V. THEEREBUSAND THETERROR1845
At this time, 1827, England, under the rule of George IV, was occupied with her own troubles. The disputes between Catholics and Protestants engaged the attention of the English people so that interest in exploration waned. After a short rest at home, Sir John Franklin was sent in command of her Majesty’s ship,Rainbow, to the Mediterranean sea. The Greek war of independence was closing, and Franklin distinguished himself by the judgment and skill he showed in following out the work intrusted to him.
Upon his return to England, Franklin was offered the position of Governor of Tasmania, which he accepted, remaining there seven years. When he returned again to England in 1842, he found people once more interested in the discovery of the northwest passage. It was eighteen years since Franklin had returned from the icy North, but the northwest passage had not been found. During those years several expeditions had been at work in the northern part of North America and along the northern coast, thus broadening and increasing the geographical knowledge of the country first entered by Franklin. But the mystery of the northwest passage still stirred men’s imaginations, and the Royal Geographical Society decided to send out another expedition in search of it. The command of this expedition was offered to Sir John Franklin.
Some people thought that Franklin ought not to goagain to the northern land. These people told him that he had already done enough for his country, having risked his life three times, and made more discoveries in that region than any other man. They reminded him that he was now sixty years of age, and ought to be willing to remain at home and let a younger man undertake this hard and dangerous journey.
But Franklin rejoiced at the thought of seeing the far North again. He declared that he was only fifty-nine years of age, and that the discovery of the northwest passage was the object nearest his heart. Two ships, called theErebusand theTerror, were given Franklin for this voyage. These ships, propelled by steam screws, were the first vessels of the kind ever used in the Arctic seas. It was thought that the use of the steam screw instead of the paddle wheel would prove of great value to navigators in seas where ice packs and heavy gales were constantly to be feared. Great results, then, were expected from the expedition fitted out in this improved manner. Franklin himself took command of theErebus, while Captain Crozier was given command of theTerror. Sufficient provisions were put aboard the vessels to provide for an absence of three years, and nothing was left undone that promised to insure the safety and success of the expedition, or to promote the health and comfort of the explorers.
The ships sailed from England on May 19, 1845. The men were in good spirits and hopeful. They sailed north toward Lancaster sound, and on the 26th of July, 1845, a whaling vessel, called thePrince of Wales, sighted them in Melville bay, stuck fast in the ice. The captain of the whaler received a visit from some of the exploring party, and was invited to dine with Franklin, but a breeze sprang up suddenly, and the ships parted company.
That was the last time theErebusand theTerror, or any of the men aboard those vessels, were ever seen. They appeared to have dropped off the face of the earth.
When theErebusandTerrorhad been absent two years, and no news of them had been heard, many expeditions were sent out to hunt for them. Some traces of the ships were discovered, and it is believed that the vessels sailed northward through Lancaster sound to Beechey island, where they wintered (1845–1846). On this island were found the graves of two seamen marked with headboards showing the date of their death.
In Winter Quarters.
In Winter Quarters.
In Winter Quarters.
It is thought that when spring came, the ships were released from the ice and proceeded southward toward King William’s Land. While near to King William’s Land the vessels were probably again caught in the pack. The second winter, with its long, dark night, bitter cold, and absence of proper food, must have been a gloomy one for these poor men.
If they were still alive when spring came, how they must have hoped each day for the freeing of the ships! As the days passed and spring grew to summer, summer to autumn, yet with no prospect of release from the cruel pack, the situation became hopeless and intolerable.
All this misery came upon them with greater force because success was so near. Franklin knew that a distance of but one hundred miles separated him from the object of his search. Almost within reach of the goal, here he was, locked in!
Though the ice did not break up, yet during the spring (May 24, 1847) Franklin sent a party under the command of Lieutenant Graham Gore to explore King William’s Land. This party reached Cape Herschel, a point on the southern coast of King William’s Land, and in the distance saw the continent of North America.
A navigable passage was known to exist along the northern coast of America from Boothia to Bering strait. Franklin himself and Richardson had discovered and surveyed the greater part of this extent of country.
Franklin had succeeded in reaching King William’s Land by entering the Arctic from the Atlantic. Thus the discovery of the northwest passage was reduced to the finding of a link which should connect these two known waterways. This link was found by Graham Gore, when from Cape Herschel he saw the American coast across a narrow channel of water. So the credit of the discovery of the northwest passage must be given to Franklin. Had it not been for the fact that his ships were beset in the ice, Franklin would, without doubt, have sailed in 1846 from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the northern coast of North America.
As it was, Lieutenant Gore’s discovery connected thetwo known passages and established the fact that an open waterway existed. Gore wrote a brief record of what his party had accomplished and left it on the island, where it was found years later by men who were searching for Franklin; but neither Franklin nor any of his heroic band lived to tell in person the news of the discovery.
When Gore returned to theErebushe found Sir John very ill. He probably came in time to inform Franklin that the northwest passage had really been discovered. Let us hope so. Franklin passed peacefully away June 11, 1847. He had lived a good life and left a glorious name behind him.
Captain Crozier of theTerrornow took command of the expedition. The prospect of a third winter in the ice made the bravest of the men shrink, but it was too late in the season for them to leave the ships. To do so would have been certain death. It is best not to try to picture the misery of the third winter.
In the spring of 1848 there were one hundred and five men still living. These half-starved creatures decided to leave the ships and travel by sledges to the North American coast, where they hoped to meet some Indians who would give them food and guide them to the Hudson Bay settlements. Their dreadful march has been traced along the western coast of King William’s Land, and perhaps a few of the party reached the southern end of that island.
A number of Eskimos saw and camped with some of them, but would not remain, fearing that there was not sufficient food for all. There is no doubt that food gave out entirely, and that the men died of starvation. Many years later an old Eskimo woman reported having seen a party of white men traveling to the south. She said, “They fell down and died as they walked along.” It isinspiring to think of the heroism of these brave men who discovered the northwest passage. Their patience, perseverance, and devotion to their work deserve our highest admiration.
In 1847, when, after two years of waiting, no news of theErebusor theTerrorcame to England, great anxiety was aroused and many searching expeditions were sent out. Lady Franklin offered a reward of £2000 to any one who would bring her news of her husband or his companions. Her courage and her determined efforts to trace the lost vessels aroused the sympathy of the world. Lady Franklin spent her entire private means in the search, and it is largely owing to her efforts that we have any knowledge at all of her husband’s accomplishment and of his final fate.
The English government also offered a large reward to any one who would find the lost ships or crews. In the autumn of 1850 there were fifteen vessels in the Arctic ocean, hunting for Franklin and his ships. America joined England in the search, and as a result the Arctic regions became far better known than ever before.
Several of these expeditions discovered traces of Franklin. McClintock found the most important records. He erected on Beechey island a marble slab which was sent out by Lady Franklin in memory of her husband and his brave companions.
Relics of the Franklin Expedition.
Relics of the Franklin Expedition.
Relics of the Franklin Expedition.
If you should go to London, you would find in Waterloo Place another monument erected to the memory of Franklin. There is still another at his home in Spilsby. Lady Franklin also erected a monument to her husband in Westminster Abbey.
Although Sir John Franklin deserves the credit of the discovery of the northwest passage, the first man whopassed through this passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic was Sir Robert McClure, who made the voyage in 1854. McClure was sent to search for Franklin, and entered the Arctic ocean through Bering strait. Being obliged to abandon his ship, he, together with his crew, crossed the ice of Barrow strait by sledge, where a relief party met them. This was the first and only expedition that ever made the northwest passage, which, for purposes of trade, is useless.