PART VIII. 



THE FRANKLIN SEARCH. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN RESOLVED UPON — VOYAGES OF THE " HERALD " 



AND "plover" ^AWACHTA BAY — ^BOAT EXPEDITION FITTED OUT — HERALD 



ISLAND DISCOVERED — ICE-CLIFFS OF ESCHSCHOLTZ BAY. 



A YEAR and a half had elapsed since the departm-e of Franklin in the 

 " Erebus " and " Terror " (May 1845), when a feeling of uneasiness as to the 

 fate of the expedition began to manifest itself throughout the country. Sir 

 John Eoss was the first to give expression to this feeling in a nimiber of 

 letters written to the Admiralty and to the Eoyal and Geographical Societies, 

 in which he stated that the discovery ships were most probably frozen up off 

 the western shores of Melville Island, and their return rendered impossible 

 by an ever-thickening rampart of ice on the east. The publication of these 

 letters gave rise to a discussion which thoroughly aroused the interest of 

 the public and stimulated the Government to immediate action. Sir John 

 Franklin, the most illustrious explorer of his day, together with one hundred 

 and thirty-seven of the most promising ofiicers and best men of the navy, 

 had now been detained among the ice for two winters in the prosecution of 

 a great national aim ; and it was now considered high time that the nation 

 should take some measures for the purpose of ascertaining what fortune, 

 good or bad, had befallen the adventurers. The Lords of the Admiralty 

 pointed to the voyages of Parry and Ross, both of whom had been ice-bound 

 in the Polar Seas for several successive winters, and to Franklin's letter to 

 themselves, in which the gallant old seaman, writing from Disco, says, " The 

 ships are now complete with supplies for three years ; " and they stated that 

 the second winter of Sir John's absence " was too early a period to give rise 

 to well-founded apprehensions for his safety." Nevertheless, a certain degree 

 of anxiety seems to have been felt in official quarters, and, besides, some 

 concession was due to the temper of the country. Accordingly, Government 



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