1822 1823 1821 Admiralty Midshipman in the Fury in Captain Parry's 2nd voyage of discovery to the Arctic seas; was made Lieutenant, 26th December, 1822. Lieutenant in the Fury, Captain Hoppner, 3rd voyage of Captain Parry. To draw charts and make drawings. 1824 1825 1827 First-Lieutenant in the Hecla, Captain Parry; accompanied him in command of the 2nd boat in his attempt to reach the North Pole. Promoted on return, 8th November, 1827. 1829) In private steam-vessel, Victory. to 1833) On the 1st of June, 1831, planted the Union-jack on the North Magnetic Pole. On return presented by the College of Arms with an addition to the arms of Ross; representing the flag flying on the Magnetic Pole, with additional crest, "on a rock, a flag-staff erect, thereon hoisted the Union-jack, inscribed with the date, 1st June, 1831." 1834 Promoted to the rank of Captain, 28th October, 1834. 1835 Employed making magnetic observations, preparatory to commencing the magnetic survey of England. 1836 Captain in the ship commissioned by the Admiralty, sent in search of the missing whalers, in the depth of winter.* * On a representation from Hull that eleven whale ships and six hundred men were left in the ice and in danger of perishing, and requesting the Admiralty to send out relief, Captain James Ross volunteered to go out in the depth of winter, and the three lieutenants, Crozier, Inman, and Ommanney, with the three mates, Jesse, Buchan, and John Smith, and Mr. Hallett, clerk in charge, volunteered to join him. He hoisted his pennant on the 21st December, and after a stormy voyage arrived in Davis Strait, and found nine of the missing ships were by that time in England, that the tenth was released and on her passage, and the eleventh was probably lost, as some of her casks had been picked up at sea. 1837 Employed, at the desire of the Lords Commissioners 1838 of the Admiralty, in determining the variation of the compass on all parts of the coast of Great Britain, and the general magnetic survey for determining duration of the time of equal variation, dip, and intensity, in conjunction with Professor Lloyd, Colonel Sabine, and Professor Phillips, at the request of the British Associa tion. And lastly, from 1839 to 1843, Captain H.M.S. Erebus, in command of the Antarctic expedition. 13th March, 1844, received the honour of knighthood. 20th June, 1844, Hon. D.C.L., Oxford. Received gold medals of Geographical Societies of It will be seen that Mr. James (now Sir James) Ross has risen by regular gradation from the lowest to the highest rank in his profession, and to the honours he now enjoys, by his indefatigable zeal, self-taught abilities, and diligence. It is due to him, therefore, in taking leave of his Arctic labours, at the same time with his friend and Commanding Officer Sir Edward Parry, to express a conviction, in common with that of his brother officers and associates, that few men possess, in a more eminent degree, the qualities required in most arduous attempts. To a strong and vigorous constitution, and bodily powers of no ordinary kind, James Ross unites an ardent love of enterprise, a determined perseverance in the attainment of his object, and a mind undaunted by difficulty or danger. To these qualities must be added that advancement in navigation, astronomy, natural history, and other branches of science, which few naval officers can boast of, but which were such as fitted him peculiarly for selection to the command of the recent Antarctic expedition, for the results of which, from his pen, public expectation is more than usually alive. CHAPTER X. CAPTAIN JOHN FRANKLIN. 1819-20-21-22. Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea. By JOHN FRANKLIN, Capt. R.N., F.R.S., Commander of the Expedition. THIS expedition, under the command of Commander (now Captain Sir John) Franklin, has not only added greatly to the geography, geology, and natural history of that portion of the northern coast of North America within the Arctic regions, but more especially to that which borders on the southern shores of the Polar Sea; and has also contributed largely to, and firmly established, that estimate of the physical, mental, and moral character of British seamen, equally good when serving on shore as afloat-an estimate which we Englishmen had long formed, and of which we are justly proud. It has also supplied traits of character, and of the physical constitution of the various native tribes. "The narrative of Captain Franklin" (the writer is here borrowing from himself) "adds another to the many splendid records of the enterprise, zeal, and energy of British seamen-of that cool and intrepid conduct which never forsakes them on occasions the most trying-that unshaken con stancy and perseverance in situations the most arduous, the most distressing, and sometimes the most hopeless that can befall human beings; and it furnishes a beautiful example of the triumph of mental and moral energy over mere brute strength, in the simple fact, that out of fifteen individuals enured from their birth to cold, fatigue, and hunger, no less than ten (native landsmen) were so subdued by the aggravation of those evils to which they had been habituated, as to give themselves up to indifference, insubordination, and despair, and finally, to sink down and die; whilst of five British seamen, unaccustomed to the severity of the climate, and the hardships attending it, one only fell, and that one by the murderous hand of an assassin. A light buoyant heart, a confidence in their own powers, supported by a firm reliance on a merciful Providence, never once forsook them, nor suffered the approach of despondency, but brought them safely through such misery and distress as rarely, if ever, have been surmounted." The five persons mentioned were Captain John (now Sir John) Franklin, at this time commanding an expedition, not for attempting the discovery of a North-West Passage, but to supply the means of facilitating one, and to extend the geography of a part of the Polar regions very little known; Doctor Richardson, a naval surgeon, now Medical Inspector of the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar; "To Doctor Richardson, in particular," Sir John says, "the exclusive merit is due of whatever collections and observations have been made in the department of natural history; and I am indebted to him in no small degree for his friendly advice and assistance in the preparation of the present Narrative. The |