THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
The _Forward_ succeeded, though not without difficulty, in getting by
James Ross Sound, by frequent use of the ice-saws and gunpowder; the
crew was very much fatigued. Fortunately the temperature was
agreeable, and even thirty degrees above what James Ross found at the
same time of year. The thermometer marked 34 degrees.
Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern end of King William's
Land, one of the smaller islands of northern seas.
At that time the crew became very much depressed; they gazed wistfully
and sadly at its far-stretching shores.
In fact, they were gazing at King William's Land, the scene of one of
the saddest tragedies of modern times! Only a few miles to the west
the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ were lost.
The sailors of the _Forward_ were familiar with the attempts made to
find Franklin, and the result they had obtained, but they did not know
all the sad details. Now, while the doctor was following on his chart
the course of the ship, many of them, Bell, Bolton, and Simpson, drew
near him and began to talk with him. Soon the others followed to
satisfy their curiosity; meanwhile the brig was advancing rapidly, and
the bays, capes, and promontories of the coast passed before their
gaze like a gigantic panorama.
[Illustration]
Hatteras was pacing nervously to and fro on the quarter-deck; the
doctor found himself on the bridge, surrounded by the men of the crew;
he readily understood the interest of the situation, and the
impression that would be made by an account given under those
circumstances, hence he resumed the talk he had begun with Johnson.
"You know, my friends, how Franklin began: like Cook and Nelson, he
was first a cabin-boy; after spending his youth in long sea-voyages,
he made up his mind, in 1845, to seek the Northwest Passage; he
commanded the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, two stanch vessels, which had
visited the antarctic seas in 1840, under the command of James Ross.
The _Erebus_, in which Franklin sailed, carried a crew of seventy men,
all told, with Fitz-James as captain; Gore and Le Vesconte,
lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, and Couch, boatswains; and Stanley,
surgeon. The _Terror_ carried sixty-eight men. Crozier was the
captain; the lieutenants were Little, Hodgson, and Irving; boatswains,
Horesby and Thomas; the surgeon, Peddie. In the names of the bays,
capes, straits, promontories, channels, and islands of these latitudes
you find memorials of most of these unlucky men, of whom not one has
ever again seen his home! In all one hundred and thirty-eight men! We
know that the last of Franklin's letters were written from Disco
Island, and dated July 12, 1845. He said, 'I hope to set sail to-night
for Lancaster Sound.' What followed his departure from Disco Bay? The
captains of the whalers, the _Prince of Wales_ and the _Enterprise_,
saw these two ships for the last time in Melville Bay, and nothing
more was heard of them. Still we can follow Franklin in his course
westward; he went through Lancaster and Barrow Sounds and reached
Beechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845-46."
"But how is this known?" asked Bell, the carpenter.
"By three tombs which the Austin expedition found there in 1850. Three
of Franklin's sailors had been buried there; and, moreover, by a paper
found by Lieutenant Hobson of the _Fox_, dated April 25, 1848. We know
also that, after leaving winter-quarters, the _Erebus_ and _Terror_
ascended Wellington Channel as far as latitude 77 degrees; but instead
of pushing to the north, which they doubtless found impossible, they
returned towards the south--"
"And that was a fatal mistake!" uttered a grave voice. "Safety lay to
the north."
Every one turned round. It was Hatteras, who, leaning on the rail of
the quarter-deck, had just made that solemn remark.
"Without doubt," resumed the doctor, "Franklin intended to make his
way to the American shore; but tempests beset him, and September 12,
1846, the two ships were caught in the ice, a few miles from here, to
the northwest of Cape Felix; they were carried to the north-northwest
of Point Victory; there," said the doctor, pointing out to the sea.
"Now," he added, "the ships were not abandoned till April 22, 1848.
What happened during these nineteen months? What did these poor men
do? Doubtless they explored the surrounding lands, made every effort
to escape, for the admiral was an energetic man; and if he did not
succeed--"
"It's because his men betrayed him," said Hatteras in a deep voice.
The sailors did not dare to lift their eyes; these words made them
feel abashed.
"To be brief, this paper, of which I spoke, tells us, besides, that
Sir John Franklin died, worn out by his sufferings, June 11, 1847. All
honor to his memory!" said the doctor, removing his hat.
The men did the same in silence.
"What became of these poor men, deprived of their leader, during the
next ten months? They remained on board of their ships, and it was not
till April, 1848, that they made up their mind to abandon them; one
hundred and five men survived out of the hundred and thirty-eight.
Thirty-three had died! Then Captains Crozier and Fitz-James erected a
cairn at Point Victory, and left their last paper there. See, my
friends, we are passing by that point. You can see traces of the
cairn, placed, so to speak, at the farthest point reached by John Ross
in 1831! There is Cape Jane Franklin! There Point Franklin! There
Point Le Vesconte! There Erebus Bay, where the launch, made of pieces
of one of the ships, was found on a sledge! There were found silver
spoons, plenty of food, chocolate, tea, and religious books. The
hundred and five survivors, under the command of Captain Crozier, set
out for Great Fish River. How far did they get? Did they reach
Hudson's Bay? Have any survived? What became of them after that?--"
"I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in an
energetic voice. "Yes, they tried to reach Hudson's Bay, and separated
into several parties. They took the road to the south. In 1854 a
letter from Dr. Rae states that in 1850 the Esquimaux had met in King
William's Land a detachment of forty men, chasing sea-cows, travelling
on the ice, dragging a boat along with them, thin, pale, and worn out
with suffering and fatigue. Later, they discovered thirty corpses on
the mainland and five on a neighboring island, some half buried,
others left without burial; some lying beneath an overturned boat,
others under the ruins of a tent; here lay an officer with his glass
swung around his shoulder, and his loaded gun near him; farther on
were kettles with the remains of a horrible meal. At this news, the
Admiralty urged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its most skilful
agents to this place. They descended Black River to its mouth. They
visited Montreal and Maconochie Islands, and Point Ogle. In vain! All
these poor fellows had died of misery, suffering, and starvation,
after trying to prolong their lives by having recourse to cannibalism.
That is what became of them along their way towards the south, which
was lined with their mutilated bodies. Well, do you want to follow
their path?"
[Illustration: "All these poor fellows had died of misery, suffering,
and starvation."]
Hatteras's ringing voice, passionate gestures, and glowing face
produced an indescribable effect. The crew, moved by the sight of
these ill-omened lands, cried with one voice,--
"To the north! to the north!"
"Well, to the north! Safety and glory await us there at the north!
Heaven is declaring for us! The wind is changing! The passage is free!
Prepare to go about!"
The sailors hastened to their places; the ice-streams grew slowly
free; the _Forward_ went about rapidly, and ran under full steam
towards MacClintock's Channel.
Hatteras was justified in counting on a freer sea; on his way he
retraced the probable path of Franklin; he went along the eastern side
of Prince of Wales Land, which is clearly defined, while the other
shore is still unknown. Evidently the clearing away of the ice towards
the south took place through the eastern strait, for it appeared
perfectly clear; so the _Forward_ was able to make up for lost time;
she was put under full steam, so that the 14th they passed Osborne
Bay, and the farthest points reached by the expeditions of 1851. There
was still a great deal of ice about them, but there was every
indication that the _Forward_ would have clear sailing-way before her.