ON ARCTIC EXPLORATION. 
445 
To explore this area the steamer Fox was fitted out by Lady 
Franklin; and the present Sir Leopold M'Clintock having received 
the command, was successful in carrying out the object, by the aid 
of sledge parties, in the spring of 1859. By these parties the 
skeletons of three bodies were discovered, and a great quantity of 
relics, and a record made on an Admiralty form, which told of the 
death of Sir John Franklin, of the abandonment of the ships, and 
of the terrible attempt of the survivors to escape on foot to more 
hospitable shores. 
The sufferings of Dr. Kane's party in searching the Smith Sound 
district, and attempting to prosecute northern exploration, form a 
thrilling episode in the history of the search for Franklin. 
With regard to the more immediate aspect of the question of 
general Arctic discovery at the present time, the special objects to 
be attained may now claim some consideration. Among these may 
be placed the determination of the exact figure of the globe ; the 
measurement of the precise length of a degree in the polar dis- 
trict ; and the obtaining of experience in ice navigation preparatory 
to Antarctic observations in connection with the transit of Yenus 
in 1882; the discovery of the North Pole, and of any representa- 
tives of the human race who may possibly exist in these remote 
regions. Traces of Eskimos have been found almost as far north as 
discoverers have yet penetrated. 
Magnetic observations being alluded to, photographs were ex- 
hibited of one of the dipping needles invented by E. W. Fox, 
Esq., f.k.s., for the purpose of ascertaining with great accuracy 
the amount and intensity of terrestrial magnetism. This particular 
instrument was prepared by Mr. Olive, of Falmouth, for the 
present Arctic expedition. It was through the aid of this inven- 
tion that the approximate position of the South Magnetic Pole has 
been demonstrated. The exact spot has not been reached, but the 
area in which it lies has been successfully indicated. 
The avenues of access by water to the great circumpolar area 
are three in number; viz., first, by Behring's Straits; second, by 
the great opening between Greenland and Norway, on either side 
of Spitzbergen ; and third, by Smith Sound. 
Many expeditions, from Sweden, Germany, and Austria, have 
pursued scientific research in the region of the second of these 
openings during the past ten or twelve years. Some of the more 
interesting of these have been the German expedition under Capt. 
2 Cr 
