Though the fate of Sir John Franklin was still a mystery, news of a melancholy character had reached England through the _Montreal Herald_ of October 21, 1854, in which a letter was published written by Dr. Rae of York Factory, August 4 of the same year, and addressed to the governor of the Hudson Bay Company. August 15, 1853, Rae had reached his old quarters at Repulse Bay, where he wintered; the end of the following March he undertook his spring journey. At Pelly Bay he fell in with Eskimos from whom he secured several articles that he recognized as belonging to various members of Sir John Franklin’s expedition. “On the morning of the 20th” (April), he writes in his journal, “we were met by a very intelligent Eskimo driving a dog-sledge laden with musk-ox beef. This man at once consented to accompany us two days’ journey, and in a few minutes had deposited his load on the snow, and was ready to join us. Having explained to him my object, he said that the road by which he had come was the best for us; and, having lightened the men’s sledges, we travelled with more facility. We were now joined by another of the natives, who had been absent seal-hunting yesterday; but, being anxious to see us, had visited our snow-house early this morning, and then followed up our track. This man was very communicative and, on putting to him the usual questions as to his having seen ‘white man’ before, or any ships or boats, he replied in the negative; but said that a party of ‘Kabloomans’ had died of starvation a long distance to the west of where we then were, and beyond a large river. He stated that he did not know the exact place, that he never had been there, and that he could not accompany us so far. The substance of the information then and subsequently obtained from various sources was to the following effect:— “In the spring, four winters past (1850), while some Eskimo families were killing seals near the north shore of a large island, named in Arrowsmith’s charts King William’s Land, about forty white men were seen travelling in company southward over the ice, and dragging a boat and sledges with them. They were passing along the west shore of the above-named island. None of the party could speak the Eskimo language so well as to be understood, but by signs the natives were led to believe that the ship or ships had been crushed by ice, and they were now going to where they expected to find deer to shoot. From the appearance of the men—all of whom, with the exception of an officer, were hauling on the drag-ropes of the sledge, and looked thin—they were then supposed to be getting short of provisions; and they purchased a small seal, or piece of seal, from the natives. The officer was described as being a tall, stout, middle-aged man. When their day’s journey terminated, they pitched tents to rest in.