“The advance of winter had now closed all the harbours against us; and as it was impossible to penetrate to the westward through the pack from which we had just been liberated, I made the signal to the Investigator of my intention to return to England.”
Thus the three expeditions so far sent out had not met with success, and the anxiety in England over the fate of the Erebus and Terror was increasing. In March, 1848, the Admiralty offered the sum of one hundred guineas or more to the crews of any whaling ships that should bring accurate tidings of the missing ships and of Franklin.
In March, 1849, the British government offered another reward of twenty thousand pounds “to such private ship, or by distribution among such private ships, or to any exploring party or parties, of any country, as might, in the judgment of the Board of Admiralty, have rendered efficient assistance to Sir John Franklin, his ships, or their crews, and might have contributed directly to extricate them from the ice.”
THE LADY FRANKLIN EXPEDITION
Lady Franklin, whose devotion and courage had won the admiration of the world, offered two thousand pounds and three thousand pounds to officers and crew of any ship that should render assistance to her husband and, if necessary, bring Sir John Franklin and the party back to England.
In the spring of 1849, she sent out provisions and coal for the use of the missing ships, and these were carried in the whaling ship Truelove, in charge of Mr. Parker, and were landed at Cape Hay on the south side of Lancaster Sound.
In 1849, Dr. Goodsir, whose brother had sailed in the Erebus as assistant surgeon, went north on the whaling ship Advice, under Captain Penny, and penetrated to Lancaster Sound, but was debarred from entering Prince Regent Inlet by the ice. The Advice closely skirted the shores, and deposited provisions, but found no traces of the missing ships, and returned to England. In the meantime, the Enterprise and Investigator, the gallant ships of the third government expedition previously described, were being refitted and provisioned for the purpose of going by way of South America to Behring Strait. Sailing from Plymouth Sound January 20, 1850, the Enterprise under the command of Captain Richard Collinson, and the Investigator under Commander M’Clure, made a comparatively fast run to the Pacific. By the middle of August the Enterprise fell in with the ice. At Grantly Harbor, communication with the Plover and Herald determined Captain Collinson to proceed to Hongkong, there to replenish his stores and not attempt to penetrate the ice until the following April.
In the meantime the North Star with her provisions and despatches had spent the winter in North Star Bay, in Wolstenholme Sound, 76° 33´ north latitude and 68° 56´ west longitude. Not until August, 1850, did she get free of her retreat, and some days later in Lancaster Sound she spoke the Lady Franklin and Sophia under the command of Mr. Penny. These ships had been equipped mainly at the expense of Lady Franklin; had sailed early in the spring and, though independent of the government expeditions, were to coöperate with them as circumstances demanded. Later the North Star fell in with the Felix, a schooner-rigged vessel of one hundred and twenty tons, provisioned for eighteen months and under that veteran sea captain and explorer, Sir John Ross. The Felix had been equipped by public subscription and sent out for the purpose of searching the west side of the entrance of Wellington Channel from Cape Hotham to Banks Land.
The North Star deposited a quantity of provisions at a point the commander named Navy Board Inlet, on the mainland behind Wollaston Island, and erected a cairn and flagstaff, having first made an unsuccessful attempt to reach Port Bowen and Port Neale. In Possession Bay she spoke the Prince Albert, that gallant little craft, equipped in greater part by the devoted Lady Franklin, who had raised the necessary funds by selling out all personal securities which she could legally touch. Commander Charles C. Forsyth and Mr. W. P. Snow had volunteered their services without compensation, and the object of this expedition was to examine the shores of Prince Regent Inlet and the Gulf of Boothia and send out travelling parties to examine the west side of Boothia down to Dease and Simpson straits.