The English at the North Pole

  CHAPTER XVII

  THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN

  The _Forward_ succeeded in cutting straight across James Ross Strait,but not without difficulty; the crew were obliged to work the sawsand use petards, and they were worn out with fatigue. Happily thetemperature was bearable, and thirty degrees higher than thatexperienced by James Ross at the same epoch. The thermometer markedthirty-four degrees.

  On Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern extremity of KingWilliam's Land, one of the middle-sized isles of the northern seas.The crew there experienced a strong and painful sensation, and manya sad look was turned towards the island as they sailed by the coast.This island had been the theatre of the most terrible tragedy of moderntimes. Some miles to the west the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ had beenlost for ever. The sailors knew about the attempts made to find AdmiralFranklin and the results, but they were ignorant of the affectingdetails of the catastrophe. While the doctor was following theprogress of the ship on his map, several of them, Bell, Bolton, andSimpson, approached and entered into conversation with him. Theircomrades, animated by curiosity, soon followed them; while the brigflew along with extreme rapidity, and the coast with its bays, capes,and promontories passed before their eyes like a gigantic panorama.

  Hatteras was marching up and down the poop with quick steps. The doctor,on the deck, looked round, and saw himself surrounded by almost thewhole crew. He saw how powerful a recital would be in such a situation,and he continued the conversation begun with Johnson as follows:--

  "You know how Franklin began, my friends; he was a cabin-boy likeCook and Nelson; after having employed his youth in great maritimeexpeditions, he resolved in 1845 to launch out in search of theNorth-West passage; he commanded the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, twovessels, already famous, that had just made an Antarctic campaignunder James Ross, in 1840. The _Erebus_, equipped by Franklin, carrieda crew of seventy men, officers and sailors, with Fitz-James ascaptain; Gore and Le Vesconte, lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, andCouch, boatswains; and Stanley as surgeon. The _Terror_ hadsixty-eight men, Captain Crozier; Lieutenants Little, Hodgson, andIrving; Horesby and Thomas were the boatswains, and Peddie the surgeon.In the names on the map of the capes, straits, points, and channels,you may read those of these unfortunate men, not one of whom wasdestined ever again to see his native land. There were a hundred andthirty-eight men in all! We know that Franklin's last letters wereaddressed from Disko Island, and were dated July 12th, 1845. 'I hope,'he said, 'to get under way to-night for Lancaster Strait.' Whathappened after his departure from Disko Bay? The captains of twowhalers, the _Prince of Wales_ and the _Enterprise_, perceived thetwo ships in Melville Bay for the last time, and after that day nothingwas heard of them. However, we can follow Franklin in his westerlycourse: he passed through Lancaster and Barrow Straits, and arrivedat Beechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845 and '46."

  "But how do you know all this?" asked Bell, the carpenter.

  "By three tombs which Austin discovered on that island in 1850. Threeof Franklin's sailors were buried there, and by a document which wasfound by Lieutenant Hobson, of the _Fox_, which bears the date ofApril 25th, 1848, we know that after their wintering the _Erebus_and the _Terror_ went up Wellington Strait as far as theseventy-seventh parallel; but instead of continuing their routenorthwards, which was, probably, not practicable, they returnedsouth."

  "And that was their ruin!" said a grave voice. "Safety lay to thenorth."

  Every one turned round. Hatteras, leaning on the rail of the poop,had just uttered that terrible observation.

  "There is not a doubt," continued the doctor, "that Franklin'sintention was to get back to the American coast; but tempests stoppedhim, and on the 12th September, 1846, the two ships were seized bythe ice, at a few miles from here, to the north-west of Cape Felix;they were dragged along N.N.W. to Victoria Point over there," saidthe doctor, pointing to a part of the sea. "Now," he continued, "theships were not abandoned till the 22nd of April, 1848. What happenedduring these nineteen months? What did the poor unfortunate men do?They, doubtless, explored the surrounding land, attempting anychance of safety, for the admiral was an energetic man, and if hedid not succeed----"

  "Very likely his crew betrayed him," added Hatteras.

  The sailors dared not raise their eyes; these words pricked theirconscience.

  "To end my tale, the fatal document informs us also that John Franklinsuccumbed to fatigue on the 11th of June, 1847. Honour to his memory!"said the doctor, taking off his hat. His audience imitated him insilence.

  "What became of the poor fellows for the next ten months after theyhad lost their chief? They remained on board their vessels, and onlyresolved to abandon them in April, 1848; a hundred and five men outof a hundred and thirty-eight were still living; thirty-three weredead! Then Captain Crozier and Captain Fitz-James raised a cairn onVictory Point, and there deposited their last document. See, myfriends, we are passing the point now! You can still see the remainsof the cairn placed on the extreme point, reached by John Ross in1831. There is Jane Franklin Cape. There is Franklin Point. Thereis Le Vesconte Point. There is Erebus Bay, where the boat made outof the _debris_ of one of the vessels was found on a sledge. Silverspoons, provisions in abundance, chocolate, tea, and religious bookswere found there too. The hundred and five survivors, under CaptainCrozier, started for Great Fish River. Where did they get to? Didthey succeed in reaching Hudson's Bay? Did any survive? What becameof them after this last departure?"

  "I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in a firmvoice. "Yes, they did try to reach Hudson's Bay, and they split upinto several parties! Yes, they did make for the south! A letter fromDr. Rae in 1854 contained the information that in 1850 the Esquimauxhad met on King William's Land a detachment of forty men travellingon the ice, and dragging a boat, thin, emaciated, worn out by fatigueand suffering! Later on they discovered thirty corpses on thecontinent and five on a neighbouring island, some half-buried, someleft without burial, some under a boat turned upside down, othersunder the remains of a tent; here an officer with his telescope onhis shoulder and a loaded gun at his side, further on a boiler withthe remnants of a horrible meal! When the Admiralty received thesetidings it begged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its mostexperienced agents to the scene. They descended Back River to itsmouth. They visited the islands of Montreal, Maconochie, and OglePoint. But they discovered nothing. All the poor wretches had diedfrom misery, suffering, and hunger, whilst trying to prolong theirexistence by the dreadful resource of cannibalism. That is what becameof them on the southern route. Well! Do you still wish to march intheir footsteps?"

  His trembling voice, his passionate gestures and beaming face,produced an indescribable effect. The crew, excited by its emotionbefore this fatal land, cried out with one voice: "To the north! Tothe north!"

  "Yes, to the north! Safety and glory lie to the north. Heaven is forus! The wind is changing; the pass is free!"

  So saying, Hatteras gave orders to turn the vessel; the sailors wentto work with alacrity; the ice streams got clear little by little;the _Forward_, with all steam on, made for McClintock Channel.Hatteras was right when he counted upon a more open sea; he followedup the supposed route taken by Franklin, sailing along the westerncoast of Prince of Wales's Land, then pretty well known, whilst theopposite shore is still unknown. It was evident that the breakingup of the ice had taken place in the eastern locks, for this straitappeared entirely free; the _Forward_ made up for lost time; she fledalong so quickly that she passed Osborne Bay on the 14th of June,and the extreme points attained by the expeditions of 1851. Icebergswere still numerous, but the sea did not threaten to quit the keelof the _Forward_.