May, 1859. RELICS FOUND IN THE BOAT. 253 



never support life in such a climate, and we found neither 

 biscuit nor meat of any kind. A portion of tobacco, and an 

 empty pemmican-tin capable of containing 22 pounds 

 weight, were discovered. The tin was marked with an E ; 

 it had probably belonged to the ' Erebus.' None of the 

 fuel originally brought from the ships remained in or about 

 the boat, but there was no lack of it, for a drift-tree was 

 lying on the beach close at hand, and had the party been in 

 need of fuel, they would have used the paddles and bottom- 

 boards of the boat. 



In the after-part of the boat we found eleven large 

 spoons, eleven forks, and four tea-spoons, all of silver. Of 

 these twenty-six pieces of plate, eight bore Sir John Franklin's 

 crest, the remainder had the crests or initials of nine 

 different officers, with the exception of a single fork which 

 was not marked ; of these nine officers, five belonged to 

 the ' Erebus ' — Gore, Le Vesconte, Fairholme, Couch, and 

 Goodsir. Three others belonged to the ' Terror ' — Crozier 

 (a teaspoon only), Hornby, and Thomas. I do not know 

 to whom the three articles with an owl engraved on them 

 belonged, nor who was the owner of the unmarked fork, 

 but of the owners of those we can identify, the majority 

 belonged to the ' Erebus.' One of the watches bore the 

 crest of Mr. Couch, of the ' Erebus,' and as the pemmican 

 tin also came from that ship, I am inclined to think the 

 boat did also. One of the pocket chronometers found in 

 the boat was marked, " Parkinson and Frodsham 980," the 

 other, "Arnold 2020;" these had been supplied one to 

 each ship. 



Sir John Franklin's plate perhaps was issued to the men 

 for their use. as the only means of saving it ; and it seems 

 probable that the officers generally did the same, as not a 

 single iron spoon, such as sailors always use, has been 

 found. Of the many men, probably twenty or thirty, who 



