Am. 1857. CAUSE OF DELAY IN EQUIPMENT. 3- 



or through the Esquimaux. Mr. Anderson, the 

 Hudson Bay Company's officer in charge, and 

 his small party, deserve credit for their perse- 

 verance and skill ; but th^y were not furnished 

 with the necessary means of accomplishing their 

 mission. Mr. Anderson could not obtain an 

 interpreter, and the two frail bark canoes in 

 which his whole party embarked were almost 

 worn out before they reached the locality to be 

 searched. It is not surprising that such an ex- 

 pedition caused very considerable disappoint- 

 ment at home. 



Lady Franklin, and the advocates for further 

 search, now pressed upon Government the neces- 

 sity of following up, in a more effectual manner, 

 the traces accidentally found by Dr. Rae, and, 

 in fact, of rendering the search complete by 

 one more effort, involving but little of hazard or 

 expense. It was not until April, 1857, that any 

 decisive answer was given to Lady Franklin's 

 appeal. (See Appendix No. 1.) 



Sir Charles Wood then stated " that the 

 members of Her Majesty's Government, having 

 come, with great regret, to the conclusion that 

 there was no prospect of saving life, would not 

 be justified, for any objects which in their 

 opinion could be obtained by an expedition 

 to the Arctic seas, in exposing the lives of 



B 2 



