instructed their officers to give intimation to | to the channel discovered on the north coast of the natives to be on the look-out for the expedition, which would, in all probability, endeavor to approach the shore near the Mackenzie or Coppermine River, with the view of landing despatches; and to convey to the nearest establishment any papers or letters that might be intrusted to their charge, for which they would be liberally rewarded. Further directions were given to take every possible measure for the protection and maintenance of the party in the event of their landing. The offer held out by the Hudson's Bay Company, of a reward to the natives, may, in some degree, account for the rumor which was so recently circulated of their having seen two boats filled with white people to the east of the Mackenzie, in the fall of 1846. This appears to be Sir John Richardson's opinion, for he says in his letter to the Admiralty, "I place no confidence in the rumors, but merely consider that they have originated in the queries. of the traders, and the desire of the Indians to excite the curiosity of the questioner, in the hope that they may obtain something thereby.' Before the close of the year 1847 - indeed, in the early part of it several conferences were held by the most experienced Arctic voyagers respecting the best mode of succoring Sir John Franklin. As early as September 1846, Sir John Ross, to his credit be it recorded, addressed a letter to the Admiralty. volunteering to head an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin in 1847. To this the Admiralty replied by stating, that whilst they appreciated the gallant and humane intentions of the writer, it was not intended immediately to despatch any relief expedition. The Admiralty, however, lost no time in collecting the best practical opinions as to the measures to be adopted for obtaining tidings of, or rendering assistance to, the missing ships. It may be proper here to state, that it was the firm determination of Sir John Franklin not to abandon the enterprise until he had exhausted all the channels leading to, or supposed to lead to, the sea west of Melville Island. We have often heard him thus express himself; and Sir John Richardson, who may be regarded as one of Sir John Franklin's warmest friends, confirms this. He says: "I had many conversation swith Franklin up to the eve of his departure, respecting his future proceedings. His plans were, to shape his course, in the first instance, for the neigh borhood of Cape Walker, and to push to the westward in that parallel; or, if that could not be accomplished, to make his way southwards, the continent, and so on, to Behring's Strait; failing success in that quarter, he meant to retrace his course to Wellington Sound, and attempt a passage northwards of Parry's Islands; and, if foiled there also, to descend Regent's Inlet, and seek the passage along the coast discovered by Messrs. Dease and Simpson." Colonel Sabine, who, though a landsman, has bestowed much attention on the fascinating subject of a North-west Passage, and whose opinion is entitled to great consideration, has long conceived that the most probable passage lies through Wellington Channel. He says:"The east and west sides of Wellington Channel should be especially searched for notices, which may not improbably have been deposited there; and one of the ports in the vicinity might be made one of the temporary stations for the depot ship." Thus, it is evident that a large tract of Aretic sea must be swept, and many hundreds of miles of coast examined, before the search for Sir John Franklin should be abandoned as hopeless. Let us turn now to an examination of the measures which have been taken to find the ice-locked Erebus and Terror. It was determined that three expeditions should be equipped: one, consisting of two ships, to follow in the track of the Erebus and Terror as far as Lancaster Sound, and then to commence searching; one, also consisting of two ships, to be sent to Behring's Strait; and the third, consisting of a boat-party, to descend the Mackenzie and search the American coast, castward of that river, leaving the coast to the west to be explored by boats belonging to the ships despatched from Behring's Strait. The command of the first expedition was given to Sir James Ross, who volunteered his services; that of the second to Commander Moore; and the third to Sir John Richardson, who, although but recently married, holding a lucrative Government appointment, and no longer in the enjoyment of youth, had, in the noblest manner, utterly regardless of the fearful privations which attach to an Arctic land and sea expedition, and with which former expeditions of a similar nature have made him familiar, volunteered his services. Availing ourselves of the official instructions to these officers, we hope to be enabled to give our readers a correct idea of the plans which it is proposed to adopt. First, with regard to the expedition under Sir James Ross. This consists of two ships, the Enterprise and Investigator, of four hundred and seventy, and four hundred and twenty tons Cape Bathurst, or Cape Parry, on the main land; at each of which places Sir John Richardson is directed to have provisions for its use; that party will then advance to Fort Good Hope, where they will find directions for continuing their progress up the Mackenzie River, so as to return to England by the usual route of traders. Another party is to explore the eastern coast of Banks' Land, and from thence make at once for Cape Krusenstern, where, or at Cape Hearne, a caché of pemmican will be placed for Sir John Richardson. The party are to communicate with the latter, and, placing themselves under his orders, are to assist him in examining the shores of Victoria and Wollaston's Islands, and finally return with him to England by whatever route he may deem advisable. respectively. They were built expressly for | this expedition, and are in every way calculated for Arctic navigation. Each ship, at the suggestion of Sir James Ross, is provided with a launch fitted with a steam-engine and screw, of sufficient power to propel them at the rate of about five knots an hour. The ships carry ninety tons of coal, and provisions for three years. Sir James Ross is directed, in the first instance, to proceed without delay to Lancaster Sound. In passing through that inlet to the westward, be is to carefully search both its shores, as well as those of Barrow's Strait, for any notices that may have been deposited there, and for any casual indications of their having been visited by either of Sir John Franklin's ships. Should the season be sufficiently open, a similar examination is to be made at one of the shores of Wellington Channel. The several intervals of coast that appear in our charts to lie between Capes Clarence and Walker are next to be carefully explored; and, by means of the steam-launches and ships' boats, it is confidently expected that all this will be completed during the present season (1848). It is recommended that the Investigator should be secured for the winter in a fit and safe port near Cape Rennell, from which position a considerable extent of coast may be explored on foot; and in the spring of 1849, detached parties may be sent across the ice to look thoroughly into the creeks along the west-pedition, that the Enterprise and Investigator ern coast of Boothia, as far as Cape Nicolai, while another party is to proceed to the southward, and ascertain whether the blank space shown there in our charts consists of an open sea, through which Sir John Franklin may have passed, or, on the contrary, of a continuous chain of islands, among which he may still be blocked up. As soon as the returning summer shall have opened a passage between the land and the main body of the ice, the Investigator is to detatch her steam-launch to Lancastar Sound, in order to meet the whale ships which usually visit the western side of Baffin's Bay about that time, and by which further instructions and communications will be sent out. The enterprise is directed to press forward to the westward, and endeavor to reach Winter Harbor in Melville Island, or Banks' Land. From this western station active parties are to be despatched, to make short and useful excursions before the season closes, and still more effective ones in the ensuing spring. One party is then to pursue the coast in whatever direction it may seem likely to have been followed by Sir John Franklin; and thus determine the general shape of the western face of Banks' Land. It is then to proceed direct to The Admiralty desire the foregoing instructions to be regarded as the general outline only of their desires, leaving Sir James Ross free to institute any other plans which local circumstances may render necessary or desirable; and they add," If Providence should. not be pleased to crown your efforts with success, we leave it to your own judgment when, and from whence, to return to England, as soon as you are convinced that every means within your reach have been exhausted." We have only to add with respect to this ex sailed on the 12th May, 1848, and reached Opernavik, in latitude 72° 40′ N. and longitude 56° W., on the 13th July. Sir James Ross, writing from thence, says : "That the natives informed him the winter had been unusually severe, and that they had all suffered greatly from hunger. (He adds :) The appearances of the sea and sky since we have left Whale Islands induce me to believe that the present season will not prove unfavorable to navigation, although a strong blink in the sky to the westward proves that the main pack is not far distant in that direction, so that we shall be obliged to go to the northward to round the north end of it, before we can stretch across to Lancaster Sound. . . . Last night a strong gale came on from the southward, and has this morning brought so heavy a sea into the harbor, that I think we shall be obliged to get off to sea as soon as we can. The whalers' accounts are not so favorable as I expected; but they have given up the attempt to cross to the west land at a very early period of the season. The strong southerly gale will have produced a very beneficial effect on the ice to the northward, and I have no doubt of being able to get along famously. Later accounts show that Sir James Ross was in latitude 73° 50′ N., and longitude 78 6.30′ W., on the 28th of August, at which period all the officers and crew were well. travel over the ice, or along the coast of America to Behring's Strait. No restrictions are placed on Commander Moore with respect to time, and he is allowed to use the best means in his power to afford the desired relief to Sir John Franklin's expedition. It is important to state, that the Russian Government have undertaken to instruct the authorities at Sitka (Norfolk Sound) to give all assistance in their power to the Plover. Captain Beechey, who has had much experience in Arctic navigation, and who, it will be remembered, commanded the Blossom in the expedition sent to Behring's Strait to cooperate with Franklin, who proceeded westerly from the mouth of the Mackenzie, has supplied Commander Moore with valuable suggestions; and the Hudson's Bay Company have instructed their officers to give all the accommodation at their disposal to the boating party of the Plover, should they proceed as far eastward as to ascend the Mackenzie. We pass now to the expedition despatched to Behring's Strait. This consists of the ships Plover and Herald. The former is commanded by Commander Moore, and is fitted for Arctic navigation. The instructions order the Plover to proceed to Panama, where she will be met by the Herald, commanded by Captain Kellett; the latter is then to take on board such provisions and stores as will be required for the service; and the two ships are to proceed to Petropaulowski and Sitka, for the purpose of procuring interpreters and a supply of meat. They are then to push on to Behring's Strait, and should arrive there about the Ist of July, and proceed along the American coast as far as is consistent with the certainty of preventing the ships being beset by the ice. Four whale-boats are then to be despatched along the coast, to look for a harbor in which to receive the Plover for the winter; and when a suitable place is found, two of the boats are to conduct the Plover to her winter quarters, and the other two to proceed along the coast in search of the voyagers, and to communicate, if possible, with the party which it is intended shall descend the Mackenzie River under the command of Sir John Richardson. As soon as symptoms of winter appear, the boats are to return to the Plover, which ship being fitted with fuel and provisions and stores from the Herald, will house in and make all snug for the winter. The Herald is then to return to the south, to give intelligence of the spot where she left the Plov-mer of 1847, and made great progress on the er. Extensive excursions are to be made early in the spring by small parties from the Plover, in every possible and practicable direction, from the winter station; but as soon as the water has formed along the coast, boat expeditions are to be despatched towards the Mackenzie River, again to communicate, if possible, with Sir John Richardson's party. When the month of July, 1849, arrives, the Herald will again proceed to communicate with the Plover; and the Captain of the Herald will be guided by his own discretion and judgment, the information he may receive, and other existing circumstances, in reequip ping the Plover for passing a second winter on that part of the coast, and for continuing her in the search for Sir John Franklin. In addition to the provisions necessary for the crew of the Plover, she is provided with large quantities of preserved meats for the use of the party under Sir John Franklin, should they be compelled to abandon their ships and We have now to consider the overland expedition, under the command of Sir John Richardson, upon which great reliance is placed by competent authorities, who entertain strong hopes that it may be the agent to relieve Franklin. This expedition was suggested by Sir John Richardson as early as February, 1847. It consists of four Loats built in England, thirty feet long and six feet wide, of as light materials as is consistent with the necessary strength, manned by twenty men in all, and each capable of canying nearly three tons in addition to their complement of men. These boats with their crews left England with the Hudson's Bay ships in the sun route to the Mackenzie before the close of the season. On the 25th of March, 1848, Sir John Richardson, accompanied by Mr. Rae, whose recent Arctic explorations will be in the recollection of our readers, left England for Halifax and New York by the mail-steamer, and lost no time in pushing on northwards. A letter received from Sir John Richardson, dated from Methay Portage, July 4, 1848, states that Mr. Rae and himself had joined the boat party on that portage. He adds, "We hope to leave this on the 7th; but the men are much fatigued, and we shall go to sea much less fresh and fit for the voyage than would have been the case had we had the help of horses in making this very laborious. portage." Sir John Richardson expected to reach the mouth of the Mackenzie about the 1st of August. His further probable proceedings will be gathered from the following extracts from his instructions: "If you reach the sea in the first week in August, it is hoped you will be able to make the complete voyage to the Coppermine River, and also to coast a considerable part of the western and southern shores of Wollaston Land, and to ascend the Coppermine to some convenient point, where Mr. Bell and a party can be left with the provisions ready for the next year's voyage; and you will instruct him to send two hunters to the banks of the river to provide food for the party on the route to Fort Confidence, and thus spare you any further consumption of pemmican, reserved for the following summer. "As it may happen, however, from your late arrival on the coast, or subsequent unexpected detentions, that you cannot with safety attempt to reach the Coppermine, you have our full permission in such a case to return to Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie, there to deposit two of the boats, with all the sea stores, and to proceed with the other two boats, and the whole of the crews, to winter quarters on Great Bear Lake. "And you have also our permission to deviate from the line of route along the coast, should you receive accounts from the Esquimaux, which may appear credible, of the crews of the Erebus and Terror, or some part of them, being in some other direction. "For the purpose of more widely extending your search, you are at liberty to leave Mr. Rae and a party of volunteers to winter on the coast, if by the establishment of a sufficient fishery, or by killing a number of deer or musk oxen, you may be able to lay up provisions enough for them until you can rejoin them next summer. "Should it appear necessary to continue the search a second summer (1849), and should the boats have been housed on the Coppermine, you are to descend that river on the breaking up of the ice in June 1849, and to examine the passages between Wollaston and Banks, and Victoria Lands, so as to cross the routes of some of Sir James C. Ross' detached parties, and to return to Great Bear Lake in September 1849, and withdraw the whole party from thence to winter on Great Slave Lake, which would be as far south as you will have a prospect of travelling before the close of the river navigation." The Admiralty extend to Sir John Richardson the same latitude in his operations as they grant to Sir James Ross and Commander Moore: they are only anxious that the search so laudibly undertaken should not be unnecessarily or hazardously prolonged; and to guard against this, they order his search to cease after the winter of 1849, which is to be passed on the Great Slave Lake, and that, at the earliest practical moment in the spring of 1850, he is to take steps to return to England. We need scarcely observe, that the Hudson's Bay Company are powerful auxiliaries in this expedition. By their coöperation, the boats destined for the coast navigation were carried through Northern America, under the management of Mr. Bell; and their officers have received the necessary instructions to have supplies of provisions at the winter quarters. Some idea of the quantity necessary to support active physical life in the Arctic regions. will be gathered by the following extract of a letter from Sir John Richardson to the Admiralty : The rations during the voyage out, which will be such as the crews of the Hudson's Bay ships receive, are to be paid for to the Company by the Admiralty, and are of excellent quality, and sufficient in quantity. During the boat voyage the rations will vary with circumstances. A quantity of excellent dried bacon, biscuit, flour, and cocoa, has been provided, to last up to the first wintering place, allowing each man to consume about 3 lbs. of solid food daily. For the first winter the diet will consist almost wholly of fish, the ordinary allowance being 10 lbs. per man daily; but when the fishery is very productive, no restriction is usually placed on the quantity consumed. When the water fowl pass in the spring, one goose or two large ducks are substituted for 10 lbs. of fish. second winter will be passed at a post where reindeer or musk-ox meat will form a part of the rations; and of the meat, 8 lbs. is the usual daily allowance. During the summer voyages pemmican will constitute the main article of diet, and will be issued at the rate of 2 lbs. per diem for each man, which is as much as the average consumption on unlimited allowance. I calculate upon carrying seven tons of pemmican to the Mackenzie for the ulterior progress of the party. The Admiral von Wrangel, in his Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea, dwells with great force on the vast quantity of meat eaten by his party; and this unfortunate necessity for so extraordinary a supply of food forms, undoubtedly, one of the great difficulties in Arctic expeditions, for it is manifestly a hard task to carry provisions to meet so rapid a consumption as is stated above. We must not forget to notice the offer of rewards to whaleships, on the part of the Admiralty and Lady Franklin, for rescuing the missing ships, or bringing intelligence of them. We do so, however, in the case of the Admiralty, with | To the owner, The Lords of the Admiralty offered one hundred guineas to the crew of any whale-ship that might bring accurate information of the Erebus and Terror; but apprehending, probably, that this small reward would be regarded with indifference by the captains of whalers, they state in a letter to the commissioners of customs, dated March 13, 1848, that, "Conceiving there might possibly be misconception on the part of masters of whalers as to their lordships' intentions with respect to the reward to be paid for information as to the position of Captain Sir John Franklin's ships, my lords are desirous it should distinctly be understood by the masters, and crews of the whale-ships, that a higher reward than the 100 guineas mentioned in that letter will be given to any ship bringing positive and exact information of the discovery ships, more particularly if it should appear to their lordships that every exertion had been made in order to convey the information to this country with all possible expedition and despatch." We cannot forget, that when the fate of the unfortunate Lilloise, French brig of war, which was sent to explore part of the coast of Greenland in 1833, was uncertain, independently of despatching an expedition in search of her, the munificient reward of £4000 was offered by the French Government, two years after her departure, to the crew of any vessel rescuing her; and a pension of 4000 francs, with the cross of the Legion of Honor, were conferred by the same Government on Captain Dillon for having discovered the fate of La Pérouse's ship. Lady Franklin, with a munificence more in accordance with the importance of the subject, has offered the reward of £2000 in the following notice, copies of which have been sent to the captains of all the whalers: : "With the view of inducing any of the whaling ships which resort to Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay, to make efforts in search of the expedition under the command of Sir John Franklin, in those parts which are not within the scope of the expeditions about to be sent out by Government, I hereby offer one thousand pounds (£1000) to be divided as follows; to the owner, captain, officers, and crew of any ship which shall depart so far from the usual fishing grounds as to explore Prince Regent Inlet, Admiralty Inlet, Jones Sound, or Smith Sound, provided such ship, finding the above expedition in distress, shall communicate with, and afford it effectual relief: two-tenths, or. captain, one-tenth, or. next two officers, one-for tieth, or £25 each £200 100 50 50 The remaining six-tenths, or . . . . 600 "And, further, I hereby offer an additional sum of one thousand pounds (£1000,) to be distributed in the same proportions to the owner, officers, and crew of any ship which shall, at an early period of the season, make extraordinary exertions for the above object, and, if required, bring Sir John Franklin and his party to England. "The whole or part of this last £1000 will be granted according to the decision of Sir John Franklin, or the commanding officer of the expedition relieved. In other respects the decision of the following gentlemen, who have kindly consented to act as referees in awarding the £2000, is to be final, viz., Admiral Beaufort, Captain Sir W. Edward Parry, R. N., Thomas Ward, Esq., Hull. (Signed) JANE FRANKLIN.” extensive and costly machinery which they The Admiralty may be of opinion that the extensive and costly machinery which they have organized in the form of three distinct expeditions, having for their main purpose the relief of Sir John Franklin, render it unneces sary to stimulate the captains of whalers by high rewards to go out of their course to search for the Erebus and Terror; but if this be the case, we cannot help feeling that it would have been better, under existing circumstances, to have left this subject untouched. Although the search for Sir John Franklin forms the great purpose of the expeditions, yet in the case of those under Sir James Ross and Commander Moore, the Admiralty have supplied the vessels with instruments for making geographic, hydrographic, magnetic, and atinospheric observations. In their instruc-! tions, they say, — "Whilst we estimate any such observations as of inferior importance to the one leading object of the expedition, you will nevertheless omit no opportunity of rendering it as contributive to scientific acquisitions as to the performance of the great duties of national humanity." We have now endeavored to give our readers a clear idea of the measures in operation for the relief of Sir John Franklin and the party under his command, and it must be admitted that they are of a nature worthy of the greatest maritime country in the world. It would be idle, and apart from the object of this arti |