Somerville Island. 137 



I put in practice my lessons in cookery by making a 

 large quantity of orange marmalade for the voyage. 

 When, after three years, the ships returned, we 

 were informed that the name of Somerville had been 

 given to an island so far to the north that it was 

 all but perpetually covered with ice and snow. Not- 

 withstanding the sameness which naturally prevails 

 in the narratives of these voyages, they are invested 

 with a romantic interest by the daring bravery dis- 

 played, and by the appalling difficulties overcome. 

 The noble endeavour of Lady Franklin to save her 

 gallant husband, and the solitary voyage of Sir 

 Leopold McClintock in a small yacht in search of 

 his lost friend, form the touching and sad termina- 

 tion to a very glorious period of maritime adventure. 

 More than fifty years after these events I renewed my 

 acquaintance with Lady Franklin. She and her niece 

 came to see me at Spezia on their way to Dalmatia. 

 She had circumnavigated the globe with her husband 

 when he was governor in Australia. After his loss 

 she and her niece had gone round the world a second 

 time, and she assured me that although they went to 

 Japan and China (less known at that time than they 

 are now), they never experienced any difficulty. 

 Seeing ladies travelling alone, people were always 

 willing to help them. The French sent a Polar expe- 

 dition under Captain Gaimard in the years 1838 and 



