Frederick Mecham was promoted to the rank of Commander on the 21st October, 1854. A thorough seaman and navigator, a good officer, and an excellent messmate, he was endowed with indomitable pluck and the gift of communicating his enthusiasm to those who served under him. Musical, an actor, a good artist, and well informed, he was foremost in the work of keeping the men amused during the winter. His consideration for others and his charming manners endeared him alike to officers and men, and his sledge crews were devoted to him. Mecham was appointed to the _Vixen_ on the Pacific station, and died at Honolulu on February 16th, 1858, at the early age of twenty-nine, a great loss to the navy and to his country. His Arctic achievements still remain unapproached. CHAPTER XXIX DISCOVERY OF THE FATE OF FRANKLIN The Crimean War broke out in 1854, and public attention was absorbed by it. On March 23rd of that year the names of Sir John Franklin and his officers were removed from the Navy list, but not without a protest from Lady Franklin. Suddenly, only four months later, some startling news arrived. Dr Rae of the Hudson’s Bay Company reported on July 19th that, during a journey to survey the west coast of Boothia, he met some Eskimos in Pelly Bay who said that, some years before, they had seen about thirty men dragging a boat southward over the ice, and that later the bodies of several men were found on an island near the mouth of a great river. They had several articles belonging to officers of the Franklin Expedition, including nine pieces of plate and Sir John’s Guelphic Order. Public attention being occupied elsewhere, the Admiralty considered it enough to ask the Hudson’s Bay Company to send someone down the Great Fish River to Montreal Island, which lies at its mouth. Mr Anderson was sent, without an Eskimo interpreter, reached Montreal Island, found some fragments of a boat and various articles, and then returned. The Admiralty thought that sufficient had been done. Lady Franklin petitioned the Prime Minister, urging that 135 officers and men of the British Navy had laid down their lives after sufferings of unexampled severity in the service of their country, as truly as if they had fallen in action. “Surely,” she added, “I may plead for such men that the bones of the dead be sought for, that their records be unearthed, that their last written words be saved from destruction. It is a sacred mission, and this final search is all I ask.” The reply was a cold refusal, and Lady Franklin realised that, if anything was to be done, she must depend upon her own resources. She did not hesitate, but at once came forward herself to fulfil the duty, and M’Clintock entered upon the completion of his long and zealous efforts by accepting the mission which was to crown his Arctic achievements.