Preface to Second Edition. ix 



craft the " Victory ; " and not sixty miles to the 

 S.W. the ill-fated ships " Erebus w and " Terror " 

 were abandoned in 1848, after the death of their 

 leader the gallant and noble-hearted Franklin. 



In conclusion, I venture to recall the words of 

 one to whom the palm of Arctic discovery has 

 unhesitatingly been accorded, and whose high 

 northern latitude, reached by him nearly fifty years 

 ago, has never been approached by known man. 

 I allude to the late Admiral Sir Edward Parry, 

 who, speaking of the N. W. passage, says : " May it 

 still fall to England's lot to accomplish this under- 

 taking, and rnay she ever continue to take the lead 

 in enterprises intended to contribute to the ad- 

 vancement of science, and to promote, with her 

 own, the welfare of mankind at large. Such enter- 

 prises, so disinterested as well as useful in their 

 object, do honour to the country which undertakes 

 them ; even when they fail, they cannot but excite 

 the admiration and respect of every liberal and 

 cultivated mind ; and the page of future history 

 will undoubtedly record them as in every way 

 worthy of a powerful, virtuous, and enlightened 

 nation." 



I feel sure that these words will find a response 

 in the heart of every true Englishman ; and I trust 

 that my readers, in bidding " God speed " to the 

 Arctic Expedition of 1875, Avill do so in the belief 



