ch. xxiv] Discovery of N. coast of America 223 
and sailed with the China fleet of merchantmen, when 
as signal midshipman he took part in an ever-memorable 
action. In the Straits of Malacca the French Admiral 
Linois was encountered with a line-of -battle ship and three 
frigates, and after a sharp fight the French retreated, and 
were chased for three hours by the English merchantmen. 
In 1804 Franklin joined the Bellerophon at the blockade 
of Brest, and on the 21st of October, 1805, was at the 
battle of Trafalgar, when he was once more signal mid- 
shipman. His next service was on board the Bedford, 
escorting the royal family of Portugal to Rio. He 
became a Lieutenant in 1808 and served in the Walcheren 
expedition. In 1813 he convoyed a fleet of merchantmen 
to the West Indies, and his last war service was a severe 
but successful action with American gun-boats near New 
Orleans. 
Franklin gladly accepted the appointment offered to 
him by the Colonial Office to take command of an expe- 
dition to co-operate with Hudson's Bay Co. in exploring 
the north coast of America and surveying it. His col- 
leagues were Dr Richardson, who had sole charge of the 
natural history work ; two midshipmen named Back and 
Hood, selected for their proficiency as artists, and a blue- 
jacket named Hepburn. Other members of the expedition 
were to be engaged in the country, Hudson's Bay men 
and Canadian voyageurs. 
George Back was then aged 22. He had entered the 
navy in 1808 on board the Arethusa, and served in boat 
actions on the north coast of Spain, where in his last 
fight 14 of his crew were killed out of 18. Back was 
taken prisoner while making an attack on a battery of 
heavy guns at Lequeitio and was detained at Verdun 
until 1814. On regaining his liberty he served in the 
Akbar under Sir J. Byam Martin at Flushing, and after- 
wards on the North American station. He passed for 
Lieutenant in 18 17, and in the following year joined the 
Trent under Franklin in the Spitsbergen voyage. Franklin 
gladly secured the gallant young officer's services again 
for his first land expedition. 
It was a difficult task, as the narrative of Hearne 
made sufficiently clear. The explorers were to discover 
the north coast of America from the mouth of the 
