vither in Wellington Strait or elsewhere. It is quite conceivable that here also the expedition may have encountered, at no very great distance, insuperable difficulties to their advance, and may have failed in accomplishing a return with their ships. In this case, the retreat of the crews, supposing it to have been made across land or ice, would most probably be directed to some part of the coast on the route to Melville Island, on which route they would, without doubt, expect that succor would be attempted."

Mr. Robert A. Goodsir, a brother of Mr. H. D. Goodsir, the assistant-surgeon of Sir John Franklin's ship, the Erebus, left Stroinness, as surgeon of the Advice, whaler, Capt. Penny, on the 17th of March, 1849, in the hopes of gaining some tidings of his brother; but returned unsuccessful after an eight months' voyage. He has, however, published a very interesting little narrative of the icy regions and of his arctic voyage.

In a letter to Lady Franklin, dated Edinburgh, 18th of January, 1850, he says:-"I trust you are not allowing yourself to become over-anxious. I know that, although there is much cause to be so, there is still not the slightest reason that we should despair. It may be presumptuous in me to say so, but I have never for a moment doubted as to their ultimate safe return, having always had a sort of presentiment that I would meet my brother and his companions somewhere in the regions in which their adventures are taking place. This hope I have not yet given up, and I trust that by next summer it may be fulfilled, when an end will be put to the suspense which has lasted so long, and which must have tried you so much."

The arctic regions, far from being so destitute of animal life as might be supposed from the bleak and inhospitable character of the climate, are proverbial for the boundless profusion of various species of the animal kingdom, which are to be met with in different localities during a great part of the year.

The air is often darkened by innumerable flocks of arctic and blue gulls, (Lestris Parasiticus, and Larus

glaucus,) the ivory gull or snow-bird, (Larus eburneus,) the kittiwake, the fulmar or petrel, snow geese, terns, coons, dovekies, &c. The cetaceous animals comprise the great Greenland whale, (Balana mysticetus,) the sea unicorn or narwhal, (Monodon monoceros,) the white whale or beluga, (Delphinus leucos,) the morse or walrus, (Trichecus rosmarus,) and the seal. There are also plenty of porpoises occasionally to be met with, and although these animals may not be the best of food, yet they can be eaten. Of the land animals I may instance the polar bear, the musk-ox, the reindeer, the arctic fox and wolves.

Parry obtained nearly 4000lbs. weight of animal food during his winter residence at Melville Island; Ross nearly the same quantity from birds alone when wintering at Port Leopold.

In 1719, the crews of two Hudson's Bay vessels, the Albany and Discovery, a ship and sloop, under the command of Mr. Barlow and Mr. Knight, were cast on shore on Marble Island, and it was subsequently ascertained that some of the party supported life for nearly three years. Mr. Hearne learned the particulars from some of the Esquimaux in 1729. The ship it appeared went on shore in the fall of 1719; the party being then in number about fifty, began to build their house for the winter. As soon as the ice permitted in the following summer the Esquimaux paid them another visit, and found the number of sailors much reduced, and very unhealthy.

Sickness and famine occasioned such havoc among them that by the setting in of the second winter, their number was reduced to twenty. Some of the Esquimaux took up their abode at this period on the opposite side of the harbor, and supplied them with what provisions they could spare in the shape of blubber, seal's flesh, and train oil.

The Esquimaux left for their wanderings in the spring, and on revisiting the island in the summer of 1721, only five of the crews were found alive, and these were so ravenous for food, that they devoured the blub

ber and seal's flesh raw, as they purchased it of the natives, which proved so injurious in their weak state, that three of them died in a few days. The two survivors, though very weak, managed to bury their comrades, and protracted their existence for some days longer.

"They frequently," in the words of the narrative, "went to the top of an adjacent rock, and earnestly looked to the south and east, as if in expectation of some vessels coming to their relief. After continuing there a considerable time, and nothing appearing in sight, they sat down close together, and wept bitterly. At length one of the two died, and the other's strength was so far exhausted, that he fell down and died also in attempting to dig a grave for his companion. The skulls and other large bones of these two men are now lying above ground close to the house."

Sir John Richardson, speaking of the amount of food to be obtained in the polar region, says, "Deer migrate over the ice in the spring from the main shore to Victoria and Wollaston Lands in large herds, and return in the autumn. These lands are also the breeding places of vast flocks of snow geese; so that with ordinary skill in hunting, a large supply of food might be procured on their shores, in the months of June, July, and August. Seals are also numerous in those seas, and are easily shot, their curiosity rendering them a ready prey to a boat party." In these ways and by fishing, the stock of provisions might be greatly augmented and we have the recent example of Mr. Rae, who passed a severe winter on the very barren shores of Repulse Bay, with no other fuel than the withered tufts of a herbaceous andromada, and maintained a numerous party on the spoils of the chase alone for a whole year. Such instances, forbid us to lose hope. Should Sir John Franklin's provisions become so far inadequate to a winter's consumption, it is not likely that he would remain longer by his ships, but rather that in one body, or in several, the officers and crews, with boats cut down so as to be light enough to drag over

the ice, or built expressly for that purpose, would endeavor to make their way eastward to Lancaster Sound, or southward to the main-land, according to the longitude in which the ships were arrested.

We ought not to judge of the supplies of food that can be procured in the arctic regions by diligent hunting, from the quantities that have been actually obtained on the several expeditions that have returned, and consequently of the means of preserving life there. When there was abundance in the ships, the address and energy of the hunting parties was not likely to be called forth, as they would inevitably be when the existence of the crews depended solely on their personal efforts, and formed their chief or only object in their march toward quarters where relief might be looked for. This remark has reference to the supposition that on the failure of the stock of provisions in the ships, the crews would, in separate parties under their officers, seek for succor in several directions.

With an empty stomach, the power of resisting external cold is greatly impaired; but when the process of digesting is going on vigorously, even with comparatively scanty clothing, the heat of the body is preserved. There is in the winter time, in high latitudes, a craving for fat or oleaginous food, and for such occasions the flesh of seals, walruses, or bears, forms a useful article of diet. Captain Cook says that the walrus is a sweet and wholesome article of food. Whales and seals would also furnish light and fuel. The necessity for increased food in very cold weather, is not so great when the people do not work.

Mr. Gilpin, in his narrative in the Nautical Magazine for March, 1850, writes thus:

"About the 20th of June a small water bird, called the doveky, had become so numerous, and so many were daily shot by those who troubled themselves to go. after them, that shooting parties from each ship, consisting of an officer and marine, were established at Whaler Point, where they remained the whole week, returning on board on Saturday night. In a week or