THE FAR NORTH:
EXPLORATIONS IN
THE ARCTIC REGIONS.
BY
ELISHA KENT KANE, M.D.,
COMMANDER, SECOND “GRINNELL” EXPEDITION
IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
EDINBURGH:
WILLIAM P. NIMMO & CO.
1879.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY M’FARLANE AND ERSKINE,
ST JAMES SQUARE.
PREFACE.
In May 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England with theships Erebus and Terror, on an expedition to attempt the discoveryof a “North-West Passage,” or water communication between theAtlantic and Pacific Oceans, to the North of the American Continent.No intelligence was received from him after the yearfollowing.
Numerous expeditions were fitted out and despatched in searchof Franklin and his brave crew, both from this country and fromAmerica. In 1854, Dr Rae returned with information that theEsquimaux had reported having seen the bodies of “forty whitemen,” near Great Fish River, in the spring of 1850. This intelligencewas not considered trustworthy, and Lady Franklin fittedout a private expedition, under the command of Captain M’Clintock,who sailed from Aberdeen in the steam-yacht Fox, July 1857. Hereturned in 1859 with indisputable proofs of the death of Franklin,and the fate of the expedition under his command,—full details ofwhich he afterwards published.[A]
[A] A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and hisCompanions. By Captain F. L. M’Clintock, R.N., LL.D. 8vo 1859.
The present volume is an epitome of “Arctic Explorations,”[B]an official account of the Second “Grinnell” Expedition in searchof Sir John Franklin,—the First Grinnell Expedition having beendispatched in 1850 under Lieutenant De Haven, with Dr Kane assurgeon. These expeditions were fitted out at New York, at theexpense of a wealthy and generous merchant of that city, namedGrinnell, and Mr Peabody, the eminent American resident inLondon, whose munificence and liberality are now so well knownin this country. In the Second Expedition, the brig Advance wasplaced under the command of Dr Elisha Kent Kane, assistant-surgeon,U.S.N., a gentleman well qualified, from previous experience,to undertake such an important duty.
[B] Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition In Search of SirJohn Franklin, 1853-55. By Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.N. 2 vols