284 INFOEMATION DERIVED. Chap. XV. 



ascended Wellington Channel to lat. 77°, and returned 

 by the west side of Cornwallis Island. 



" Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. 



" All well. 



"Party consisting of 2 officers and 6 men left the 

 ships on Monday 24th May, 1847. 



" Gm. Goke, Lieut. 



" Chas. F. Des Vceux, Mate." 



There is an error in the above document, 

 namely, that the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' wintered 

 at Beechey Island in 1846-7, — the correct dates 

 should have been 1845-6; a glance at the date 

 at the top and bottom of the record proves this, 

 but in all other respects the tale is told in as 

 few words as possible of their wonderful success 

 up to that date. May, 1847. 



"We find that, after the last intelligence of Sir 

 John Franklin was received by us (bearing date 

 of July, 1845) from the whalers in Melville 

 Bay, his Expedition passed on to Lancaster 

 Sound, and entered Wellington Channel, of 

 which the southern entrance had been dis- 

 covered by Sir Edward Parry in 1819. The 

 * Erebus ' and ' Terror ' sailed up that strait for 

 one hundred and fifty miles, and reached in 

 the autumn of 1845 the same latitude as was 

 attained eight years subsequently by H.M.S. 

 ' Assistance ' and ' Pioneer.' Whether Franklin 



