RECORD OF FRANKLIN’S EXPEDITION
“But, alas! round the margin of the paper upon which Lieutenant Gore in 1847 wrote those words of hope and promise, another hand had subsequently written the following words:—
“‘April 25, 1848.—H. M. ships Terror and Erebus were deserted on the 22d April, 5 leagues N.N.W. of this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69° 37´ 42´´ N., long. 98° 41´ W. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.
“‘(Signed)
“‘F. R. M. Crozier, Captain and Senior Officer,
“‘James Fitzjames, Captain H. M. S. Erebus,
“‘and start (on) tomorrow, 26th for Back’s Fish River.’
“This marginal information was evidently written by Captain Fitzjames, excepting only the note stating when and where they were going, which was added by Captain Crozier.
“There is some additional marginal information relative to the transfer of the document to its present position (viz. the site of Sir James Ross’s pillar) from a spot four miles to the northward near Point Victory, where it had been originally deposited by the late Commander Gore. This little word late shows that he, too, within the twelvemonth had passed away.
“In the short space of twelve months, how mournful had become the history of Franklin’s expedition; how changed from the cheerful ‘All well’ of Graham Gore! The spring of 1847 found them within 90 miles of the known sea off the coast of America; and to men who had already in two seasons sailed over 500 miles of previously unexplored waters, how confident must they have felt that that forthcoming navigable season of 1847 would see their ships pass over so short an intervening space! It was ruled otherwise. Within a month after Lieutenant Gore placed the record on Point Victory, the much-loved leader of the expedition, Sir John Franklin, was dead; and the following spring found Captain Crozier, upon whom the command had devolved at King William Land, endeavoring to save his starving men, 105 souls in all, from a terrible death by retreating to Hudson Bay territories up the Back or Great Fish River.