ARCTIC VOYAGES, FROM BAFFIN TO M'CLINTOCK. 357 



of the Polar Sea, anxious to find the traces of his lost friend. He was accom- 

 panied by Dr. Rae, who liad just returned from the memorable land expedition 

 (1846-47), during which, after crossing the isthmus which joins Melville 

 Peninsula to the mainland, he traced the shores of Committee Bay and the east 

 coast of Bootliia as far as the Lord Mayor's Bay of Sir John Ross, thus proving 

 that desolate land to be likewise a vast peninsula. 



But in vain did Rae and Richardson exploi'e all the coasts between the 

 Mackenzie and the Coppermine. The desert remained mute ; and Sir James 

 Ross (" Enterprise ") and Captain Bird (" Investigator "), who set sail in June, 

 1848, three months after Dr. Richardson's de]>arture, and minutely examined all 

 the shores near Barrow Strait, proved equally unsuccessful. 



Three years had now passed since Franklin had been expected home, and 

 even the most sanguine began to despair ; but to remove all doubts, it was re- 

 solved to explore once more all the gulfs and channels of the Polar Sea. Thus 

 in the year 1850 no less than twelve ships sailed forth, some to Bering's Straits, 

 some to the sounds leading from Baffin's Bay.* Other expeditions followed 

 in 185'2 and 1853, and though none of them succeeded in the object of their 

 search, )^t they enriched the geography of the Arctic World with many inter- 

 esting discoveries, the most important of which I will now briefly mention. 



Overcoming the ice of Baffin's Bay by the aid of their powerful steam-tugs, 

 Austin, Ommaney, and Penny reached the entrance of Lancaster Sound. Here 

 they separated, and while the " Resolute " remained behind to examine the 

 neighborhood of Pond's Bay, Ommaney found at Cape Riley (North Devon) 

 the first traces of the lost expedition. He was soon joined by Ross, Austin, 

 Penny, and the Americans, and a minute investigation soon proved that Cape 

 Spencer and Beechey Island, at the entrance of Wellington Channel, had been 

 the site of Franklin's first winter-quarters, distinctly marked by the remains of 

 a large storehouse, staves of casks, empty pemmican-tins, and, most touching 

 relic of all, a little garden shaped into a neat oval by some flower-loving sailor, 

 and filled with the few hardy plants which that bleak clime can nourish. Mean- 

 while winter approached, and little more could be done that season; so all the 

 vessels which had entered Barrow's Strait now took up their winter-quarters at 

 the southern extremity of Cornwallis Land ; with the exception of the " Prince 

 Albert," which set sail for England before winter set in, and of the Americans, 



* 18.'30-185l. "Investigator," Captain M'Clure,) f. • •- o^ •» 

 „ ■= ' , ,, >• Bering s Straits. 



1850-18OO. " Enterprise, Captain Collmson, ) 



1850,1851. "Resolute," Captain Austin, ) » i. o^ -i j /-i iv t i j 



' ' ' ,^ Lancaster Strait and Cornwalus Island. 



1850, 18ol. "Assistance," Captain Ommaney,) 



Accompanied by two steam tenders, officered by Lieutenant Sherard Osborne and 



Lieutenant F. L. M'Clintocic. 



1850, 1851. " Lady Franklin," Master Penny, accompanied by tlie " Sophia," Master A. Stewart, 



under Admiralty Orders, to Lancaster Strait and Wellington Channel. 



1850. " Prince Albert," Captain Forsyth, belonging to Lady Franklin, to Regent's Inlet and 



Beechey Island. 



1850, 1851. "Advance," Lieutenant De Haven, U.S.N.\ 



1850,1851. "Resciip,"S. P. Griffin, Esq., U.S.N. ) 



Fitted at the expense of H. Grinnell, Esq., of New York, to Lancaster Strait and 



Wellington Channel. 



