424 THE FRANKLIN SEARCH— lS48-b\. 



them for a few hours. Early on the morning of the 26th a dense fog came 

 down upon the sea, and when the weather cleared at noon, the boats and the 

 yacht (" Nancy Dawson ") were out of sight. Leaving Lieutenant PuUen to 

 push on along the Arctic coasts, we have now briefly to sketch the opera- 

 tions of the " Herald " and " Plover " until the first Behring Strait expedi- 

 tion was recalled. 



At noon on the 26th, these vessels steered due north, and at one p.m. 

 sighted the heavily-packed ice of the Arctic Sea in lat. 71° 5', and extending 

 from north-west by west round to north-east. On this and the following day 

 the ships continued to steer along the pack, and on the 30th July sailed 

 for, and commenced the survey of, Wainwright Inlet. Early in August 

 the vessels separated. At noon on the 15th the " Herald " was in lat. 

 71° 12', long. 170° 10'; and on the morning of the l7th, when making for the 

 north-west extreme of the pack, the exciting cry of " Land ho ! " was shouted 

 from the mast-head. A group of islands was reported on the port beam, 

 and beyond this group an extensive and high land was soon afterwards 

 descried by Captain Kellett from the deck. " I had been watching it," says 

 the captain, " for some time, and anxiously awaited a report from some one 

 else. There was a fine clear atmosphere (such a one as can only be seen in 

 this climate), except in the direction of this extended land, where the clouds 

 rolled in numerous immense masses, occasionally leaving the lofty peaks un- 

 capped, where could be distinctly seen columns, pillars, and very broken 

 summits, which are characteristic of the higher headlands in this sea — East 

 Cape and Cape Lisburne, for example. With the exception of the north-east 

 and south-west extremes, none of the lower land could be discerned, unless, 

 indeed, what I took at first for a small group of islands within the pack edge 

 was a point of this Great Land. This island or point was distant twenty- 

 five miles from the ship's track ; higher parts of the land seen not less, I 

 consider, than sixty miles. When we hove to ofi" the first land observed, 

 the northern extreme of the Great Land showed out to the eastward for a 

 moment, and so clear as to cause some who had doubts before to cry out, 

 'There, sir, is the land, quite plain.' " 



No sooner was the unknown land discovered than Captain Kellett altered 

 his com-se and sailed twenty-five miles directly towards it. As he approached 

 he discovered that the pack rested on the shores of the island, and extended 

 away to east-south-east out of sight. Two boats were then lowered for the 



purpose of visiting and taking possession of the newly-discovered land 



Captain Kellett, Mr Goodridge, and Mr Pakenham going in one, and Mr 

 Maguire, Mr Collinson, and Mr Seemann in the other. " We reached the 

 island," says Seemann, " and found running on it a very heavy sea. The 

 first lieutenant (Mr Eochfort Maguire) landed, having backed his boat in 

 until he got foothold — without swimming — and then jumped overboard. The 



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