"_Enterprise_."
Captain, R. Collinson; Lieutenants, G.A. Phayre, J.J. Barnard, and
C.T. Jago; master, R.T.G. Legg; second master, Francis Skead; mate,
M.T. Parks; surgeon, Robert Anderson; assistant surgeon, Edward Adams;
clerk in charge, Edward Whitehead. Total complement, sixty-six.
"_Investigator_."
Commander, B.J. McClure; Lieutenants, W.H. Haswell and S.G.
Cresswell; mates, H.H. Saintsbury and R.J. Wyniatt; second master,
Stephen Court; surgeon, Alexander Armstrong, MD; assistant surgeon,
Henry Piers; clerk in charge, Joseph C. Paine. Total complement,
sixty-six.
Mr Miertsching, a Moravian missionary, who had spent five years on the
coast of Labrador, was appointed to the _Enterprise_ as interpreter.
The vessels sailed from Plymouth on the 20th of January 1850, and
reached the Sandwich Islands on the 29th of June. Meantime the
_Herald_, Captain Kellet, had been ordered up from Oahu to Behring's
Straits, to assist in the search. At Petropaulski she met the Royal
Thames Yacht Club schooner _Mary Dawson_, owned by Mr Shedden, who had
come along the Chinese coast to Behring's Straits, also in search of Sir
John Franklin. After exploring for some time in company, they were
compelled by the ice to leave the Straits; but the _Plover_ wintered
there, while Lieutenant Pullen led a boat expedition of a most arduous
nature along the northern shores of America, towards the Hudson's Bay
establishment on the Mackenzie River. Sir John Richardson also led a
land party from the south to the Polar seas, but was compelled to return
without discovering any trace of the expedition.
In 1846, also, the Hudson's Bay Company sent out an expedition,
commanded by Dr John Rae, to survey the unexplored portion of the
American continent, between the farther point reached by Dease and
Simpson and the strait of the Fury and Hecla.
In the year 1850 several expeditions were sent out. The first consisted
of HMS _Resolute_ and _Assistance_, Captain Ommaney, with the
screw-steamers _Pioneer_, Lieutenant Osborn, and _Intrepid_, Lieutenant
Cator, as tenders, under the command of Captain Horatio T. Austin, in
the _Resolute_. Their chief aim was to visit Melville Island, and to
explore the shores of Wellington Channel, and the coast about Cape
Walker. The ships were provisioned for three years, and a transport
completed their supply at Whalefish Islands.
No expedition ever left England with a greater prospect of success, all
engaged in it being enthusiastically resolved to use every exertion to
advance the noble cause.
The ships were commissioned on the 28th of February 1850, and left
England the 3rd of May. On the 16th of June they arrived at the
Whalefish Islands, where they received the remainder of their supply of
provisions from the transport.
At the same time that Captain Austin's expedition was fitting out,
another was arranged and placed under the command of Mr William Penny,
an experienced whaling captain of Dundee, to act in concert with it.
Mr Penny, by the directions of the Admiralty, proceeded to Aberdeen and
Dundee, where he purchased two new clipper-built vessels, which were
named the _Lady Franklin_ and _Sophia_; the first in compliment to Sir
John's devoted wife, the latter to his admirable niece. These vessels
were placed under Mr Penny's command, with separate instructions direct
from the Admiralty. The ships showed during the voyage the good
judgment employed by Mr Penny in their selection, and the men acquitted
themselves throughout the enterprise in a way to justify the praise
bestowed on them by their associates in the ships-of-war. Mr Penny had
been employed in the Arctic seas since he was twelve years old, and had
commanded a whaling ship for sixteen years.
The ships left Aberdeen on the 13th of April, but did not fall in with
Captain Austin's squadron till the 28th of June, off Berry Island, on
the west coast of Greenland.
About the same time that the above-named ships left England, three other
expeditions were despatched; one in the _Prince Albert_, under Commander
Forsyth, chiefly at Lady Franklin's expense. She had a crew of twenty
men. Her mates were W. Kay and W. Wilson, and Mr W.P. Snow acted as
clerk. She sailed from Aberdeen on the 5th of June, and was thus the
last vessel which left England that year. Another in the _Felix_ yacht,
with a tender--the _Mary_--under the veteran Captain Sir John Ross, at
his own charge. The Americans likewise showed a generous sympathy in
the fate of the missing expedition, and sent out one to aid in the
search, under Lieutenant de Haven, in the U.S. brig _Advance_, and the
U.S. vessel _Rescue_, commanded by Mr S.P. Griffen.
These various expeditions were to examine the different channels up
which it was supposed Sir John Franklin might have endeavoured to work
his way. The result of their examinations proved beyond almost all
doubt that he proceeded up Wellington Channel.
Without following the ships step by step through their laborious
progress across Baffin's Bay, down Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Straits,
we will carry them at once to Beechey Island, which lies at the
south-eastern extremity of Wellington Channel, just at its entrance into
Barrow's Straits. Here, on the 27th of August, Mr Penny discovered
undoubted traces of Sir John Franklin. Here, accordingly, the ships
assembled to prosecute the examination. Dr Sutherland, who went out in
the _Lady Franklin_, gives the following account of the interesting
event:--
"Traces," he observes, "were found to a great extent of the missing
ships: tin canisters in hundreds, pieces of cloth, rope, wood--in large
fragments and in chips; iron in numerous fragments, where the anvil had
stood, and the block which supported it; paper, both written and
printed, with the dates 1844 and 1845; sledge marks in abundance;
depressions in the gravel, resembling wells which they had been digging;
and the graves of three men who had died on board the missing ships in
January and April 1846. One of the shore party was despatched with this
intelligence to Mr Penny, who immediately came on shore, accompanied by
Sir John Ross, Commander Phillips of the _Felix_, Sir John's vessel,
Commander De Haven and Lieutenant Griffiths of the American expedition,
which had joined our ships in Barrow's Straits, and other officers.
There were unequivocal proofs that the missing ships had spent their
first winter in the immediate vicinity of Beechey Island. A finger-post
was picked up, which we at once supposed had been made use of to direct
parties to the ships during winter, if they should happen to have lost
their way in a snowstorm. Captain Parry adopted the same precautions
around his winter quarters at Melville Island; and it is not improbable
some of the posts may be found, after a lapse of thirty years. Our
ideas were, that the ships had wintered in a deep bay between Beechey
Island and Cape Riley, which we called Erebus and Terror Bay.
"Immediately adjacent to the supposed position of the ships, we found
the site of a large storehouse and workshop, and smaller sites, which
were supposed to have been observatories and other temporary erections.
Meat-tins to the amount of 600 or 700, and a great number of coal-bags,
one of which was marked `T-e-r-r-o-r,' were found. _But there were no
papers found anywhere that had been left by the missing ships_."
This station, in the opinion of Captain Penny, was occupied by Sir John
Franklin's party until the 3rd of April 1846, if not longer, as a
look-out up Wellington Channel, to watch the first opening of that icy
barrier which seems so frequently to block it up.
No record, however, was left to show in what direction the bold
explorers had proceeded. With deep regret, therefore, that no further
information could be gained, the various vessels continued the search.
Captain Forsyth had, however, before this returned in the _Prince
Albert_ to England, with news of an interesting discovery made by
Captain Ommaney, of some articles left by Sir John Franklin on Cape
Riley. He reached Aberdeen on the 22nd of October, having been absent
somewhat less than four months.
Early the next year the _Prince Albert_ was again despatched, under the
command of Mr Kennedy, an old Arctic explorer; but he was unable to
effect more than to prove where Sir John Franklin and his followers were
not.
Captain Austin's ships were constantly placed in great peril as they
proceeded on their voyage. "The _Assistance_ was hemmed in by the ice
in the centre of Wellington Channel, and was in such imminent danger of
being crushed to pieces, that every preparation was made to desert her,"
writes an officer belonging to her. "Each person on board was appointed
to a particular boat, provisions were got on deck, and every two men
were allowed one bag between them for spare clothes, attached to lines
which were passed through the upper deck, ready to be pulled up at any
moment. One day the vessel was raised six feet out of the water by the
pressure of the ice; and it became so probable that she would fall on
her broadside, that the men were employed with shovels and pickaxes in
smoothing a place on the ice for her to lie upon." Again, on the 6th, a
large floe came down upon them with great violence, and, pressing the
vessel against the land ice, lifted her several feet out of the water.
Everyone rushed on deck, with the exception of the carpenter, who coolly
sounded the well to ascertain the depth of water in the hold. For some
hours the ship was in danger of being driven on shore; the ice continued
to grind and pile up round her, while all the ice-anchors were laid out,
one of which was wrenched in two by the tremendous strain, and thrown
high up into the air. The wind, however, providentially changed, the
ice slackened, and they were safe. At length, while Captain Austin's
squadron were secured for the winter in a field of ice between
Cornwallis and Griffiths Islands, Mr Penny and Sir John Ross reached
Assistance Harbour, where they wintered. A variety of means were taken
to amuse the crews during the depth of winter; and, as soon as spring
began, exploring parties went out in every direction. We cannot trace
the progress of the several parties in boats and sledges. Their
persevering struggles serve to prove the existence, at all events, if
that were required, of the heroic endurance of hardships, the
indomitable courage, the invariable cheerfulness under the most
depressing trials, and the unconquerable ardour, in spite of every
obstacle, characteristic of British seamen. About 2000 miles altogether
were traversed by the different parties. Mr Penny made every effort to
ascend Wellington Channel; but his success was trifling compared to his
unwearied endeavours. When his sledge was stopped by open water, and
after incredible labours a boat was brought to the spot, thick-ribbed
ice had collected to impede its progress. All the efforts of the heroic
explorers were in vain. Lieutenant De Haven's ships returned to the
United States, after enduring many hardships; and Captain Austin, Sir
John Ross, and Mr Penny came back to England in the autumn of 1851.
Another year, however, was not allowed to pass before a further
expedition was entrusted to the command of a talented officer, Sir
Edward Belcher. The _Assistance_ and _Resolute_ were again
commissioned, and, with the _Pioneer_ and _Intrepid_ screw-steamers,
were placed under his orders, many of the officers who before
accompanied Captain Austin volunteering their services. Captain Kellet,
who had returned home in the _Herald_, was appointed to command the
_Resolute_.
They proceeded early in the spring for Wellington Channel, and, favoured
by an open season, part of the squadron entered that mysterious inlet,
with a favourable breeze, in high health, and with buoyant hopes that
they were about to carry succour to their long-lost countrymen--how
soon, like those of many others, to meet with disappointment! Up that
very channel, it has since been ascertained, the expedition under Sir
John Franklin had gone, but had been compelled, as those in search of it
soon were, to return southward.
In the meantime, Commander Inglefield, who had first gone out in the
_Isabel_, commissioned the _Phoenix_ steam-sloop, with the _Lady
Franklin_ as a sailing-tender, and proceeded to Baffin's Bay. Mr
Kennedy again went out in the _Isabel_, and the Americans sent forth the
well-known expedition under Dr Kane, whose narrative must be read with
the deepest interest by all, and his early death, the result of the
hardships he endured on that occasion, sincerely deplored.
While Sir Edward Belcher in the _Assistance_, accompanied by the
_Pioneer_, proceeded up Wellington Channel, Captain Kellet in the
_Resolute_, accompanied by the _Intrepid_, leaving the _North Star_ with
stores at Beechey Island, continued his voyage to Melville Island, which
he reached after encountering many dangers, and where he was frozen up
at Bridport Inlet, on the 11th of September 1852.
We before narrated how the _Enterprise_ and _Investigator_ left England
in January 1850, and, proceeding round Cape Horn, the latter reached the
Sandwich Islands in June, and sailed again for Behring's Straits the day
before the arrival of her consort. The _Investigator_ had a remarkably
quick passage to Behring's Straits; and after communicating with the
_Herald_, Captain Kellet, off Cape Lisbourne, and exchanging signals
with the _Plover_, which vessel wintered in those seas, she pursued her
course easterly along the north coast of North America, and passed Point
Barrow under press of sail on the 5th of August. Thus it will be seen
that several ships as well as land parties were engaged in the search
for the long-lost crews of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ at the same time--
from the east and west as well as from the south.
Since the 5th of August 1850, no tidings had been received of Captain
McClure and the _Investigator_, till the time that Captain Kellet, who
last saw him in the west, had once more made his way into the Arctic
Ocean from the east, and was now commencing his long winter imprisonment
at Bridport Inlet, Melville Island, in September 1852. The only time
that exploring parties can travel is during daylight in the early autumn
or in the spring. The spring is most fitted for crossing the Frozen
Sea, before the ice breaks up and the cold has become less intense. In
the autumn of 1852, Lieutenant Median, of the _Resolute_, was despatched
by Captain Kellet to explore the coast of Melville Island to the west,
and to form depots of provisions, as were other parties in different
directions. On his return, passing through Winter Harbour, in Melville
Island, at no great distance to the west of Bridport Inlet, what was his
surprise and satisfaction to find in a cairn, a record, with a chart of
his discoveries, left by Captain McClure on the previous May, stating
that he should probably be found in Mercy Harbour, Banks' Land, unless
he should be able to push on through Barrow's Straits, which it seemed
very unlikely that he could have done. This was the first evidence to
the new explorers of the actual existence of a continuous channel from
the Atlantic to the Pacific--that there exists a North-West Passage.
Most tantalising was it, however, to them to know that at that season
they could not possibly venture across to meet their countrymen.
Indeed, the gallant McClure expressly forbade them in the document they
had discovered. "Any attempt to send succour will only increase the
evil," were his words. The winter passed rapidly away, but it was not
till March that Captain Kellet considered it prudent to send an
expedition across the Straits to where he supposed the _Investigator_
was to be found.
We will now trace the progress of the _Investigator_, from the time she
was last seen passing Point Barrow under a press of sail.
She made the ice on the 2nd of August, and, more than once being nearly
caught by it, she reached Cape Bathurst by the 30th. Rounding it, she
stood east and north, passing the south of Baring Island, which was
called Cape Nelson. She then reached a channel with Baring Island on
the west, and another land on the east, to which the name of Prince
Albert's Land was given, when, on the 30th of September, she was fairly
frozen in. Prince Albert's Land was taken possession of on the 8th of
October, in the name of Her Most Gracious Majesty, by Captain McClure,
with a party of officers and men, who landed, and planted a staff with a
flag to it on the shore. On their return to the ship, they found that
the land and sea ice had separated, and they were alarmed with the
prospect of having to remain on shore during the whole of an Arctic
autumn night. Happily, their signals were at last seen, and a party,
with two of Halkett's inflatable boats, was sent to their assistance.
In consequence of the excessive roughness of the ice, no other boat
could have been got across. "By these means a large party were
relieved, who were without tents, clothing, fuel, provisions, or in any
way provided to withstand the severities of a Polar night, with the
thermometer eight degrees _minus_." We take the opportunity of advising
that all vessels should be provided with one or more of these admirable
contrivances. They may be of any size, from that in which one man alone
can sit, to one capable of carrying fifty people. One might always be
kept on deck, which could be launched in a moment should a man fall
overboard. By this means numberless lives might be saved.
Captain McClure, feeling assured that the ship was immovably fixed for
the winter, started with a sledge party on the 21st, to proceed to the
north-east, in the hopes of discovering Barrow's Straits; and, after
travelling for upwards of seventy miles, they had the intense
gratification, on the 26th of October, of pitching their tents on its
shores. The next morning, before sunrise, he and Mr Court ascended a
hill, 600 feet in height, whence they could command a view of forty or
fifty miles over the Straits, though the opposite shore of Melville
Island could not be discerned. They found, however, by their
observations, that Sir Edward Parry had very correctly marked the loom
of the land on which they stood; and that thus the long-vexed question
was solved, and that, whatever others might have done, or might be
doing, they had, at all events, found a watery way from the Pacific to
the Atlantic Oceans.
They reached the ship again on the 31st, narrowly escaping destruction
in a fog, when Captain McClure had to wander about during a whole night
on a floe, with the thermometer from five to fifteen degrees below zero.
And now the first winter of the _Investigator_ was commenced in those
ice-bound regions. By the middle of April, expeditions were sent out in
all directions, and depots of provisions established for the relief of
the long-lost companions of Sir John Franklin.
Both sides of the Prince of Wales' Straits were thoroughly explored, as
was Baring Island and Prince Albert's Land as far as its southern shore,
known as Wollaston Land,--a continuous coast-line being thus laid down
along the whole southern shore of Barrow's Straits, and that of the
north shore of the American continent, united with the discoveries of
previous explorers. This, it will be remembered, was the winter of
1850-51.
When the short summer once more returned, Captain McClure made every
endeavour to get the ship to the north-east, through the Prince of
Wales' Straits into Barrow's Straits, but in vain. So closely was the
ice packed at the north-east end, that, after running great hazard of
shipwreck, he was compelled to give up the attempt on the 16th of July,
when only twenty-five miles distant from Barrow's Straits, and bearing
up, he ran to the south and west round Baring Island. The voyage off
the west coast of that large island was full of danger, the ship
frequently narrowly escaping being cast away, till at length, with a
fair breeze, she entered Banks' Straits, which, leading into Melville
Sound, may be looked upon as the western end of Barrow's Straits. They
were but some eighty miles distant from Barrow's Straits, with every
prospect of gaining them, and being able the following season to return
home, when a heavy barrier of ice rose before them to intercept their
progress. Backward they were driven into a deep bay, to which the name
of the Bay of Mercy was given, as an acknowledgment of the merciful way
in which they had been preserved from so many dangers. They had
actually been only five days under weigh after leaving their winter
quarters in Prince of Wales' Straits.
As in the previous season, their time was fully occupied in making
exploring expeditions in all directions, and in shooting excursions.
With the exception of about three weeks in January, when it was too dark
to shoot, enough game was killed to enable them to enjoy a meal of fresh
meat three days in the fortnight.
On the 11th of April, Captain McClure, with Mr Court, second master,
and a sledge party, started to cross the ice on sledges, to visit Winter
Harbour, in Melville Island. Soon after leaving the ship a thick fog
came on, and continued for several days, so that their destination was
not reached till the 28th.
We must picture to ourselves the sort of work these brave men had to go
through, to do full justice to their perseverance and courage,--day
after day travelling on, dragging their sledges across the frozen
strait, often in the face of biting winds, encamping night after night
with simply a tent to shelter them and a spirit-lamp only with which to
cook their food or to afford them warmth. Yet thus, during that
eventful period in the history of Arctic discovery, were many hundred
British seamen employed in different portions of the icy ocean, all
nobly engaged in the search for their lost countrymen and brother
sailors. Not only for month after month, but year after year,--the only
interruption being the dark, long night of mid-winter, and the brief
period of summer navigation,--when, amid icebergs and ice-fields,
whirled here and there, tossed by storms, and urged impetuously on by
currents, they forced their way onward, in the hope of gaining the open
ocean in another hemisphere.
At Winter Harbour Captain McClure found a large fragment of sandstone,
with this inscription--"His Britannic Majesty's ships _Hecla_ and
_Griper_, Commanders Parry and Lyddon, wintered in the adjacent harbour
during the winter of 1819-20. _A. Fisher, sculpsit_." Lieutenant
McClintock had left a notice of his visit on the previous year on the
same fragment, and protected it by a large cairn. In this cairn Captain
McClure now deposited his own despatches, giving a plan of the way he
intended to proceed under the various circumstances which might occur.
One portion especially is worthy of notice.
After stating his intention of visiting Port Leopold, in Barrow's
Straits, and of leaving there information of the route he purposed to
pursue, he says: "Should no intimation be found of our having been
there, it may be at once surmised that some fatal catastrophe has
happened, either from being carried into the Polar Sea, or smashed in
Barrow's Straits, and no survivors left. If such should be the case, it
will then be quite unnecessary to penetrate farther to the westward to
our relief, as, by the period that any vessel could reach that port, we
must, from want of provisions, all have perished; in such case I would
submit that the officer may be directed to return, and by no means incur
the danger of losing other lives in quest of those who will then be no
more." Admirable indeed is the calm courage with which he contemplated
that fearful contingency which we now know too well overtook the
expedition of which he was in quest, and his generous anxiety that no
more valuable lives should be sacrificed in searching for him.
Accomplishing in ten days what occupied eighteen upon the outward trip,
the party reached the ship on the 9th of May. Summer was approaching.
Some deer and musk oxen were shot. By the 10th of August the frozen-up
mariners began to entertain the joyful hopes of being liberated. Lanes
of water were observed to seaward, and along the cliffs of Banks' Land
there was a clear space of six miles in width extending along them as
far as the eye could reach; and on the 12th the wind, which had been for
some time from the northward, veered to the south, which had the effect
of separating the ice from that of the bay entirely across the entrance.
Every moment they were in expectation of their release, and then a few
days' sail would carry them into Barrow's Straits, and perhaps into
Baffin's Bay itself. Shortly, however, the wind changed to the
northward, the ice again closed: in vain they waited for it to open.
On the 20th the temperature fell to 27 degrees, and the entire bay was
frozen over. The ice never again opened, and the usual preparations
were made for passing a third winter in those Arctic seas. It is
wonderful to observe how officers and men kept up their spirits, and how
cheerfully they bore their trials and privations. They had for a year
been placed on two-thirds allowance of provisions; the consumption was
still further decreased, to enable them to exist another eighteen
months. The winter was severe, but passed away without sickness; and
now Captain McClure informed his crew that it was his purpose to send a
portion home in a boat by Baffin's Bay. The intended travellers were
put on full allowance, and all preparations were made for their starting
on the 15th of April.
One day towards the end of March, Captain McClure and his first
lieutenant were taking their daily exercise on the floe near the ship,
when they saw running towards them a person whom they supposed to be one
of their own men chased by a bear. They hurried on, when, to their
surprise, they discovered that he was a stranger, his face so blackened
by the smoke from the oil-lamp that his features could not be
recognised. "Who are you? Where are you come from?"
"Lieutenant Pim--_Herald_--Captain Kellet," was the answer. Wonderful
indeed it seemed; for Lieutenant Pim was the last person with whom the
captain of the _Investigator_ had shaken hands in Behring's Straits. It
was some time before Lieutenant Pim could find words to express himself,
when he announced that he was ahead of his party, who had crossed from
the winter quarters of the _Resolute_ in Bridport Inlet, Melville
Island. Captain McClure then set out with a party of officers and men
to visit the _Resolute_, which ship was reached on the 19th of April
1853, after traversing a distance of 170 miles.
Great was the satisfaction of the two gallant captains at thus again
meeting. It was finally resolved that a portion of the crews of both
ships should be sent home, while the remainder should stay in the hopes
of extricating them during the coming summer. As, however, many of the
_Investigator's_ crew were suffering from scurvy, only a small number
were able to continue the journey westward, under command of Lieutenant
Cresswell and Lieutenant Wynniett.
On the 2nd of June they arrived on board the _North Star_, Captain
Pullen, at Beechey Island. The distance was 300 miles, and it had taken
them four weeks to perform the journey.
On the 8th of August the _Phoenix_ screw-steamer, Captain Inglefield,
arrived. At that time Captain Pullen had been away a month up
Wellington Channel, to communicate with Sir Edward Belcher. By the time
he returned, the season had so much advanced, that it was decided to
send back the _Phoenix_ with Lieutenant Cresswell and his party. On the
4th of October they landed at Thurso, and on the 7th of October arrived
at the Admiralty, with the announcement of the safety of the
_Investigator_, and the tidings that the geographical question of the
existence of the long-sought-for North-West Passage had been
satisfactorily solved.
We must now turn briefly to narrate the fate of the numerous exploring
vessels left in the Arctic regions at the setting in of the winter of
1853-54.
Before we do so, we must, however, give a brief account of the progress
made by the persevering and brave Captain Collinson.
When, in 1850, Captain McClure succeeded in reaching the ice through
Behring's Straits, the _Enterprise_, from having been somewhat longer on
her voyage, was not so fortunate, and was compelled to winter in Port
Clarence. Hence the _Enterprise_ again sailed on the 10th of July 1851,
to push her way eastward along the American coast, visiting the islands
which form the northern shore of the channel. Here he found several
depots and marks left by Captain McClure in the spring or in the
previous autumn. The _Enterprise_ finally was frozen in, in a sheltered
harbour in Prince Albert's Land, near the entrance of Prince of Wales'
Straits.
Several long and hazardous expeditions were performed on foot with
sledges during the spring of 1852, both north and east, being out
between forty and fifty days. Again putting to sea, the _Enterprise_
passed through Dolphin and Union Straits and Dean's Straits eastward.
By the 26th of September the _Enterprise_ reached Cambridge Bay, when
she was again frozen in, to pass her third winter in the ice--one of the
most severe ever experienced in those regions. During the next spring,
that of 1853, Captain Collinson, with his Lieutenants Jago, Parkes, and
other officers, were employed in pushing on their laborious explorations
in the direction where they hoped some traces of their long-lost
countrymen might be found. In latitude 70 degrees 3 minutes north and
longitude 101 degrees west they fell in with a cairn erected by Dr Rae,
from which they obtained the first intimation that any parties had
preceded them in the search, and their observations tended to
corroborate his, namely, that the ice, _except in extraordinary seasons,
does not leave the east coast of Victoria Land_.
Little did Captain Collinson know that from the shore on which he stood,
as he looked eastward, he gazed on the very ice-field in which the
_Erebus_ and _Terror_ had been beset, and that amid it, not many miles
distant, the brave, the noble Franklin had breathed his last--that it
was during an extraordinary season the two exploring ships had entered
the icy snare, from which they were never to be released.
But we are anticipating the events of our deeply interesting and
melancholy history.
Captain Collinson and his companions reached their ship on the 31st of
May, after an absence of forty-nine days. It will be thus seen, that in
justice the honour should be awarded to Captain Collinson and his
followers, equally with Captain McClure and his, of having discovered
the North-West Passage. Indeed, it is believed that it is only by the
way he came, if any passage is practicable, that a ship could get round
from the east to the west.
On the 10th August the _Enterprise_ once more put to sea, steering
westward. The Straits were found free of ice till they were abreast of
the mouth of the Coppermine River, where they were detained till the
23rd. They passed Cape Bathurst on the 31st, again encountering ice;
Herschel Island on the 5th of September; and, after overcoming various
obstacles, were finally fixed for the winter on the west side of Camden
Bay.
The season passed mildly away. In the spring more expeditions were
made, and visits received from the Esquimaux. The ship was not free
till the 20th of July. She reached Port Clarence on the 21st of August;
and at length Captain Collinson was able to send home despatches
announcing the safety of his ship, officers, and crew.
We are inclined to consider Captain Collinson's voyage, with the light
of the information subsequently given us, not only as the most
remarkable of all the Arctic voyages, but as guided by the greatest
wisdom, and executed with a courage, forethought, and perseverance
unsurpassed. He may well claim the honour of being "the first navigator
who took a ship of 530 tons through the narrow Dolphin and Union Straits
and Dease's Strait, ice-strewn and rocky as they are, in safety to
Cambridge Bay (105 degrees west), preserved his men in health through
three winters, and finally brought them home in health and his ship in
safety."
We must now return to Sir Edward Belcher's expedition. The greatest
service it rendered was through Captain Kellet, by whose means the brave
Captain McClure and his crew were rescued from their perilous position.
We left the _Resolute_ and _Intrepid_ on the northern side of the
Strait, frozen up in Bridport Inlet, in the spring of 1853. Although a
northern gale drove them to sea during the summer, when they drifted
about for eighty-seven days helplessly in the pack till off Cape
Cockburn, on the 12th of November they were again frozen in; and the
_Investigator_, also remaining fixed, was abandoned, the officers and
crew spending the winter on board the _Resolute_. The _Assistance_ and
_Pioneer_ being likewise frozen in, Captain Kellet received orders from
Sir Edward Belcher to abandon his part of the squadron; and on the 26th
of August the two last-named ships were also abandoned, the officers and
crews arriving safely on board the _North Star_ on the following day at
Beechey Island. Fortunately the next day the _North Star_ met the
_Phoenix_ and _Talbot_, when all the ships returned to England.
All due praise must be awarded to the gallant officers and men of the
expedition, who exerted themselves heroically in the great cause they
had undertaken. An Arctic passage was discovered; McClure and his
followers performed it _on the ice_, probably the only way in which it
ever will be performed; but the most important Arctic mystery was still
unsolved--the fate of Franklin remained undiscovered. It was only known
where he was not. As if to teach all those engaged in that
well-arranged, powerful expedition a lesson of humility, the discovery
was reserved for others with far humbler means at their disposal.