were the remains of a large storehouse, {123} a
workshop and an observatory; a blacksmith's forge was found, with many
coal bags and cinders lying about, and odds and ends of all sorts,
easily identified as coming from the lost ships. Most ominous of all
was the discovery of over six hundred empty cans that had held
preserved meat, the main reliance of the expedition. These were found
regularly piled in little mounds. The number of them was far greater
than Franklin's men would have consumed during the first winter, and,
to make the conclusion still clearer, the preparation was of a brand of
which the Admiralty since 1845 had been compelled to destroy great
quantities, owing to its having turned putrid in the tins. It was
plain that the food supply of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ must have
been seriously depleted, and the dangers of starvation have set in long
before three years were completed.

Three graves were found on Beechey Island with head-boards marking the
names and ages of three men of the crew who had died in the winter.
Near a cape of the island was a cairn built of stone. It was evidently
intended to hold the records of the expedition. Yet, strange to say,
neither in the cairn nor anywhere about it was a single document to be
found.

{124}

The greatest excitement now prevailed. Hope ran high that at least
some survivors of the men of the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ might be
found, even if the ships themselves had been lost. The Admiralty
redoubled its efforts. Already Captains Collinson and M'Clure had been
sent out (in 1850) to sail round the Horn, and were on their way into
the Arctic region via Bering Strait. To these were now added a
squadron under Captain Sir Edward Belcher consisting of the
_Assistance_ with a steam tender named the _Pioneer_, the _Resolute_
with its tender the _Intrepid_, and the _North Star_. Stations were to
be made at Beechey Island and at two other points in the region now
indicated as the scene of Sir John Franklin's operations. From these
sledge and boat parties were to be sent out in all directions. At the
same time Lady Franklin dispatched the _Albert_ under Captain Kennedy
and Lieutenant Bellot, an officer of the French navy who had given his
services to the cause.

Once again hope was doomed to disappointment. The story of the
expeditions was an almost unbroken record of disaster. Captain
M'Clure, in the _Investigator_, separated from his consort, and
v