CHAPTER XVI. 

 THE VOYAGE AND DEATH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 



One of the most famous of the polar trips of the last hundred years was 

 that of Sir John Franklin. It is famous for what he discovered and because 

 of the terrible ending of a promising enterprise. Of all the stories of dreadful 

 want and agony that have been preserved from the records of Arctic travelers, 

 none surpasses that concerning these Englishmen whose fate remained a 

 mystery for years. 



Franklin was a bold English searfarer, — one of those born adventurers 

 to whom even war seems to be too commonplace. His eyes were ever toward 

 the unknown parts of the globe. He was truly of the mold of those to 

 whom privation and a struggle with the terrible and mysterious is more allur- 

 ing than domestic comfort. 



He made several exploratory trips in his early years which were, in a 

 way, a preparation for the climax of his career. He was about sixty years 

 old when, in 1845, he started on his journey which was to be his last. 



"The Erebus and Terror, which formed the fleet, had already proved their 

 capacity for withstanding the strain and pressure of the ice floes. They 

 each carried a crew numbering dy officers and men, and while Franklin took 

 charge of the Erebus with Captain Fitz-James, the Terror was commanded 

 by Captain Crozier. The ships were provisioned for three years, and the 

 task set them was to discover and sail through the passage from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific Oceans. The intention of the Government was to ascertain 

 whether or not this passage existed and Franklin was instructed to go by 

 Lancaster Sound to Cape Walker (lat. 74 degrees N.; long. 98 degrees W.) 

 and thence south and west to push through Behring's Straits to the other 

 ocean. 



"Franklin was full of enthusiasm as to the outcome of the expedition. 

 That it would prove the existence of the passage he had no doubt, and subse- 

 quent events justified him. But he had bigger notions then merely proving 



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