256 FRANKLIN'S LAST VOYAGE. 



had incessantly bent in that direction the powerful influ 

 ence which he wielded ; and now again was he at his 

 vocation. Lieut. Col. Sabine, also, whose opinion car- 

 ried much weight, declared " that a final attempt to 

 make a north-west passage would render the most 

 important service that now remained to be performed 

 >ward the completion of the magnetic survey of the 

 ^iobe." The Lords of the Admiralty and the Council 

 of the Royal Society gave a formal assent ; and Sir 

 John Franklin, the hero of some most perilous exploits 

 within the Arctic circle, who now stood out to view as 

 the likeliest man to conduct the desired enterprise, had 

 said in 1836, and continued to say still, "that no ser- 

 vice was nearer to his heart than the completion of the 

 survey of the north-west coast of America, and the 

 accomplishment of a north-west passage." 



The Erebus and the Terror were ordered to be got 

 ready. Both had braved all the perils of the Antarctic 

 expedition under Sir James C. Ross, and the latter was 

 the ship of the terrific ice-voyage of 1836, in Hudson's 

 Bay. They were the best-tested and the best-appurte- 

 nanced vessels which had ever faced the frozen regions ; 

 and each was now fitted with a small steam-engine and 

 screw-propeller. Sir John Franklin was appointed to 

 the chief command, and hoisted his flag in the Erebus ; 

 and Captain Richard Crozier, who had been the distin- 

 guished colleague of Sir James C. Ross in the Antarctic 

 voyage, was appointed to the Terror. So many naval 

 officers volunteered their services, that, had all been ac- 

 cepted, they might themselves have completely manned 

 the ships. The total number of persons put on board 

 was one hundred and thirty-eight ; and they formed as 

 select, resolute, and experienced a body of adventurers 

 as ever went to sea. The transport Daretto Junior, 

 also, under the command of Lieut. Griffith, was laden 



