November fi, 18£9.]
THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
383
The “Fox" In Harbour. (Sec page 3S3.J
In 1848 the public alarm at the long-continued
absence of Franklin's Expedition occasioned the
search to be commenced. Those who were
sent knew no more than Franklin did on
leaving England of the geography of the vast
region between Lancaster Sound and Behring’s
Strait; and in all that area, many tens of thou-
sands of square miles, we had to seek two
atoms — two ships. The labour was long and
disheartening; for, with the exception of the
discovery in 1850 of Franklin's winter quarters
of 1845-46, under Beechey Island, no due to their
whereabouts was found until near the fall of
1854. That discovery at Beechey Island merely
assured us that he was within the area above
alluded to, and that his expedition had not
perished, as some supposed, in Baffin's Bay.
During those six years, however, the entire
geography of the regions of Arctic America w'as
made known; and, with the exception of a small
portion around King William’s Land, every coast,
creek, and harbour thoroughly searched. A com-
parison of the two charts we have given, will best
prove how much of this area was thus laid open;
and it should be remembered, that these explorations
were nearly all made by our seamen and officers
on foot, dragging sledges, on which were piled
tents, provision, fuel for cooking, and raiment.
This sledging was brought to perfection by Cap-
tain M'Clintock. He made one foot journey in
those regions with Sir James Ross in 1848 with
the equipment then known to Arctic navigators,
and such as Franklin probably had, and was
struck with its imperfections, and the total impos-
sibility of making long journeys with materiel so
clumsy, and entailing so much unnecessary labour
upon the seamen. His suggestions were subse-
quently eagerly adopted, and in some cases
improved upon by others; the consequence was,
that whereas in 1848 we found our sledge-
parties able to remain away from the frozen-in
ships only forty days to explore two hundred
miles of coast, those of Captain Horatio Austin’s
expedition were away for eighty days, and went
over eight hundred miles of ground. And
in Sir Edward Belcher’s expedition the journeys
extended over a hundred and odd days, and
distances were accomplished of nearly 1400
miles!
In spite of these improvements, the labour and hardship entailed upon our seamen by these sledge- journeys remained extremely severe; and none but those who have witnessed it can conceive the constant suffering it entailed upon our men, or the unflagging zeal and earnestness with which they underwent it year after year, in the hope of discovering their lost countrymen. There were two points to be ascertained by the officers con- ducting the search in order to insure the utmost possible amount of work being done each season: the one was the maximum weight a strong man could drag through deep snow and over heavy ice for a consecutive number of days; the other was, to what temperature we could safely expose them, and upon how small a quantity of food.
The results obtained were curious. The maxi- mum weight was ascertained to be 220 lb. per man; and of that weight 3 lb. per diem was con- sumed by each man for food and fuel — viz., 1 lb. of bread, and 1 lb. of meat, while the other pound
comprised his spirits, tea, cocoa, sugar, tobacco,