420 THE FRANKLIN SEARCH— \MS-o\. 



invited all officers who had sailed in Arctic seas to send in written state- 

 ments of opinion respecting the probable situation of the absent expedition, 

 and the best means of sending assistance. From the reports returned to 

 Government, the general impression of the officers consulted appeared to be, 

 that they " did not apprehend that the expedition had foundered in Baffin's 

 Bay, as some naval men of high rank, but not of Arctic experience, had sug- 

 gested ; that it had not as yet passed Behring Strait ; and that until two 

 winters without tidings had elapsed, serious fears for its safety need not be 

 felt ; but that immediate preparations for its relief ought to be made, to be 

 carried out in the event of the summer closing without intelligence arriving." 

 Should no intelligence arrive during the summer of 1847, it was the opinion 

 of practical navigators that the directions in which search expeditions should 

 be sent out should be determined by the " instructions " which Franklin had 

 received from the Admiralty. These instructions were to the effect, that 

 Franklin was to proceed to about lat. 74° 15' N., long. 98° W., in the vicinity 

 of Cape "Walker, and that thence he was to push southward and westward 

 in a course as direct to Behring Strait as the position of the ice and the ex- 

 istence of previously unknown land would permit. Going on the supposition 

 that the leader of the " missing expedition " had endeavoured, and was even 

 now endeavouring, faithfully to carry out these instructions, the Admiralty na- 

 turally determined to send out three search expeditions — one to sail to Behring 

 Strait to meet the " Erebus " and " Terror ;" a second, to Lancaster Sound to 

 follow them on their supposed track, and a third to proceed overland to the 

 shores of the Polar Sea to succour them in the event of their having been 

 compelled to abandon their ships and make for the north coast of the con- 

 tinent. 



Of the three projected rehef expeditions, the first to enter upon the actual 

 work of searching for the missing vessels was that sent to Behring Strait. 

 It consisted of the " Herald " (Captain Kellett), a surveying ship of 500 tons, 

 and carrying 110 officers and men ; and the " Plover " (Commander Moore), a 

 store ship of 213 tons, and carrying 41 men. The " Herald " had been com- 

 missioned in 1845 to survey the coasts of Central America, the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia, and Vancouver's Island ; and its captain" and officers were not a little 

 surprised when, in April 1848, having reached Panama after surveying the 

 coasts of Peru, they learned that they were to enter upon a new career, and 

 change the pleasant waters of the Pacific for the Polar seas. Captain Kel- 

 lett's instructions were to proceed north through Behring Strait and to 

 "co-operate with H.M. brig 'Plover' in searching the north-western ex- 

 tremity of America and the Arctic Sea for traces of the missing voyagers." 

 Officers and men, though debilitated by a three years' cruise in an unhealthy 

 climate, and now ordered to pass suddenly from enervating heat to the 

 rigours of the remote north, received with enthusiasm the intelligence that 



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