CHAPTER XVII.THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
The _Forward_ succeeded, though not without difficulty, in getting byJames Ross Sound, by frequent use of the ice-saws and gunpowder; thecrew was very much fatigued. Fortunately the temperature wasagreeable, and even thirty degrees above what James Ross found at thesame time of year. The thermometer marked 34 degrees.
Saturday they doubled Cape Felix at the northern end of King William'sLand, one of the smaller islands of northern seas.
At that time the crew became very much depressed; they gazed wistfullyand sadly at its far-stretching shores.
In fact, they were gazing at King William's Land, the scene of one ofthe saddest tragedies of modern times! Only a few miles to the westthe _Erebus_ and _Terror_ were lost.
The sailors of the _Forward_ were familiar with the attempts made tofind Franklin, and the result they had obtained, but they did not knowall the sad details. Now, while the doctor was following on his chartthe course of the ship, many of them, Bell, Bolton, and Simpson, drewnear him and began to talk with him. Soon the others followed tosatisfy their curiosity; meanwhile the brig was advancing rapidly, andthe bays, capes, and promontories of the coast passed before theirgaze like a gigantic panorama.
Hatteras was pacing nervously to and fro on the quarter-deck; thedoctor found himself on the bridge, surrounded by the men of the crew;he readily understood the interest of the situation, and theimpression that would be made by an account given under thosecircumstances, hence he resumed the talk he had begun with Johnson.
"You know, my friends, how Franklin began: like Cook and Nelson, hewas first a cabin-boy; after spending his youth in long sea-voyages,he made up his mind, in 1845, to seek the Northwest Passage; hecommanded the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_, two stanch vessels, which hadvisited the antarctic seas in 1840, under the command of James Ross.The _Erebus_, in which Franklin sailed, carried a crew of seventy men,all told, with Fitz-James as captain; Gore and Le Vesconte,lieutenants; Des Voeux, Sargent, and Couch, boatswains; and Stanley,surgeon. The _Terror_ carried sixty-eight men. Crozier was thecaptain; the lieutenants were Little, Hodgson, and Irving; boatswains,Horesby and Thomas; the surgeon, Peddie. In the names of the bays,capes, straits, promontories, channels, and islands of these latitudesyou find memorials of most of these unlucky men, of whom not one hasever again seen his home! In all one hundred and thirty-eight men! Weknow that the last of Franklin's letters were written from DiscoIsland, and dated July 12, 1845. He said, 'I hope to set sail to-nightfor Lancaster Sound.' What followed his departure from Disco Bay? Thecaptains of the whalers, the _Prince of Wales_ and the _Enterprise_,saw these two ships for the last time in Melville Bay, and nothingmore was heard of them. Still we can follow Franklin in his coursewestward; he went through Lancaster and Barrow Sounds and reachedBeechey Island, where he passed the winter of 1845-46."
"But how is this known?" asked Bell, the carpenter.
"By three tombs which the Austin expedition found there in 1850. Threeof Franklin's sailors had been buried there; and, moreover, by a paperfound by Lieutenant Hobson of the _Fox_, dated April 25, 1848. We knowalso that, after leaving winter-quarters, the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ascended Wellington Channel as far as latitude 77 degrees; but insteadof pushing to the north, which they doubtless found impossible, theyreturned towards the south--"
"And that was a fatal mistake!" uttered a grave voice. "Safety lay tothe north."
Every one turned round. It was Hatteras, who, leaning on the rail ofthe quarter-deck, had just made that solemn remark.
"Without doubt," resumed the doctor, "Franklin intended to make hisway to the American shore; but tempests beset him, and September 12,1846, the two ships were caught in the ice, a few miles from here, tothe northwest of Cape Felix; they were carried to the north-northwestof Point Victory; there," said the doctor, pointing out to the sea."Now," he added, "the ships were not abandoned till April 22, 1848.What happened during these nineteen months? What did these poor mendo? Doubtless they explored the surrounding lands, made every effortto escape, for the admiral was an energetic man; and if he did notsucceed--"
"It's because his men betrayed him," said Hatteras in a deep voice.
The sailors did not dare to lift their eyes; these words made themfeel abashed.
"To be brief, this paper, of which I spoke, tells us, besides, thatSir John Franklin died, worn out by his sufferings, June 11, 1847. Allhonor to his memory!" said the doctor, removing his hat.
The men did the same in silence.
"What became of these poor men, deprived of their leader, during thenext ten months? They remained on board of their ships, and it was nottill April, 1848, that they made up their mind to abandon them; onehundred and five men survived out of the hundred and thirty-eight.Thirty-three had died! Then Captains Crozier and Fitz-James erected acairn at Point Victory, and left their last paper there. See, myfriends, we are passing by that point. You can see traces of thecairn, placed, so to speak, at the farthest point reached by John Rossin 1831! There is Cape Jane Franklin! There Point Franklin! TherePoint Le Vesconte! There Erebus Bay, where the launch, made of piecesof one of the ships, was found on a sledge! There were found silverspoons, plenty of food, chocolate, tea, and religious books. Thehundred and five survivors, under the command of Captain Crozier, setout for Great Fish River. How far did they get? Did they reachHudson's Bay? Have any survived? What became of them after that?--"
"I will tell you what became of them," said John Hatteras in anenergetic voice. "Yes, they tried to reach Hudson's Bay, and separatedinto several parties. They took the road to the south. In 1854 aletter from Dr. Rae states that in 1850 the Esquimaux had met in KingWilliam's Land a detachment of forty men, chasing sea-cows, travellingon the ice, dragging a boat along with them, thin, pale, and worn outwith suffering and fatigue. Later, they discovered thirty corpses onthe mainland and five on a neighboring island, some half buried,others left without burial; some lying beneath an overturned boat,others under the ruins of a tent; here lay an officer with his glassswung around his shoulder, and his loaded gun near him; farther onwere kettles with the remains of a horrible meal. At this news, theAdmiralty urged the Hudson's Bay Company to send its most skilfulagents to this place. They descended Black River to its mouth. Theyvisited Montreal and Maconochie Islands, and Point Ogle. In vain! Allthese poor fellows had died of misery, suffering, and starvation,after trying to prolong their lives by having recourse to cannibalism.That is what became of them along their way towards the south, whichwas lined with their mutilated bodies. Well, do you want to followtheir path?"
"All these poor fellows had died of misery, suffering,and starvation."]
Hatteras's ringing voice, passionate gestures, and glowing faceproduced an indescribable effect. The crew, moved by the sight ofthese ill-omened lands, cried with one voice,--
"To the north! to the north!"
"Well, to the north! Safety and glory await us there at the north!Heaven is declaring for us! The wind is changing! The passage is free!Prepare to go about!"
The sailors hastened to their places; the ice-streams grew slowlyfree; the _Forward_ went about rapidly, and ran under full steamtowards MacClintock's Channel.
Hatteras was justified in counting on a freer sea; on his way heretraced the probable path of Franklin; he went along the eastern sideof Prince of Wales Land, which is clearly defined, while the othershore is still unknown. Evidently the clearing away of the ice towardsthe south took place through the eastern strait, for it appearedperfectly clear; so the _Forward_ was able to make up for lost time;she was put under full steam, so that the 14th they passed OsborneBay, and the farthest points reached by the expeditions of 1851. Therewas still a great deal of ice about them, but there was everyindication that the _Forward_ would have clear sailing-way before her.