erience too awful to relate. There, penned in between the
barren grounds and the sea, they might have somehow continued to live:
there they might still be found.

{131}

It was through the personal efforts of Lady Franklin, who devoted
thereto the last remnant of her fortune, that the final expedition was
sent out in 1857. The yacht _Fox_ was commanded by Captain M'Clintock.
He had already spent many years in the Arctic. Touched by the poignant
grief of Lady Franklin, he gave his service gratuitously in a last
effort to trace the fate of the missing men. Other officers gave their
services and even money to the search. The little _Fox_ sailed in
1857, to search the waters between Beechey Island and the mouth of the
Back. When she returned to England two years later she brought back
with her the first, and the last, direct information ever received from
the _Erebus_ and the _Terror_. In a cairn on the west coast of King
William's Island was found a document placed there from Franklin's
ships. It was dated May 28, 1847 (two years after the ships left
England). It read: 'H.M. Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_ wintered in the
ice lat. 70 deg. 5' N. long., 98 deg. 23' west, having wintered in 1845-46 at
Beechey Island after having ascended Wellington Channel to Lat. 77 deg. and
returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Sir John Franklin
commanding the expedition. All well.'

{132}

This showed that Franklin had, as already gathered, explored the
channels west and north from Lancaster Sound, and finding no way
through had wintered on Beechey Island (1845-46). Striking south from
there his ships had been caught in the open ice-pack, where they had
passed their second winter. At the time of writing, Franklin must have
been looking eagerly forward to their coming liberation and the
prosecution of their discoveries towards the American coast.

But the document did not end there. It had evidently been placed in
the cairn in May of 1847; a year later the cairn had been reopened and
to the document a note had been appended, written in fine writing round
the edge of the original. The torn edge of the paper leaves part of
the date missing. It runs '... 848. H.M. Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_
were deserted on the 22 of April, 5 leagues NNW. of this ... been beset
since 12th Sept. 1846. The officers and crews consisting of 105 souls
under the command ... tain F. R. M. Crozier landed here in Lat. 69 deg. 37'
42" Long