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ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS:

A LECTURE

DELIVERED AT THE LONDON INSTITUTION,
FEBRUARY 6, 1850.

BY CHARLES RICHARD WELD,

ASSISTANT SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

With a Map.

2035f-21

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1850.

CONTENTS.

HEROISM of the Voyagers in the Arctic Seas.-Discoveries of the
Northmen.-Expeditions of the Portuguese-of the Cabots.-
England undertakes Northern Voyages of Discovery.-Expe-
ditions of Frobisher, Gilbert, Davis, &c.-The Royal Society
encourage Arctic Voyages.-Parliament offer a reward for the
Discovery of the North-West Passage.-Change in the glacial
condition of the Arctic Seas. Various unsuccessful attempts
made to discover the North-West Passage.-Parry's Expe-
ditions. Sir John Barrow's proposition to send out a North-
West Expedition.-Lord Haddington's Letter on the subject.—
Sir John Franklin's Appointment. The early Life of Frank-
lin.-Equipment of the Erebus and Terror.-Sir John Franklin's
official Instructions.-Letters from Captain Fitzjames and
Mr. Griffith respecting the Expedition.-Expeditions of Re-
lief.-Probable Positions of the missing Ships. Further search-
ing Measures.-Employment of Balloons.-Proposed Subscrip-
tion in the United States for an Expedition.

ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS;

A LECTURE.

THERE is probably no portion of the history of this country which so forcibly illustrates the calm and enduring heroism of our countrymen, as that relating to the voyages of discovery in the Arctic seas.

It is impossible to contemplate the terrible catalogue of suffering which the history of those voyages presents, without feelings of the highest admiration.

The actors in those scenes were worthy descendants of those daring Northmen who went forth in frail barks over their stormy waters, and discovered the shores of Arctic America, five centuries before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic to that mighty continent.

But the spirit of northern maritime enterprise arose in other lands before it became active in our own.

We have indisputable evidence that Greenland was discovered by Erick Rauda, or the Red, a bold Scandinavian, in 1001. The original records of this discovery state that he called the land Greenland to induce the Norwegians to settle there, which they did; and it is from the voyages of the Venetians, Nicolo and Antonio Zeno, in 1380, that we first learn.

tidings of the colony. They found it thriving, and mention particularly a monastery, the church and apartments of which were heated by warm water ejected from boiling springs in the vicinity.

The voyages of the Zenos throw considerable light on the state of Greenland and Labrador at that early period. They were succeeded by several bold expeditions, sent out by the Portuguese, which led to the discovery of Newfoundland, called by them Terra de Bacalhaos, or Land of Codfish, and other contiguous parts of the North American Continent. Among these enterprising navigators, Gaspar Cortereal deserves particular mention; for after a voyage to the north, during which he discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, he became so fully convinced of the existence of a north-west passage to India, that he left Lisbon, in 1501, for the purpose of discovering it, but perished a victim to his daring, his ships having foundered in the northern seas.

Although this expedition terminated so fatally, the idea of a north-western passage to India and Cathay quickly gained ground. To attain these distant lands of "pearls and gold" by a less toilsome and tedious voyage than that round the Cape of Storms, was a favourite day-dream in the sixteenth century; and the Spaniards, whose flag had been carried across the Atlantic, made several attempts to reach the Indies by the north.

Estevan Gomez, who had been with Magalhaens, sailed from Corunna, in 1524, with that object; but he did not get beyond Labrador. Unwilling that his voyage should be entirely fruitless, he carried off

some natives, whom he regarded in the light of slaves. This led to a curious mistake, illustrative of the confidence that was entertained in the existence of a north-west passage. On his return to Spain, being asked what success he had met with, he answered, "esclavos," slaves, which the inquirer mistook for "clavos," cloves, and posted off to the court with the news that Gomez had made what Purchas calls "a spicy discovery."

In the latter part of the fifteenth century, England first evinced an ardour for northern voyages. Henry VII. had encouraged John Cabot, a Venetian, to make discoveries, by granting him a patent to search for unknown lands; but so firmly was he impressed with the belief that by sailing north-west he would, to use his own words, "come by a shorter track into India;” that, instead of seeking for lands in southern seas, he caused, as he says, "the king to be advertised of his device; who immediately commanded two caravels to be furnished with all things appertaining to the voyage." Cabot reached the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude; but, finding no opening in the coast, he despaired of a passage, and returned.

This failure, however discouraging, did not extinguish the desire for discovery. In 1527 Robert Thorne sailed from the Thames with "two faire ships and divers cunning men to seek strange northern regions." All that Hakluyt, to whom we are indebted for the most complete account of early voyages, could ascertain respecting these ships and the cunning men was, that the name of one of the vessels was Dominus Vobiscum; and that a canon