on ahead of his men when he caught sight of the _Investigator_ in the
distance. He had pushed on to ascertain who she was, when he saw and
recognised Captain McClure. His astonishment and excitement overmastered
him and he could only halloo and shout and jump about in his glee.
The noise of his shouts reached the vessel where the crew, hearing a
strange voice, came tumbling up from below to see who it was that had
arrived. The sight of the _Herald_ sledge party soon afterwards
completed their surprise and gratification, for it meant that close at
hand was all the help they needed to successfully insure their
liberation.
The whole ship's company journeyed across to where the _Herald_ lay,
and, in the interchange of yarns and the assurance of abundance of food
and rest till the ice broke up, they found just the requisite stimulus
to overcome all the evil effects of their past trials and privations.
With a few men from the _Herald_ to relieve the members of his crew who
were on the sick-list, Captain McClure returned to the _Investigator_
after a few days, and when the summer arrived he worked his vessel out
into open water. Then he joined company with the _Herald_ and sailed for
England, whither his despatches and reports had already preceded him and
earned him fame.
The return of Captain McClure and the result of his discoveries,
together with those of other expeditions, and Dr. Rae's find of Franklin
relics, satisfied the British Government that further search was
unavailing. As the account of Sir John Franklin's voyage had not yet
been found, the honour of proving the existence of the North-West
Passage was, for the time being, accorded to McClure, and the Admiralty,
satisfied that all the members of the Franklin expedition had perished,
and the ships either been abandoned or destroyed, ceased despatching
further search parties.
There were, however, a large number of people who were by no means
satisfied that everything possible had been learned as to the fate of
the _Erebus_ and _Terror_. Lady Franklin, Sir John's second wife, was
one who refused to give up hopes, and, largely through her efforts, yet
another vessel was sent out. This was the _Fox_, under the command of
Sir L. F. McClintock, and the voyage was more profuse in the obtaining
of evidence as to the fate of the Franklin party than all the rest put
together.
McClintock made his way directly to King William's Land, with a definite
programme in view. He and his first lieutenant, Hobson, were each to
journey with sledge parties along the coast of that island and examine
everything which suggested a chance of learning the fate of the vanished
explorers. Especially were they to seek for any natives and glean from
them, by means of presents and barter, any knowledge they might have, or
any _relics_ which might remain amongst them, of the two ill-fated
ships.
The _Fox_ was a screw steamer, a fact which very largely contributed to
the success of the expedition, as she was able to make steady progress,
whereas a sailing vessel would have had to wait for favourable winds and
so probably lose a great deal of very valuable time. She sailed from
Aberdeen on July 1, 1857, and returned on September 22, 1859,
accomplishing, in her two years' absence, an amount of discovery which
placed all question of the fate of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ and their
crews beyond a doubt.
As soon as the _Fox_ was made snug in winter quarters, McClintock and
Hobson set out over the ice in search of some Eskimo. They were
fortunate in discovering a couple of seal hunters, who told them that
some distance away there was a larger party, amongst whom was a man with
knowledge of the missing explorers. They set out with their two friends,
but as night was coming on while yet they had not reached the camp, they
decided to stay where they were till the morning. The two Eskimo, for
one needle apiece, built a snow hut for them in an hour. All of them
went inside the shelter, which they found very acceptable, and prepared
their supper. The food they carried consisted of salt pork and biscuits,
but the two Eskimo would not look at it. Their supper consisted of a
piece of bear's blubber. When they had consumed it they squatted on
their haunches and, with their heads drooped forward on their knees,
went off to sleep for the night.
The following day the main camp was reached, and the white men at once
realised, by the number of articles of European manufacture in the
possession of the Eskimo, that they must have found and looted the
abandoned ships. One of the men told them, through the interpreter, that
several years before there was a ship in the ice off the coast, but that
when the ice melted it had sunk in deep water. He pointed out the
direction where the ship had been, and where there had been a lot of
drift-wood thrown up on the beach--wood out of which, he explained, they
had made their spear handles and tent poles. Other relics were gradually
forthcoming, upon the production by the white men of the barter they had
with them, and a brisk trade was carried on, knives and needles being
exchanged for spoons, forks, and other objects unmistakably from the
wrecked ships. In addition to the relics, some dogs were also secured.
The latter purchase afforded them considerable amusement and often
excitement before they were entirely masters in the art of dog-team
driving. Like everything else worth doing, it has to be learned, and in
his account of his journeyings McClintock quotes one or two instances
where experience was his only teacher. He found, for instance, that when
a dog team is harnessed up to a sledge, every dog does not pull his
hardest, and a suggestion from the whip is advisable. The dog, however,
is inclined to resent it, and at once bites his neighbour by way of
protest. The neighbour in turn bites his neighbour, who does the same,
until the whole team has received the sting arising from the first lash,
and every dog is howling and snapping and jumping over each other. The
application of the whip handle instead of the whip lash is then
necessary, and when at length quiet is restored, the driver has to set
to work to unplait the harness, which has been twisted and tied into a
terrible tangle by the antics of the team. When, at the expense of a
great deal of patience and time, everything is ready for a fresh start,
the inexperienced driver is able to estimate the value of cracking the
whip over, instead of on, the back of a lazy dog.
Even then, however, it is not all plain sailing. The dogs possess a
wisdom of their own, and they never act so well together as when they
reach a piece of particularly rough ice over which the sledge does not
move easily. Directly they find that they have to lean heavily against
the collar to pull the load forward, they, with one accord, turn round,
sit down, and look at the driver. If he is inexperienced, he lays about
him with his whip and the dogs fight and tangle the harness; if he knows
his animals, he puts his shoulder to the sledge, pushes it forward on to
the toes of the team, whereupon each one gets up, hurries out of the way
of the threatening sledge-runners, and, together, pull it easily over
the rough place.
Another peculiarity of the dogs is their extraordinary appetite for
leather. Shark skin the Eskimo consider to be bad for them because of
its excessive roughness, but birds' skins, with the feathers on, are
greatly relished by the insatiable feeders, and, as has been said,
leather is an especial luxury. The dogs are incorrigible thieves and
frequently sneak into the tents, or, if on board ship, into the cabins,
in search of plunder. They are generally greeted with a kick, but should
it be sufficiently energetic to dislodge the kicker's shoe, the dog at
once seizes the delicacy and makes for a quiet spot on the ice where he
can devour it at his leisure.
The dogs, however, which McClintock was able to obtain from the Eskimo
were genuinely useful to him when he and Lieutenant Hobson began their
prolonged search, and his only regret was that he could not get more.
Later explorers have profited by his experience, for now an expedition
is never considered complete that does not carry at least one team.
After leaving the Eskimo encampment, search was continued along the
southern coast of King William's Land, but without very much success.
Returning, they again met the same tribe of Eskimo, and discovered that
when one of the race speaks he does not necessarily tell all that he
knows. During a conversation between the interpreter and one of the
young men, the latter made a reference to the ship that came ashore. As
the man who had previously mentioned the ship said that it sank in deep
water, the young man was asked how it could have come ashore under those
circumstances. The other one sank, he said; the one he meant came
ashore, where he had seen it.
Further inquiries showed that both the ships had been seen and visited
by the Eskimo while they were yet in the ice. One of them they could not
find how to enter, so they made a hole in her side, with the result that
when the ice melted she filled and sank. In one of the bunks they found
a man lying dead, but no other bodies were right near the ship.
Now that they had been discovered in their attempt to evade the truth,
the Eskimo spoke readily enough, giving the exact locality where the
ship had come ashore. Thither McClintock and his companions at once
proceeded. They found enough evidence in the drift-wood on the beach to
show them where the vessel had gone to pieces; but whether it was the
_Erebus_ or the _Terror_, there was nothing to show. They had now,
however, a definite point from whence to commence their search, and
they laid out the probable routes by which the escaping crews would have
travelled. Separating into two parties, so as to cover as much ground as
possible, they started, Lieutenant Hobson leading.
On May 25, 1859, McClintock, while walking along a sandy ridge from
whence the snow had disappeared, noticed something white shining through
the sand. He stooped to examine it, thinking it to be a round white
stone, but closer inspection showed it to be the back of a skull. Upon
the sand being removed, the entire skeleton was found, lying face
downwards, with fragments of blue cloth still adhering to its bleached
bones. The man had evidently been young, lightly built, and of the
average height. Near by were found a small pocket brush and comb, and a
pocket-book containing two coins and some scraps of writing. He had
evidently fallen forward as he was walking, and never risen. As an old
Eskimo woman told Dr. Rae, "they fell down and died as they walked
along," overcome with cold, hunger, and sickness.
The explorers were now in the region where all their finds were to be
made. Five days later McClintock came upon a boat which he found, from a
note attached to it, that Hobson had already examined. It had evidently
escaped the notice of the Eskimo, and, until the white men found it, had
probably not been touched by human hands from the moment its occupants
had died. It was mounted on a sledge, as though it had been hauled over
the ice; but from the fact that its bows pointed towards the spot where
the ships had been, it was surmised that the men were dragging it back
to the vessels when they were overcome. Inside were two bodies, one
lying on its side, under a pile of clothing, towards the stern, and the
other in the bows, in such a position as to suggest that the man had
crawled forward, had laboriously pulled himself up to look over the
gunwale, and had then slipped down and died where he fell. Beside him
were two guns, loaded and ready cocked, as though the man had been
apprehensive of attack. There were also as many as five watches, several
books (mostly with the name of Graham Gore or initials G. G. in them),
abundance of clothes and other articles such as knives, pieces of
sheet-lead, files, sounding leads and lines, spoons and forks, oars, a
sail, and two chronometers, but of food only some tea and chocolate.
The story mutely told by these relics was only too plain. Weary with
hauling it, the majority of the men had left the boat in order to get
back to the ships and obtain a fresh supply of provisions, leaving two,
who were too weak to struggle on, in the boat, as comfortable as they
could be made until some of the others could get back to help them. Then
the days had passed until the store of provisions had been consumed and
the two sufferers had grown weary with waiting, so weary that one had
slept and died under his wraps, and the other, with his remaining
vestige of strength, had crawled forward to peep out once more for the
help that was so long in coming. But only ice had met his gaze, and,
sinking down, he had also passed into that overwhelming sleep, and had
lain undisturbed for twelve years under the covering of the Arctic
snows.
Close search was made in the vicinity of the boat for the remains of any
other of the lost explorers, but nothing was discovered except
drift-wood. The spot where the boat was found was about fifty miles from
Point Victory, sixty-five from the place where the ship had gone ashore,
and seventy from the skeleton that McClintock had discovered on the
ridge.
A few days' march farther on, a cairn was noticed upon the brow of a
point near Cape Victoria. On ascending to it, McClintock found another
note from Hobson, stating that he had already examined it and recovered
from it the record which the crews had deposited there upon the
desertion of the ships, and which is given in the account of the
Franklin voyages. This was the final triumph of the search, for it
conclusively proved that Sir John had been dead before the ships were
abandoned, that he, and not McClure, was the real discoverer of the
North-West Passage, and that the expedition had ended in a disaster as
pitiful as the commencement had been brilliant. Round the cairn were
strewn innumerable relics, showing that the three days which had elapsed
from the time of their leaving the ships had been sufficient to further
decrease the strength and vitality of the scurvy-stricken unfortunates.
No other discovery of moment was made after the unearthing of the vital
record, but Lieutenant Hobson had some experience of what the Franklin
explorers must have suffered. He had abundance of food with him, and
that the best and most nutritious, but he developed scurvy on his
journey, and when he reached the _Fox_ he could not walk without
assistance. No wonder, then, that Franklin's men, starving as well as
sick, should have died by the way.
The return of the _Fox_ in September 1859 effectually set at rest all
doubts as to the fate of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, and no more search
expeditions were sent out. But in 1879 Lieutenant Schwatka, of the
United States Navy, made an overland journey to that part of King
William's Land where the crews had perished. He found many more
skeletons, doubtless of members of the ill-fated expedition, and
wherever he found one lying above ground he buried it with proper
ceremony, except in a single instance.
This was in the case of an open grave of stones in which the remains of
a skeleton, with some blue cloth adhering to it and some coarse canvas
around it, was lying. Near the remains he found a silver medal bearing
the words, "Awarded to John Irving, Midsummer, 1830, Second Mathematical
Prize."
The presence of the medal identified the remains as being those of
Lieutenant Irving of the _Terror_. As this was the only instance where
identification was possible, Lieutenant Schwatka carefully and
reverently gathered them together and carried them to New York, from
whence they were forwarded to Edinburgh, Irving's native town. There
they were accorded a public funeral on January 7, 1881.