The Scotsman - Wednesday, 25th October 1854, page 2

THE FATE OF SIR JOHN _FRANKLIN

INTELLIGENCE _which _may be _fairly _considered _<leci_)> ive has lit last _reached this country of the sad fate «fSir _John _Franklin and _his _l_>r;* ve companions. Dr _R-ie , whose previous _exploits as an Arctic _traveller have already so hifflily _distinguished him, landed at _Deal on Suiit_'ay_, and immediately _proceeded _tit tlie Admiralty, _aiiit laid before Sir _James _Graham the _meliincliulv evidence on _which _big report is founded _. Dr Rae was not employed in _searching for Sir John Franklin, hut in completing Ins _survey of the _coast of _Boothia. lie _justly thought _, however, that the information lie had _obtained _greatly _outweighed the _importance of his _survey, and lie has hurried home to satisfy the _public anxiety as to _the fate _of the _long-lost expedition, and to _prevent the risk of any more lives in a _fruitless _yrarcli_. It would _seem from _his _description of _the place in wliicli tlie _bodies were found _that both Sir _Jumes _Rosa and Captain BelloC must have been within a few _miles of the _spot to which our _unfortunate _countrymen Imd _struggled on iu _thair _desperate _march_. A few of the _unfortunaty men _must_, he thinks, hare _sumped nnti] the _arrival _of _thy wild-fowl _about_, the end of _May 1850, as shots were heard and _fresh _liones and _feathers of _geese were noticed near _the _scene of _the sad event_. _Tlie _following is Or Uae*s report to the _Secretary of the Admiralty:— " Repulae Bay, July 29, _1851. " SIR,—I have the honour to _mention, for the _information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, _thfat , _during my journey over the _iin_: and snows this _uprmii, wiil» t!ie _view of complecinir the _survey <tf the wvtit slu_>rr of _Uoothia_, 1 _met with _iisquionmx in Pelly Uay , _from oni_* of whom I Ie;inieit thac 11 party of * white _nian* (_Kitliloonans) had perishc_*! from want u{ _ft»_Hl Roine di_'_ttuncr to tlie _weatward, and _not far _Iteynnd a _large _river _'_nntainins _many _falls and rapids . _isubsequently _, _further particiil.ira were _receivL-d , and a _imiuher uf _articles _purchased_, which _phiccs tlie _fate of a _purtiirn, if not of all, of the then _survivors of iiir Jufan _rrfinklin'_s _long-luat party _beyond a _doubt—a fato as _trnihifc' _us tho _iindsination can _conceive. " _Tin _; _fiiltstance of the _information _obtained nt _various times und _fruin various sources was as _f.*ll«ws_:- " (n the spnnir, _four winters past (sp_^_in_^_, _1850), a party of * whitp men 1 _Hmountina t " al*ui_*t fiircy,w_*.ro _ptfti _tritveHins' _southward ovrr tim iw miil _dra_,_;_i_;in_^ a _boat with _them i_»y some _Esquimaux, _who were _killing _seal.i near lliu _niirih _shore of King ti'_l'llii .m_^ hind_, which _is _a 1 _irgc _island. _None nf tlie _party could _speak llie _Esquimnux _language _intelli _^ ihiy, _hut _by s_^_na _the _natirci were ni._'irie ti» _nnderstund tliat their ship, or _ships , had _bren crushed _by ire, and that _they were now _Sfiinc tn _where they _expected to find deer to shoot. From tlie nppf:_irance of the men _. All of whom except _imf officer _looked thin, they were then _supposed to he _yeUing shiirt of _provisions, and they _purchasfd _a small se_^l fnim the _inlivys. At_» Inter _<latu the same _season, _tint _previously tu the _breaking up of _the ice, the _bodies of _some thirty _persons wera _discovered _on chc continent_, _and five on _an island near itabout a _long tlay_^ _journey to the NW. ofalaree streamwhich can be no other than _Hack's Greac _Fish i{iver(_name._i by the _Esquimaux _Oot-ko-hi-ca-lik ), fts its descriptinn and _that of the low _share in _the _neighbourhood of Point _Ogle and _Alontrenl _Inland _agree _exactly withthacofSir (_ieorye _Hack. _tiome _of the _bodies had _been buried _tprobitidy those of the tirsc victims of _famine); _some were in a _tent or _tents! others _under the boat, _which Iiad been _turned over to form n _shelter_, and _sevfiral _lay _itL_'_iittered nlJoutin _different _directions. Of _tho&ii found on the _i'I ;ir,_il _one was supposed to have been _an officer, us he had a _telescope strapped _over his _shoulders aud _his _rtnuble-IrHr _. _-vnei . _gim Jay underneath him. " From _the _mutilated state of many of the corpses _nnd the contfiits of _tlie kettles, it is evident that our wretched _countrymen had been _driven to the last _rctource—c _^_nuibiilism—as a means of _prolonging _existence. " _Thero nppeareu to have been an abundant _stock _at _ammunWitii, »9 the _powder _was emptied in a heap on tlie _t_;ruuii(l _by thu natives out of tlie _kvgs or cases _lontainiiiK it; and a nuantity _of ball _and _shot was found below hl _^ h _water mark, _having- _probably _been left on the ice _close to the beach* _There must _have _iM-en 11 nunibrr of _watches, compasses, _telescopes_, _suns (_several _doubly-barrelled ), &c _., all of which appear to havf hpuii _broken _up, _as I _saw _pieces of _these _different :irticlcs will. _tin_* _Khquimaux, and _together willi some silver spoons and forks, _purchased _as many as I could get. A _list of the _roodt _important of _these I _enclose, _with a _rough _frI;_uU-It of the crests and _inilinis _tin the _forks _HOli _xpnonx. The _articles _tliemsctvra shall be handed _over t<» thu Secretary of tha Hon. Hudson_^a Bay _Conipuny on my _arrival in _London. >t None _of _the _Esquimaux will. whom I _conversed had _si'm llie * whili_:_?.* nor _had they ever been at the p.rice witfre the (f(Hli{_"s were _twn'S _, but had thrir informitlion _froin those who had tieen there, and who hod _serii the party when travel lin. _;;. _" I off_<r ii(* _apolosy for _taking the liberty of _addressing _you, HS t un so from a beliff _that their _Lordships would _be desiroua of _being _put _in _possession ut RS early aunteas _possible or any cidincs, however _meagre and _tinpxpet_._'tetiJy _obtained_, _regarding _this painfully _interesting _Mibjfct_. ** I may add that, by means of onr guns and _nets, we obtained an ample _supply of _provisions hist autumn, and my »mall party passed _the winter in _snow-house _!! in _comparative _conofiirt _, 'the _skins of the drer shot _affordiiiR _abundant wurm clothing and bedding. _Sly _spring- jounify waa a _failure in conspqueiicee of an _accumulation of _obstacles, _several of which my former _experience in Arctic _travelling had not taught me to _expect_.—I have , &C_. "JonsflAE , C.F., " _Commanding _Hudson's _liay Company's Arctic Expedition." " List of Articles _purchased from the _Esquimaux, said to have been _obtained at the place where the bodies of tlie _persons reported to have died of famine were _foundviz _.: — *_'1 _silver taliitt fork—crestan _animal's head with _winga, extended aWc; 3 silver table forks—crest , a hird with wiu_^.t _extendn); 1 Mirer _table _spoon—crest , with initials * F. It. _ai. C._' (C_' aptam _Crorier, Terrorl 1 silver table _spoon and 1 _fork—crest _, bird with laurel branch in mouth, _motto _, * _*^ p ero TOC_._'fora /,_!_-silver _tableiipooff _, 1 tea _"spoon_, and 1 _dessert _fork—crest , a _fiau*a hw_>d _looking _upwards_, with _laurel _bntiichfa on each side; 1 _silver _table _fork—initials , *H. D. S. G. 1 (Harry D* _S. (• _oodsiir_, aii. _tiatant_.sur_.geon, _Ereoua); 1 silver table _fork—initiuls , l A. .M*D.' (_Alexander M*Donald . _assisLuiil-hdrffccin , Terror); 1 silver table fork—initials , _*_&. A_,- _At.* {GilJifS A* Jllacbean, _second-roastt-r , ' _Terror); 1 silver _tab._ti fork—initials . *J. T._\- 1 silver _dessert _noon—initial _^ J. S- P_. (John S. Peddie, _surgeon , _Erelma); 1 round _silver plate engraved _.John Franklin. K.C.B._^; a _star or order, with _motto, *_AcC afiwa _tcrrcnt _f G. R. IH.. _aiDCCcXV .' _"Also a _number of _other articles _with no _marks by which they _could be recognised, but which will be _banded aver with those above named to the Secretary of _the _Uon. _Hudson_'_s Bay _Company. ' JomrKAB ,C.F. " _Repulse Way, _July 1854." The following are extracts from Dr _Rue's _journal _:— " On _the _morning of the 20th we were met hy a very intelliRent _Esquimaux driving a doe-sledge laden _with_. _muak-ox _beef. _This man at once _consented to accompany us two _days' journey_* and in a few minutes had deposited his Joad on the snow, and was ready to _join us. ' _llflviag explained to him my oliject, be _laid that _the road by which he had _come _was the beat _for ua, and, _._lariny _lightened _the _man's sledges , we travelled with more _facility. We were now _joined by another of the natives, _-who had been _absent _seal-banting yesterday, but_, _hang _anxious to _see _us. had _visited our _snow-house early this _morning, and then followed np our track_. _This roan was very communicative, and on _putting ti him the _usual _questions as to _his _having _seen * _white man* _beforeor _any _ships or boats, he replied in the _negative ; _but s&id that a party of._* _Kabloonans_' had died of _starvation a long _distance lo the _-west _; of where we then were. and _beyond a large river. He _stated _that be did _not _know _the exact place_, _that _lie _never had been there_, and that he could not _accompany us so far. The substance of the _information _then aud _subsequently obtained from _various sources was to the following effect:— . _,-- . - _,-. . _41 In the _spring_, four _winter_* past (1850), while some Esquimaux _families were killing seals near _the north _shore nf a large island_, named in _Arrowsmich'a _charts King _William's Land, about forty white men were seen travelling in company _southward over _the ice_, and _dragging a _boat and _sledges with them. _, -They .wera _passing _along_, the west. shore of. _the _above-named _xilrod. ' None _of the party _could _apeak _the Esquimaux _language so wpllas to be understood_, but hyuens the _natives _were led to believe ib&t the _fthip OF _ships had been _crushed by ice, and _that _they were now going to _whero they expected to fiud deer to . shoot_.< _From the appearance of_^tbe ; men—all ; bf_/; .wh6m, " '_; ' with r the exception of an officer_, were _hauling _on the _drag ropes of the _sledge _and looked _thin—they _were then _sapposed ; _;- -_^: _^^^ _^^_-_^^^^_s'ss _;_:_^^

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