HISTORICAL SUMMARY 103 
bay for" traces of Franklin, and with the hope of reaching the 
open Polar sea through Smith sound. Cape Farewell was 
sighted on the 30th of July, and Cape York on the 21st of 
August where a number of natives were seen in the vicinity. 
At North Omenak native caches of meat and winter clothing 
were found. On the 26th Cape Alexander, the farthest point 
seen by baffin, was passed, with an open sea to the northward. 
On the 27th he reached latitude 78 21' n. one hundred and 
forty miles beyond any previous navigator. He was forced by a 
strong northerly gale and low temperature to retreat south, and 
on his way entered Jones sound, which he explored to latitude 
76 11' n. and longitude 84 10' w. He then entered Lan- 
caster sound, and visited Beechey island, after which, turning 
homeward, he did not cross the Arctic circle until the 12th of 
october. 
in 1853, Dr. Elisha Kent Kane left New York in the brig / 
advance, fitted out by Henry Grinnell and George Peabody, to 
assist in the search for Franklin. The Advance entered Smith 
sound on the 7th of August, and, after considerable danger and 
trouble with ice, was moored in rensselaer bay, from which she 
never emerged. This wintering place was about 120 miles 
north of any previously attained, being in latitude 78 38' and 
longitude 70 40'. Kane confined his explorations to the 
Greenland side of the sound, and personally reached the south- 
ern edge of the great Humboldt glacier, while Dr. Hayes, 
surgeon to Kane, crossed Kane basin to the neighbourhood of 
Cape Fraser, and william Morton, on the Greenland coast, 
passed the Humboldt glacier and attained latitude 80 35' in 
the vicinity of Cape Constitution, where from an elevation of 
500 feet he saw open water in Kennedy channel extending to 
the north as far as the eye could reach. In July, 1854, the ice 
being still firm, Kane attempted to reach Beechey island, where 
he knew that assistance could be obtained, but had to return 
before reaching Cape Parry. At the end of August, Hayes and 
