The day after this discovery was made by the men we moved camp to the
vicinity of the grave, and spent two days in searching for other
matters of interest; but there was still some snow on the ground, and
little ponds in the vicinity of the articles were partly frozen, so
that an exhaustive search was impossible. Upon our return from Cape
Felix, on the 11th of July, we found the snow entirely gone, and the
ponds near the shore nearly all dry; we therefore had little difficulty
in completing the search at that time. Among the various articles found
was a brush with the name "H. Wilks" cut in the side, a two-gallon
stone jug stamped "R. Wheatley, wine and spirit merchant, Greenhithe,
Kent," several tin cans, a pickle bottle, and a canvas pulling strap, a
sledge harness marked with a stencil plate "T 11," showing it to have
belonged to the 'Terror'. We also found a stocking, rudely made of
a piece of blanket, showing that they were in need of good stockings,
which are so essential to the comfort of the Arctic traveller. For this
purpose nothing is so good as the fur of the reindeer, but next to that
well-made woollen stockings are the best. It was heart-rending to see
this mute testimony to their destitution.
At our second visit Toolooah's wife found in a pile of stones, where
had formerly stood the cairn seen by Lieutenant Hobson, a piece of
paper which had weathered the storms of more than twenty Arctic
winters. It was with much difficulty that I could open it without
tearing it, while all stood around in anxious expectancy, confident
that it was an additional record from Captain Crozier, as it was in a
tattered and weather-beaten condition.
It, however, proved to be a copy of the Crozier record found by
Lieutenant Hobson, of McClintock's expedition, and was in the
handwriting of Sir Leopold McClintock. The document was written with a
lead pencil on note-paper, and was partially illegible from exposure.
It was literally as follows:--
MAY 7, 1859,
Lat. 69 deg. 38 min., long. 98 deg. 41 min. W.
This cairn was found yesterday by a party from Lady Frank-
lin's discovery yacht 'Fox', now wintering in Bellot Strait * *
* * * * * * a notice of which the following
is * * * removed:--
28TH MAY, 1847.
H. M. ships 'Erebus' and 'Terror' wintered in the ice in lat. 70 deg.
05 min. N., long. 98 deg. 23 min. W., having wintered at Beechy Island,
in lat. 74 deg. 43 min. 28 sec. N., long. 91 deg. 39 min. 15 sec. W.,
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. A
party of two officers and six men left the ships on Monday, the
24th May.
GRAHAM GORE.
CHARLES F. DES V * * *.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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