270 APPENDIX. 



No. VIII. 



Copy of Instructions addressed to Captain Sir JoJtn Franklin, K.C.H., 

 Her Majesty's ship Erebus, dated th May, 1845. 



By t/te Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral 

 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 



1. Her Majesty's Government having deemed it expedient that a 

 further attempt should be made for the accomplishment of a North- 

 west Passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, of which 

 passage a small portion only remains to be completed, we have thought 

 proper to appoint you to the command of the Expedition to be fitted 

 out for that service, consisting of Her Majesty's ships 'Erebus' and 

 'Terror;' and you are hereby required and directed, so soon as the said 

 ships shall be in all respects ready for sea, to proceed forthwith in the 

 ' Erebus' under your command, taking with you Her Majesty's ship 

 ' Terror,' her Captain (Crozier) having been placed by us under your 

 orders, taking also with you the ' Barretto Junior ' transport, which 

 has been directed to be put at your disposal for the purpose of carrying 

 out portions of your provisions, clothing, and other stores. 



2. On putting to sea, you are to proceed, in the first place, by such 

 a route as, from the wind and weather, you may deem to be the most 

 suitable for despatch, to Davis' Strait, taking the transport with you to 

 such a distance up that Strait as you may be able to proceed without 

 impediment from ice, being careful not to risk that vessel by allowing 

 her to be beset in the ice, or exposed to any violent contact with it ; 

 you will then avail yourself of the earliest opportunity of clearing the 

 transport of the provisions and stores with which she is charged for the 

 use of the Expedition, and you are then to send her back to England, 

 giving to the agent or master such directions for his guidance as may 

 appear to you most proper, and reporting by that opportunity your 

 proceedings to our Secretary, for our information. 



3. You will then proceed in the execution of your orders into Baffin's 

 Bay, and get as soon as possible to the western side of the Strait, pro- 

 vided it should appear to you that the ice chiefly prevails on the eastern 

 side, or near the middle ; the object being to enter Lancaster Sound 

 with as little delay as possible ; but as no specific directions can be 

 given, owing to the position of the ice varying from year to year, you 

 will, of course, be guided by your own observations as to the course 



