514 The Arctic Expedition. [October, 
of an overland expedition destined to explore the North 
American Coast to the east of the Coppermine River. Dr. 
John Richardson and Mr. George Back (then a midshipman) 
served under Franklin. The intolerable hardships and pri- 
vations which they endured during their journey of 5550 
miles, would have deterred any hearts less stout than theirs 
from ever again engaging in Arctic exploration. However, 
Franklin again started in 1825 for the Hudson’s Bay terri- 
tory—wintered on the Great Bear Lake, and in the following 
summer surveyed the coast line to the west of the mouth of 
the Mackenzie River. Between 1819 and 1827, Sir Edward 
Parry undertook four Polar voyages. During one of these by 
the use of sledges he reached the highest known land, N. lat. 
82° 45’ (July 23rd, 1827). The north magnetic pole of the 
earth was discovered by Sir James Ross during his second 
voyage (1829-33) ; it was found in lat. 70° 5’ 17” N., and 
long. 96° 46’ 45” W., on the west shore of Boothia. The 
amount of dip was within one minute of arc of the vertical. 
A cairn was erected, and the British flag placed upon it. 
Large extents of the Hudson’s Bay Territory and the adja- 
cent» lands were surveyed by Dease, Simpson, Rae, Back, 
and others. Sir John Franklin’s last voyage was made in 
1845. Its object was to make a new attempt to discover a 
north-west passage. The expedition consisted of two ships, 
the Erebus and the Terror, specially strengthened for Arctic 
service, and provided with every appliance which could 
lessen the danger and discomfort of the undertaking. The 
expedition sailed on the 19th of May, and reached Disco 
early in July. 
The ships were last seen on the 26th of July on their 
way to Lancaster Sound. When no tidings of the expe- 
dition came to be received, the Admiralty lost no time in 
sending out searching expeditions. The private and public 
search expeditions sent out by this country and by America 
between 1847 and 1859 number no less than 40. The ships 
were ultimately found to have been abandoned near the 
entrance of the Great Fish River. If proper depéts of pro- 
visions had existed, there can be no doubt that the crew 
might have escaped to habitable regions. Traces of their 
winter residence were found on Beechy Island, and a cairn 
was discovered on the south-west cape of the island. Sir 
John Franklin died in 1847. Sir Leopold McClintock traced 
the route of the men after the abandonment of their 
ships from the estuary of the Great Fish River. Here he 
found three skeletons of men who had perished by the way. 
According to the Esquimaux, 40 men (out of the 134 who 
