OX THE PROGRESS OP SCIENCE. 23 



Lieut. Strain is, that the work is totally impracticable, and his report is 

 considered as settling the question forever. 



The return of Dr. Rae, from an expedition despatched by the Hud- 

 son Bay Company in search of Sir John Franklin, has furnished con- 

 clusive evidence respecting the fate of the lost navigator and his gal- 

 lant companions evidence that leads to the conviction that the end 

 of these hapless adventurers was of the most horrible description. 

 As told by Dr. Rae, it would appear that he fell in with some Esqui- 

 maux in Pelly Bay, who possessed many small relics of the exploring 

 party of the Erebus and Terror watches, silver spoons, telescopes, 

 and other things ; and the account they gave of how and where they 

 found these relics was to the following effect : In the spring of 

 1850, about forty of the ships' companies were seen by some Es- 

 quimaux not Dr. Rae's informants on the ice near the north shore 

 of King William's Land. They were going south, and dragging a 

 boat with them over the ice. They looked worn and emaciated ; they 

 signed to the natives that their ships had been crushed by the ice, 

 that they were short of food, and were then in search of deer. The 

 natives sold them a small seal, and they went their way to be seen 

 no more alive. Later on in the year, but before the breaking of the 

 ice, the Esquimaux again came tfn their encampment, but not a single 

 soul was living. The story was, however, plainly pictured to their 

 eyes. Thirty bodies were found, some partly buried ; some in the 

 tents where they had died ; some under the boat which they had over- 

 turned to form a shelter. They had all perished of starvation, and it 

 was thought that some of the survivors had been driven in the ex- 

 tremity of hunger to the last act of maddened human beings. 



Such is the dismal story told to Dr. Rae by the Esquimaux, by way 

 of accounting for their possession of the watches, plate, spoons, and 

 other things. 



The Secretary of War, in his recent report to Congress, adverts to, 

 and succinctly describes, the improvements which have been made of 

 late in muskets and rifles. He says, " Though our arms have here- 

 tofore been considered the best in use, recent inventions in Europe 

 have produced changes in small arms which are now being used in 

 war, with such important results as have caused them to be noticed 

 among the remarkable incidents of battles, and indicate that material 

 modifications will be made in the future armament of troops. The 

 superiority of the grooved or rifle barrel and elongated ball, in range 

 and accuracy of fire, has long been known ; yet the difficulty of load- 

 ing this weapon has hitherto, for most military purposes, counter- 

 balanced its advantages. To overcome this difficulty, two methods 

 have been proposed. The first, by loading the piece at the breech, 



