The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic Seas: A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and His CompanionsMcClintock commanded the private expedition sponsored by Lady Franklin in 1857 to search for her husband and his crew, missing since 1845. This account details his thorough search of the area between the Boothia Peninsula and King William Island, and the final discovery of the Franklin relics, including the sole written record of the ill-fated expedition. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ammonites appears Arctic Baffin's Bay Bathurst Island beach bear Beechey Island Bellot Strait boat cairn Cape Bird Captain M'Clintock carboniferous coal coast crew depôt discovered discovery dogs dovekies drift Erebus Esquimaux expedition feet felspar fossils frozen gale geological glacier gneiss granite Greenland Hobson icebergs Igloolik inches Inlet Journ journey King William's Island Lady Franklin Lancaster Sound land latitude limestone Melville Bay Melville Island miles Montreal Island morning natives night North Somerset pack party passed Peel Sound Pemmican Petersen Point Victory Pond's Bay Port Leopold Prince provisions ptarmigan reached reindeer relics remained rocks Royal Dublin Society sailed sandstone seals seen ship shore shot Silurian Sir James Ross sledge snow huts southward specimens steam stone temperature tion to-day Upernivik vessel Victoria voyage weather western whale whilst wind winter wreck yards yesterday Young
Popular passages
Page 266 - September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain FRM Crozier, landed here in lat. 69° 37' 42
Page 372 - ... limestone, casts of fossil shells abound. Inland of these, the ordinary pale carboniferous sandstone and cherty limestone reappeared. The fossils are all small, and of only a few varieties, some being ammonites, but the greater part bivalves. They differed from any I had met with before, and the rock was almost brick-red ; I picked up what appeared to be fossil bone (Ichthyosaurus ?), only part of it appearing out of the fragment of the roek.
Page 330 - I have cherished the hope.' says Lady Franklin, in her letter to Lord Palmerston, ' in common with others, that we are not waiting in vain. Should, however, that decision unfortunately throw upon me the responsibility and the cost of sending out a vessel myself, I beg to assure your lordship that I shall not shrink either from that weighty responsibility or from the sacrifice of my entire available fortune for the purpose, supported as I am in my convictions by such high authorities as those whose...
Page 251 - I do not think the Esquimaux had discovered this skeleton, or they would have carried off the brush and comb : superstition prevents them from disturbing their own dead, but would not keep them from appropriating the property of the white man if in any way useful to them. Dr.
Page 266 - Ross's pillar has not however been found, and the paper has been transferred to this position, which is that in which Sir J.
Page xvii - I have no temptation to do so, since it appears to me that your views are almost identical with those which I had independently formed before I had the advantage of being thoroughly possessed of yours. But had this been otherwise, I trust you would have found me ready to prove the implicit confidence I place in you by yielding my own...
Page 264 - W., after having ascended Wellington Channel to lat. 77°, and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. All well. Party consisting of 2 officers and 6 men left the ships on Monday 24th May, 1847. Gm. Gore, Lieut. Chas. F. Des Voeux, Mate.
Page 276 - None of the fuel originally brought from the ships remained in or about the boat, but there was no lack of it, for a drift-tree was lying on the beach close at hand, and had the party been in need of fuel they would have used the paddles and bottom-boards of the boat.
Page 206 - ... and sleeping gear, as well as all boots, fur mittens, and even the sledge dog-harness, to prevent the dogs from eating them during our sleeping hours. The door was now blocked up with snow, the cooking-lamp lighted, foot-gear changed, diary written up, watches wound, sleeping bags wriggled into, pipes lighted, and the merits of the various dogs discussed, until supper was ready ; the supper swallowed, the upper robe or coverlet was pulled over, and then to sleep. Next morning came breakfast,...
Page 342 - Melodies,' an inscription within the cover to " GG" (Graham Gore ?) ; ' Vicar of Wakefield ;' a small Bible, interlined in many places, and with numerous references written in the margin ; a New Testament in the French language.