Captain James Ross was soon employed on the magnetic survey. His services were needed in 1836 for the relief of some whalers supposed to have been frozen up. He fitted out a ship called the _Cove_ at Hull, taking Crozier with him as First Lieutenant, and Erasmus Ommanney, then a young Lieutenant, who got his first experience of ice navigation in this voyage. The mate was A. J. Smith, who was afterwards with Ross in the _Erebus_. James Ross had now served fourteen navigable seasons and eight winters in the Arctic regions, a record never reached by any other man. CHAPTER XXVI THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION When Sir James Ross returned from the Antarctic expedition, there were the two well-fortified bomb vessels, the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, ready for Arctic work. Sir John Barrow was still Secretary of the Admiralty, and as eager as ever for the discovery of a North West Passage. There were the ships and he knew the best man in the navy to command them. James Fitzjames made the acquaintance of young John Barrow at the time when he was in the _Excellent_, passing out as a gunnery lieutenant, and he afterwards became acquainted with his father. Fitzjames was certainly an exceptionally fine character, and held a splendid record. He was in all the operations on the coast of Syria in 1840, and soon afterwards he and his friend Charlwood were specially selected to take out a steamer for Colonel Chesney’s expedition, transport her in pieces across the desert, and put her together for service on the Euphrates. He served for two years with Chesney in Mesopotamia, and was the gunnery lieutenant of the _Cornwallis_ during the China War. He was in nearly all the actions, including the command of the rocket brigade at the taking of Nankin, when he was severely wounded. Fitzjames wrote a graphic and most amusing history of the war in verse, which was published. Promoted to the rank of Commander for his distinguished services, he received command of the _Clio_ brig, and was very usefully employed in the Persian Gulf. It was at this time that John Barrow hinted to him the possibility of Arctic work, and he at once eagerly volunteered. When he paid off the _Clio_ in October, 1844, the proposal was further discussed with Sir John Barrow. Before long it was settled, so far as the Secretary of the Admiralty could settle it, that there should be an expedition with Fitzjames in command, and his friend Charlwood in the second ship. [Illustration: Sir John Franklin] Fitzjames was an orphan, an excellent sailor, full of zeal and devoted to his profession. He was exceedingly popular, and an officer of rare ability, with a talent for organisation and the management of men, the beau ideal, in short, of an Arctic leader. But Sir John Barrow reckoned without his Lords. They approved the scheme, but pronounced Fitzjames, who was 33, and four years older than Parry in his first voyage, to be much too young to have the command.