During the third winter (1833) a rescuing party under Captain C. Back had gone from England overland in search of Ross; and recruited by Hudson’s Bay Company men of experience had descended Fish (or Back’s) River to its mouth, thus noting a new point on the map; but it failed to reach Ross. By similar overland journeys from their trading-posts on Great Slave Lake and elsewhere, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s men, especially Simpson, Dease, and Rae, connected various points of the coast, so that before 1850 it was known with substantial accuracy from Melville Peninsula to Bering Strait. In much the same way Russian sledge-travelers had traced the northern Asiatic coast by descending to the mouths of rivers; but no ship had yet succeeded in passing Gape Chelyuskin, the northernmost point of Asia or any continental land. Then came a period of the keenest rivalry and richest results in the history of polar conquest, but also one of the greatest catastrophes. The expeditions of Lieutenant John Franklin in 1818 and 1819 were spoken of a moment ago. His services then and subsequently had been recognized by the British king, who, among other honors, had made Franklin a knight, and sent him to be governor of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), where he remained from 1836 to 1843, founded a prosperous colony, and was regarded as one of the wisest, kindest, and most upright men of his day. Upon his return to England Franklin was made commander of the most important expedition that had ever yet been fitted out to search for the Northwest Passage, and his reputation brought the best men as volunteers to his standard. Having selected 134 officers and men, and made the best equipment possible, Captain Sir John Franklin sailed on May 19, 1845, in the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, Parry’s old ships. On the 26th of July they were seen proceeding prosperously up Baffin’s Bay by a whaler, who reported them in due course, but neither ships or crews were heard of again for many years. Anxiety over the long silence at length aroused the people of England and the United States to begin a search for them which lasted through many years. It was fruitless as to its first object,—the rescue of Franklin or any survivors,—but it gradually cleared up the sad mystery, and it was the means of learning all, and more than all, that Franklin sought to ascertain. The search began by the despatch, early in 1848, of Sir James Ross in two ships, _Investigator_ and _Enterprise_, which wintered near the northeast point of North Devon, and returned the following year with no tidings, although they afforded the second officer, Lieutenant F. R. M’Clintock, an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of sledging, which he afterward used to advantage. This failure only aroused England to renewed efforts.