SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC REGIONS: SHOWING THE PROGRESS OF BRITISH ENTERPRISE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE DURING THE NINE~EENTH CENTURY: WITH MORE DETAILED NOTICES OF THE RECENT EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING VESSELS UNDER CAPT. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN WINTER QUARTERS IN THE A.ROTIO REGIONS. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE ARCTIC REGIONS: SHOWING FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: WITH MORE DETAILED NOTICES OF THE RECENT EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING VESSELS UNDER CAPT. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. BY P. L. SIMMONDS, HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING JIIEl\lBER OF THE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF QUEBEC, NEW YORK, LOUISIANA, ETC, AND MANY YEARS EDITOR OF THE COLONIAL MAGAZINE, ETC, ETC, " :Miserable they Who here entangled in the gathering ice, Take their last look of the descending sun While full of death and fierce with tenfold frost, The long long night, incumbent o•er their heads, Falls horrible." Cowl'ER, LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., SOHO SQUARE. MDCCCLI. TO CAPT. SIR W. E. PARRY, R.N., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. CAPT. SIR JAMES C. ROSS, R.N., D.C.L., F.R.S. CAPT. SIR GEORGE BACK, R.N., F.R.S. DR. SIR J. RICHARDSON, R.N., C.B., F.R.S. AND THE OTHER BRAVE ARCTIC NAVIGATORS AND TRAVELLERS WHOSE ARDUOUS EXPLORING SERVICES ARE HEREIN RECORDED, T H I S V O L U M E I S, IN ADMIRATION OF THEIR GALLANTRY, HF.ROIC ENDURANCE, A.ND PERSEVERANCE OVER OBSTACLES OF NO ORDINARY CHARACTER, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THEIR VERY OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THE desire for information felt all over this country, and, in­ deed, I may almost say throughout the civilized world, re­ specting the fate of the missing expedition under Capt. Sir John Franklin, is very great, and continues to become more and more intense, as the lapse of time lessens the probability of their return in safety. The large number of individuals now engaged in prosecuting the search for them in the Arctic regions, and the deep anxiety manifested by the friends and relatives whom these fresh explorers have left behind, has turned the attention of thousands to this in­ hospitable and comparatively little known quarter of the globe, serving to lend an added interest to every book descriptive of t1ie Polar seas and shores. Among the publications which have from time to time appeared, there seems to have been no popular narra­ tive, especially treating of the voyages and journeys oi discovery and research prosecuted in the nineteenth cen­ tury towards the North Pole, embracing accounts of all the recent public and private searching expeditions after the lost ships, and adapted in price to the bulk of the communjty who so eag~rly seek information. To meet this want I have been induced, at the solicita­ tion of my publishers, to undertake the compilation of the following work, in which I have brought into one view all that is really important to be known by those who vi PREFACE, desire to form a correct opinion of the present state of the case, and to make themselves acquainted with what has really been done in the progress of discovery for a north-west passage, and what measures have been adopted for the relief of our imprisoned seamen. Much of the material thus condensed is to be found scattered through a variety of publications, huge and expensive quarto volumes of voyages, now scarce or out of print, parliamentary papers and returns, foreign journals, &c., but the largest portion of this information is entirely new. fu condensing from the voluminous Blue books on this subject that have been published during the last few years, my chief object has been, avoiding rash and speculative opinion, to direct the reader's attention as much as possible to matters of fact ; to place before him all that is really practical, important, and interesting, and especially to put him in possession of what is known of the result of the recent voyages, and the latest position and inte~ded plan of operations of the numerous vessels at present out on the search for the Erebus and Terror. In putting myself in communication with all those best informed on the subject of which this volume treats, I have to acknowledge myself deeply indebted for much polite attention and valuable information to Lady Franklin and her niece Miss Cracroft, to John Barrow, Esq., of the Admiralty, to Capt. Becher, R.N., the talented editor of the Nautical Magazine, to Commander C. C. Forsyth, R.N., and to Dr. Shaw, the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society of London. In conclusion, I may state, that as the son and grand­ son of very old Lieutenants in the Royal Navy, having been originally in the service myself, having five brothers afloat, and a large number of other relatives holding Her Majesty's commission, I feel a deep professional, as well as philanthropic interest, in hearing tidings of the safety of PREFACE, vii Sir John Franklin and his gallant comrades, and am but too happy to aid in satisfying the public desire for informa· tion, by contributing my mite in the publication of the following narrative of voyages and travels in the Arctic Regions, with the appended sug~estions and opinions of experienced officers and competent parties. To the intrepid veteran and navigator, whose name figures so frequently and so honourably in these pages, I hope we may yet be able to apply, with the few slight verbal alterations I have made, the following lines, which were originally addressed to Dr. Leichardt, who after two years absence on a journey through the unexplored regions of Australia, returned to Sydney, when all hopes of his safety had been given up, and his dirge had been sung by his friends. That bold traveller is again absent on a second journey in the interior of that vast continent, and has not been heard of for more than two years. May Heaven grant to each and all of our care-worn travel­ lers by sea and land a speedy deliverance from the perils which environ them, and a safe return to their friends and native country,-a wish to which all my readers will, I am sure, most heartily respond "So mote it be!" " Thy footsteps have returned again, thou wanderer of the wild, Where Nature from her Northern throne in silent beauty smiled, Pilgrim of mighty wastes, untrod by human foot before, Triumphant o'er Frost's wilderness, thy weary journey's o'er. " Thou hast battled with the dangers of the iceberg and the flood, And amid the crystal desert a conqueror hast stood; Thou hast triumphed o'er the perils of the glacier and the main, And a nation's smiling welcome is thy greeting home again. " Long had we mourn'd with sorrowing, and plaintive dirges sung, For fate a wild mysterious veil around thy name had flung ; And hope's declining energies with feeble etfort strove Against the boding voice of fear that haunts the heart of love. viii PREFACE, " And Rumour, with her hundred tongues, her vague and blighting breath, Had whispered tidings sad and drear, dark tales of blood and death ; Till tortured fancy ceased to hope, and all despairing gave Thy name a hallowed memory-thy bones a Polar grave. " But, no ! that proud intrepid heart still held its purpose high, Like Afric's martyr traveller, resolved to do or die ; Like him, to find a lonely grave, in desert lands of flame, Or win a bright eternity of high and glorious fame I " Oft amid famine, danger, death, when meaner spirits quail'd, Have thy unfailing energies to cheer and soothe prevail'd; For well thy hope-inspiring voice could speak of perils past, And bid each coming one appear less painful than the last. " And oft e'en that brave heart of thine has sadden'd to despair, When o'er some wild and ice-clad scene, the sunlight shining fair, Hath bid thy softened spirit feel, how lonely were thy lot, To die, thy mission unfulfill'd, unknown, unwept, forgot. " Proud man! in after ages the story shall be told, Of that advent.'rous voyager, the generous, the bold, Who scorning hope of selfish gain, disdaining soft repose, Went forth to trace a pathway through unyielding ice and snows." P. L. SIMMONDS. 5, Barge-.11ard, City, JJfarclt, 1851. CONTENTS. PAGE Introductory Remarks . 1 Little known of the Arctic Regions.-Notice of Captain Phipps' voyage.-Parry's and Franklin's opinions on a North-west passage.-Abstract of Sir John Barrow's works on Arctic Discovery.-England's neglect of her nautical heroes. Captain John Rosa's Voyage in the Isabella and Alexander to Hudson's Bay in 1818 14 Names of officers and men.-Ships visited by the natives of Greenland.-Abundance of birds on this coast.-Gale of wind. -Red snow.-Lancaster Sound.-The fabulous Croker Moun­ tains.-Agnes monument.-Large bear shot.-Return home. Voyage of Buchan and Franklin in the Dorothea a.nd Trent to Spitzbergen,,&c., 1818 , 23 Names of officers, and complement, &c.-Fanciful appearance of icebergs.-Ships arrive at Spitzbergen.-Anchor in Magdalene bay.-Hanging icebergs.-Immense flocks of birds.-Dangerous ascent of Rotge Hill.-Attack of walruses. - Surprised by unlooked-for visitors.-Devout feeling of recluses.-Expedition puts to sea again.-Party lose themselves on the ice.-Ships damaged by pressure of the floes.-Dangerous position of the ships.-They take refuge in the main pack of icebergs.­ Vessels put into Fair Haven to stop leaks and refit.-Heturn home.