84 BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN. 



1801 to 1808, he was in the fleet with Nelson at the 

 battle of Copenhagen. He was next appointed acting- 

 lieutenant in the Bedford ; and was lieutenant of the 

 Bellerophon in the battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, and also 

 in the Bedford in the attack on New Orleans, in 1815, 

 where he commanded in the boats, was wounded, gazet- 

 ted, and highly spoken of. lie was considered a good 

 nautical surveyor, well versed in the use of instruments, 

 and a thorough seaman. 



Captain Beechey, to whom we are indebted for an 

 interesting account of the present voyage, observes : 

 " The peculiarity of the proposed route afforded oppor- 

 tunities of making some useful experiments on the ellip- 

 tical figure of the earth ; on magnetic phenomena ; on 

 the refraction of the atmosphere in high latitudes in 

 ordinary circumstances, and over extensive masses of 

 ice ; and on the temperature and specific gravity of the 

 sea at the surface, and at various depths ; and on mete- 

 orological and other interesting phenomena." The 

 vessels sailed in April, 1818 ; Magdalena Bay, in Spits- 

 bergen, having been appointed as a place of rendezvous, 

 in case of separation. 



Though this expedition, like that of Ross, was a fail- 

 ure in its main object, yet, unlike the other, it was not 

 owing to any want of exertion, zeal, or intelligence, in 

 the two commanders or officers ; on the contrary, the 

 two ships were supplied with some of those who, in 

 future voyages, so greatly distinguished themselves as 

 to obtain the highest steps of promotion, and to receive 

 honorary rewards. The instructions directed that they 

 were to make the best of their way into the Spitsbergen 

 seas, where they should endeavor to pass to the north- 

 ward, between Spitzbergen and Greenland, without 

 stopping on either of their coasts, and use their best 

 endeavors to reach the North Pole ; with a suggestion, 



