A survey of the Thytogeography of the Arctic American Archipelago 
17 
lionie first in the autumn of 1854, together with Belcher's own expedition. Besides 
completiug tlie northwesl passage, M^Clcre had contributed in a considerable degree 
to the knowledge abcut the western part of the Arctic Archipelago. As for the 
botanical results of the expedition, they are mostly due to the exertions of the 
surgeon, Mr. Armstrong, and the interpreter, Mr. Miertsching, a Moravian mis- 
sionary. The collection tliey brought together is rather large, notwithstanding it 
appears from their own journals, that none of them can have been very much of 
a botanist. It does them tlie more credit, however, thnt we posscss through their 
zeal so good a material from those regions. It is rather significant of the condi- 
tions under which the expedition lived, that the only 'plants mentioned in the jour- 
nals, are eatable ones. The narrative, based on M'Clure'8 own journal, hut published 
by Sherard Osborn, contains a few more notes about plantHfe, and lists of the 
collections are published by Hooker i Journ. Linn. Soc. 1857. 
When CoLLTNSON bad passed Bering Strait a fortnight after M'Clure, he 
stayed for a lime in the adjacent part of the Polar Sea waiting for bis consort and 
searching for a land that had been reported to have been seen to the north of the strait, 
without however finding any trace of it, and then, supposing the »Investigator» to 
be behind, he decided on wintering outside tlie arctic regions. From winterquarters 
in the Sandwich Islands he turned to the north again in 1851 and reached Prince 
of Wales Strait shortly after M'Clure had left there and sailed southward again. 
Neither was Collinson able to pass the northern end of the strait, but turned back 
and took up winterquarters in Walker Bay on the coast of Victoria Land. His 
second station was Cambridge Bay on the south coast of the same land, and from 
both places sledging expeditions explored the sliores. In 1853 Collinson went 
westwiird again, but being unable to reach Bering Strait, he had to winter once 
more, on the continental coast. The Journal of Collinson, published long after 
his return, contains only a few notes of botanical interest, but the surgeon, Dr. 
Anderson, made a fine collection of plants at the different stations, an account of 
which is to be found in the above mentioned journal of Armstrong as well as in 
the paper of Hooker, who bas by mistake attributed them to the expedition of 
M'Clure. 
When in 1854 the Government dropped further searcli after the missing expe- 
dition. Lady Jane Franklin had not, however, given up the hope of getting some in- 
formation about the end of ber husband an his followers, and in 1857 Captain L. 
M'Clintock, oue of the most energetic officers of the previous search, left England 
in the little steam yacht »Fox». First the following year, liowever, did he reach 
Lancaster Sound, and proceeding to the south through Prince Regents Inlet he tried 
to pass Bellot Strait. As the ice at the western entranco did not pennit any pas- 
sage, he took his winterquarters at Port Keiinedy on the south coast of North 
Somerset. Fn the sledging season of 1850 voyagc^ \v<Te ma.le along the Bootliian 
coast and around King William- Land and Prince of Wales Island which, besides 
bringing in the detinite [.roof of the disaster that had betaken the FRANKLiN-expedi- 
