'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From December 1854 to March 1856. (New Issue.) Edited by the Secretary. Volume XII.' [‎35] (146/258)

ON ARCTIC DISCOVERT—1848-1850.
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hours had been most unsuccessful. On the 23rd March 1853 Dr. Rae left
Liverpool for New York on a third overland expedition to the shores of
the Polar Seas, the rest of which will be found near the end of this memoir.
The Admiralty about this time offered £1000, and Lady Franklin
£2000, to any one who would first bring tidings of the missing adven
turers. In May 1848 the Enterprize and Investigator, of 470 and 420
tons respectively, were dispatched, under the command of Sir James
Clarke Ross—the nephew and companion of the officer who had been
absent in the polar regions from 1829 to 1833, and subsequently the
commander of the Antarctic Expedition of 1839-43. Instead of the
screw propellers with which the Erebus and Terror had been fitted,—the
present vessels, which were larger than these, were each supplied with a
launch so provided, and which on being made fast amidships tugged at
the rate of seven knots an hour. The vessels were provided with every
appurtenance for safety as well as research that could be desired, but
their duties were restricted to those of enquiry only. They reached Disco
Island on the 2nd July; in the end of August they had cleared the main
Pack in Melville Bay. Despatches shut up in a cask and thrown overboard
were picked up by a whaler and received by the Admiralty in October. On
arriving at Fury Point the remaining stores of the Hecla, (p. 28) with the poles
of the tents and other structures close by, were found, after the lapse of thirteen
years, in perfect preservation. Sir John Ross wintered in the ice ; while in
these regions he burnt bluelights, sent up rockets, and fired guns on all
convenient occasions, and sent out boat expeditions in every direction—all in
vain : not the slightest trace of Franklin or his people could be found. The
search was however considered imperfect, and much dissatisfaction was ex
pressed on its return. Sir James Ross at one time proposed to send back the
Investigator and continue with the Enterprise for another season. In May
1849 the North Star was dispatched by the Admiralty with supplies of pro
visions. Some difficulty in corresponding with Captain Ross having been
apprehended, this vessel was directed to throw over air-tight cylinders from
point to point, containing full instructions as to what was desired to be done.
The expedition was to consider its actual work only commencing:—both
ships were to continue their explorations, the North Star to return with the
tidings of what they had accomplished. The vessels missed each other, and
while Ross returned home, the North Star remained out till October 1851.
In the beginning of 1848 the Plover was sent out from England, she was di
rected to proceed to Behring’s Straits to pursue the enquiry from the west
eastward ; and the Herald was dispatched next season to supply her with all
sorts of stores, so as to enable her to spend the winter ot 1849-50 amongst the