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CHAPTER XXVII.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

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VOYAGE

OF

THE PRINCE

PRINCE ALBERT.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION. -PUBLIC SYMPATHY FOR SIR JOHN FRANK-
LIN.-MEASURES ADOPTED FOR HIS RELIEF.-AUXILIARY
EXPEDITION
ALBERT.'

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ΤΟ REGENT'S INLET.

66

THE

PRINCE

NATURE AND OBJECT OF HER VOYAGE.

IF Arctic affairs intensely occupy the public mind at this moment, it is not so much in connection with scientific research and increase of knowledge, as with the feelings and dictates of humanity. Attention to the former is all but obliterated in the absorbing interest called forth by the latter; and, to the honour of human nature, it must be said that this intense interest and sympathy have been proved to exist among all classes, and all kinds of persons. During the past year especially, thousands have been heard, as with

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one voice, urging for relief to be sent to some of their suffering brethren, supposed to be imprisoned in wild and unknown regions around the Northern Pole. With a like generous and noble impulse, hundreds rushed forward, ready to forsake their own loved homes, their domestic comforts, and their usual safe pursuits, eager to join the gallant few chosen to search those desolate and ice-clad seas, in the noble expeditions fitted out by government for that purpose.

But before I enter into any minor details of the voyage, it will be necessary to explain whence this more than usual expression of generous sympathy and noble disinterestedness has proceeded.

In the beginning of the year 1845, it was determined by the government of England, at the suggestion of Sir John Barrow, the great promoter of all arctic discovery, to make another attempt at discovering "an entry from the eastern side of America into the Polar Sea," and thence to proceed, through the straits which divide Asia from the New World, into the Pacific Ocean.

Captain Sir John Franklin, a naval officer previously well known to the world for his adventurous and daring spirit, evinced in two land journeys to the Arctic Seas, was appointed to the command of another expedition, consisting of two ships, "The

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Erebus" and "Terror." Both of these ships had already been engaged on similar service in the Antarctic Ocean; and, one of them, the Terror, had also made a fearful voyage under the command of Captain Back to the northern parts of Hudson's Bay, with a view to further discoveries in that quarter in connection with a north-west passage. On the 19th of May, 1845, both ships sailed from England.

The instructions which Sir John Franklin received were, "to proceed to Baffin Bay, and, as soon as the ice permitted, to enter Lancaster Sound, and proceed westward through Barrow Strait, in the latitude of about 741°, until they reached the longitude of Cape Walker, or about 98° west. They were then to use every effort to penetrate southward and westward towards Behring Strait; and it was in this part that their greatest difficulties were apprehended. If these were proved to be insurmountable, they were next directed to return to Barrow Strait, and proceed northwards by the broad channel between North Devon and Cornwallis' Island, commonly called Wellington Channel, provided it appeared open and clear of ice." In pursuance of these instructions it appears that both vessels made their way together as far as latitude 74° 48', longitude 66° 13′ W. (a position approaching the middle

of Baffin Bay, and about 210 miles from the entrance of Lancaster Sound). It was here that they were seen, moored to an iceberg, on the 26th of July, sixty-eight days after their departure from England.

It was not until the beginning of 1848 that anything like anxiety for their fate began to be felt by those most interested in their welfare at home. It was well known that the gallant leader of the expedition had himself intimated that possibly three years might elapse before they could return, and that they might be themselves the first bearers of intelligence concerning them. Nor were the fears of that estimable lady, Lady Franklin, aroused to any alarming extent prior to that period. Then, however, it was deemed necessary that some steps should be at once taken towards ascertaining what had become of Sir John Franklin and his missing companions ; and, accordingly, "researches in three different quarters, and by three separate expeditions, were appointed to be undertaken by the government." Lady Franklin, also, with the true devotedness of a wife, offered in that year, from her private means, a reward of 20007., afterwards increased to 30007., "or a proportion thereof, according to services rendered, to any ship or ships, which, departing from the usual fishing grounds, might discover, and, if

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