FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN EXPEDITION 263 



be found; nothing to connect it with Sir John Franklin. Presently, 

 as they looked along the northern slope of the island, other strange 

 objects caught their eye. Another rush of eager, breathless beings, 

 and all stood in silence before three graves. Some of them were 

 unable to refrain from tears as they muttered the words inscribed 

 upon the rude tablets, "EREBUS AND TERROR/' 



During the succeeding years various other expeditions were 

 sent out, but nothing of importance was found until the expedition 

 of Captain McClintock of 1857-59. McClintock had served under 

 Sir James Ross in his Franklin search expedition of 1848-49, and 

 in later attempts, in which he performed remarkable feats in sledge 

 traveling. In 1857 he was chosen to command the expedition sent 

 out by Lady Franklin for a final effort to obtain tidings of the lost 

 navigator. In the winter of 1858-59 he and his officers made 

 extensive sledge journeys, and in May, 1859, found at Point Vic- 

 tory, on King William's Island, a record of Franklin's death and 

 the remains of the last survivor of his party. For his success he 

 was knighted and received various honors and rewards. 



The finding of this paper and the expedition itself were the 

 result of the last of Lady Franklin's various efforts to discover the 

 fate of her husband. To this object she had dedicated all her avail- 

 able means, and, aided by sympathizing friends, had purchased and 

 fitted out the "Fox," in which McClintock sailed. The paper was 

 found by Lieutenant Hobson, enclosed in a tin cylinder, in a cairn 

 twelve miles from Cape Herschel, and, with a large number of relics 

 obtained at this and other points, it was deposited in the Museum 

 of the United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard. The discovery 

 of this paper first definitely made known the fate of the party, an 

 issue generally apprehended in England from the time of Rae's 

 discoveries in 1854, for the relics which in that year he had brought 

 from the Eskimos were articles of personal property of the officers, 

 including Sir John Franklin's own star of the Order of Merit. 



We may briefly refer to two other search expeditions headed 



