TEACES OF THE " EREBUS" A^'D " TEKROH." 155 



stopped in that locality about the time of the 

 monthly term -day, the officers would almost cer- 

 tainly make the term observations, which last for 

 twenty-four hours, and in that case each ship would 

 select a separate place of observation. The term- 

 day in August, 1845, was the 29th; and we may 

 conclude, from the information which we at pre- 

 sent possess, that on that day, or about a month 

 after they were last seen, the discovery ships were 

 off Cape Riley. It is ascertained that the bones 

 and rope were not left by any party from other 

 ships of the Royal Navy that have visited Barrow's 

 Straits ; and had the " Erebus " and " Terror " win- 

 tered there, a cairn, with memoranda, and many 

 other evidences of that fact, would undoubtedly 

 have been found. The ships must have been tem- 

 porarily arrested by a barrier of ice ; and Sir John 

 Franklin, having good anchorage between Beechey 

 Island and Cape Riley, turned the delay to the 

 best account by making the term observations. 

 With the prospect of soon passing the Straits, he 

 evidently had not thought it necessary to erect a 

 cairn, or signal-post, at the threshold, as it were, of 

 the enterprise. 



These first traces of the Expedition are ex- 

 ceedingly interesting, and they lead directly to the 

 inference that it pursued its course to Cape Walker. 

 Had Sir John, finding the Strait barred, gone up 



