of H.M.S. Amphitrite, up to October 13th, 1852, and from Commander Rochfort Maguire, to the 20th of August, 1852. The latter excellent officer had succeeded Captain Moore in the command of the Plover. Unhappily, not a particle of intelligence had been obtained of the missing Franklin Expedition; even the endless rumours and reports which, since 1849, had abounded along the coast from Michaelowski to Point Barrow had all died away. The Plover sailed for Point Barrow 21st August, 1852, with the intention of wintering at that Point, so that she might render assistance, should the crews of the Erebus and Terror, or those of the Enterprise and Investigator, be compelled, from distressful circumstances, to seek the shores of Arctic America.

Another year came to a close. Still the secret of the whereabouts and the fate of Franklin and his companions remained as profoundly mysterious and inexplicable as ever. The more than interesting fragments picked up at Parker Bay, Victoria Land, this year, by that energetic, truthful traveller, Dr. Rae, do not seem to have obtained that attention which the identifying Government mark they bore would have led one to suppose they would have commanded; they elicited no opinion regarding their origin and their drift, beyond that given by Dr. Rae himself on the spot, which, from the fact of his not being acquainted with the results of Austin's travelling parties, was open to objection. One would have thought, seeing the locality in which they were found, that some attempt would have been made to solve the significant, though dumb, suggestions they offered; but the fact is, under the delusive glare of the Wellington Channel and the north, blinding men's minds and darkening all reason, they could not be understood at the time; and any attempt, by one not under its fatal influence, honestly to unravel the important tale they told by their appearance in such an unexpected quarter, must have been of necessity antagonistic to the phrensy then raging, and would have been met with scornful contempt. The time was not convenient, and their silent admonitions were lost-Melville Sound was unthought of. This year, like others, teemed with inconsiderate plans and flying rumours and reports. The most cruel falsities were promulgated regarding the position of our unfortunate countrymen, now elevating, then outraging, the feelings of the relatives and friends at home. Thus, alternately raised and depressed, they were deprived even of the transitory comfort which they might have derived from that hopeful but delusive aurora with which the Spirits of the North had overshadowed them.

CHAPTER XIII.

KENNEDY'S PROJECTED EXPEDITION TO BEHRING'S STRAIT IN THE "ISABEL," BUT ABANDONED PHOENIX SAILS FOR BEECHEY ISLAND-SECOND AMERICAN EXPEDITION SAILS FOR SMITH'S SOUND UNDER DR. KANE-PARKER SNOW'S PROJECTED EXPEDITION FROM MELBOURNE TO BEHRING'S STRAIT, BUT ABANDONED-PHŒNIX RETURNS-INGLEFIELD'S DESPATCHES-DEATH OF LIEUT. BELLOT, OF IMPERIAL NAVY OF FRANCE-BELCHER'S DESPATCHES— HIS NEW DISCOVERIES TO THE NORTH-EAST OF GRINNELL LAND -REPORT OF HIS TRAVELLING PARTIES-RICHARDS AND OSBORN TO THE SOUTH-WEST-BELCHER LEAVES NORTHUMBERLAND SOUND FOR BEECHEY ISLAND- KELLETT'S DESPATCHES -LIEUT. PIM VISITS BANKS' LAND-FINDS M'CLURE AND INVESTIGATOR" AT BAY OF MERCY-M'CLURE VISITS KELLETT, AND ARRANGEMENTS -KELLETT'S TRAVELLING PARTIES DESPATCHED.

66

1853. THE year opened with a lull-not of apathy, for the public feeling was as much alive to the forlorn condition of our long absent countrymen as ever-but hope and fear balanced each other; there was a vague expectation that good would arise, but whence no one had any definite idea. It was not from the Wellington Channel; for, strange to record it, no sooner was it known that Nature had unbarred the ice-locked entrance of that channel, and admitted a free passage to the north, than doubts arose, and the motives (for reasons there were none) were canvassed for renewing the search in that direction. Divested of extraneous feeling, the consequence was mistrust, and the bright anticipations of successful, happy results from that quarter waned; still the expectation, however illusory, for a time. gave relief.

April 8th, 1853.-Sailed the Isabel, under the command of Mr. William Kennedy (late of the Prince Albert), for Behring's Strait. It will be remembered this vessel was purchased for Capt. Beatson, that he might be enabled to carry out his plan of search, viz., the Asiatic shores, New Siberian Islands, and eastward, to the north of the land seen by Capt. Kellett. From unforeseen circumstances this voyage was prevented at the time; but it will have been noticed the

little Isabel had not laid idle; she did good service under Capt. Inglefield in Whale, Smith's, and Jones's Sounds (1852). On her return, she was restored to Lady Franklin, who now resolved to fit her out for her original destination. In this, that noble-minded lady was aided by the generous contributions of the Legislative Council and inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land,* of which Sir John Franklin had been Governor. Various addresses were sent to Lady Franklin on this occasion, expressive of their sincere esteem for, and high appreciation of, the distinguishing public and private virtues of their late ruler, her gallant husband-their deep sympathy for herself, and admiration of the heroic devotion she had shown in the endless sacrifices she had made. But the good fortune of the little Isabel seems to have left her with her late talented, enterprising commander, Inglefield. She arrived at Valparaiso, where a disagreement arose between Mr. Kennedy and the officers and crew, and the voyage was abandoned.

May 19th, 1853.-H.M.S. Phoenix, Commander E. A. Inglefield, accompanied by the Breadalbane transport, left Sheerness for Beechey Island, stored with provisions, &c., for Sir Edward Belcher's squadron.t He was directed, in returning, in case of opportunity, to examine "the coast in the vicinity of Cape Walsingham." Additional orders were sent to Sir Edward Belcher. We notice the following paragraph: "If no traces of the missing ships have been found in Wellington Channel, and if it should appear that" they "did not proceed in that direction, and if Capt. Kellett should have reached Melville Island, and his land expeditions should also have failed to discover any such traces, it does not appear to us that there is any other direction in which a prospect of their discovery can be expected. Every accessible part of the shores, Polar Seas, west of Lancaster Sound, will have been visited, without finding a trace of the missing ships, except their former station at Beechey Island in 1845 and 6. In such a contingency as this, . . there appears no other course left but to abandon all further search." The above extract shows the feeling of the Admiralty it is obviously their intention to discontinue the search; it is evident they think enough has been done to rescue our unfortunate countrymen. But the assertion that "every accessible part of the Polar Seas, west of Lancaster Sound, will have been visited," is

* See the Address of Sir R. I. Murchison to the Royal Geographical Society, May, 1853, vol. 23, p. lxxx.

† See Blue Books, "Papers relative to the Recent Arctic Expeditions," 1854, p. 3.

not fact; the search of Melville Sound, the special locality to which Franklin was directed, was begun, but left incomplete by a space of 200 miles in width. It was this important space that led to the formation of the original plan of the voyage; it ought to have commanded our first attention, and no other quarter, until it had been completely examined; it was, alone, the true direction of search, or in "which a prospect of their discovery could be expected." The above extract shows great ignorance of the whole subject. We fancy we detect in these Instructions already some misgiving of the sanguine hopes entertained as to the search by the Wellington Channel--the mania in its favour was at its height-was passing the meridian :—but enough! never were plans drawn so opposed to existing facts, and so pertinaciously persisted in. We seek for our unfortunate countrymen in a wrong direction, are astonished at not finding them, and then conclude, in opposition to all reason, that "every part" has "been visited," and that there is "no other course left but to abandon the search." Alas! for the unfortunate Franklin, and his doomed officers and crews.

The gallant young French officer, Lieut. Bellot-already noticed as having accompanied Mr. Kennedy in the Prince Albert, 1851-2, again a volunteer for Arctic service-was appointed to the Phoenix, under Commander Inglefield, on this voyage.

May 30th, 1853.-Sailed from New York, the Advance, under the command of the talented, enterprising Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, of the U.S. Navy, for the examination of Smith's Sound, Baffin's Bay, in search of our lost navigators. We have much pleasure in recording the departure of this, the second expedition fitted out with this humane object by our American kinsmen, for in it we see another proof of the deep sympathy and solicitude of our trans-atlantic brethren, not only for the now critical, if not distressful, position of the lamented Franklin and his devoted followers-so long abroad-but also of respect for that sorrow which ariseth from anxiety and hope deferred, now pervading all classes in the mother country at home. The feeling thus shown will ever reflect honour on America as a nation, and add yet another star to its already well covered starbespangled banner; more especially may its lustre fall on her noblehearted citizens, Henry Grinnell and George Peabody, for by their munificent example, countenanced by the Government, and aided by various scientific societies, associations, and friends of science, was this expedition despatched on its sacred mission. It will be remembered, Dr. Kane was with Lieut. De Haven in the Advance in 1850:

to him we owe the admirably written, highly interesting chronicle of that eventful voyage, where danger was on every side to destroy, but where also the hand of an almighty Providence was ever present to protect. A votary to the prevailing feeling that a higher temperature and a Polar Ocean existed to the north, and that Franklin had adopted the Wellington Channel and the Sea of Penny as the means to accomplish the great object of his voyage, Dr. Kane thus records his views for recommending his plan of search by Smith's Sound. They were developed in a paper read before the Geographical Society of New York. The following extracts will put the reader in possession of the leading features of the plan: "It was based (says Dr. Kane) upon the probable extension of the land masses of Greenland to the far north-a fact at that time not verified by travel, but sustained by the analogies of physical geography. Greenland, though looked upon as a congeries of islands, connected by interior glaciers, was still to be regarded as a peninsula, whose formation recognized the same general laws as other peninsulas having a southern trend. From the alternating altitudes of its mountain ranges, continued without depression throughout a meridional line of nearly 1,100 miles, I inferred that this chain must extend very far to the north, and that Greenland might, not improbably, approach nearer the Pole than any other known land. Believing, then, in such an extension of this peninsula, and feeling that the search for Sir John Franklin would be best promoted by a course that might lead most directly to the open sea of which I had inferred the existence, and that the approximation of the meridians would make access to the west as easy from North Greenland as from Wellington Channel, and access to the east far more easy; feeling, too, that the highest protruding headland would be most likely to afford some traces of the lost party, I named, as the inducements in favour of my scheme-1st. Terra firma as the basis of our operations, obviating the capricious character of ice-travel; 2nd. A due northern line, which, throwing aside the influences of terrestrial radiation, would lead soonest to the open sea, should such exist; 3rd. The benefit of the fan-like abutment of land, on the north face of Greenland, to check the ice in its southern or equatorial drift, thus obviating the great drawback of Parry, in his attempts to reach the Pole by the Spitzbergen Sea; 4th. Animal life, to sustain tra

* See "The U.S. Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin," by Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.N.

+ See "Arctic Explorations in the Years 1853, '54, '55," by the same author.