Songs and stories followed until all were overcome by sleep. “Is the chronometer wound”? was the form of saying good night. In the evening the agony of having to force our feet into boots frozen as hard as iron had to be undergone. Breakfast consisted of cocoa or tea and biscuit. Everything being packed, the journey began at 6 P.M., the officer falling in to the drag-ropes except when he was wanted to guide the sledge or shoot a bear. There was a short halt for luncheon consisting of hard frozen pork fat, biscuit, and a tot of rum. But it was difficult to drink out of a pannikin without leaving the skin of the lips attached to it. The process called for considerable caution, but I had a piece of blanket on purpose to put over the rim. The time of marching was from 8 to 10 hours.
The region to the south was quite unknown except Cape Walker, which can be seen at a great distance. Captain Ommanney, leading the southern division, reached that lofty cliff. Then Mecham explored the island on which it is situated; Lieut. Browne was sent down to the east coast of the newly-discovered land, exactly in the direction of the lost ships if he had only known it; Vesey Hamilton examined Lowther Island; while Captain Ommanney and Sherard Osborn made a long journey down to the west side of the new land which was named after the Prince of Wales. Osborn observed the tremendous ice in what has since been named M’Clintock Channel, and it was clear to him that Franklin could never have passed in that direction. Captain Ommanney travelled round a very extensive bay. The Cape Walker division of sledges did its work thoroughly well.
M’Clintock marched to the westward[130], with two other extended parties, one under Lieut. Aldrich of the Resolute examining the eastern shores of Bathurst Island, and the other under Dr Bradford taking the west side of Melville Island. M’Clintock himself went along the southern coast of Melville Island, reaching and passing Cape Dundas, the furthest western point of Sir Edward Parry. M’Clintock was then in high hopes of finding traces of some of Franklin’s parties, as there was an idea that Sir John might have passed up Wellington Channel and made his way to the north of Melville Island. It was thought that a retreating party might have made its way to Bushnan Cove, as Parry had given such a pleasant description of that ravine. Thither M’Clintock went, but only to find the wheels of Parry’s cart and the bleached bones of the ptarmigan his party had eaten. He then marched overland to Parry’s winter quarters, and encamped at the foot of Parry’s sandstone rock with the inscription carved by Dr Fisher.
The wayworn sledge travellers started on their return on May 27th. They had had the advantage of fresh food from musk oxen, hares, and ptarmigan, and additional fuel from bear’s blubber. But with the summer the most harassing kind of sledge travelling began. Large pools of water formed on the ice floes, and the men often got wet through in ice-cold water. A mixture of ice and snow formed a crust over these pools of water, but not strong enough to bear, and through these they had to wade and struggle as best they could. At length M’Clintock and his gallant band arrived alongside the Assistance on July 4th. Up to that date it was the greatest Arctic feat on record. M’Clintock’s party had been 80 days away, 44 outward and 36 home, and had made 770 miles, reaching a distance of 300 miles from the ship. Their rate was 10½ miles a day, and they were detained 2½ days by gales.
Thus was Captain Austin’s extensive scheme of search ably and completely carried out by the officers who served under him, with exemplary fortitude, zeal, and intelligence. There were only three amputations of toes, and one death from frost-bite. Of all Arctic expeditions, Captain Austin’s was perhaps the happiest, the healthiest, the best administered, and the most successful. Its sledge travellers covered 7025 miles on foot, dragging the sledges themselves, and discovered 1225 miles of new land.
It was necessary to cut and blast lanes for the ships to reach open water. Lieut. Mecham ably conducted the blasting operations. The ships were free on the 11th of August, after having been frozen up for eleven months. Captain Austin then proceeded to search Jones Sound in the Pioneer as far as the ice would admit, while the Assistance visited the Cary Islands in Baffin’s Bay. The Intrepid had an unprecedented experience. She had been up Jones Sound in company with the Pioneer and was making for the rendezvous on August 27th when the ice closed round, and she was obliged to make fast to a floe. Soon the floe was in motion and moving rapidly towards a large grounded iceberg. Before the vessel could be extricated she was driven with a frightful crash against the berg at 5 P.M. The vessel rose to the heavy pressure and two whaleboats and the dinghy were at once got out on the floe. Soon the vessel’s taffrail was 40 feet and her bow 30 feet up the side of the berg, the masses of ice rising nearly 10 feet above the bulwark. The crew prevented huge pieces from falling on board with capstan bars. Then the pressure ceased, the piled-up masses sank from alongside, and the ship was left suspended on the side of the berg by two small wedge-pieces, one at the stern post the other at the bow. It seemed inevitable that she must fall over on her broadside and be smashed. At 2 A.M. the pressure began again, the ice piling up in a frightful manner, and crushing the boats on the floe to atoms. It was blowing hard from S.E. If the vessel had fallen over, Lieut. Cator knew that all must perish. But at 2 P.M. the pressure ceased quite suddenly, and the ship shot down into the water, and was safe. This is probably the most extraordinary and appalling danger that any ship ever went through in the Arctic regions.
The squadron returned to England on October 4th. Captain Austin had conducted the expedition with exceptional ability and success. M’Clintock had gained more Arctic experience. He had been first lieutenant of the best-administered and happiest ship that ever crossed the Arctic Circle, he had made life-long friendships, and his genius had created Arctic sledge travelling.
Sherard Osborn, enthusiastic, accomplished, and a perfect leader of men, was the complement of M’Clintock, of whom he was a friend through life. Mecham possessed the qualities of both, and some which were specially his own, a very true and perfect gentleman. Vesey Hamilton was thoroughly to be depended upon to do all that was expected from him and to do it well. All were genial friends and the best of messmates. These were the rising Arctic men when Austin’s expedition returned[131].
Disappointed with Captain Forsyth’s return, Lady Franklin sent out the Prince Albert again with orders to search to the south of North Somerset. She alone seems to have had an intuition of the right direction. She gave the command to Mr William Kennedy of the mercantile marine, who was accompanied by Lieut. Bellot, a distinguished young French naval officer. The Prince Albert wintered in Batty Bay on the north-east coast of North Somerset, and a sledge journey was undertaken in the spring of 1852. Kennedy used flat-bottomed Indian sledges and dogs. After a long stay at Fury Beach he worked south and discovered a strait between North Somerset and Boothia, since named Bellot Strait, and passed through it. If he had then obeyed his instructions and gone south he would probably have discovered the fate of Franklin. He turned north, and returned to Batty Bay by the north coast of North Somerset. The exact route is uncertain, as the narrative is confused, but he was away 97 days. There seemed a fatality against the right direction being taken.