McCLINTOCK. 131 



41. SIR FRANCIS LEOPOLD MCCLINTOCK. 



FRANCIS LEOPOLD MCCLINTOCK was born at Dundalk, Ireland, July 8, 

 1819. He entered the Royal Navy at the age of 12 years. At 24 he passed his 

 lieutenant's examination and joined the Gorgan steamship, which was driven ashore 

 at Montevideo but salvaged. In 1848 he joined the search for Sir John Franklin, 

 and on his third voyage, in 1854, commanded the Intrepid. He developed the 

 system of sled traveling. After the admiralty had abandoned the rescue work, 

 Lady Franklin fitted out the Fox in 1857 and put it in command of McClintock, 

 who in 1859 discovered skeletons, other remains, and a manuscript record of the 

 expedition. He also added 800 miles of new coast to our knowledge of the Arctic 

 region. On his return he was knighted. He sounded the North Atlantic for the 

 submarine-telegraph cable route in the sixties. He was elected a fellow of the 

 Royal Society in 1865, was made vice admiral in 1877, and commanded the West 

 Atlantic fleet. He was made K. C. B. in 1891. His book on the "Voyage of the 

 Fox" passed through several editions. He died in 1907. 



McClintock was a visualist; form and color appealed to him. He says him- 

 self that it was in part a print of Admiral Berkeley in uniform, which hung in his 

 father's dressing-room, that led him to choose a naval career. Also the appear- 

 ance of his cousin, Lieutenant Bunbury McClintock, probably dressed as an officer, 

 made an appeal. At any rate, at the age of 12 years he "wanted to go to sea" 

 and went on his cousin's ship, taking with him a bag of marbles that he prized 

 highly (color and form). Returning home on one occasion, he explored the steeple 

 of the Dundalk church, which he had always believed "was built of some beautiful 

 green stone"; but he found it made of wood coated with copper. To him all 

 sorts of organic and even artificial forms were attractive. At 14 years of age he 

 was much interested hi the prehistoric antiquities that abounded in his region, 

 and explored the numerous "Danish" forts. Mineralogy, botany, and zoology were 

 favorite sciences, and he read extensively about them, and in the Arctic he col- 

 lected fossils, minerals, plants, and animals. He was an ardent hunter. This 

 love of form extended also to machinery. At the age of 24 years he had already 

 mastered the structure of steam machinery, and when, in the Arctic in 1859, the 

 engineer who had taken the engines to pieces died, the commander was the only 

 one on board who could get them into working order again. Some of the elements 

 of the foregoing are found in his father, who hung the print of Admiral Berke- 

 ley in his own room and was himself a lover of the horse and of sport. His brother 

 became an eminent physician, president of the College of Physicians and Sur- 

 geons in Ireland. 



McClintock was something of a nomad; he longed to see new countries. 

 As a young man he was a great walker. In the first Arctic trip he walked 770 

 miles in 80 days, exploring Melville Island for traces of the Franklin party. 



Ability in command is another trait. He understood and managed men. 

 His book reveals abundant evidence of his "consummate leadership." Those 

 who worked with him or served under him felt the most unbounded confidence in 

 his judgment and resolution. This ability appears also in the son of his father's 

 brother John. Lieutenant W. Bunbury McClintock did not drink or swear and 

 exerted a good influence on those under him. He was one of the first, if not the 

 first, to introduce the use of "port" instead of "larboard" into the service. One of 

 McClintock's sons was appointed a commander in the Royal Navy in 1905 ; another 

 was a major in the Royal Engineers who served in Nigeria and in South Africa. 



