AFTER FIFTY YEARS 



easily obtained, but after much persuasion it was finally 

 given and I reported the fact to Dr. Kane. 



I was then directed to take lessons in daguerreotyping, 

 in order that I might be put in charge of an outfit of that 

 kind, which it was intended should accompany the expe- 

 dition, for the purpose of getting plates of the scenes in 

 the Arctic regions. Most unfortunately, the results of 

 this work were lost on our return. The box containing 

 the daguerreotypes was put upon a sledge on the ice, and 

 was carried away, together with the whole collection of 

 Arctic birds, which had been prepared with great care for 

 the Academy of Natural Science. This was an irreparable 

 loss, and one that to this day I have never ceased to regret. 



The expedition sailed from New York on the 31st of 

 May, 1853. There were some six officers, and the crew 

 consisted of eight sailors, besides the steward and cooks, 

 comprising in all a company of eighteen. The vessel was 

 the little brig " Advance," of one hundred and forty tons. 

 This had been donated by Henry Grinnell of the firm of 

 Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of New York. 



We were ostensibly in search of Sir John Franklin and 

 his party. This expedition had gone to the region of 

 Lancaster Sound, to attempt the discovery of a northwest 

 passage, and nothing had been heard of it for two or three 

 years. It had, to all human knowledge, disappeared from 

 the world. Our plan was at that time considered a some- 

 what novel one. The intention was, instead of taking the 

 route which Franklin's expedition had adopted, to sail 

 directly north to the gates of Smith's Sound. This place 

 had been visited many years before by Captain Baffin, but 

 the passage had not been attempted by any later expedition. 

 We hoped that we could thereby discover a new sound to 

 the west, where Franklin it was thought, might possibly 

 be found. 



At St. John's, we were received with great enthusiasm, 

 for knowledge of the fate of Franklin was most eagerly 

 desired. As we proceeded northward we found the 

 country so peculiar in its geological structure and its 

 scenery, as to make us feel that we were indeed out of the 

 before-known world. The people were so primitive in 

 their habits as to render all things utterly novel. 



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