viii PREFACE. 



Lady Franklin took the lead, and by her unwearied labors and sacrifices aroused 

 the sympathy of the whole civilized world. Aid was offered by France and even by 

 Tasmania. Citizens of the United States replied to her call by equipping two 

 expeditions, the expense of which was principally borne by Mr. Henry Grinnell, 

 of New York. 



In August, 1850, traces of the missing explorers were discovered, where they had 

 spent their first winter, but no further tidings were obtained until the spring of 

 ls.Vf, when Dr. Rae, of the Hudson's Bay Company, ascertained that they had 

 been seen by the Esquimaux on the west coast of King William's Island, in the 

 spring of 1850, and it was thought that they had all died on an estuary of the great 

 Fish River. The attempt, in 1855, of the Hudson's Bay Company to explore this 

 river resulted in obtaining but little additional information, and a few relics from 

 the Esquimaux. 



It was at this time that Lady Franklin, who had previously sent out three ex- 

 peditions at her own expense, again earnestly urged the renewal of the search, that 

 the fate of her husband and his companions might not be left in uncertainty, and 

 in the spring of 1857 commenced the preparations for another expedition as a final 

 effort to trace "the footsteps of these gallant men in their last journey upon earth," 

 and, if possible, to rescue from entire loss some of the scientific results for which 

 they had sacrificed their lives. 



The small steamer Fox, of 177 tons burthen, was purchased for the service, and 

 Lady Franklin was highly gratified in obtaining the willing service of Captain 

 M'Clintock as commander of the expedition. This officer had signally distin- 

 guished himself in the voyages of Sir James Ross and Admiral Austin, and espe- 

 cially in his extensive journeys on the ice when associated with Captain Kellett. 



The voyagers sailed from Aberdeen, July 1st, 1857, and after a favorable run 

 across the Atlantic, passed Cape Farewell, the southern point of Greenland, on the 

 1 3th, and arrived at Fredericshaab on the 19th of the same month. After stopping 

 to take in coal at Waigat, they reached Upernavik, the most northerly of the 

 Danish stations in Greenland, and then bore away, on the 6th of August, directly 

 westward for the purpose of crossing Baffin's Bay; but, on the evening of the 8th, 

 their progress in that direction was stopped by impenetrable ice in Latitude 72° 

 40' and Longitude 59° 50' west. They then steered northward with the hope of 

 finding a passage westward in a higher latitude, but in this they were disappointed, 

 and, on the 19th of August, became entangled in the ice, and thus remained two 

 hundred and forty-two days, until April, 1858. During this period, the "Fox" 

 drifted from Latitude 75° north and Longitude 62° west, eleven hundred and ninety- 

 four geographical miles in a southerly direction, almost to the lower extremity of 

 ( rreenland. (See the accompanying map.) 



On the 2Gth of April, the ice suddenly and almost entirely disappeared; the ship 

 was again headed northward for another attempt, and arrived on the 19th of June 

 in Melville Bay. They then again steered westward across Baffin's Bay, and, 

 finally, entered Lancaster Sound in the beginning of August. They next sailed 

 westerly and southerly until they reached the Longitude of 96° west, and about 

 Latitude 73° north. From this point, they returned eastward through Barrow's 



