CHAPTER 111. 



LADY FRANKLIN NOT DISHEARTENED. VOYAGE OP THE FOX. MORH 



RELICS DISCOVERED. A RECORD FOUND. THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 



VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. CONCLUSION. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the discouraging nature of the dis- 

 coveries made by Rae and Anderson, the opinion was 

 entertained in England that some members of Franklin's 

 party might still be living. The propriety of sending 

 out further expeditions was discussed in the public jour- 

 nals, and found many zealous advocates. A petition, 

 headed by Lady Franklin, and signed by numerous influ- 

 ential persons, including some distinguished Arctic offi- 

 cers, was presented to the British Admiralty, urging it 

 to make one final and exhaustive search. But the 

 response was unfavorable. The government had de- 

 cided that the fate of Franklin and his men was suffi- 

 ciently ascertained, and that any attempt at further 

 discoveries would be a useless risk of life and money. 



Having appealed in vain to the government, the inde- 

 fatigable Lady Franklin determined to prosecute the 

 search with her own resources. A small screw steamer, 

 called the Fox, with three masts, schooner-rigged, was 

 accordingly fitted out at her expense, manned by~twenty- 

 five men, and placed under the command of Capt. F. L. 

 M'Clintock, an officer already distinguished in Arctic 

 adventure. She sailed from Aberdeen, Scotland, early 

 in July, 1857, and on the 25th of the same month was 

 off Baal's River, Greenland, from which place Capt. 

 M'Clintock sent home his first despatches to Lady 



