THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN
The _Forward_ succeeded in cutting straight across James Ross Strait,
but not without difficulty; the crew were obliged to work the saws
and use petards, and they were worn out with fatigue. Happily the
temperature was bearable, and thirty degrees higher than that
experienced by James Ross at the same epoch. The thermometer marked
thirty-four degrees.
On Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern extremity of King
William's Land, one of the middle-sized isles of the northern seas.
The crew there experienced a strong and painful sensation, and many
a sad look was turned towards the island as they sailed by the coast.
This island had been the theatre of the most terrible tragedy of modern
times. Some miles to the west the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ had been
lost for ever. The sailors knew about the attempts made to find Admiral
Franklin and the results, but they were ignorant of the affecting
details of the catastrophe. While the doctor was following the
progress of the ship on his map, several of them, Bell, Bolton, and
Simpson, approached and entered into conversation with him. Their
comrades, animated by curiosity, soon followed them; while the brig
flew along with extreme rapidity, and the coast with its bays, capes,
and promontories passed before their eyes like a gigantic panorama.
Hatteras was marching up and down the poop with quick steps. The doctor,
on the deck, looked round, and saw himself surrounded by almost the
whole crew. He saw how powerful a recital would be in such a situation,
and he continued the conversation begun with Johnson as follows:--
"You know how Franklin began, my friends; he was a cabin-boy like
Cook and Nelson; after having employed his youth in great maritime
expeditions, he resolved in 1845 to launch out in search of the
North-West passage; he commanded the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, two
vessels, already famous, that had just made an Antarctic campaign
under James Ross, in 1840. The _Erebus_, equipped by Franklin, carried
a crew of seventy men, officers and sailors, with Fitz-James as
captain; Gore and Le Vesconte, lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, and
Couch, boatswains; and Stanley as surgeon. The _Terror_ had
sixty-eight men, Captain Crozier; Lieutenants Little, Hodgson, and
Irving; Horesby and Thomas were the boatswains, and Peddie the surgeon.
In the names on the map of the capes, straits, points, and channels,
you may read those of these unfortunate men, not one of whom was
destined ever again to see his native land. There were a hundred and
thirty-eight men in all! We know that Franklin's last letters were
addressed from Disko Island, and were dated July 12th, 1845. 'I hope,'
he said, 'to get under way to-night for Lancaster Strait.' What
happened after his departure from Disko Bay? The captains of two
whalers, the _Prince of Wales_ and the _Enterprise_, perceived the
two ships in Melville Bay for the last time, and after that day nothing
was heard of them. However, we can follow Franklin in his westerly
course: he passed through Lancaster and Barrow Straits, and arrived
at Beechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845 and '46."
"But how do you know all this?" asked Bell, the carpenter.
"By three tombs which Austin discovered on that island in 1850. Three
of Franklin's sailors were buried there, and by a document which was
found by Lieutenant Hobson, of the _Fox_, which bears the date of
April 25th, 1848, we know that after their wintering the _Erebus_
and the _Terror_ went up Wellington Strait as far as the
seventy-seventh parallel; but instead of continuing their route
northwards, which was, probably, not practicable, they returned
south."
"And that was their ruin!" said a grave voice. "Safety lay to the
north."
Every one turned round. Hatteras, leaning on the rail of the poop,
had just uttered that terrible observation.
"There is not a doubt," continued the doctor, "that Franklin's
intention was to get back to the American coast; but tempests stopped
him, and on the 12th September, 1846, the two ships were seized by
the ice, at a few miles from here, to the north-west of Cape Felix;
they were dragged along N.N.W. to Victoria Point over there," said
the doctor, pointing to a part of the sea. "Now," he continued, "the
ships were not abandoned till the 22nd of April, 1848. What happened
during these nineteen months? What did the poor unfortunate men do?
They, doubtless, explored the surrounding land, attempting any
chance of safety, for the admiral was an energetic man, and if he
did not succeed----"
"Very likely his crew betrayed him," added Hatteras.
The sailors dared not raise their eyes; these words pricked their
conscience.
"To end my tale, the fatal document informs us also that John Franklin
succumbed to fatigue on the 11th of June, 1847. Honour to his memory!"
said the doctor, taking off his hat. His audience imitated him in
silence.
"What became of the poor fellows for the next ten months after they
had lost their chief? They remained on board their vessels, and only
resolved to abandon them in April, 1848; a hundred and five men out
of a hundred and thirty-eight were still living; thirty-three were
dead! Then Captain Crozier and Captain Fitz-James raised a cairn on
Victory Point, and there deposited their last document. See, my
friends, we are passing the point now! You can still see the remains
of the cairn placed on the extreme point, reached by John Ross in
1831. There is Jane Franklin Cape. There is Franklin Point. There
is Le Vesconte Point. There is Erebus Bay, where the boat made out
of the _debris_ of one of the vessels was found on a sledge. Silver
spoons, provisions in abundance, chocolate, tea, and religious books
were found there too. The hundred and five survivors, under Captain
Crozier, started for Great Fish River. Where did they get to? Did
they succeed in reaching Hudson's Bay? Did any survive? What became
of them after this last departure?"
"I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in a firm
voice. "Yes, they did try to reach Hudson's Bay, and they split up
into several parties! Yes, they did make for the south! A letter from
Dr. Rae in 1854 contained the information that in 1850 the Esquimaux
had met on King William's Land a detachment of forty men travelling
on the ice, and dragging a boat, thin, emaciated, worn out by fatigue
and suffering! Later on they discovered thirty corpses on the
continent and five on a neighbouring island, some half-buried, some
left without burial, some under a boat turned upside down, others
under the remains of a tent; here an officer with his telescope on
his shoulder and a loaded gun at his side, further on a boiler with
the remnants of a horrible meal! When the Admiralty received these
tidings it begged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its most
experienced agents to the scene. They descended Back River to its
mouth. They visited the islands of Montreal, Maconochie, and Ogle
Point. But they discovered nothing. All the poor wretches had died
from misery, suffering, and hunger, whilst trying to prolong their
existence by the dreadful resource of cannibalism. That is what became
of them on the southern route. Well! Do you still wish to march in
their footsteps?"
His trembling voice, his passionate gestures and beaming face,
produced an indescribable effect. The crew, excited by its emotion
before this fatal land, cried out with one voice: "To the north! To
the north!"
"Yes, to the north! Safety and glory lie to the north. Heaven is for
us! The wind is changing; the pass is free!"
So saying, Hatteras gave orders to turn the vessel; the sailors went
to work with alacrity; the ice streams got clear little by little;
the _Forward_, with all steam on, made for McClintock Channel.
Hatteras was right when he counted upon a more open sea; he followed
up the supposed route taken by Franklin, sailing along the western
coast of Prince of Wales's Land, then pretty well known, whilst the
opposite shore is still unknown. It was evident that the breaking
up of the ice had taken place in the eastern locks, for this strait
appeared entirely free; the _Forward_ made up for lost time; she fled
along so quickly that she passed Osborne Bay on the 14th of June,
and the extreme points attained by the expeditions of 1851. Icebergs
were still numerous, but the sea did not threaten to quit the keel
of the _Forward_.