'The greater facility of navigating from the west has Leen powerfully advocated by others on former occasions; and the chief, perhaps the only reason why the attempt to penetrate the Polar Sea from that quarter has not been resumed since the time of Cock is, that the length of the previous voyage to Behring's Strait would considerably diminish the store of provisions; but the facilities of obtaining supplies in the Pacific are now so augmented, that this objection has no longer the same force."

Captain F. W. Beechey, writing from Cheltenham, on the 1st of December, 1849, says :

"I quite agree with Sir Francis Beaufort in what he has stated with regard to any casualties which Sir J. Franklin's ships may have sustained, and entirely agree with him and Sir Edward Parry, that the expedition is probably hampered among the ice somewhere to the Southwestward of Melville Island; but there is yet a possibility which does not appear to have been contemplated, which is, that of the scurvy having spread among the crew, and incapacitated a large proportion of them from making any exertion toward their release, or that the whole, in a debilitated state, may yet be clinging by their vessels, existing sparingly upon the provision which a large mortality may have spun out, in the hope of relief.

"In the first case, that of the ships being hampered and the crews in good health, I think it certain that, as the resources of the ships would be expended in May last, Sir John Franklin and his crew have abandoned the ships, and pushed forward for the nearest point where they might reasonably expect assistance, and which they could reasonably reach.

"There are consequently three points to which it would be proper to direct attention, and as the case is urgent, every possible method of relief should be ener getically pushed forward at as early a period as possible, and directed to those points, which, I need scarcely say, are Barrow's Strait, Behring's Strait, and the northern coast of America.

"Of the measures which can be resorted to on the northern coast of America, the officers who have hao experience there, and the Hudson's Bay Company, will be able to judge; but I am of opinion that nothing should be neglected in that quarter; for it seems to me almost certain that Sir John Franklin and his crew, if able to travel, have abandoned their ships and made for the continent; and if they have not succeeded in gaining the Hudson's Bay outposts, they have been overtaken by winter before they could accomplish their purpose.

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Lastly as to the opinion which naturally forces itself upon us, as to the utility of the sending relief to persons whose means of subsistence will have failed them more than a year by the time the relief could reach them, I would observe, that a prudent reduction of the allowance may have been timely made to meet an emergency, or great mortality may have enabled the survivors to subsist up to the time required, or it may be that the crews have just missed reaching the points visited by our parties last year before they quitted them, and in the one case may now be subsisting on the supplies at Leopold Island, or be housed in eastward of Point Barrow, sustained by depots which have been fallen in with, or by the native supplies; so that under all the circumstances, I do not consider their condition so utterly hopeless that we should give up the expectation of yet being able to render them a timely assistance.

"The endeavors to push forward might be continued until the 30th of August, at latest, at which time, if the ships be not near some land where they can conven iently pass a winter, they must direct their course for the main-land, and seek a secure harbor in which they could remain. And on no account should they risk a winter in the pack, in consequence of the tides and shallow water lying off the coast.

"Should the expedition reach Herschel Island, or any other place of refuge on the coast near the mouth of the Mackenzie or Colville Rivers, endeavors should be made to communicate information of the ships' posi

tion and summer's proceedings through the Hudson's Bay Company or Russian settlements, and by means of interpreters; and no opportunity should be omitted of gaining from the natives information of the missing vessels, as well as of any boat expeditions that may have gone forward, as well as of the party under Dr. Rae.

"If nothing should be heard of Sir John Franklin in 1850, parties of observation should be sent forward in the spring to intercept the route the ship would have pursued, and in other useful directions between winter quarters and Melville Island; taking especial care that they return to the ship before the time of liberation of the ships arrives, which greatly depends upon their locality.

"Then, on the breaking up of the ice, should any favorable appearance of the ice present itself, the expedition might be left free to take advantage of such a prospect, or to return round Point Barrow; making it imperative, however, either to insure their return, so far as human foresight may be exercised, or the certainty of their reaching Melville Island at the close of that season, and so securing their return to England

in 1852.

"If, after all, any unforeseen event should detain the ships beyond the period contemplated above, every exertion should be used, by means of boats and interpreters, to communicate with the Mackenzie; and should any casualty render it necessary to abandon the vessels, it should be borne in mind that the reserve-ship will remain at her quarters until the autumn of 1853, unless she hears of the safety of the ships and boats in other directions; while in the other quarter, Fort Macpherson, at the entrance of the Mackenzie, may be relied upon as an asylum.

"The Plover, or reserve-ship, should be provided with three years' provisions for her own crew, and for contingencies besides. She should be placed as near as possible to Point Barrow, and provided with interpreters, and the means of offering rewards for information; and she should remain at her quarters so long

as there can be any occasion for her presence in 18 Arctic Seas; or, if she does not hear any thing of te expedition under Captain Collinson, as long as her provisions will last."

Sir John Richardson offers the following advice for this expedition:-"It," he says, "it should winter near the mouth of the Yucan or Colville, that river may be ascended in a boat in the month of June, before the sea ice begins to give way. The river varies in width from a mile and a half to two miles, and flows through a rich, well-wooded valley, abounding in moose deer, and having a comparatively mild climate. A Russian trading post has been built on it, at the dis tance of three or four days' voyage from the sea, with the current; but as the current is strong, from nine to twelve days must be allowed for its ascent, with the tracking line. It would be unsafe to rely upon receiving a supply of provisions at the Russian post, as it is not likely that any stock beyond what is necessary for their own use is laid up by the traders; and the moose deer being a very shy animal, is not easily shot by an unpracticed hunter; but the reindeer abound on the neighboring hills, and are much more approachable. The white-fronted goose also breeds in vast flocks in that district of the country, and may be killed in numbers, without difficulty, in the month of June.

"If the expedition should winter within a reasonable distance of the Mackenzie, Captain Collinson may have it in his power to send dispatches to England by that route.

"The river opens in June, and as soon as the ice ceases to drive, may be ascended in a boat, with a fair wind, under sail, or with a tracking line.

"The lowest post at present occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company on this river is Fort Good Hope. The site of this post has been changed several times, but it is at this time on the right bank of the river, in latitude 66° 16' N., and is ten or eleven days' voyage from the sea. At Point Separation, opposite to the middle channel of the delta of the river, and on the