ndoned, the officers and
crews arriving safely on board the _North Star_ on the following day at
Beechey Island. Fortunately the next day the _North Star_ met the
_Phoenix_ and _Talbot_, when all the ships returned to England.

All due praise must be awarded to the gallant officers and men of the
expedition, who exerted themselves heroically in the great cause they
had undertaken. An Arctic passage was discovered; McClure and his
followers performed it _on the ice_, probably the only way in which it
ever will be performed; but the most important Arctic mystery was still
unsolved--the fate of Franklin remained undiscovered. It was only known
where he was not. As if to teach all those engaged in that
well-arranged, powerful expedition a lesson of humility, the discovery
was reserved for others with far humbler means at their disposal.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

VOYAGE OF THE FOX.

None of the numerous expeditions sent forth to discover traces of Sir
John Franklin's expedition afford matter of greater interest than that
of the little yacht the _Fox_, while it has surpassed all in
successfully clearing up the mystery which for ten long years or more
hung over the fate of that gallant Arctic explorer and his brave
companions.

The _Fox_, a screw-steamer of 177 tons, was the property of Lady
Franklin, and the command of her was confided to Captain McClintock, RN,
who had already made several Arctic voyages. He had as officers,
Lieutenant Hobson, RN, and Captain Allan Young, a noble-minded commander
of the mercantile marine; with Dr Walker as surgeon, and Mr Carl
Petersen as interpreter. She was prepared at Aberdeen for her arduous
undertaking, and sailed 1st of July 1857. She entered Baffin's Bay, and
had got as far north as Melville Bay, on its north-west shore, when she
was beset by the ice early in September, and there blocked up for the
winter.

Soon after midnight on the 25th of April 1858, she was once more under
weigh, and forcing her way out from among huge masses of ice thrown in
on her by the ocean swell. Repeatedly the frozen masses were hurled
against the sharp iron bow, causing the vessel to shake violently, the
bells to ring, and almost knocking the crew off their feet. On one
occasion the ice stopped the screw for some minutes. Anxious moments
those--"After that day's experience I can understand how men's hair has
turned grey in a few hours," says Captain McClintock.

Touching at the Danish settl