Then came a period of the keenest rivalry and richest results in the history of polar conquest, but also one of the greatest catastrophes. The expeditions of Lieutenant John Franklin in 1818 and 1819 were spoken of a moment ago. His services then and subsequently had been recognized by the British king, who, among other honors, had made Franklin a knight, and sent him to be governor of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), where he remained from 1836 to 1843, founded a prosperous colony, and was regarded as one of the wisest, kindest, and most upright men of his day. Upon his return to England Franklin was made commander of the most important expedition that had ever yet been fitted out to search for the Northwest Passage, and his reputation brought the best men as volunteers to his standard. Having selected 134 officers and men, and made the best equipment possible, Captain Sir John Franklin sailed on May 19, 1845, in the Erebus and Terror, Parry’s old ships. On the 26th of July they were seen proceeding prosperously up Baffin’s Bay by a whaler, who reported them in due course, but neither ships or crews were heard of again for many years.
Anxiety over the long silence at length aroused the people of England and the United States to begin a search for them which lasted through many years. It was fruitless as to its first object,—the rescue of Franklin or any survivors,—but it gradually cleared up the sad mystery, and it was the means of learning all, and more than all, that Franklin sought to ascertain.
The search began by the despatch, early in 1848, of Sir James Ross in two ships, Investigator and Enterprise, which wintered near the northeast point of North Devon, and returned the following year with no tidings, although they afforded the second officer, Lieutenant F. R. M’Clintock, an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of sledging, which he afterward used to advantage. This failure only aroused England to renewed efforts.
Many ships were started out at once, and also parties overland, of which mention will be made later. The Herald and Plover, during 1848 and 1849, scanned the whole coast from Bering Sea to the mouth of the Mackenzie, and discovered Herald Island. Following them, in March, 1850, went the Enterprise, under Collinson, and the Investigator, under M’Clure, via Bering Strait, while the Assistance and Resolute, with two steam tenders, under Captain Austin, went to renew the search by Barrow Strait, and two brigs, the Lady Franklin and Sophia, under a whaling captain named Penny, followed them. The eastern expeditions discovered Franklin’s winter quarters of 1845-46 at Beechey Island, but no record of any kind indicating the direction taken by his ships. Admirable arrangements were made for passing the winter, and their combined sailing and sledging work added much to the map of that district, and to our knowledge of life in polar latitudes, but it learned nothing whatever of Franklin’s fate.
A FLOATING ICE-CASTLE OF THE FROZEN NORTH.
“Out from the dark, mysterious North,
With all its glamour, every night
Tingling with unforgotten dreams,
And every day flood-full of light.”