The passage to the North Pole is barred by ice fields and guarded by
frost and snow more securely than Cerberus guarded the approach to the
kingdom of Pluto.
For three centuries and more the brave and daring of all nations have
tried to pass these barriers. Hundreds of men have been frozen to
death, hundreds have died of starvation; and yet men continue to
hazard their lives to find out this secret of Nature.
One of the bravest arctic explorers was Sir John Franklin, who, after
many wonderful adventures, finally died with his companions amid the
frozen seas of the north.
As a little boy, "life on the ocean wave" was to John Franklin a
delightful day-dream. Once when at school he walked twelve miles to
get a sight of the sea and a taste of the salt air; and such was his
desire for a seafaring career that although his father was at first
very much opposed to the idea, yet when he found how strongly Franklin
had set his heart upon a sailor's life, he got him a place on a
war-ship where John took part in the battle of Copenhagen.
Then he was shipwrecked on the coast of Australia, did some fighting
in the Straits of Malacca, and was present at the great battle of
Trafalgar.
After this he had his first taste of Arctic adventure, having received
a commission from the Government to explore the Coppermine, one of the
great rivers of Canada, which discharges its waters into the Arctic
Ocean. Down this river sailed Franklin and his companions. They
encountered rapids and falls, and all kinds of obstacles, and met with
many dangers and disasters.
The first winter they were nearly starved to death. They stayed at
Fort Enterprise; but, long before the spring returned, they found
their food was all but finished, and the nearest place to get more was
five hundred miles away, over a trackless desert of snow. One of their
number, however, tramped the whole weary way, and brought back food to
his starving leader and companions.
Next summer, Franklin descended the river to its mouth, and embarking
in canoes he and his followers made towards Behring Strait, from which
they were ere long driven back by their old dread enemy--starvation.
For many days on their return journey they had nothing to live upon
but rock moss, which barely kept them alive. They became so worn and
ill that they could only cover a few miles a day, and Franklin fainted
from exhaustion.
For eight days they waited on the banks of a river which it was
necessary to pass, but which they had no means of crossing. One of the
men tried to swim across and was nearly drowned, and despair seized on
the party, for they thought the end had come. But there was one man
among them who could not believe God would leave them to perish,
and spurred on by this thought he gathered rock moss in sufficient
quantities to preserve their lives; and, hope springing up again, they
made a light raft on which they passed over to the other side.
Then Franklin set off with eight men to get assistance, whilst others
remained to care for the sick. He and three companions only arrived at
Fort Enterprise. They had to endure a fearful journey, during
which they ate their very boots to preserve life. To their bitter
disappointment when they got there they found the place deserted! Then
they attempted to go to the next settlement; but Franklin utterly
broke down on the way, and was with difficulty got back to Fort
Enterprise. Here they were joined by two of the party who had been
left behind, the others having perished on the way.
The night of their reunion, the six survivors had a grand feast. A
partridge had been shot, and for the first time during an entire month
these men tasted flesh food. Later on, sitting round the fire they had
kindled, words of hope and comfort were read from the Bible, and the
men joined heartily together in prayer and thanksgiving. Shortly
after, friendly Indians arrived with supplies of food, and Franklin
with the survivors of his party returned safely to England.
After this, Franklin made other expeditions, gaining fame and honour
by his explorations, and was for seven years Lieutenant-Governor of
Tasmania.
Then in 1845, when he was in his sixtieth year, he went out in the
service of the Admiralty to attempt the passage through the Arctic
Ocean. Leaving England in May, 1845, in command of the _Erebus_ and
_Terror_, with a body of the most staunch and experienced seamen, he
sailed into the Arctic Seas. They were last seen by a whaler on the
26th of July that year, and then for years no word of their fate
reached Great Britain.
Not that England waited all this time before she sent to discover
what had befallen them. The Government was stirred into action by
the pleadings of Lady Franklin. Expedition after expedition left our
shores. America and France joined in the search. Five years later was
discovered the place in which the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ had first
wintered; but it was left for Dr. John Rae to find out from the
Esquimaux in 1854 that the ships had been crushed in the ice, and that
Franklin and his companions had died of fatigue and starvation.
The final relics of the Franklin Expedition were discovered by
McClintock and a party of volunteers. Starting from England in a
little vessel called _The Fox_ he and his crew passed through a
hundred dangers from shipwreck, icebergs, and other perils. But at
length, in April, 1858, they found on King William's Island the record
which told plainly and fully the fate of Franklin and his companions.
[Illustration: RELICS OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 1. Loaded Gun. 2.
Fragment of Ensign. 3. Anvil Block. 4. Portable Cooking Stove. 5.
Chronometers from _Erebus_ and _Terror_. 6. Medicine Chest. 7.
Testament 8. Dipping Needle.]
The document contained two statements, one written in 1846, mentioning
that Sir John Franklin and all were well; and a second, written in
1848, to say that they had been obliged to abandon the _Erebus_ and
_Terror_, that Sir John Franklin had died in June, 1847, and that they
had already lost nine officers and fifteen men.
Other traces of the sad end which overtook the expedition were also
found. In a boat were discovered two skeletons; and amongst other
books a Bible, numerous passages in which were underlined, showing
that these gallant men in their last hours had the comfort of God's
Word to support them when earthly hopes had passed away.
The object for which Sir John Franklin had sailed, viz., the discovery
of the North West passage, had been attained, but no single man of the
expedition, alas, lived to enjoy the fruits of the discovery.