464 THROUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIIST 



rivalled in the annals of Arctic, or indeed any other, enter- 

 prise of modern times, and one scarcely knew which to admire 

 most, the boldness and audacity of its conception or the 

 unswerving devotion and perseverance which brought it to a 

 successful conclusion. Dr. Hayes, himself distinguished as 

 an Arctic explorer, remarked on the occasion of the Lieuten- 

 ant's reception in !N^ew York after his return, that " we now 

 knew all that we shall ever know of the fate of the one 

 hundred and twenty-nine men who went forth, buoyant and 

 strong, to play their heroic part in that great drama of Polar 

 exploration which had long been their country's pride. The 

 problem which had engaged the loving perseverance of Lady 

 Franklin, the effort and energy of so many gallant and gener- 

 ous spirits, has been solved. We know how the explorers 

 perished., and where, and with some reasonable degree of 

 6ertainty, when. All honour to their memories ! They and 

 their brave leaders deserved well of the commonwealth. It 

 is the legacy of example and inspiration which such men 

 bequeath that makes a nation rich." 



"Near the camp where Captains Crozier and Fitzjames 

 landed and rested after abandoning their ice-beset ships on 

 22nd April, 1848, and where they deposited their only record, 

 found by Lieutenant Hobson eleven years later, Schwatka 

 discovered an open grave which contained the skull and some 

 bones, which, from the fact of their finding a silver medal 

 therein, which had been awarded to John Irving, midsummer 

 1830, as a second mathematical prize at the Royal Naval 

 College, and other relics, they concluded were the remains 

 of Lieutenant John Irving, of H. M. ship Terror. These 

 remains were accordingly carefully gathered together and 

 taken from Irving Bay, King William Island, where they 

 were found, to New York, and thence shipped to Edinburgh, 

 Scotland, his native city. 



" Shortly after their arrival in Edinbui^h Irving's bones 

 were honoured by a public funeral to their place of interment 

 among his kindred, in the Dean cemetery. This took place 



