In the Arctic seas : a narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions

Front matter

The Estate of

Mark Seltzer r

IN THE

Preface

to be the sole means of endeavoring lo bring to light the true history of her husbandte voyage and fate.

Looking to the list of Naval worthies, who, during the preceding years, had been exploring the Arctic Regions, Lady Franklin was highly gratified when she obtained the willing services of Captain M'Clintock to command the yacht 'Fox,' which she had purchased ; for that officer had signally distinguished himself in the voyages of Sir John Ross and Captain (now Admiral) Austin, and especially in his extensive journeys on the ice when associated with Captain Kellett. With such a leader she could not but entertain sanguine hopes of success when the fast and well-adapted little vessel sailed from Aberdeen on the 1st of July, 1857, upon this eventful enterprise.

Deep, indeed, was the mortification experienced by every one who shared the feelings and anticipations of Lady Franklin when the untoward news came, in the summer of 1858, that, the preceding winter having set in earlier than usual, the 'Fox' had been beset in the ice off Melville Bay, on the coast of Greenland, and after a dreary winter, various narrow escapes, and eight months of imprisonment, had been carried back by the floating ice nearly twelve hundred geographical miles — even to 63^^ N. lat. in the Atlantic! See the woodcut map. No. 1.

But although the good little yacht had been most roughly handled among the ice-floes (see Frontispiece), we were cheered up by the information from Disco,

X PREFACE.

that, with the exception of the death of the engine-driver in consequence of a fall into the hold, the crew were in stout health and full of energy, and that provided with sufficient fuel and provisions, a good supply of sledging dogs, two tried Esquimaux, and the excellent interpreter Petersen the Dane,* ample grounds yet remained to lead us to hope for a successful issue. Above all, we were encouraged by the proofs of the self-possession and calm resolve of M'Clintock, who held steadily to the accomplishment of his original project; the more so as he had then tested and recognized the value of the services of Lieutenant (now Commander) Hobson, his able second in command ; of Captain Allen Young, his generous volunteer associate ; f and of Dr. Walker, his accomplished Surgeon.

Despite, however, of these re-assuring data, many an advocate of this search was anxiously alive to the chance of the failure of the venture of one unassisted yacht, which after sundry mishaps was again starting to cross Baffin's Bay, with the foreknowledge, that when she reached the opposite coast, the real difficulties of the enterprise were to commence.

Any such misgivings were happily illusory ; and

* Since his return to Copenhagen, Petersen has been worthily honored by his Sovereign with the silver cross of Dannebrog.

t Captain Allen Young of the merchant marine not only threw his services into this cause, and subscribed ^500 in furtherance of the expedition, but, abandoning lucrative appointments in command, generousN accepted a subordinate post.

PREFACE.

the reader who follows IVPClintock across the "middle ice " of Baffin's Bay to Pond Inlet, thence to Beechey Island, down a portion of Peel Strait, and then through the hitherto unnavigated waters of Bellot Strait in one summer season, may reasonably expect the success which followed.

Whilst the revelation obtained from the long-sought records, which were discovered by Lieutenant Hobson, is most satisfactory to those who speculated on the probability of Franklin having, in the first instance, tried to force his way northwards through Wellington Channel (as we now learn he did), those who held a different hypothesis, namely, that he followed his instructions, which directed him to the S. W., may be amply satisfied that in the following season the ships did pursue this southerly course till they were finally beset in N. lat 70^ 05'*

At the same time, the public should fully understand the motive which prompted the supporters of

* For a r€sum€ of all the plans of researcli and the speculations of seamen and geographers, see the interesting and most useful volume of Mr. John Brown, entitled, * Tlie North- West Passage and Search after Sir John Franklin,' 1858. In an Appendix to this work we learn, that from the earliest Polar researches by John Cabot, at the end of the 1 5th century, to the voyage of M'Clintock, there have been about 130 expeditions, illustrated by 250 books and printed documents, of which 150 have been issued in England. Amidst the various recent publications, it ia but rendering justice to Dr. King, the former companion of Sir Geo!^e Back, to state that he suggested and always maintained the necessity of a search for the missing navigators at or near the mouth of the Back Biver.

PREFACE.

Lady Franklin in advocating the last search. Put* ting aside the hope which some of us entertained, that a few of the younger men of the missing expedition might still be found to be living among the Esquimaux, we had every reason to expect, that if the ships were discovered, the scientific documents of the voyage, including valuable magnetic observations, would be recovered.

In the absence of such good fortune we may, however, well be gladdened by the discovery of that one precious document which gives us a true outline of the voyage of the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror.'

That the reader may comprehend the vast extent of sea traversed by Franklin in the two summers before his ships were beset, a small map (No. 2) is here introduced representing all the lands and seas of the Arctic regions to the west of Lancaster Sound which were known and laid down when he sailed. The dotted lines and arrows, which extend from the then known seas and lands into the unknown waters or blank spaces on this old map, indicate Franklin's route, the novelty, range, rapidity, and boldness of which,^ as thus delineated, may well surprise the geographer, and even the most enterprising Arctic sailor.* For, those who have not closely attended

* The letter A in Baffin Bay (fig. 1) indicates the spot where Franklin was last seen. In fig. 2, B is the winter rendezvous at Bcechey Island ; C the greatest northing of the expedition, viz. 77^ N. lat. ; Z the final beset of the * Erebus ' and * Terror ; ' the extreme north and south points of their voyage being represented by two small ships.

PREFACE.

xiii to the results of other Arctic voyages may be informed, that rarely has an expedition in the first year accomplished more by its ships, than the establishing of good winter quarters, from whence the real researches began by sledge-work in the ensuing spring. Franklin, however, not only reached Beechey Island, bat ascended Wellington Channel, then an unknown sea, to 77° N. lat., a more northern latitude in thia meridian than that attained long afterwards in ships by Sir Edward Belcher, and much to the north of the points reached by Penny and De Haven. Next, though most scantily provided with steam-power, Franklin navigated round Cornwallis' Land, which he thus proved to be an island. The last discovery of a navigable channel throughout, between Cornwallis and Bathurst Islands, though made in the very summer he left England, has remained even to this day unknown to other navigators !

Franklin then, in obedience to his orders,, steered to the south-west. Passing, as M'Clintock brieves, down Peel's Strait in 1846, and reaching as far as lat. 70° 05' N., and long. 98° 23' W., where the ships were beset, it is clear that he, who, with others, had previously ascertained the existence of a channel along the north coast of America, with which the gea wherein he was interred had a direct communication, was the first real discoverer of the Norths West Passage. This great fact must therefore be

mscribed upon the monument of Franklin. B xiv PREFACE.

The adventurous M'Clure, who has been worthily honored for working out another North- Western passage, which we now know to have been of subsequent date,* as well as Collinson, who, taking the ^Enterprise' along the north coast of America, and afterwards bringing her home, reached with sledges the western edge of the area recently laid open by M'Clintock, will I have no doubt unite with their Arctic associates, Richardson, Sherard Osborn, and M'Clintock, in affirming, that " Franklin and his followers secured the honor for which they died — that of being the first discoverers of the North- West Passage." f

Again, when we turn from the discoveries of Franklin to those of M^Clintock, as mapped in red colors on the genera} map, on which is represented the amount of outline laid down by all other Arctic explorers from t See a most heart-stirring sketch of the last voyage of Sir Jolm Franklin, by Captain Sherard Osborn, in the periodical Once a Week, of the 22d and 29t]i October and 5th November last. Possessing a, thorough acquaintance with the Arctic regions, the distinguished seaman has shown more than his ordinary power of description, in placing before the public his conception of what may have been the chief occurrences in the voyage of the * Erebus ' and * Terror,' and the last days of Franklin, as founded upon an acquaintance with the character of the chief and bis ass;sciates, and the record and relics obtained by M'CIintock. This sketch is prefaced by a spirited and graceful outline of all previous gwgraphical discoveries, from the day when they were originated by the father of all modern Arctic enterprise, Sir John Barrow, to whom, and to many other eminent persons, from Sir Edward Parry downwards, I have in varioui Geographical Addresses ofFeied the tribute of my admiration.

PREFACE.

the days when these modern researches originated with Sir John Barrow, we perceive that, in addition to the discovery of the course followed by the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror,' some most important geographical data have been accumulated by the last expedition of Lady Franklin.

Thus, M'Clintock has proved, that the strait named by Kenedy in an earlier private expedition of Lady Franklin after his companion the brave Lieutenant Bellot, and which has hitherto been regarded only as an impassable frozen channel, or ignored as a channel at all, is a navigable strait, the south sh(jre of which is thus seen to be the northernmost land of the continent of America.

M'Clintock has also laid down the hitherto unknown coast-line of Boothia, southwards from Bellot Strait to the Magnetic Pole, has delineated the whole of King William's Island, and opened a new and capacious, though ice-choked channel, suspected before, but not proved, to exist, extending from Victoria Strait in a north-west direction to Melville or Parry Sound. The latter discovery rewarded the individual exertions of Captain Allen Young, but will very properly, at Lady Franklin's request, bear the name of the leader of the * Fox ' expedition, who had himself assigned to it the name of the widow of Franklin.*

* In his volume before cited, p. xii., Mr. John Brown gave strong reasons (which he had held Tor some time) for believing in the existence of the very channel which n^w bears the name of M'Clintock. It is, how xvi

PREFACE.

NeithtT has the expedition been unproductive of scientific results. For, whilst many persons will be interested in the popular descriptions of the native Esquimaux, as well as of the lower animals, the man of science will hereafter be further gratified by having presented to him, in the form of an additional Appendix,* most valuable details relating to the zoology, botany, meteorology, and especially to the terrestrial magnetism, of the region examined.

Lastly, M'Clintock has convinced himself, that the best way of securing the passage of a ship from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is by following, as near as possible, the coast-line of North America : indeed, it is his opinion, founded upon a large experience, that no passage by a ship can ever be accomplished in a more northern direction. This it is well known was the favorite theory of Franklin, who had himself, along with Richardson, Back, Beechey, Dease, Simpson, and Rae, surveyed the whole of that same North American coast from the Back or Great Fish River to Behring Strait. Thus, when Franklin sailed in 1845, the discovery of a North- West Passage was reduced to the finding a link between the latter survey aad the discoveries of Parry, who had already,

ever, the opinion both of that officer and his associates, as also of Captain Sherard Osborn, that Franklin could not have reached the spot where his ships were beset by proceeding down that ice-choked channel, but that h« must have sailed down Peel Sound. * Much of this Appendix will be prepared by Dr. David Walker.

PREFACE.

to his great renown, opened the first half of a more northern course from east to west, when he was ai-rested by the impenetrable ice-barrier at Melville Island.

And here it is to be remembered, that the tract m which the record and the relics have been found, is just that to which Lady Franklin herself specially directed Kenedy, the commander of the ' Prince Albert,' in her second private expedition in 1852; and had that intrepid explorer not been induced to search northwards of Bellot Strait, but had felt himself able to follow the course indicated by his sagacious employer, there can be no doubt, that much more satisfactory results would have been obtained than those which, after a lapse of seven years, have now been realized by the undaunted perseverance of Lady Franklin, and the skill and courage of M'Clintock.

The natural modesty of this commander has, I am bound to say, prevented his doing common justice, in the following journal, to his own conduct — conduct which can be estimated by those only who have listened to the testimony of the officers serv'ng with and under the man, whose great qualities in moments of extreme peril elicited their heartiest admiration and ensured their perfect confidence.

In writing this Preface (which I do at the request of the promoters of the last search), I may state that, having occupied the Chair of the Royal Geographical Society in 1845, when my cherished friend. Sir xviii

PREFACE.

John Franklin, went forth for the third time to seek a North- West passage, it became my bounden duty in subsequent years, when his absence created much anxiety, and when I re-occupied the same position, ardently to promote the employment of searching expeditions, and warmly to sustain Lady Franklin'a endeavors in this holy cause.

Imbued with such feelings, I must be permitted to say, that no event in my life gave me purer delight, than when Captain CoUinson, whose labors to support and carry out this last search have been signally serviceable, forwarded to me a telegram to be communicated to the British Association at Aberdeen announcing the success of M'Clintock. That document reached Balmoral on the 22nd of Septeniber last, when the men of science were invited thither by their Sovereign. Great was the satisfaction caused by the diffusion of these good tidings among my associates (the distinguished Arctic explorers Admiral Sir James Ross and General Sabine being present) ; and it was most cheering to us to know, that the Queen and our Royal President* took the deepest interest

* At the Aberdeen meeting the Prince Consort thus spoke: — *' The Aberdeen whaler braves the icy regions of the Polar sea to seek and to battle with the great monster of the deep ; he has materially assisted in opening these icebound regions to the researches of science ; he fearlessly aided in the search after Sir John Franklin and his gallant companions whom their country sent forth on this mission ; but to whom Providence, alas ! has denied the reward of their labors, the return to their homes, to the affectionate embrace of their families and friends, and the acknowl' edgments of a grateful nation.'*

PREFACE.

xix in this intelligence — such as, indeed, they ha% e always evinced whenever the search for the nriissing navigators has been brought under their consideration. The immediate bestowal of the Arctic medal upon all the officers and men of the ^ Fox' is a pleasing proof that this interest is well sustained.

But these few introductory sentences must not be extended ; and I invite the reader at once to peruse the Journal of M'Clintock, which will gratify every lover of truthful and ardent research, though it will leave him impressed with the sad belief, that the end of the companions of Franklin has been truly recorded by the native Esquimaux, who saw these noble fellows " fall down and die as they walked along the ice."

Looking to the fact, that little or no fresh food could have been obtained by the crews of the * Erebus ' and ' Terror ' during their long imprisonment of twenty months, in so frightfully sterile a region as that in which the ships were abandoned, — so sterile that it is even deserted by the Esquimaux, — and also to the want of sustenance in spring at the mouth of the Back River, all the Arctic naval authorities with whom I have conversed, coincide with M'Clintock and his associates in the belief, that none of the missing navigators can be now living.

Painful as is the realisation of this tragic event, let us now dwell only on the reflection that, while the North- West passage has been solved by the heroic

XX

PREFACE.

self-sacrifice of Franklin, Crozier, Fitzjames, and their associates, the searches after them which are now ter* minated, have, at a very small loss of life, not only added prodigiously to geographical knowledge, but have, in times of peace, been the best school for testing, by the severest trials, the skill and endurance of many a brave seaman. In her hour of need - — should need arise — England knows that such men will nobly do their duty,

Roderick I. Murchison.

Chapter 1

Caase of delay in equipment — Fittings of the 'Fox' — Volunteers for Arctic service — Assistance from public departments — Reflections upon the undertaking — Instructions and departure — Orkneys and Greenland — Fine Arctic scenery — Danish establishments in Greenland— Frederickshaah, in Davis' Straits, . . . • Page 1

CHAPTER IL

Fiskernaes and Esquimaux — The * Fox ' reaches Disco — Disco Fiord

— Summer scenery — Waigat Strait — Coaling from the mine — Purchasing Esquimaux dogs — Heavy gale off Upernivik — Melville Bay

— The middle ice — The great glacier of Greenland — Reindeer cross the glacier, • • • • 19

Chapter III

Melville Bay — Beset in Melville Bay — Signs of winter — The coming storm — Drifting in the pack — Canine appetite — Resigned to a winter in the pack — Dinner stolen by sharks — The Arctic shark — White whales and killers, 35

Chapter IV

Snow crystals — Dog will not eat raven — An Arctic school — The dogs invade us — Bear-huniing by night — Ice-artillery — Arctic palates — Sudden rise of temperature — Harvey's idea of a sortie. . • 51

Chapter V

Burial in the pack — Musk oxen in lat. 80° north — Thrift of the Arctic fox — The aurora affects the electrometer — An Arctic Christmas — Sufferings of an Arctic party — Ice acted on by wind only — How the sun ought to be welcomed — Constant action of the ice — Return of the seals — Revolving storm, •••«•• 67

CHAPTER VL

A bear-fight — An ice-nip — Strong gales, rapid drift — The ' Fox ' breaks out of the pack — Hanging on to floe-edge — the Arctic bear — An ice tournament — The * Fox ' in peril — A storm in the pack — Escape from the pack, • • • • * • , . 84

xxi xxii

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIL

A holiday in Greenland — A lady blue with cold — The loves of Greenlanders — Close shaving — Meet the whalers — Information of whalers— Disco — Danish hospitality — Sail from Disco — Kindness of the whalers — Danish establishments in Greenland, , • lOO

CHAPTER Vm.

* Fox ' nearly wrecked — Afloat, and push ahead — Arctic hairbreadth escapes — Nearly caught in the pack — Shooting little auks — The Arctic Highlanders — Cape York — Crimson snow — Struggling to the westward — Reach the West-land — Off the entrance of Lancaster Sound, 116

CHAPTER IX.

Off Cape Warrender — Sight the whalers again — Enter Pond's Bay — Communicate with Esquimaux — Ascend Pond's Inlet — Esquimaux information — Arctic summer abode — An Arctic village — No intelligence of Franklin's ships — Arctic trading — Geographical information of natives — Information of Rae's visit — Improvidence of Esquimaux — Travels of Esquimaux, 132

CHAPTER X.

Leave Pond's Bay — A gale in Lancaster Sound — The Beechey Island Depot — An Arctic monument — Reflections at Beechey Island— Proceed up Barrow's Strait — Peel Sound — Port Leopold — Prince Regent's Inlet — Bellot Strait — Flood-tide from the west — Unsuccessful efforts — Fox's Hole — No water to the west — Precautionary measures — Fourth attempt to pass through, 153

CHAPTER XL

Proceed westv/ard in a boat — Cheerless state of the western sea — Struggles in Bellot Strait — Falcons, good Arctic fare — The resources of Boothia Felix — Future sledge travelling — Heavy gales — Hobson's party start — Winter quarters — Bellot's Strait — Advanced depot established— Observatories — Intense cold — Autumn travellers — Narrow escape, 174

CHAPTER XIL

Death of our engineer — Scarcity of game — The cold unusally trying — Jolly, under adverse circumstances — Petersen's information — Return of the sunbf 1859 — Early spring sledge parties — Unusual severity of the winter — Severe hardships of early sledging — The western shores of Boothia — Meet the Esquimaux — Intelligence of Franklin's ships — Return to the * Fox ' — Allen Young returns, . . . . 192

CHAPTER XIII.

Dr. Walker's sledge journey — Snow-blindness attacks Young's party — Departure of all sledge-parties — Equipment of sledge-parties — Meet the same party of natives — Intelligence of the second ship — My depot robbed — Part company from Hobson — Matty Island — Deserted snow-huts — Native sledges — Land on King William's Land, 217

CONTENTS.

xxiii

CHAPTER XIV.

Meet Esquimaux — News of Franklin's people — Frighten ft solitary party — Reach the Great Fish River — On Montreal Island — Total absence of all relics — •Examine Ogle Peninsula — Discover a skeleton — Vagueness of Esquimaux information — Cape Herschel — Cairn, 235

CHAPTER XV.

The cairn found empty — Discover Hobson's letter — Discovery of Crozier's record — The deserted boat — Articles discovered about the boat — The skeletons and relics — The boat belonged to the * Erebus ' — Conjectures, 253

CHAPTER XVI.

Errors in Franklin's records — Relics found at the cairn — Reflections on the retreat — Returning homeward — Geological remarks — Difficulties of summer sledging — Arrive on board the *Fox' — Navigable N.W. passage — Death from scurvy — Anxiety for Captain Young — Young returns safely, 272

CHAPTER XVII.

Signs of release — Dearth of animal life — Owl is good beef — ^Beat out of winter quarters — Our game-list — Reach Fury Beach — Escape from Regent's Inlet — In Baffin's Bay — Captain Allen Young's journey — Disco ; sad disappointment — Part from our Esquimaux friends —

Adieu to Greenland — Arrive home, • • • • • 292 Conclusion, 875

Appendix

No. I. — A Letter to Viscqmnt Palmerston, K.G., &c., from Lady Franklin, 319

No. II. — Memorial to the Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston, M.P., G.C.B., 329

No. III. — List of Relics of the Franklin Expedition brought to England in the * Fox ' by Captain M'Clintock, ... 334

No. IV. — Geological Account of the Arctic Archipelago, by Professor Haughton, . 341

No. V. — List of Subscribers to the 'Fox ' Expedition, • • 373

JOURNAL OF THE SEARCH

FOR

Sm JOHN FRANKLIN.

Chapter I

Cause of delay in equipment — Fittings of the * Fox * — Volunteers for Arctic service — Assistance from public departments — Reflections upon the undertaking — Instructions and departure - — Orkneys and Greenland — Fine Arctic scenery — Danish establishments in Greenland — Frederickshaab, in Davis' Straits.

It is now a matter of history how Government and private expeditions prosecuted, with unprecedented zeal and perseverance, the search for Sir John Prankhn's ships, between the j^ears 1847-55 ; and that the only ray of information gleaned was that afforded by the inscriptions upon three tombstones at Beechey Island, briefly recording the names and dates of the deaths of those individuals of the lost expedition, who thus early fell in the cause of science and of their country.

In this manner were we made aware of the locality where the Franklin expedition passed its first Arctic winter. The traces assuring us of that fact, were discovered in August, 1850, by

FORMER EXPEDITIONS.

Chap. I

Captain Ommanney, RN.^, of H.M.S. ' Assistance/ and by Captain Penny, of the ' Lady Franklin/

In October, 1854, Dr. Rae brought home the only additional information respecting them which has ever reached us. From the Esquimaux of Boothia Felix he learned that a party of about forty white men were met on the west coast of King William's Island, and from thence travelled on to the mouth of the Great Fish River, where they all perished of starvation, and that this tragic event occurred apparently in the spring of 1850.

Some relics obtained from these natives, and brought home by Dr. Rae, were proved to have belonged to Sir John Franklin and several of his associates.

The Government caused an exploring party to descend the Fish River in 1855 ; but, although sufficient traces were found to prove that some portion of the crews of the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror' had actually landed on the banks of that river, and traces existed of them up to Franklin Rapids, no additional information was obtained either from the discovery of records, or through the Esquimaux. Mr. Anderson, the Hudson Bay Company's officer in charge, and his small party, deserve credit for their perseverance and skill ; but they were not furnished with the necessary means of accomplishing their mission. Mr. Anderson could not obtain an interpreter, and the two frail bark

Apr. 1857. CAUSE OF DELAY IN EQUIPMENT. 3

canoes in which his whole party embarked were ahuost worn out before they reached the locality to be searched. It is not surprising that such an expedition caused very considerable excitement at home.

Lady Franklin, and the advocates for further search, now pressed upon government th^r necessity of following up, in a more effectual manner, the traces accidentally found by Dr. Rae, and, in fact, of rendering the search complete by one more effort, involving but little of hazard or expense. It was not until April, 1857, that any decisive answer was given to Lady Franklin's appeal. (See Appendix No. 1.)

Sir Charles Wood then stated that the members of Her Majesty's Government, having come, with great regret, to the conclusion that there was no prospect of saving life, would not be justified, for any objects which in their opinion could be obtained by an expedition to the Arctic seas, in exposing the lives of officers and men to the risk inseparable from such an enterprise."

Lady Franklin, upon this final disappointment of her hopes, had no hesitation in immediately preparing to send out a searching expedition, equipped and stored at her own cost. But she was not left alone. Many friends of the cause — including some of the most distinguished scientific men in England,* and especially Sir Roderick

* A list of them and their subscriptions to be given in Appendix.

NOMINATION OF COMMANDER. Ciup. 1

Murchison, whose zeal was as practical as it was enlightened — hastened to tender their aid^ and soon a very considerable sum was raised in furtherance of so truly noble an effort.

On the 18th of April, 1857, Lady Franklin did me the honor to offer me the command of the proposed expedition ; it was of course most cheerfully accepted. As a post of honor and some difficulty, it possessed quite sufficient charms for a naval officer who had already served in three consecutive expeditions from 1848 to 1854. I was thoroughly conversant with all the details of this peculiar service ; and I confess, moreover, that my whole heart was in the cause. How could I do otherwise than devote myself to save at least the record of faithful service,' even unto death, of my brother officers and seamen ? and, being one of those by whose united efforts not only the Franklin search, but the geography of Arctic America, has been brought so nearly to completion, I could not willingly resign to posterity, the honor of filling up even the small remaining blank upon our maps.

To leave these discoveries incomplete, more especially in a quarter through which the tidal stream actually demonstrates the existence of a channel — the only remaining hope of a practicable north-west passage — would indeed be leaving strong induc^ement for future explorers to reap the rich reward of our long continued exertions.

Apr. 1857. PURCHASE OF THE 'FOX/

I immediately applied to the Admiralty for leave of absence to complete the Franklin search ; and on the 23d received at Dublin the telegraphic message from Lady Franklin : " Your leave is granted ; the ' Fox ' is mine ; the refit will commence immediately." She had already purchased the screw-yacht ^Fox/ of 177 tons burthen, and now placed her, together with the necessary funds, at my disposal.