May 24, 1858.] 
ARCTIC REGIONS. 
291 
pated, are not without good hope, that to the glory of establishing 
the fate of our missing countrymen, will be added that of the circum- 
navigation of America. At all events we may rest assured, that 
with the certain prospect of a secure retreat in the event of reaching 
the American Continent, Captain M‘Clintock will strive to the 
utmost to get southwards in his vessel ; so that with an experienced 
commander, a well-found ship, and an able crew, whose energies are 
directed to a well-known point, we may, under Providence, look 
forward to a successful result. Still it is not without reason that 
we are desirous to open a communication with him, and a fine 
opportunity is afforded to any enterprising person, like the noble 
author of ‘ Letters from High Latitudes.’ Wager Eiver or Chester- 
field Inlet might readily be reached this season by such a vessel as 
the Foam, and the intervening tract of land between the gulfs 
and the estuary of the Great Fish River crossed in time to secure 
a retreat before the winter. Llere would be the excitement of 
danger so frequently courted, together with the certainty of sport 
both for the rod and gun, and the prospect of aiding in the eluci- 
dation of that great mystery which has occupied the attention of 
the civilised world for so long a period ! 
I cannot quit the theme of Arctic researches, upon which I have 
long thought with intense anxiety, and on which I have dwelt so 
much at length at former Anniversaries, without expressing my 
obligations to our associate Mr. John Brown for his work entitled 
‘ The North-West Passage and the Search after Sir John Franklin,’ 
which he has dedicated to the Royal Geographical Society and myself. 
In this volume the philanthropic author— at all times in the front 
rank of those who have sustained the search after our missing 
countrymen, and who has never given way to despondency — has 
placed before the reader an able epitome of all the efforts which 
have been made, as well as the theories which have been formed 
on this engrossing topic. On his own part, he adheres to the 
simple view, that the gallant Admiral has been encompassed and 
held fast by adhering literally to his instructions, and by seeking to 
force his way in a south-westerly direction from Beechey Island. 
Not re-entering into this vexed question, which it is hoped 
M‘Clintock may set at rest, and on which so many experienced 
Arctic authorities have written, some of them believing that, 
if such was his ultimate fate, Franklin first essayed to force 
his way northwards and reach an open Polar sea, we must 
admire the warm-hearted earnestness with which Mr. Brown has 
