As early as April 4, 1849, Lady Franklin had made a heartrending appeal to the President of the United States, in which she called on the American nation, as a “kindred people, to join heart and hand in the enterprise of snatching the lost navigators from a dreary grave.” Such an eloquent appeal could not help but rouse the country to the strongest feeling of sympathy and interest. But the prolonged delays incident to our national legislation threatened to defeat her request, until a generous philanthropist, Mr. Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant of great wealth, stepped forward with the munificent offer of two well-equipped vessels, the _Advance_ of one hundred and forty tons, and the _Rescue_ of ninety tons, which he placed at the disposition of the government. Congress accepted this generous gift, and the ships were placed under the direction of the Navy Board. The command was given to Lieutenant E. De Haven, a most zealous and able naval officer; Mr. Murdock was sailing master, with Dr. E. K. Kane, that remarkable man “weak in body but great in mind,” whose succeeding journeys contributed so much to solving the mystery surrounding the fate of the lost ships. [Sidenote: _FIRST GRINNELL EXPEDITION_] The Grinnell expedition left New York on May 23, 1850, and was absent about sixteen months. It will thus be seen that the Arctic seas had never been so replete with expeditions, whose heroic object was the search for missing comrades; and the year 1850-1851 was one of unparalleled adventure, exploration, and discovery, but alas! only the most meagre traces of the brave mariners were found, whose deplorable fate stirred the sympathy of the civilized world. The unfavourable conditions of the “middle ice” in Baffin Bay and the Melville Bay barrier caused the searching expeditions great difficulties and discouraging delays. So strenuous were the conditions at times that the officers and crews of the smaller vessels made every preparation to leave the ships at a moment’s notice, should these vessels be crushed in the ice. By boring, tracking, and cutting, and by one ship towing the other through loose ice as the occasion demanded, slow but steady advance was made to the desired latitudes. Most interesting are the experiences of the little _Prince Albert_, Lady Franklin’s ship. In describing a daring attack of this little craft upon ice-floes, Mr. Snow writes most graphically:—