THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. II.
When Captain Austin’s expedition returned the people of England were as
determined as ever that the search should continue. But the advisers of
the Admiralty in Committee were quite convinced that Franklin’s ships
were not where they had passed two winters and were lost, and that the
region where our lost countrymen had suffered and died need not be
visited. A majority of them held to the fatuous notion that Franklin
had gone up Wellington Channel, and was far to the north. Under these
circumstances it was, they considered, really quite useless to continue
the search. But the father of Lieut. Cresswell pointed out that the
_Enterprise_ and _Investigator_ had not been heard of, that there was
cause for anxiety, and that one or both might need succour.
It will be remembered that the _Enterprise_ and _Investigator_,
accompanied by the _Plover_, had been sent to attack the problem from
the western side. Captain Collinson took the _Enterprise_ through
Bering Strait and made his first winter quarters in Prince Albert Sound
on the west coast of Victoria Island, the _Plover_ being stationed
permanently as a depôt ship near Cape Barrow. In the spring Collinson
himself explored the east coast of the long and narrow Prince of
Wales’s Strait, being absent from the ship for 51 days. Murray Parkes,
a mate of the _Enterprise_, reached the northern mouth of the strait,
crossed the channel, and leaving the sledge owing to heavy ice, arrived
at Melville Island on foot and thus discovered a second North-West
Passage. His remarkable journey had occupied 74 days. Collinson’s
second winter was in Cambridge Bay in Dease Strait. He thence made a
journey of 49 days to Gateshead Island, where he was almost in sight of
the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ off Cape Victory.
The _Investigator_ had parted company. Captain M’Clure, who on October
20th had sighted Melville Island, wintered off the Princess Royal
Isles in Prince of Wales Strait in 1850–51. The following summer the
ship passed round the south of Banks Island, worked her way with great
difficulty up the west coast, and wintered in a harbour on the north
coast which M’Clure named the Bay of God’s Mercy. From this haven she
was destined never to move, the winters of 1851–2, 1852–3, being passed
there. Banks Land had only been sighted by Parry at a great distance.
M’Clure’s discovery of the great island was an achievement of the first
rank. These proceedings of Collinson and M’Clure were of course unknown
in England when it was resolved to despatch the four ships again, the
_Assistance_ and _Pioneer_ to go up Wellington Channel, the _Resolute_
and _Intrepid_ to press onwards to Melville Island. The Franklin search
could in no way be furthered by sending in directions he could never
have taken, but the relief of the _Investigator_ proved to be a service
of the utmost importance.
Common sense pointed to M’Clintock and Sherard Osborn as the proper
leaders for the two divisions. Both possessed unequalled recent Arctic
experience, both were men of tried ability, liked and respected by all
who had served under them. The Admiralty, however, preferred an old
officer with bad health, no Arctic experience, and the reputation of
being the most unpopular man in the navy, Sir Edward Belcher. It would
have been enough that he should bring misery, disaster, and failure
on his own division, but both were under his orders. Sherard Osborn
was with him in command of the _Pioneer_. The officer to command the
second division, Captain Kellett, was also old and inexperienced, but
fortunately very unlike Belcher. He had been a distinguished surveying
officer in his time, and now he wisely left things to his staff.
Hearty, joyous, with a charming manner, Captain Kellett gave pleasure
wherever he went. M’Clintock commanded the _Intrepid_, Mecham was
Kellett’s first lieutenant, Vesey Hamilton was Mecham’s friend and
supporter--the very cream of the rising Arctic generation.
[Illustration: Critical position of _H.M.S. Investigator_ on the North
Coast of Baring Island, Aug. 20th, 1851]
The expedition left the Thames April 15, 1852, and M’Clintock acquired
great skill in handling the _Intrepid_ in the ice of Melville Bay,
where the _Resolute_ received a very severe nip, and was raised 8 feet
out of the water, being for some time in great danger. The squadron
reached Beechey Island August 14th, where the _North Star_ was to
remain as a depôt ship. Next day the two divisions parted company. The
_Assistance_ and _Pioneer_ proceeded up Wellington Channel to winter
in a harbour in 77° 52′ N., while the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_ went
on to Melville Island with little difficulty, where they found winter
quarters in a bay sheltered by Dealy Isle, so named after a midshipman
of the _Hecla_, in 74° 56′ N.
We must pause here for a moment to record a modest but successful
expedition carried out in the same season of 1852 by Captain
Inglefield, who in the little _Isabel_, piloted by wonderful old
Abernethy, went for a summer cruise up Baffin’s Bay. He reached the
entrance of Smith Sound and saw that it was an important channel
leading to the polar ocean--really Smith Channel. To the land on the
west side, which was discovered by Baffin but not named by him, he gave
the name of Ellesmere Island.
M’Clintock decided upon a system of autumn travelling for laying
out depôts on a much larger scale than in the previous expedition.
This time he was absent 40 days, and went over 260 miles. Four other
autumn travelling parties laid out depôts, Mecham doing 212 miles
in 25 days, Vesey Hamilton 84 miles in 16 days. Mecham made a very
important discovery. He found a record left by Captain M’Clure of
the _Investigator_ on Parry’s sandstone rock, in the spring of 1852.
M’Clure gave the position of the ship in the Bay of Mercy, and added
that if the _Investigator_ was not again heard of, she would probably
have been carried into the polar pack west of Melville Island, in which
case any attempt to succour him would be useless--a very noble thing
for a man in his position to have written.
The plan for sledge travelling in the spring was that M’Clintock was to
explore as far as possible to the north and west, Mecham to the west,
and Vesey Hamilton to the north. On March 10th a sledge was sent to
communicate with the _Investigator_ in the Bay of Mercy, a distance of
160 miles.
M’Clintock’s two large sledges, when loaded, weighed 2000 lb., or
228 lb. per man on starting. Of the sledge crew of 1851 Salmon was
still well and hearty. George Green, ice quartermaster, was captain
of the sledge, an excellent man; Henry Giddy, boatswain’s mate, was
almost equally good. May 4th, 1853, was a day to be remembered, the
beginning of the greatest sledge journey but one on record. The sledges
were drawn up in two lines with their banners displayed, and started.
M’Clintock and his depôt sledge advanced over the land to Cape Nias.
Mecham and Nares went away under sail to the westward, with a fair wind.
M’Clintock and De Bray, a young French naval officer lent to the
expedition, proceeded with the depôt sledge along the north coast to
Cape Fisher, the extreme point seen by Parry. Here De Bray and the
depôt sledge returned, while M’Clintock turned south to make sure of
connecting his work with that of Mecham. He travelled along the west
coast of Melville Island and considered that it presented the most
beautiful Arctic scenery he had ever seen. A great unknown land had
long been in sight to the westward to which he gave the name of Prince
Patrick Island. It was on May 14th, 1853, that M’Clintock landed on
his new discovery at Point Wilkie, named after his old sledge captain,
and geologically a place of great importance, as exhibiting a patch
of has formation with fossils. The north end of Prince Patrick Island
was reached on the 11th June, and M’Clintock went on to some islands
which he named the Polynia Isles. In the offing there was a line of
very heavy pack ice, with hummocks 35 ft. high. The most northern point
reached was 77° 43′, and here, sending back the sledge to the depôt,
the explorer proceeded down the western coast with a satellite sledge
over flat sand-banks, with a continuous line of stupendous hummocks
in the offing. They rejoined the parent sledge on the 25th June.
M’Clintock’s next discovery was named Emerald Isle, most of the usual
Arctic plants and abundant moss being found on it. The return journey
entailed terrible work owing to the water on the floes.
M’Clintock had been away 105 days and the sledge had gone over 1030
geographical miles in 99 marches, at a rate of 10½ miles a day.
The examination of bays and inlets with the satellite sledge amounted
to 62½ miles, making the whole distance 1210 geographical or 1408
statute miles. The lowest temperature was -24° Fahr.; the number of
positions fixed was 22. This journey was by far the greatest Arctic
effort with sledges that has ever been made by men alone.
Mecham did splendid work to the eastward. Nares[132] commanded the
depôt sledge, and Mecham’s sledge captain was James Tullett, a capital
sailor, who was in the _Assistance_. Travelling over the south-west
part of Melville Island Mecham crossed a strait, and discovered an
island which received the name of Eglinton, where Nares left the
depôt and returned. Another journey across a strait brought Mecham to
the south-west point of Prince Patrick Island. He then explored its
southern and western coasts until he reached a point within 16 miles
of M’Clintock’s furthest, coming from the north. Mecham’s principal
discovery was the remains of trees. At Cape Manning, on the south
coast, there were a considerable number of stems of trees with the bark
on, 90 feet above the sea. Returning, Mecham crossed the land during
the three last days of May and found, in a ravine, a tree protruding 8
feet, and several others with a circumference of 4 feet.
The young explorer then connected his work with that of M’Clintock
on the east side of Prince Patrick Island, thus making these vast
discoveries complete. He got plenty of fresh food for his people,
killing four musk oxen, seven reindeer, sixteen hares, forty ptarmigan,
twelve ducks and geese, and two plover. He was absent 91 days, and went
over 1006 geographical or 1173 statute miles, thus averaging 12½ miles
a day. His discoveries amounted to 785 miles of new country.
Vesey Hamilton explored the northern extremity of Melville Island,
called the Sabine Peninsula, starting on the 27th April with a
seven-man sledge and a satellite sledge. The captain of his sledge was
Ice-Quartermaster George Murray, who had served in both the expeditions
of Ross and Austin. He was a seaman of long experience and great
ability, with literary talent of no mean order, as his contributions
to the _Aurora Borealis_ show. Having explored the whole eastern side
of Melville Island, Hamilton crossed the channel with his satellite
and two men to Bathurst Island, where he met Sherard Osborn, who had
explored the northern side of this island with its two deep inlets,
and sighted another large island to the north which was named after Mr
Findlay, the cartographer. Hamilton then returned to his main sledge,
and reaching the extreme northern point of the Sabine Peninsula,
discovered two islands which were named Vesey Hamilton and Markham
after his old messmates in the _Assistance_. He returned to the ship
after an absence of 54 days, having covered 663 statute miles, and made
some interesting discoveries. This completed the extensive explorations
of 1853, comprising 1800 miles of coast line.
The officers and crew of the _Investigator_ had been rescued from the
fate of Franklin and his people by Mecham’s discovery of M’Clure’s
record. On the arrival of the sledge with the good news at the Bay
of Mercy, Captain M’Clure travelled to the _Resolute_ to discuss
arrangements with Captain Kellett. It was determined to abandon the
_Investigator_, officers and crew being housed on board the _Resolute_
and _Intrepid_. Thus was a third North West Passage discovered.
Lieut. Cresswell of the _Investigator_ with 26 officers and men were
despatched to the _North Star_ at Beechey Island to be sent home at the
first opportunity. The Admiralty had sent out the _Phoenix_, commanded
by Captain Inglefield, and the _Breadalbane_ transport, under Mr
Fawckner, Master R.N., to communicate. The _Breadalbane_ was crushed
by the ice off Beechey Island and sank. Captain Inglefield had brought
out with him Lieut. Bellot, the young French officer who had been with
Kennedy. Most unfortunately the ice floe on which he was, with some
men, got adrift. It was never known exactly what happened, but he must
have slipped off the ice and was drowned. Lieut. Cresswell and his
party went home in the _Phoenix_.
Mindful of the possibility that Captain Collinson might reach Melville
Island in the _Enterprise_, Captain Kellett built a large house, 40
feet by 14, of stone with a wooden roof covered with painted canvas, in
which a depôt was placed of seven months’ provisions for sixty men, and
a cairn was built on Dealy Island, 42 tons of stone being used in its
construction.
[Illustration: Lieut Cresswell’s party sledging over hummocky ice]
In August, 1853, the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_ broke out of winter
quarters, but it was an ice-encumbered season, and by November 11th
the two vessels were again fixed in winter quarters 26 miles S.W. of
Cape Cockburn on Bathurst Island. The _Assistance_ and _Pioneer_ had
also left their winter quarters at the west end of Grinnell Land (a
prolongation of North Devon) and had attempted to come down Wellington
Channel. They too, however, had been stopped by the ice, and had to
winter 52 miles north of Beechey Island.
The winter passed happily enough on board the _Resolute_ and
_Intrepid_, but it was necessary to report to Sir Edward Belcher,
and Hamilton was accordingly despatched with two men and a team of
nine dogs. He brought back an order to abandon the ships. It was not
explicit, however, and it assumed that Captain Kellett was of the
same mind. M’Clintock then returned and tried to persuade Sir Edward
Belcher not to commit what amounted to a crime. He told the intending
perpetrator that there was every reason to expect that the ships would
get clear, but the only result was an explicit order to abandon them!
It was mainly during these journeys that M’Clintock gained his
experience in the use of dogs. He covered the distance from the
_Resolute_ to the _North Star_ in five days, and the 52 miles thence to
the _Assistance_ in 24 hours. The whole distance there and back was 460
miles, occupying 15 days, an average of 31 miles per day. Wrangell, on
the coast of Siberia, made an average of 29 miles a day for 22 days.
M’Clintock had one man with him, and a team of twelve dogs. He found
that two dogs require the same weight of food as one man, and when
properly fed and not overworked, a dog can draw a man’s full load for a
distance about one-fourth greater than a man would. If both man and dog
are lightly laden, a dog will double the distance which the man could
do. The final conclusion was that for a very long period and a very
long distance men are superior to dogs. At their best, dogs should be
well fed and well treated, and should not be overworked. Then they are
invaluable for keeping up communications to distances not exceeding 300
miles.
Belcher’s disgraceful order had to be obeyed. He intended to crowd all
four crews on board the _North Star_, but luckily Captain Inglefield
arrived in the _Phoenix_ with the old frigate _Talbot_, so that there
was little crowding. The court martial was obliged to acquit Belcher
because his instructions gave him such wide discretion, but his sword
was returned in a silence more damning than words. Sherard Osborn, whom
Belcher had placed under arrest, and Lieut. May, against whom he had
reported, were both immediately promoted.
The ships would almost certainly have got free later in the season. The
_Resolute_ actually did drift out, was picked up by an American vessel
in Davis Strait, and courteously restored by the United States to our
Admiralty.
These three search expeditions effected an enormous increase in the
knowledge of the Arctic regions. Thousands of miles of unknown lands
were brought to light, and the diligent collecting and observations of
officers enabled a good general idea to be formed of the geology of the
newly-discovered region and of the tidal phenomena. The discoveries
also opened a new area for exploration to the westward quite distinct
from the region of the Parry Islands. Like all great discoveries
Prince Patrick Island pointed to further research. It is the
complete examination of the area now known as the Beaufort Sea which
M’Clintock’s discoveries indicate. Meanwhile the great sledge journeys
stand alone and unapproached.
Mecham’s final sledge journey was perhaps the most brilliant
achievement. Accompanied by Krabbé, Master of the _Intrepid_, he
started with two good sledge crews on April 3rd, 1854. Advancing to
Cape Providence they entered the first range of heavy hummocks, and
forced their way through it for five miles. As they approached Banks
Island they were constantly entangled during dense fogs among intricate
hummocks and deep snow. On reaching the land Krabbé parted company
for the Bay of Mercy, in order to report on the condition of the
_Investigator_. He found her heeling over and with her orlops full of
ice, and she no doubt sank soon afterwards. He was five days landing
all her stores and provisions. Mecham proceeded down Prince of Wales
Strait, and arrived at Princess Royal Island on May 4th. There he
found a document stating that further information would be found on an
island in 72° 36′ N., and pushing on, found this second document. He
then began his return journey, heard of the abandonment of the vessels,
and went on to Beechey Island. In 70 days Mecham had travelled 1157
geographical, or 1336 statute miles, the average rate outwards being
18½ miles, and homewards 23½ miles a day. M’Clintock wrote--“Mecham’s
journey is a most splendid feat, topping all previous ones in speed as
well as distance.”
Frederick Mecham was promoted to the rank of Commander on the 21st
October, 1854. A thorough seaman and navigator, a good officer, and an
excellent messmate, he was endowed with indomitable pluck and the gift
of communicating his enthusiasm to those who served under him. Musical,
an actor, a good artist, and well informed, he was foremost in the work
of keeping the men amused during the winter. His consideration for
others and his charming manners endeared him alike to officers and men,
and his sledge crews were devoted to him. Mecham was appointed to the
_Vixen_ on the Pacific station, and died at Honolulu on February 16th,
1858, at the early age of twenty-nine, a great loss to the navy and to
his country. His Arctic achievements still remain unapproached.