In the year 1850 several expeditions were sent out. The first consisted of HMS _Resolute_ and _Assistance_, Captain Ommaney, with the screw-steamers _Pioneer_, Lieutenant Osborn, and _Intrepid_, Lieutenant Cator, as tenders, under the command of Captain Horatio T. Austin, in the _Resolute_. Their chief aim was to visit Melville Island, and to explore the shores of Wellington Channel, and the coast about Cape Walker. The ships were provisioned for three years, and a transport completed their supply at Whalefish Islands. No expedition ever left England with a greater prospect of success, all engaged in it being enthusiastically resolved to use every exertion to advance the noble cause. The ships were commissioned on the 28th of February 1850, and left England the 3rd of May. On the 16th of June they arrived at the Whalefish Islands, where they received the remainder of their supply of provisions from the transport. At the same time that Captain Austin's expedition was fitting out, another was arranged and placed under the command of Mr William Penny, an experienced whaling captain of Dundee, to act in concert with it. Mr Penny, by the directions of the Admiralty, proceeded to Aberdeen and Dundee, where he purchased two new clipper-built vessels, which were named the _Lady Franklin_ and _Sophia_; the first in compliment to Sir John's devoted wife, the latter to his admirable niece. These vessels were placed under Mr Penny's command, with separate instructions direct from the Admiralty. The ships showed during the voyage the good judgment employed by Mr Penny in their selection, and the men acquitted themselves throughout the enterprise in a way to justify the praise bestowed on them by their associates in the ships-of-war. Mr Penny had been employed in the Arctic seas since he was twelve years old, and had commanded a whaling ship for sixteen years. The ships left Aberdeen on the 13th of April, but did not fall in with Captain Austin's squadron till the 28th of June, off Berry Island, on the west coast of Greenland. About the same time that the above-named ships left England, three other expeditions were despatched; one in the _Prince Albert_, under Commander Forsyth, chiefly at Lady Franklin's expense. She had a crew of twenty men. Her mates were W. Kay and W. Wilson, and Mr W.P. Snow acted as clerk. She sailed from Aberdeen on the 5th of June, and was thus the last vessel which left England that year. Another in the _Felix_ yacht, with a tender--the _Mary_--under the veteran Captain Sir John Ross, at his own charge. The Americans likewise showed a generous sympathy in the fate of the missing expedition, and sent out one to aid in the search, under Lieutenant de Haven, in the U.S. brig _Advance_, and the U.S. vessel _Rescue_, commanded by Mr S.P. Griffen.