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40 FRANK LESLIE'S NEW. YORK JOURNAL.
The Fate of Sir John Franklin. .
- Tue veil that obscured the fate of Sir John
Franklin has been unexpectedly lifted. Dr. Rae, of
: the Hudson’s Bay Company, has reached England,
: bringing with him from the Arctic Seas a number
| of articles that belonged to Sir John Franklin and
‘ his companions, The story of the recovery of these
memorials is most painfully interesting. Dr. Rae’s
account—which may, of course, be implicitly re-
lied upon—is this :—In the spring he tell in with a
party of Esquimaux, who were in possession of a
number ‘of articles known to belong to Sir John
Franklin himself, and other things, the property of
members of his party. These articles included,
amongst the-rest, some silver plate bearing the
crests of the owners. When the Esquimaux were
. questioned as to the way in which they had become
possessed of such valuables belonging to officers of
the Royal Navy of England, they said that the ves-
sels of Franklin had crushed in the icebergs, and
their crews forced to set out over the snow on their
way towards the territories of the Iudson’s Bay
Company—that in. 1850 the Esquimaux had met
forty Englishmen belonging to Sir John Franklin’s
ships travelling on foot, and dragging a boat over
the ice, near King William's Land; that the officer
in command of these unfortunrtes had bought from
the Esquimaux for his fol-
lowers a small seal, being
greatly in want of provisions;
that at'a later period the Es-
quimaux found the dead
bodies of all this party on
the ice near Back River; and
that the Esquimaux helped _
themselves to the stores of —
the dead—taking gunpowder
silver, plate, and whatever
else they thought fit to ap-
propriate. .
Dr. Rae, whose’ previous
exploits as an Arctic travel-
ler, have already so highly
distingui: hed him, proceeded
to the Admirality, England,
and laid before Sir James
Graham the melancholy evi-
dence on which his report
is founded. Dr. Rae was
not employed in- searching
for Sir John Franklin, but
in completing his survey of
the coast of Boothia. He
justly thought, however, -
that the information he had
obtained greatly outweighed
the importance of his sur-
yey, and he has hurried home
to satisfy the public anxiety
as to the fate of the long-
lost expedition, and to pre-
yent the risk of any more
lives in a fruitless search.
It would seem, from his de-
‘geription of the place in
which the bodies were found,
that both Sir James Ross and -
‘Lieutenant Bellot musthave -
been within a few miles of
the spot to which our unfor-
nate countrymen had strug- ~~
gled on in their desperate march. A few of the
unfortunate men must, he thinks, have survived
‘ until the arrival of the wild fowl, about the end of
"May, 1850, as shots were heard, and fresh bones
and feathers of geese were noticed, ncar the scene
. of the sad event. . . .
: The following is Dr. Rae’s Report to the Secre-
tary of the Admirality :—
Poms “Rervisz Bay, July 29.
» $§m:—Ihave the honor to mention, for the in-
‘ formation of my Lord’s Commissioners of the Ad-
i miralty, that during my journey over the ice and
! snow this spring, with the view of completing the
: survey of the West shore of Boothia, I met with
| Esquimaux in Pelly Bay, from one of whom I
: learned that a party of “white men” (Kablou-
i nans) had perished from want of food some dis-
| tance to the westward, and not far beyond a large
: river, containing many falls and rapids... Subse-
; quently, further’ particulars were received, and a
: number of articles purchased, which place the fate
‘ of a portion, if not f all, of the then survivors of
} Sit John Franklin’s long-lost party beyond a doubt
| —a fate terrible as the imagination can conceive.”
: The substance of the information obtained at
| yarious times and. from yarious sources, was as
' follows :
«In the spring, four winters past, (spring, 1850,)
a party of «¢ white men,” amounting to about forty,
were seen travelling southward over the ice, and
dragging a boat with them, by some Esquimaux,
who were killing seals near the. North shore of King
William’s Land. which is a large island. - None of
the party could speak the Esquimaux lauguage in-
telligibly, but by the signs of the natives were
made to understand that their ‘ship or ships, had
been crushed by ice, and that they were now going
to where they expected to find deer to shoot. From
the’ appearance of the men, all of whom, except
one officer, looked thia, they were then supposed
to be getting short of provisicns, and: purchased a
small seal from the natives. Ata later date the
same season, but previous to the breaking up of the
ice, the bodies of some thirty persons were dis-
covered on the continent, and five. on an is’and
near it, about a long day’s journey to the N. W. of
a large stream, which can be no other than Back’s
Great Fish River, (named by the Esquimaux Doot-
ko-hi-calik,) as its description, and that of the low
shore in the neizhborhood of Point Ogle and Mon-
treal Island, agree exactty with that of Sir George
Beck.. Some of the bodies had been buried, (prob-
ably those of the first victims of famine,) some
were in a tent or tents, others under the boat,
Ri AAR
. a ie eS
Wa
Sa
which had been turned over to form a shelter, and
several lay scattered about in difforcnt directions.
OF those found on the island one was supposed tc
have been an officer, as he had a telescope strapped
over his shoulders, and.his double-barrelled gun
lay underneath him. .
. From the mutilated state of many cf the corpses
and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that
our wretched countrymen had been criven to the
last resource—cannibalism—as a means of prolong-
ing existence.
‘here appeared to have been an abundant stock
of ammunition, as the powder was emptied in a
heap on the ground by the natives, out of the kegs
or cases containing it; and a quantity of ball and
shot was found below high-water mark, having
probably been left on the ice close to the beach.
There must have been a number of watches com-
passes, telescopes, guns (several doubled barelled,)
&c., all of which appear to have been broken up,
as I saw pieces of those different articles with the
Esquimaux, together with some silver spoons and
forks, I purchased as many asI could get. A list
of the most important of these I enclose, with a
rough sketch of the crests and initials of the forks
andspoons. The articles themselves shall be handed
over to the Secretary of the Hudson’s Bay Com-'
pany on my arrival in London,
None of the Esquimaux with whom I conversed
had seen the “ whites,” nor had they ever been at
the place where the bodies were found, but had
their information from those who had been there,
and who had seen the party when travelling.
I offer no apology for taking the liberty of ad-
dressing you, as I do so from a belief that their
Lordships would be desirous of being put in pos-
session at as early date as possible of any tidings,
however meagre and unexpectedly obtained, regard-
ing this painfully interesting subject.
I may’add, that, by means of our guns and nets,
we obtained an ample supply of provisions last
autumn, and my small party passed the winter in
snow. houses in eomparative comfort, the skins of
the deer shot affording abundant warm clothing and
bedding. My spring journey was a failure, in con-
sequence of an accumulation of obstacles, several
of which my former experience in Arctic travelling
had not taught me to expect. .
oe . Joun Raz, C.F.,
Commanding Hudson's Bay Company's
. Arctic Expedition,
List of articles purchased from the Esquimaux,
saidto have been obtained at the place where the
.., bodies of persons reported to
have died of famine, were
taken to England.
silver table fork .. Crest Nol
Be & “dow, we 8
ss 6 «
et eG
Motto : Spero mellora.”? -
ow Ke
Motto: “Spero mellora.”
“+ dessert fork... “ 0 5
“ tablespoon... §
“ “ 65
tea Oe oe
“silver table fork, initials,
© table fork, initials A.McD,
oe do, “ G.A.M
eK do = 1.T.
“ dessertspoon® J. S.P.
round silver plate, engraved,
“Sir John Franklin, K. C. B.?
star or order, with motto, “Nec
aspera terrent,”? on one side;
and on the reverse, “G. R,
mpcccxy”
ae a
articles with no marks by
which they could -be recog-
nised; but which will be
above named to the Secre-
tary of the Hon. Hudson’s
Bay Company.
Joun Rag, C.F.
Repulse Bay, July, 1854.””
‘To these we have added an
illustration of kindred in-.
terest—a medallic Portrait
Franklin, executed in bronze
by M. David. His Portrait
is flanked with an Engray-
ing (actual size) of the Badge
of the Knight’s Grand Cross
of the Royal Hanoverian
Guelphie Order, worn by
Franklin. .
‘We should add that the
several Relics have been
of the First Lord of the Admiralty. They have
been grouped within a glazed case, and will be
tressured at the Admiralty office, as memorials of
the ill-fated Expedition.
illustrations. ‘The plate, includes spoons and a
fork, marked with the head of a fish looking up-
ward, with a laurel branch on either side—the crest
of Sir John Franklin. (See the central group of
with laurel branch ‘in mouth, and motto, * Spero
meliora,” belonged to Lieutenant James Walker
Fairhome, R. N., second son of the late George
Fairhome, Esq., of Greenknowe Berwickshire, who
in Dr, Rae’s communication, was a native of An~
struther, brother of Professor John Goodsir, Edin-
distinguished for his scientific attainments, He
was the author of numerous papers on natural his-
logical Observations,” published in 1845—the year
4
Also a number of other’
handed over with those’
of the lamented Sir John .
carefully drawn from the originals, by permission .
e remaining articles are specified beneath the -
articles). The articles marked with the crest, bird .
was one of the officers of the ill-fated Expedition, ,
We learn from the Edinburgh Advertiser that the .
assistant surgeon of the ill-fated Erebus, referred to.
burgh, and of the minister of Largo.. He was a:
gentleman of great professional ability, and much ,
tory, and joint editor with his brother, Professor,
Goodsir, of the volume cf ‘Anatomical and Patho. :