ch. xxix] Discovery of the Fate of Franklin 273 
not hesitate, but at once came forward herself to fulfil the 
duty, and M'Clintock entered upon the completion of his 
long and zealous efforts by accepting the mission which 
was to crown his Arctic achievements. 
Lady Franklin had unbounded confidence in Captain 
M'Clintock, and gave him a perfectly free hand. She 
set aside £20,000 of her own fortune for the voyage, and 
there were subscriptions to the amount of £3000, with 
which she purchased the Fox, a steam yacht of 177 tons. 
The expedition was fitted out at Aberdeen, and the public 
departments were allowed to give some help. Lieut. 
W. R. Hobson, who had served in the Plover, got leave 
to go as senior executive. Captain Allen Young of the 
mercantile marine, young, active, energetic, and full of 
zeal, entered as Master and contributed £500. Dr David 
Walker went as surgeon, and a very great acquisition 
was Carl Petersen, the Dane who was Penny's dog-driver 
and who knew Greenland and its seas so well. The whole 
number of souls on board the Fox was twenty-four, and 
fifteen had served in former search expeditions. William 
Harvey, the chief petty officer, was Captain Austin's 
boatswain's mate in the Resolute, and afterwards in the 
North Star, a thorough seaman and a first-rate sledge 
traveller. One great advantage to M'Clintock was that 
Captain Austin was at Deptford and could give him 
much assistance. 
On July 1st, 1857, the Fox was well on her way to 
Greenland. Ten dogs were obtained at Lievely, and two 
young Eskimos were engaged as seal hunters and dog- 
drivers. M'Clintock had already been through Melville 
Bay three times, but 1857 was the worst ice year on 
record. Constant south-east winds kept the ice closely 
packed. 
The Fox had made no out of the 170 miles required to 
cross the bay, and there was hope if only a northerly 
wind would spring up. September came, however, and 
M'Clintock soon realised that their fate was inevitable— a 
winter in the drifting pack. It was a perilous position. 
The vessel drifted southwards for 1194 geographical miles 
in 242 days, and was liberated in April, 1858, under 
appalling circumstances. On the 24th the approach to 
the edge of the ice became evident from the swell. The 
