THE FRANKLIN SEARCH CONTINUED. 429 



CHAPTEE II. 



THE "plover" in WINTER QUARTERS, 1849-50. 



To Mr Bedford Pirn, one of the most versatile gentlemen engaged in the 

 Franklin search — seaman, author, journalist, barrister, and M.P. — ^we are 

 indebted for a sketch of the wintering of the "Plover," A midshipman in 

 the " Herald," under Kellett, he was transferred to the " Plover," in order 

 to fill up one of the two vacancies caused by two officers having gone away 

 in charge of the boats to Mackenzie Eiver. At first Mr Pim did not fully 

 appreciate the amenities of his new situation; and he remembered with 

 some regret the cheerful days in the old " Herald." " The departure of the 

 'Herald,'" he writes, in his admirably spirited journal, "the prospect of a 

 long winter, the loneliness and melancholy aspect of the adjacent country, 

 aU tended to increase a feeling which the sudden loss of companions and 

 friends is always calculated to produce. The natives also, to whose passion 

 for barter we had been indebted for large quantities of fish, venison, and 

 berries, paid us a final visit in their baidars on the 9th of October ; and we 

 seemed now to be entirely excluded from all human intercourse. However, 

 by degrees we became more and more accustomed to our solitude, and tried, 

 by mental and bodily exercise, to make the time pass as agreeably as pos- 

 sible." On the 17th October the temperature of the sea being 28° Fahr., 

 the water thickened, after which it froze so rapidly that a number of the 

 " Plover's " men dragged a heavy boat some distance over its surface. On 

 the 24th, the thermometer fell for the first time to zero, and the reign of 

 winter was completely established in Kotzebue Sound. It was now, of 

 course, necessary to house-in the ship ; and Mr Pim tells us how this was 

 done. " A wooden frame, covered with canvas and tilt-cloth, served as a 

 roof; several windows admitted the still remaining portion of daylight; 

 three fire-places and a Sylvester's stove, lit occasionally, diffused an agree- 

 able temperature ; in fine, as far as the internal arrangements were con- 

 cerned, the dockyard authorities, had so well provided for every want, that 

 a considerable degree of comfort was experienced. Those who enjoy all the 



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