ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 722, 16 March 1853, Page 2

ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

(From the " Times," August 2G.) " Wbat news nf Sir John Franklin ? Have any traces of his whereabouts been discovered ? Has any light been thrown upon the fortunes of himself and his crews?" Such are the inquiries which the announcement of any new narrative, of an Arctic Expedition will diet from almost every Englishman, and until these questions are answered it would be a mere waste of time to expiate on geographical or geological discoveries, or to. unfold additions to the Flo>-a and Fauna Borealis. Dr. Sutherland who appears to have literally followed Sir John Franklin's recommendation to his officers to " observe everything from a flea.to a whale," has accumulated in the volumes before us many useful facts in natural history and meteoro'ogy, to which, however, due attention will scarcely be paid until anxiety about Sir John Franklin's fate is somewhat allayed. We hasten, then, to say, on the authority of those best qualified to form an opinion upon the subject, that hope of Sir John Franklin's safety is by no means to be abandoned, for the probabilities of bis existence in some Polar region not yet explored are far greater and more numerous than the probability of his total loss. We say total loss—because in any other case than that of foundering in deep waters some vestige of wreck would ere this, have been detected by the many keen-sighted and experienced investigators engaged in the search. We will remiod the impatient, or ill-ir.formed that the total extinction of two British men-of-war, commanded by such ollicers as Sir John Franklin and Captain Fitzjames, and manned and equipped as the vessels of his expedition were, is an event so contradictory to all experience of the casualties of the Polar regions, as to amount to the strongest improbability. Captain George Harrison (of 30 year's experience in the command of whalers), states in a letter printed in the Nautical Magazine for Apiil, that out of the whole 103 ships wrecked since the first discovery of a passage through Melville Bay, not more than 10 lives have been lost, and to those who fancy that every r.ook of the Polar rpgions has been explored for the missing voyagers we would observe, that the whole of the regions hitherto explored by the various expeditions sent out are scarcely one-third of those which ramain unexplored It may be well to add, moreover, that in the opiniou of most competent judges, such as Colonel Sabine, Mr. Augustus Peterman and others, there is a greater probability of finding Sir John Franklin's expedition in regions to which search has not yet been extended than in the more familiar localities throughout which search has hitherto been made. The arguments of those who maintain the improbability of maintaining life in higher latitudes than those already explored are refuted by wellestablished fa, ts, to which we will presently advert inor« in detail. Sir John Franklin sailed frorti Sheernees with the Erebus and Terror, in May 184-5, and arrived at the Whalefish Islands on the 4th of July. His last despatches were from this point, bearing date July 12, and in Captain Mangles's excellent Utile repertory of Arctic papers some really charming letters from Captain Fitzjames of the same date may be found and will be perused with pleasure by all who love a sailor's lively humour and unruffled cheerfulness, blended witli the delicate feelings and correct taste of the wellbred gentleman. The Erebus waS'spoken on the 22nd of the same month by Captain Martin, of the whaler Enterprise, in latitude 73 deg. lOrriin., longitude 66 deg., west Tfae latest date at which the expedition was ae ually

seen was four days subsequently. The Prince of Wales whaler reported that on the 26th of July 1845, she saw Franklin's vessels in latitude 74 deg. 48 min., Ibngj. tude 66 deg. 13 min. They were then moored to an iceberg awaiting an opening in the middle ice to enable them to cross over to Lancaster Sound. Between: this period and the 23rd of August, 1850, five years and a month, when the first traces were discovered by Captain Ommaney, of Her Majesty's ship Assistance at Cape Riley, no intelligence direct or indirect, was received of the missing ships. The evidences afforded by these first traces were added to largely four days afterwaids (27th of August, 1850), by Captain Penny's alighting at Beechy Island upon the spot where Franklin spent hia winter of 1845-6. Early in 1850 the Admiralty, after despatching au expedition under Captains Collinson and M'Clure, to Behring's Straits, placed four ships in commission under the command of Captain Horatio T. Austin, C. 8., who had served in an exploring voyage under Sir Edward Parry, for the purpose of examining Barrow's Straits, under a notion that Sir John Franklin might be retracing his course eastward in boats, or even in the ships themselves, having relinquished the hope of making a northwest passage. The squadron under Captain Austin consisted of his own ship the Resolute, the Assistance, Captain E. Ommaney, and the steam tenders Pioneer, Lieutenant Osborne commanding, and Intrepid, Lieutenant Cator commanding. It was considered desirable that to the power of the navy should be added the experience of the whaler, and accordingly, after many strivings of heart and doleful misgivings, lest etiquette should be infringed and discipline endangered, the Lords of the Admiralty ventured to associate William Penny, an experienced whaling captain of Dundee, with their own commissioned officers. Mr. Penny, after receiving instructions from the Admiralty, proceeded to Aberdeen aud Dundee, where he purchased two new clipper-built vessels, which were named respectively the Lady Franklin and Sophia, the latter in compliment to Miss Sophia Cracroft, a niece of Sir John Franklin, and rco-t devoted companion of his noble-hearted wife. These vessels were placed under Mr. Penny's command, with separate instructions direct from the Admiralty, and both ships and men acquitted themselves during their perilous enterprise in a manner not calculated to justify any contempt on the part of their naval associates. Mr. Penny had been engaged in the Arctic seas since his 12th year, and in command of a whaling ship for 16 years. Dr. Sutherland informs his reader, that Mr. Penny's reputation for skill and sagacity was high among his brother whalers, and on any occasion of difficulty, " What does Penny think of it?" was a question of common occurrence. Sir Francis Beaufort, the hydrographer of the Admiralty, is referred to by Dr. Sutherland as able to bear testimony to the fact that Mr. Penny, previous to his. appointment to the Arctic Expedition, had done something to extend'our geographical knowledge of the regions he had occasion to traverse in pursuit of bis vocation. At no small risk, and at considerable expense, Mr. Penny took the first step to establish the interests of Great Britain on the west coast of Davis' Straits, the importance of which we shall have an opportunity of indicating when we come to speak of the Danish settlements and their civi. lising consequences on the east coast of Davis' Straits. " Captain Penny,'' observes Dr. Sutherland, with reference to these well intended and judicious efforts at colonisation,—

" Failed in this and all his subsequent a'temptg to enlist the enterprising and the wealthy in his sound but not well arranged ideas of establishing settlements on that coast, for the very reason that a predominating feature in his character came between him and the end he had in view. His detailed descriptions are sui generis. A complicated network of valuable facts, i\ arlessly expressed opinions, most sanguine expectations, faithful inductions, and mere hypotLesis, is what one may look for at his hands. Wiibout rhetoric ard unsophisticated, his arguments fell to the ground before men whose lives had ever been closely associated with figures. No one need wonder that the sailor who had been buffet ting the waves and the whales for 30 years, and bad never calculated anything more intricate than a lunar distance, should fail to persuade a number of money-making merchants into forming a company."

We have dwelt at this length upon Mr. Penny's character because rumours have been widely prevalent to the effect that a misunderstanding between the whaling skipper and Captain Austin thwarted the operations and marred the efficiency of the exped tion. A perusal of Dr. Sutherland's volumes will show trial this wasi by no means the case, but we have thought it of importance so far to advert to it as to remove from the public mind an impression that the efficiency of an expedition in which the hearts of so many thousands were embarked had been diminished by the humours of those engaged in its conduct. The Lady Franklin and Sophia, under the command of Captain Penny, left Aberdeen on the 13th of April, 18")0, but did not fall in withC ptain Austin'ssquadron until the 28th of June, off Berry Island, on the west coast of Greenland. Without following the ships step by step through their laborious progress across Baffin's" B;t3 r , down Lancaster Sound, and Barrow's Strait, we will pause at Beechey Island, which lies at the southeastern extremity of Wellington Channel, just at its entrance into Barrow's Straits. Here Mr. Ptnny bad discovered unquestionable traces of Sir. John Franklin on the 2?th of August, and here the ships were moored to examit;e it as carefully as possible. The landing party was composed of all the ollicers of the expedition, exc-pt the chief mates, and was under the orders of Mr. Stuart, commander of the Sophia, to whose intelligence, perseverance, and zeal, Captains Austin, Penny, and Dr. Sutherland combine in bearing testimony." " Traces," observed the latter, " were found to a great extent of the missing ships : tin canisters in hundreds* pieces of cloth, rope, wood in large fragments and in chips; iron in numerous fragments, where the anvil had stood, and the block which supported it; paper, both written and printed, with the dates 1844 and 1845; sledge marks in abundance ; depressions in the gravel resembling wells which they bad been digging and the graves of three men who had died on board the missing ahips in January an I April, 1846. One of the shore party was despatched with this intelligence, to Mr. Penny, who immediately came on shore, accompanied by Sir John Ross, Commander Phillips, of the Felix, Sir John's vessel; Commander E>6 Haven and Lieutenant Griffiths, of the American expedition, which had joined our ahips in Barrow's Straits, and pther officers. These were unequivocal proofs lh.it the missing ships bad spent their first winter in the immediate vincity of Beechey Island. A n*ng< r-post was picked up, which we at once supposed had been made use of to direct parties to the ships during winter, if they shou'd happen to have lost their way in a snowstorm. Captain Parry adopted the same precautions around his winter quarters at Melville Island ; and it is not improbable some of the posts may be found after a lapse of 30 years. Our ideas were that the ships bad wintered in a deep bay between Beechey Island and Cape Riley, which we called Erebus and Terror Bay. Immediately adjacent to the supposed position of the ships, we found the site of a large storehouse and workshop, and smaller sites which were supposed to have been observatories and other temporary erections. Meat tins to the amount of six or seven hundred, and a great number of coal bags, one of which was marked " T-e-r-r-o-r' were found. Bui there were no papers found anywhere that had been left by the missing ships." Here, then, was unquestionably a station of Sir John Franklin's party and occupied until the 3d of April, 1846, at least. In the opinion of Captain Penny and others it was occupied for a lookout up the Wellington Channel, to watch the first opening of that icy barrier which so frequently s<?ems to block it up. Sir John Franklin's instructions, in 1845, were to proceed totbe Wellington Channel, and, if possible, through it, and the marks of a hasty departure thence may be more reasonab'y accounted for by a sudden opening in the ice, of which the ardent spirit of Franklin would prompt him instantly to avail himself, than the wild supposition which has been broached of his retreat from an onslaught of savages—r feat quite inconsistent with the habits and disposition of the harmless and inoffensive Esquimaux. The determination to follow out the Admiralty instructions by pushing onwards was powerfully developed in all Sir John Franklin's party. Captain Fitzjames, then Commander Fitzjames, says in* letter to a friend, written from the Whalefish Islands, in July, 1845 : ~ " Don't care is the order of the day ; I mean, dont care for difficulties or stoppages ; go ahead is the wish. We hear this is a remarkably clear se son, but clear, Ot not, we must ; go ahead' as the Yankees have it; ano if we don't get through, it won't be our fault. Beechey Island was examined aga nand again, and party dug round a cain:, erected ou a bluff point wit picks and shovels in search of cylinders with pap* I*' 1 *' but none were found. Had Sir John Franklin left *&! documents they must have been discovered, f*> r 3 documents deposited by other parties in the, ord . ,ns "T % maimer of Arctic explorers were always found uninjur' Accordingly, afer many boat excursions to the adjacent channels, and islands, the ships were laid up »

winter quartern. Captain Penny's shir a and Sir John Ross's little vessel the Felix,in Assistance Harbour, at the south-western extremity of the Wellington Channel, and Captain Austin's squadron in Griffith Island, a few miles further to the westward. The dreary winter passed over all without leaving 1 sickneta or discontent, and the spring of 1831 found them resdy to push their researches. We cannot trace the progress of the several parties in boats and sledges, nor would a recapitulation of their persevering struggles serve any other purpose than to unfold another chapter fraught with the heroic endurance of hardships, the indomitable courage, the invariable cheerfulness under thomost depressing trials, and the unconquerable perseverance through every obutacle, characteristic of British seamen. The miles travelled by the several parties were calculated by Dr. Sutherland to amount to 2.000. Mr. Penny made every effort to ascend the Wellington Channel, but his success was small when compared with his vast endeavour. At one time his sledge was stopped by open water, and when, after incredible labour, a boat was brought up to the spot, its progress was presently checked by " thick-ribbed ice." The difficulties of the explorers at this stage of their proceedings were enhanced by their imperfect outfit of sledges and other appliances for locomotion on land. Their sea equipment from Her Majesty's dockyards does not elicit any praise from Dr. Sutherland, who ppears always more happy to praise than blame :

" The saws (for cutting the ice) had been supplied to our expedition from Her Majesty's dockyard at Woolwich, and they were said to be on an improved plan. Perhaps they were ; but however plausible the idea of the ' pi:nwn' (a heavy ball at the lower end) might be to the inventor, we found that they would not work at all until the form of the teeth was a'tered and and the * pitman' was removed altogether; after which they were found to answer very well, having been reduced to answer the description of saws used by the whalers in Davis' Straits for at least thirty years." So much for Woolwich improvements.

Every inlet to the westward of the Wellington Channel was examined, and the conclusion to which both Captain Austin and Mr. Penny arrived was that Sir John Franklin bad not gone to the west-ward or south-west-ward. He must then, they inferred, have gone up the Wellington Channel, which might have been previous in 1816, "a remarkably clear season," though impassable in the spring of 1851. Previous to the return of both expeditions in 1851 Captain Austin had a Ion" and anxious conference with Mr. Penny as to the propriety of braving another Arctic winter and renewing their efforts in the spring of this year. Their re. maining provisions were sufficient, their crews were healthy and willing. Mr. Penny however, determined to return to England, they having done, in his own energetic language, "all that men could do." This speech has been quoted and twisted to a meaning never intended by Mr. Penny. It has been construed as a declaration on his part of the permanent impassability of the Wellington Channel and the inutility of any further search for Sir John Franklin. Mr. Penny's subsequent proceedings have amply refuted such a construction of his language to Captain Austin at Griffith Island, for immediately on his arrival in England he earnestly sought for a screw steamer, with which he offered to proceed northward as far as possible without delay in order that he might be near the field of his proposed operations in the early spring *' Oh for a boat I" was the generous and ardent seaman's instant exclamation when bis sledge was brought up by open water in Wellington Channel; and again and again did he express to his brother officers his conviction that a screw steamer could bore its way where boats and sailing vessels would be baffled. He always leant to the opinion that the Wellington Channel was not permanently barred by ice, but had a communication with the Arctic Ocean j and whatever opinion he entertained he always frankly expressed. He told Lieu enant Osborne that he had seen " enormous numbers" of whales runniug southwards from under the ice in Wellington Channel. The conclusion to be drawn from this fact is that the Wellington Channel, in its course of 45 miles has alternations of ice and open water, for the breadth of the whale ceases the instant the animal is under water, whether clear of ice or not. The Greenland whale can remain under water from 10 to 20 minutes, and its maximum velocity is stated to be six miles per hour. Now, this very distance, and no more, may be fairly assumed as the utmost extent of the frozen surface of ice to the north-west under which the whales swam (from clear water to clear water), running south in u enormous numbers."

Our readers must not estimate the value of Captain Austin's and Mr. Penny's expedition by the brevity of our notice of its details. We think those zealous and able navigators have done much by proving where further seared need not be made, and thus sparing the expenditure of life, labour, and money in a wrong direction. But, some may ask, what is the use of further expeditions : for, if Sir John Franklin and his crew have escaped the perils of the deep and the icy horrors of the Arctic zone, they must ere this have been starved for want of supplies? The opinions of experienced travellers and the most learned geographers are alike against this desponding view, Jl is by no means a fact that the cold is more intense and the supplies of food more scanty the nearer you approach the Pole. The English navigator Willoughby, with the whole of the crews of both his vessels, amounting to 63 souls, was frozen to death while wintering on thecoasts of Russian Lapland (latitude 68° 15 m.) in the year 1554, while the enterprising Dutchman, Wilhelm Barentz, 43 years later, passed a winter of more than eight months'duration on the north-enstern coast of Novaia Zemlia (latitude 76), and of his whole crew, amounting to 17, o:ily two died. And what was the outfit of a Dutch crew in the 16th century compared with that supplied to the Erebus and Terror in 1845? On these heads we recommend a careful perusal of several letters of Mr. Augustus Peterman, addressed to Sir Francis Beaufort, and a paper on the Distribution of Animals Available as Food in the Arctic Regions, printed in Captain Mangles's little took, whose title we give at the foot of this article. We have already quoted a letter addressed by Mr. Penny to the President of the Geographical Society, in which he advocates a search for the missing expedition in the great Arctic Ocean which the Russian navigators Wrangel and Anjon saw stretching beyond the North Cape of Asia, and which has been proved to roll in unfettered freedom beyond that icy barrier which ordinarily check? Arctic navigaion, and extends in all probability to the north of both the American and Asiatic continents. There is a narrative of four Russian sailors who subsisted in Spitzbergen on the product of the country for six years and three months reprinted in Captain Mangles's volume from the Annual Register, for 1T74. We apprehend that many educated Englishmen have read this narrative, as we ourselves confess to having done in our boyhood, with a feeling akin to that atteudant upon a perusal of the fictions of De Foe; but we believe that it is well authenticated, and has va3t significance when perused with reference to Sir John Frauklin and his ships' companies. If four Russian mariners, with a few ounces of tobacco, 12 musket charges of powder and shot, and a small bag of flour, as their only stores to start with, could subsist for six years and three months in Spitzbergen, how long can the crews of two English meuol-war, commanded by officers oJ' the Arctic experience, fertility of resource, and unconquerable courage of Sir John Franklin and Captain Fitzjarnes, preserve their lives? We leave others to work out this sum, and for ourselves Bay, Nil Desperandum. We do not write in this hopeful strain at random, or wantonly to awaken delusive hopes which we feel to be unfounded, but deliberately express convictions formed after much thought, dilligent inquiry, and pains taking investigation. Neither are we alone in our hopeful mood, The unthinking multitude may have been disappointed by the termination of the Austin and Penny expedition. It returned sooner than was expected, and was not attended by the results hoped for. But neither the Government nor Sir John Franklin's anxious but well-informed friends considered this expedition as an extinguisher of hope—a stopper upon further search. And accordingly, since Captain Austin and Mj\ Penny returned, an expedition, undnr the com mand of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., has been commissioned to proceed direet to Wellington Sound. This expedition sailed from England in April last, and consisted of Her Majesty's ships Assistance and Resolute, with the screw steamers Pioneer and Interpid, of 60-horse power each. Her Majesty's ship North Star will be stationed at the mouth of the Wellington Channel as a store ship. The squadron will thus be enabled, we trust to await a favourable moment for pushing forward, which has been so often lost while vessels have been performing their outward voyage from England. Nature will often in a single hour make openings in the ice which all the saws in all Her Majesty's dockyards could not accomplish in the course of an Arctic summer. Sir E. Belcher has now an opportunity of awaiting the favourable moment, and fulfilling the desire so resolutely expressed by Lady Franklin. "By that passage" (Wellington Channel) writes her ladyship to a friend, " doubt not, the have gone ; and by that, believe me, they must be followed."