June, 1859. ERRORS IN FRANKLIN'S RECORDS. 257 



An extensive bay, westward of Cape Herschel, I have 

 named after Captain Washington, the hydrographer, a sted- 

 fast supporter of this final search. But, all the intermediate 

 coast-line — along which the retreating crews performed their 

 fearful death-march — is sacred to their names alone. 



Hobson's note informed me of his having found a second 

 record, deposited also by Lieutenant Gore in May, 1847, 

 upon the south side of Back Bay, but it afforded no 

 additional information. It was a duplicate of the Point 

 Victory record, and shows that Gore and Des Vceux merely 

 left them under cairns, without adding further particulars at 

 the time of depositing : their attention was probably directed 

 to a more important matter, the completion of their dis- 

 covery of the North- West Passage. This record had not 

 been opened by the retreating crews in 1848; when found 

 by Hobson, it was soldered up, as when taken from the ship 

 on the 24th May, 1847. 



It is remarkable that both these papers state the ships to 

 have wintered in 1846-7 at Beech ey Island ! So obvious a 

 mistake would hardly have been made had any importance 

 been attached to these documents. They were soldered up 

 in thin tin cylinders, having been filled up on board prior to 

 the departure of the travellers ; consequently, the day upon 

 which they were deposited was not filled in ; but already the 

 papers were much damaged by rust — a very few more years 

 would have rendered them wholly illegible. When the 

 record left at Point Victory was opened to add thereto the 

 supplemental information which gives it its chief value, 

 Captain Fitzjames (as may be concluded by the colour of 

 the ink) filled in the date — 28th — of May, when the record 

 was originally deposited. The cylinder containing this 

 record had not been soldered up again ; I suppose they had 

 not the means of doing so ; it was found on the ground 

 amongst a few loose stones which had evidently fallen along 



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