THE ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. (From the Athenœum)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 412, 27 March 1850, Page 3

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. (From the Athenœum )

The extreme iutereit which hai been felt by the public in the fate of tbe long-missing Arctic expedition hat been strongly illustrated by the avidity with which the report of its ascertained exsitence in March last was received. Seizing eagerly on tbe asserted fulfilment; of a long- deferred hope t the press at once announced the actual safety of Sir John Franklin and his party ; and as news generally travels with the properties of an avalanche, swelliug in importance with every step, many hours had not elapsed before the return of the Erebus and Terror in the course of (he present month was spoken of as an almost certain event. For ourselves, we had misgivings, which we thought it right to hint at even in that moment of excitement; and we have since, with tbe coolness which a week oflfreflection gives, [set ourselves care* fully to weigh the arguments for and against the

trustworthiness of the evidence offered. We are bound to say, even for the take of those whose disappointmem will be sorest if disappointment there shall finally be, that this inquiry hai yielded a result wholly unsatisfactory to ourselves. It will he remembered thr.t the Advice whaler accompanied the Truelove in her recent passage to Lancaster Sound in search of the expedition! on the faith of the narration of the Exquimaux. On board the former ship Mr. Robert Goodiir, the brother of Professor Goodsir, of Edinburgh, was embarked, with the touching purpose of assisting personally to seek after information respecting Sir John Franklin's ships— in one of which his brother Henry had gone out as a surgeon and naturalist. His letters to his ielatives in Scotland, descriptive of his hopes and fears, have been obligingly placed in our hands to assist us in estimating, by private evidence from the spot, the reports which were likely to reach us through public channels. We will give Mr. Goodsir's version of the same report which has reached the Admiralty through the Truelove, for the sake of some variations which it contains :— » Off Cape Maccullocb, Aug. 1, 1849. " We this morning had what might have been considered as cheering intelligence of the expedition. Mr. Parker, the matter of the Truelove, of Hull, camp on board to breakfast, and informed us that some Esquimaux, who had been on board the Chieftain of Kilkaldy, had sketched a chart and pointed out to Mr. Kerr where both Sir John Franklin's and Sir James Ross's ships were lying ; the former being at Whaler Point, the latter at Port Jackson, at the entrance to Prince Regent* Inlet. Sir John Franklin had be>'n beset in his present position for three winters. Sir James Ross bad travelled in sledges from his own ships to Sir John Franklin's. They were all alive and well. The Esquimaux himself had been on board all the four ships three months ago— i. c., about the end of April or beginning of May. Mr. Parker seems confident as to the correctnesi of this information ; and as his sbip ii nearly full, he will proceed homewards very shortly, Mr. Kerr has given him the chart, which he «aid he intended to forward to the Admiralty, and to inform them of what he had learnt. AH this was very pleasing intelligence ; but when I began to consider, I soon saw much to throw doubt upon its correctness and authenticity. First, there was the extreme difficulty of extracting correct information of any kind from the Esquimaux even by those best acquainted with their habits and language. A leading question they are sure to answer in the affirmative* Then, there ii the great unlikelihood of Sir John Franklin beiug beset at a spot so comparatively near to the constant resort of the whalers during the months of July and August — Pond's Bay and its neighbourhood — for thtee summers and three winters, I without tending down despatches to them by the light boats fitted on sledgei." It will be observed that this letter enters into greater detail than that of Mr. Ward, communicated by the Admiralty to the public. The actual position of the two expeditions is here given ; and it is stated that communication! between them bad been effected by meant of sledges. Mr. Gooddr's letter also places the date at which the ships of the two expeditions had been seen by the natives five or six weeks later than the Admiralty account—a fact itself showing looseness and uncertainty. Doubti— very reasonably founded, we think— of the trustworthiness of the Esquimaux' report had already arisen in the minds of Mr. Goodsir and his companions Nevertheless, with a spirit of noble enterprise, the Advice joined the Truelove in an attempt to reach Regent's Inlet for the solution of the question. Under the date of the 3d of August, when off Ope Walter Bathurst, Mr. Goodsir writes— " You may conceive how delighted I am to find the Advice now running rapidly into Lancaster Sound with a smart breeze, and one, too, likely to last. If there is only land ice in the Navy Board and Admiralty Inlet we are sure to pet whales— which will justify the master in taking this step. Had the other vessels been poorly fished, many of them would have made the attempt to run up the Sound ; as it is, none of them will now do it." Mr. Goodsir's hopes of getting through the Sound •—which, as we have seen, had a private motive to enbance the public one— were not of long duration. On the lOth'of August he writei from Navy Board Inlet .— " Since I last wrote we have bad suck a series of gales and storms that I have been unable to put pen to paper. About four o'clock on Saturday morning, the 4th, it came on to blow from the eastward with thick weather. We had little or no ice hitherto, and what we had seen was exceedingly light. Everything looked well, and we were very sanguine that we should be able to gain some intelligence of the expedition. Before it came on thick we could make out what we took to be Prince Leopold's Island at the mouth of Prince Regent's Inlet, and the ice apparently stretching across the Sound ; but the thickneis came on so rapidly and the gale increased to a perfect hurricane, prevented us making out anything accurately." Til as baffled, the party were obliged to gfve up further search- The ships were driven down the Sound ; and all that could be done was to land some Admiralty cylinders and provisions in Capo Hay. Though eagar to have this sea swept for intelligence, it is remarkable that in no part of his letters does Mr. Goodsir allude to that given by the Esquimaux, excepting as being unworthy of confidence. The arguments on this side of the question are too many to permit us to differ from Mr. Goodsir's view. It must surely strike most persons on reflection as remarkable that the Exquimaux should have no " papers" or voucher to show in confirmation of the alleged fact of their having been on board the expedition ships. The chances of such a document coming somewhere to hand could never have been overlooked by men in the position of Sir John Fianklin's crews } and, indeed, it is inconceivable that the officers of the several ships would have allowed such an opportunity to ce s c»pe as the visits of Esquimaux afforded without employing them a» instruments of communication with the whalers. Mr. Goodsir, on more than one occasion, expresses hit astonish* ishment that "no word has word has come down from Sir James Ross," as he declares that the officers of the expedition were perfectly aware that th» whalers would be in Poud's Buy during the entire month of July. In fact, to repeat omselves, supposing Sir James Ross to be where the repot t places him, the road to the whalers was as open to him as to the Esquimaux who brought that report. That he 6hould have made no communication by hit own messenger*, nor given any document to authenticate the communicution made by the Esquimaux, throws, in our opinion, very fcerious discredit on the report itself. Fi. nally, it is yet more difficult to conceive that if Sir John Franklin has been frozen up for three winters in tbe spot indicated, he should have spared no volunteers from his expediton to carry the newt of hi« whereabouts to any station through which it might have reached those whom his silence delivered over to doubt, deepening into despair, at home. This it so melancholy a view of the caie, that we are glad to find, and to report, that an opposite one is entertained by those who may fee considetcd the great Arctic authorities. We bare enuted inquiries to be

made, and such it the result. Sir George Back, who has had great intercoune with the native Esquimaux, declares " that he never knew an Indian or au Esquimaux tracing to fail ; and after deliberately weighing all the information, he is of opinion that four ships, answering to those composing the two expeditions, were seen some time in the spring of this year by the Esquimaux ; but whether in Prince Regent's Inlet or to the westward of Boothia is uncertain." Captain. Parry, Colonel Sabine, and Admiral Beaufort are all in favour of the Esquimaux report We are sorry to hear from unquestionable authority that the munificent reward offered by Government for the relief of the missing expedition has bad no effect in instigating any of the whalen to search foe the ahipSj with the exception of the Truclove and theAdvice Sent out for the one important object of whaling, the captains, doubtless, feel thut unless armed with the fullest discretionary powers from their employers, the owners of the ships, they would not be warranted in running any risk by deviating from their coune in pursuit of whales. The dangeri of the Arctic seas have been again brought painfully before us by the loss of two whaler* this year in Melville Bay, and all accounts agree in stating that Lancaster Sound wns barrel in the month of August by a solid body of ice stretching across the straits to Admiralty Inlet. Thus, in consequence of her lateness of sailing, it is very doubtful whether the North Star, the ship sent out this year wi h provisions for the expeditions, has effected a communication with the ships. Mr. Goodsir lays— " There are a hundred chances aijainit the North Star being able to communicate with the expeditions this year. Had she only been sent out in time, she would hare got through Melville Buy along with the fleet of whaler* with the greatest ea»e and safety up the Sound early in July." We may mention that Mr. Gootlsir's last letter bear* the date of August the 22d, at which time he wai in latitude 68. 30. far too much to the south to glean any intelligence respecting the expeditions.