this purpose and put in command of twelve men. Dr. Rae is described as a man of unusual attainments, a surgeon, astronomer, an able steersman; combining with his abilities for leadership the accomplishments of a first-rate snow-shoe walker and dead shot. After a canoe trip of two months' duration, the party arrived at York Factory early in October. Here they passed the winter, and, as soon as the weather would permit, set sail in two boats, and skirted the shores of Hudson Bay. At Fort Churchill they found natives engaged in capturing white whales, which make their way to these waters. They secured the services of two Eskimos, father and son, Ooligbuck by name, who accompanied the expedition as interpreters. In passing Chesterfield Inlet, they heard the grunting and bellowing of walruses, "making a noise," says Rae, "which I fancy would much resemble a concert of old boars and buffaloes." At Republic Bay they bought sealskin boots from the Eskimos, and of the incident Rae says, "One of our female visitors took them out of my hands, and began chewing them with her strong teeth, for the purpose of softening up the leather." Proceeding on their toilsome journey, they traced the coast from Lord Mayor Bay to within ten miles of Fury and Hecla Straits, confirming Captain Ross in his statement that Boothia was a peninsula; and not returning to York Factory until September, 1847. Their long winter was spent at Repulse Bay, where they built a stone house and procured provisions by hunting and fishing. Dr. Rae, being an excellent shot, secured in one day as many as seven deer within two miles of their shelter. In the month of September, sixty-three deer, five hares, one seal, one hundred and seventy-two partridge, and one hundred and sixteen salmon and trout were secured. By the middle of October the deer became scarce, but two hundred partridges were secured, also a few salmon, so that by the time all game had migrated, they had a fairly well-stocked larder. However, the question of fuel was a vexing one, as there was no wood to speak of, but the capture of two seals supplied them with oil for their lamps. Toward February it was found necessary to limit the men to one meal a day. As the spring advanced, they made a series of journeys. Of these Dr. Rae describes making camp after a fatiguing day's travel "Our usual mode of preparing lodgings for the night was as follows: As soon as we had selected a spot for our snowhouse, our Eskimos, assisted by one or more of the men, commenced cutting out blocks of snow. When a sufficient number of these had been raised, the builder commenced his work, his assistants supplying him with material. A good roomy dwelling was thus raised in an hour, if the snow was in a good state for building. Whilst our principal mason was thus occupied, another of the party was busy erecting a kitchen, which, although our cooking was none of the most delicate or extensive, was still a necessary addition to our establishment, had it been only to thaw snow. As soon as the snowhut was completed, our sledges were unloaded, and every eatable (including parchment-skin and moose-skin shoes, which had become now favorite articles with the dogs) taken inside. Our bed was next made, and, by the time the snow was thawed or the water boiled, as the case might be, we were all ready for supper. When we used alcohol for fuel (which we usually did in stormy weather) no kitchen was required." After days of exposure and hardship, Dr. Rae writes:"We were again on the march, and arrived at our home at half past eight P.M., all well, but so black and scarred on the face, from the combined effects of oil, smoke, and frost-bites, that our friends would not believe but that some serious accident from the explosion of gunpowder had happened to us. Thus successfully terminated a journey little short of six hundred English miles, the longest, I believe, ever made on foot along the Arctic coast." Of another trip made in May, Dr. Rae writes: "Our journey hitherto had been the most fatiguing I had ever experienced; the severe exercise, with a limited allowance of food, had reduced the whole party very much. However, we marched merrily on, tightening our belts, mine came in six inches, the men vowing that when they got on full allowance they would make up for lost time." By the last of August, 1847, the party returned to civilization, where Dr. Rae was awarded four hundred pounds by the Hudson Bay Company for his important services. CHAPTER VI -Sir John Franklin. - Early life. - First land expedition of 1819-1821. -5550 miles. land journey. Second Winter quarters at Great Bear Lake. Descent of the Mackenzie River to the Polar Sea. - 1200 miles of coast added to map. The last journey of Sir John Franklin, 1845.-The Ere us and Terror. - Last seen in Melville Bay. No name holds more romantic association with Arctic history than that of Sir John Franklin. What a career, what love of adventure, what hardships endured with heroic fortitude, what leadership that could inspire others to passionate loyalty, and superhuman endurance under unspeakable trials, and what a fate! Let us review briefly a life that stands in the foremost rank of naval history, not so much by great achievement, as by that particular charm of character, indefinable and subtle, that is based on those great qualities of tolerance, justice, loyalty, simplicity, and warm affections. John Franklin, the youngest son of twelve children, was born in the small market town of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, April 16, 1786. He was early destined for the church and educated at St. Ives, and later at Louth Grammar School. A holiday jaunt with a young companion, twelve miles to the shores of the North Sea, with its overwhelming grandeur, changed his career and decided him for the life of a sailor. The shrewd old father, with that acute knowledge of the short-lived enthusiasms of youth, put him to test, and at four teen years of age young John served on a merchantman bound for Lisbon. Undaunted by the hard berth of a sailor lad, we find him in 1801 on the quarter-deck of the Polephemus, under Captain Lanford, leading in line at the battle of Copenhagen, Lord Nelson's hardest fought battle. His iron will, ever more firm in its determination for a life of adventure, secured him later a berth in the discovery ship Investigator, exploring the coast of Australia, where Franklin acquired valuable astronomical and surveying skill under his able relative, Captain Flinders. Transferred to the Porpoise, which, in company with the Cato, was wrecked on a coral reef off the coast of Australia, August 18, 1803, the lad, with one hundred and fifty others, spent fifty days on a strip of sand only four feet above water. Captain Flinders, after making his way 250 leagues to Port Jackson in an open boat, rescued his companions. Franklin finally reached Canton, where he secured passage to England in the Earl Camden, East-Indiaman, under Sir Nathaniel Dance, commodore of the China fleet. An engagement with the French squadron occurred in February, 1804, at which young Franklin rendered valuable service as signal midshipman. On his return to England he was assigned to the Bellerophon. At the battle of Trafalgar, he gallantly stood on the poop, with the dead and dying falling beside him, attending to the signals, with a coolness and accuracy that won him the unstinted admiration of his comrades. For the next two years he served under Admirals Cornwallis, St. Vincent, and Stratham; then for six years in the Bedford. In the disastrous attack upon New Orleans, Franklin commanded the boats in a fight with the enemy's gunboats; he captured one of them and suffered a slight wound in the shoulder in a hand-to-hand encounter. He was promoted to first lieutenant for gallant service and |