had been sent on board by Lady Franklin) upon Cape Hay, deposited the letters, cylinders, &c., according to the instructions of their Lordships, and having erected a high pole to attract the attention of the ships or boats which might pass at a future time, they made the best of their way back to the fishing ground, which they reached on the 17th of August. I trust their Lordships will consider that this attempt to reach the Expeditions may be worthy of favourable consideration, and be disposed to recommend some compensation for the risk run and the loss of time occa sioned thereby; but this is a point which the present is not a fitting time to urge, and I merely allude to it lest it might be imagined that any future application was an afterthought not worthy of notice. The innumerable interruptions arising from the anxious inquiries of the public generally, on the subject which so long has interested them, must be my apology for any errors or omissions which I may have made; and all that I would venture to add, is the expression of my earnest hopes that this information, however imperfect, may ultimately lead to the adoption of such steps as may extricate those brave men from a state of danger and difficulty. If their Lordships wish for further information, or to submit specific questions, my humble endeavours shall be used to obtain correct answers; and if they would prefer that Mr. Parker should attend in London, he is ready to do so, on receiving orders to that effect. I am, respectfully, Sir, No trace was seen of the Investigator's launch,―neither did there appear to be any reason to doubt the correctness of the statement made by the Esquimaux, that the upper part of Lancaster Sound was a solid mass of ice. The following is the Esquimaux sketch of the positions of Franklin's and Ross's ships in Prince Regent's Inlet brought home by Capt. Parker. On the 8th of August, which was a clear day, Mr. Parker landed on high ground at Cape Hay, with his telescope, to see if any thing could be discovered of the North Star, but no ship of any description was visible in Lancaster Sound except the Advice. Capt. Hamilton R.N., Admiralty, Lomdon. Should the reader not have a copy of the Admiralty chart of Baffin's Bay by him, the annexed outline and references from Arrowsmith's map will assist him in forming his opinion of the relative geographical positions of the places mentioned hereafter. a, Disco Island. 1 2, 3 Places of H.M.S. North Star on the 18th of June, and the 6th and 19th July. n Reported position of Sir J. Franklin's ships on the coast of North Somerset. o Gulf of Boothia. B Loose ice in Baffin Bay expressed by p Victoria Harbour of Sir J. Ross. jagged lines. b Melville Bay. c Jones Sound. d Smith Sound. e Lancaster Sound. f Croker Bay. g Barrow Strait and entrance of Prince h Navy Board Inlet. m Reported positions of Sir J. Ross's q Place of the magnetic pole. r Banks Land of Parry. s Melville Island of Parry. t Wellington Channel. v Whaler Point at west side of entrance of Prince Regent Inlet w Agnes Monument in Baffin Bay. y Cape Rennel in Barrow Strait. T Strait of Fury and Hecla of Parry. It would appear that before any doubts were expressed here as to the authenticity of this information, there were misgivings about it at the very seat of enquiry in Baffin's Bay. We read in the Athenæum of the 13th of October that on board the Advice was a Mr. Robert Goodsir, a brother of the assistant-surgeon of the Erebus, Sir John Franklin's ship, who had gone out in her, with the view of seeking information of his relative, and the following is Mr. Goodsir's account of Capt. Parker's story. "We this morning had what might have been considered as cheering intelligence of the Expedition :-Mr. Parker, the master of the Truelove, of Hull, came on board to breakfast, and informed us that some Esquimaux, who had been on board the Chieftain, of Kirkaldy had sketched a chart and pointed out to Mr. Kerr where both Sir John Franklin's and Sir James Ross's ships were lying, the former being at Whaler point, the latter at Port Jackson, at the entrance to Prince Regent's Inlet. Sir John Franklin had been beset in his present position for three winters Sir James Ross had travelled in sledges from his own ships to Sir John Franklin's. They were all alive and well. The Esquimaux himself had been on board all the four ships three moons ago,-i.e. about the end of April or beginning of May. Mr. Parker seemed confident as to the correctness of this information; and as his ship is nearly full, and he will proceed homewards very shortly, Mr. Kerr had given him the Chart which he said he intended to forward to the Admiralty, and to inform them of what he had learnt. All this was very pleasing intelligence; but when I began to consider, I soon saw much to throw doubt upon its correctness and authenticity. First, there was the extreme difficulty of extracting correct information of any kind from the Esquimaux even by those best acquainted with their habits and language. A leading question they are sure to answer in the affirmative. Then, there is the great unlikelihood of Sir John Franklin's being beset at a spot so comparatively near to the constant resort of the whalers during the months of July and August-Pond's Bay and its neighbourhood-for three summers and three winters, without sending down despatches to them by the light boats fitted on sledges." Here we have doubts expressed as far back as the 1st of August, and at the very seat of enquiry. But on the other hand it is strongly maintained that four fingers held up, and the Esquimaux word for moon uttered at the same time would be fairly rendered as expressing the month of March, when such signs are made in the month of July. Thus then there appears a slight difference in the two accounts. But the attempts to penetrate to Regent's Inlet were soon given up, as we find in the next extract of Mr. Goodsir's letter dated August 10, from Navy Board Inlet. "Since I last wrote we have had such a series of gales and storms that I have been unable to put pen to paper. At about 4 o'clock on Saturday morning the 4th it came on to blow from the eastward with thick weather We had little or no ice hitherto, and what we had seen was exceedingly light. Everything looked well, and we were very sanguine that we should be able to gain some intelligence of the Expedition. Before it came on thick we could make out what we took to be Prince Leopold's Island at the mouth of Prince Regent's Inlet, and the ice apparently stretching right across the Sound: but the thickness came on so rapidly and the gale increasing to a perfect hurricane prevented us making out anything accurately." It Here then is the extent of the information we have obtained of the two Expeditions, and most meagre and unsatisfactory it certainly is. One feature, however, may be added which has not yet appeared. has been stated that an Esquimaux settlement of some 400 souls that four years ago was located about the shore of Pond's Bay has removed to Prince Regent Inlet to be near the ships. There is probability in this; indeed we look on it as the most favorable feature of the case, although we can not conclude that Franklin has been shut up in Prince Regent's Inlet, so long as stated. He might have been driven there, and have attracted the Esquimaux to him, and the appearance of his ships would stop Ross's western progress, and account for his being on the opposite side of the inlet. Perhaps this is the most favorable conclusion that we can come to at present, for which we have some authority, and we must cherish the hope of its truth while we look for arrivals, yet from the field of discovery. But there is another difference between this account and that furnished by the master of the Truelove: Mr. Goodsir says, that they saw from the Advice, land which appeared to be Prince Leopold Island. This island is on the western side of the entrance of Regent Inlet, and a ship to sight that island should scarcely be less than 30 or 40 miles from it. But the track of the Truelove furnished by Capt. Parker does not bring that vessel within nearly 70 miles of that distance from Leopold Island; and it moreover does not place her at any time nearer than 55 miles from Cape York on the western side of the inlet, while we read in her log on the 5th of August, "at 3 P M., fine clear weather: ship close in with the ice; the ice being solid from the north to the south side of Lancaster Sound; Admiralty Inlet solid ice from side to side; Cape York bearing north, distant 25 miles,-not possible to get any further, plyed the ship down Lancaster Sound along the edge of the ice.” This at least is a serious disagreement between the two accounts. It is, moreover, considered by the first Arctic Authorities, that had Franklin been at the entrance of Prince Regent Inlet, he would have managed to communicate with the whalers in Lancaster Sound, before this last season, and they therefore consider him further to the westward. Still then we are left as much in doubt as to his actual position as we have been hitherto; and still then we are left to entertain hopes that the whalers which have yet to return, will bring us some further intelligence of our countrymen. The Advice it is reported would again make her way up to Lancaster Sound before she left the bay. The Chieftain, which was the first to receive the information from the Esquimaux, has yet to make her appearance; also the Regalia, and possibly others. By these we may confidently anticipate some further intelligence as they will come from that side of the bay along which our absent ships would pass, admitting that they made their way out of Lancaster Sound since the Truelove and Advice left it in August. In the mean time our last dates from each are these-Sir John Franklin, 26th July, 1845; Sir James Ross, 28th August, 1848; Mr Saunders, North Star, 19th July, 1849; and Sir John Richardson, who must be now very near home, on the 12th of August last was at Norway House, Lake Winipeg, and on the 24th September, at St. Marie, foot of Lake Superior. Again of the Herald we have intelligence up to the 19th May, on which day she left Oahu for Bhering Strait. The following are extracts of these:-"Prince of Wales, whaler, has brought an account of the Expedition so late as July 26th, in lat. 74 48' N., and long. 66 13' W., when both ships were fast to an iceberg; the crews in high health and spirits, and the officers from the state of the sea quite hopeful of a successful voyage."-Naut, Mag. 1845, p. 720. The next is the last account of Sir James Ross, from our volume for 1848, page 688. Stromness, Orkney, November 7th, 1848. SIR. We have the honour to forward the enclosed letter, picked up by Mr. Thomas Lee, of the Hull whaler, Prince of Wales, off Cape Hooper, Davis Straits, in lat. 68° 10' N, long. 64° 30′ W., on the 1st of October. The Prince of Wales arrived here last evening, and we beg you will lay these before the Lords of the Admiralty. We have the honour to be, &c., Secretary of the Admiralty London. DAVIDSON & SINCLAIR, Agents. The following is a copy of the paper alluded to : "H.M. ships Enterprize and Investigator cleared the main pack in Melville Bay on the 20th of August, and after examining Pond's Bay on 23rd, passed to the northward in search of the expedition under the command of Captain Sir John Franklin. all "The cask which contains this paper was thrown from H.M.S. Investigator, on the 28th of August 1848, in lat. 73° 50′ N., and long. 78° 6′ 30′ W., well, Enterprize in company. "Whoever may find this paper is requested to forward it to the Secretary of the Admiralty, London; with a note of the date, latitude and longitude in which the cask was found. "Edward Bird, Captain." It has been said that the North Star was late; she was rather unfortunate in getting up the bay, as will be seen by the annexed letter. The North Star left Orkney on the 24th of May, and was left by the Stromboli off Cape Farewell early in June: H.M.S. North Star, July 19, 1849. Lat. 74° 3' N., long. 59° 40′ W. "Sir-I addressed a letter to their Lordships on the 18th ult., when in lat. 73° 30′ N., and long 56° 53′ W., detailing the particulars of my proceedings up to that date, which letter was sent by a boat from the Lady Jane, |